Ties, T's & Timing

Do you consider a T-shirt professional??

Casual emails with slang? What about texting colleagues about work? Video messages??

We’ve always debated what’s professional and what’s not. Especially since women really entered the workforce - just look at the headlines around women’s workwear. But the idea of what’s “Professional” today seems to be especially heated. Almost as heated as the back to the office debate.?

Can you remember the first time you worked in an office? I was worried about so many things. How did I follow-up with my boss? Who do I ask questions to? Do I talk in meetings or just listen? What should I wear? Some of it we figure out quickly, other stuff takes time.?

Recent grads are heading into work for the first time right now, and others of us are going back to the office for the first time in a long time. The question of ‘Professional’ is top of mind - and it can show up in everything from what we wear to how we talk.?

What’s the etiquette on video calls, meeting invites, messaging? How quickly are we expected to respond to a Slack? An Email? Some of that’s dictated by the culture and nuances of a specific company. Much of it’s societal.?

Take recruiting for example. Lots of people are interviewing for jobs right now and recruiters are seeing a huge spectrum of candidates, so we asked an Executive Recruiter about how Professionalism shows up in interviews. Here’s what he said:

“Oh wow that's a BIG one! We have certainly debated this internally, mainly in the context of when we see candidates push the boundaries on language, attire, personal sharing etc. Anything to do with professionalism or the tiresome "executive presence" thing can be placed on a spectrum - you ask 6 of us whether something crossed the line and you'll see a lot of 3-3 decisions.”

Lots of people, especially younger employees, feel like traditional ideas about professionalism are tired. That it’s time to shed old standards and embrace new ones. But there are some tough realities to reconcile:

• There are no hard + fast rules around professionalism?
• People are not treated equitably most of the time??
• Norms will continue to change, as will perceptions?

For example, my kids love the song ‘Down by the Bay’. Everytime we listen, they ask me what a tie is. My dad wore a suit + tie and carried a briefcase to work every day. My kids have never seen my husband wear a tie. Now it’s common to see even Presidents and Heads of State without a tie.?

As things change - faster and more dramatically -? it gets harder, and arguably maybe more important, to try and wrap our heads around what Professionalism means and why we should care.?

How Professionalism shows up every day - what it is, why it matters, and how we make it equitable - might also mean one thing if you’re in HR or Recruiting, but another if you’re a direct manager, and something different if you’re a senior leader. Or something else altogether if you’re in DEI.?

There is no one answer and definition, but there are a lot of viewpoints. We’re going to be diving into the topic from 3 perspectives - Recruiting, HR/CSuite, DEI - to try and see what the commonalities are. Are there places where we can all agree? Curious to hear what Anessa Fike David Gray Barnette and Isis Miller have to say about it? Join us live later this month and dive into the debate! Or share your thoughts here: What does Professional look like for you today? Or maybe easier to answer - what things cross the line? What behavior/norms would push ‘too far’ in your view??

Join Us:

• Kunik Insights: Perceptions of Professionalism?
• ERG Roundtable: AI x ERG: How to leverage AI to streamline processes, events, and engagement for your ERGs

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