But My People "Know Better"...

Now that the proverbial dust has settled on this famous "slap," I offer my opinion and insights -- neither of which are directed at the incident itself per se.

Rather this is about the C-suite executives, business owners and managers, HR Directors and others who over a period of decades have sat across the table from me when discussing training and topics and said, "Jeff, my people 'know better' than to do something like that." Oh really?!

Take of the biggest starts in Hollywood whose movies have grossed billions, now imagine him on the biggest night of his career, and what does he do? The unthinkable! And on national television with an international audience watching as well. If anyone should have 'known better' it was him -- but that's not the way it played out, was it?

Now imagine one of your own people, caught up in the heat of a moment somewhere, but where the phone cameras of today are ever-present, and now they do the unthinkable, and much like Will's publicist, *YOU* now have to answer for their actions. We see this dynamic play out almost every week across social media where companies are being blindsided by employee actions, because their employers obviously thought they "knew better."

People don't know what they don't know, or have not been reminded of in years. And COVID definitely pushed many to online personas that they feel now fit in their offline world as they return to businesses as either an employee or customer, client, patient, etc. Just ask anyone in HR or who work in the retail or restaurant industries.

Rather than assuming your people "know better," make SURE they do! This means having some rather straightforward conversations, maybe even uncomfortable ones. It might also mean revamping your employee handbook to cover such instances. And if you cannot have such conversations, then hire or contract someone who can. Again, do not assume when you can make sure. And it doesn't hurt to have a paper trail showing you did so as well.

I know someone who can help.