To think employers wanting us to bring our whole selves to work is actually a very sinister idea?

[ScreamingBeans]

No. I don't want to bring my whole self to work and I don't want my colleagues to either.

The man who worked at the NSPCC who brought his whole self to work by wearing his leather fetish gear and masturbating in the toilet and then uploading it to a website, should have left that part of himself at home. I hope that any colleagues of mine who share his habits will not accept my employer's invitation to bring their whole selves to work, I want them to leave that bit of themselves firmly behind their own front doors.

The sinister bit is that if you want people to bring their whole selves to work, then that means you need to employ people who think and act in a way that you as an employer find conducive. So you won't employ anyone who disagrees with you politically, religiously or philosophically, because their opinions won't align with your values. And you will then be justified in doing something which trade unionists fought tooth and nail to make illegal - blacklist workers who don't share your politics and viewpoint.

I don't care what people do or believe outside work as long as they do the bloody job competently and professionally in work and keep their unacceptable beliefs or behaviour to themselves. I don't want interviews and other employment processes to start becoming tools to weed out people with the wrong political views - now called "values" - instead of the tools to find the best person for the job regardless of their sex, race, religion, disability status, political beliefs etc.

Employers are beginning to take back the rights they used to have, to blacklist workers with unacceptable political or ideological views and it's being done under the guise of employing the sort of people who have "our values" IE the same opinions as the employer.

Shouldn't trades unionists be alarmed about this?

I like a professional front and professional boundaries, even aside from all the other issues.

I've not come across this. I'm involved with our works ED&I. To impart my views to clients would be problematic. Am all for an open workplace culture but then it's an issue when it tips the boundary into expectations to share. I have raised this within the ED&I but was completely ignored!!

This.

I'm also deeply suspicious of people who have jumped on the preferred pronoun bandwagon. 🙄

It’s interesting isn’t it.

because we are all working to get money to survive, we have to shape shift sometimes and be who the organisation we work for needs us to be.

I don’t think my being a raging lefty will go down particularly well in the very expensive private prep school that puts bread on my table and a roof over my head!

I have colleagues who seem to think that work is a place to make friends, confide in everyone about everything from menopause to sex life, to illnesses to their relationships, increasing my already teetering mental load from the emotional labour of the job! It’s too much.

I don’t think it means bringing your vibrator into work.
I would assume it means actually focusing on the work and not focusing on things that aren’t about work.

I had a couple of colleagues who didn’t get on because of something outside of work.
Our manager used this phrase because people were doing a half arsed job and were more concerned about what was happening outside of work.

We work in a SEND school and so I knew he didn’t mean start swearing around the kids and smoking or wearing unprofessional clothes like you would at home.

I would love to bring myself to work- my book, cosy armchair & dogs! (so in theory not interacting with anyone!)

Not sure if I get any work done... on second thought, I better leave this part of myself at home! 😀

I can't wait to go to work dressed as a Borg.
Resistance is futile.
You will be assimilated
Your life as it has been is over
From this time forward YOU will service US.

Resistance is futile.

I used to work for a very large prominent organisation who were very keen on continual improvement to a point that my then manager told me I should leave my much loved role that I had happily worked in successfully for many years as it was impossible to make any improvements, and I should make a side move to another role. I made all the right noises and then obviously ignored him. Luckily managers never lasted long and my next was a little more sensible.

No they aren’t illegal beliefs. Just trouble makers. Nobody can be bothered with that. DH said they do searches on prospective employees and if there’s any evidence of being militant, foot stamping or whining about hurty feels, you don’t even get an interview. And as a pp said, any cv with preferred pronouns just goes straight in the bin.

Sorry, that was meant for mummy08m

I used to work somewhere like this.

All it meant was being able to freely talk about yourself in a safe and inclusive environment. Like if you have a same sex partner, or were having a bad day, it's ok to speak up if your arent ok.

I'm another one who weeds out anyone who states their preferred pronouns

Excellent 😂

I agrée op. I really don't want to know about peoples sex lives or political opinions. I'm a civil servant and political impartiality is really central to our role, but some younger colleagues seem to think it's ok to spout their views in the office! And complain about implementing policies of the directly elected government.

I'd welcome a return to professional boundaries.

I sift the prounouners too!

It's taken me so many years to learn how to make the right noises while just carrying on what I've always done. But I've learnt it really is the way to an easy life!

I dislike the expectations of bringing your whole self to work because it creates high risks of oversharing, emotional dumping on colleagues, and political echo chambers.

The authentic selves people seem very keen to hold court on anything from their political views to their painful bunion. It's unnecessary.

I just had to google wtf it means! Fuck that for a game of soldiers!

I don't really "do" pronouns either. Prefer to use the name that person wants to be called by. It gets confusing to get into the whole he/she/t hey thing as its hard to remember to get it right

It's so reactionary. Like we going back to 1950s gender roles and all that.

Not sure what "bring your whole self to work" means, but hate seeing professional websites that list eg my dentist's hobbies. I don't care if he likes baking or hiking. And it's none of my business if he's married or has children. I just want a competent dentist

If I brought my whole self to work, like my entire self without filter... I'd lose all our clients, my staff would walk out and I'd go broke all before the 9.30am coffee run.

I think there is a place for signifying that you are attempting to be an inclusive organisation.

It reminds me of an interview candidate who mentioned his male partner at interview. He did it as casually as possible, but I think it was testing the waters, because he didn't want to get the role without mentioning it and then discover that the team was massively homophobic. I'd like to live in a world where he could assume that workplaces never have homophobia, but I don't think we are there yet.

I also bin the performative pronouners’ CVs. They’re first in the bin, followed by the ones with SPAG errors.