Profile pictures at work

[rhino12345]

Wondered if I could run this past the "hive mind" to get various perspectives before I bring this up in a meeting I have later in the week with our HR director. We've never had this issue before so I'm wondering if I'm just getting old fashioned or if I'm being reasonable with this.

Work for a very large company that has a regular intake of "younger" staff members (we have a very competitive grad scheme plus a very good internship scheme so about 30-40% of our workforce are under 25).

We use Whatsapp, not always, but sometimes at our client's request to share information ahead of meetings or presentations, as well as for occasional internal comms too. These Whatsapp chats are linked to our employees' personal phones and thus personal Whatsapp profiles.

It's made very clear to staff that they'll be expected to use their own personal Whatsapp profiles when they start and they are asked to ensure that profile pictures and names are "professional". They are given a small amount of training on this (usually it's things like nothing overtly political), but as I said, up until now it's always been self-explanatory and there haven't been issues in the past at all.

Here is my AIBU - some of the profile pictures that the newer cohort of staff are using I find are inappropriate and thus unprofessional, but I'm not sure if I'm just being prudish or old-fashioned.

A large number of them have pictures that would be more appropriate on a dating app than for a work environment if I'm being totally honest (boys posing in a gym mirror with a tight vest on, or even on the beach topless with just a pair of shorts on holding a pint of beer, or girls with a full length picture wearing a short skirt or taken from above looking down their cleavage). Some of them have friends in a profile picture where they're all pulling a silly face which I think makes them look very immature and childish, when in reality they're professional people in their 20s working in a very competitive industry who earn a very good salary!!

In my view, it just comes across unprofessional, and makes me cringe when I add them to the chats with our clients who are often CEOs or CFOs of huge multinational companies. It even makes me cringe when I'm adding them to internal chats with colleagues to organise internal events etc!

I've run it past a couple of people outside of work, mostly senior people in similar corporate environments, who've said these sorts of pictures for a work environment are totally inappropriate, but then when I've mentioned it at work to colleagues (not formally, just in passing) I've been looked at like I'm some sort of dinosaur!

AIBU?

Is it maybe you have to turn it on? My profile photo on WA has never changed when I've updated Facebook and I've definitely not turned anything off. Didn't even know you could do that!

Have to echo others and say I think it’s outrageous that you are routinely asking young employees (presumably in their first job?!) to share their personal contact details with clients. It’s not fair on them, they may well not know that it’s ok to say ‘no’. If you’re not going to provide them with a work mobile, you categorically cannot police what’s on their phones, and that includes their WhatsApp profile pictures.

No it doesn't
Mine are completely different

Your company sounds really unprofessional.

They are being totally unreasonable to expect employees to contact clients via their personal phone numbers. That is the biggest red flag in a workplace that I have ever seen.

They won’t have got rid of work phones because the employees didn’t want 2 phones. They would have got rid of work phones because they are greedy and don’t want the cost of work phones.

IMO re: profile pictures- you have absolutely no leg to stand on when complaining about profile pictures being unprofessional. Of course they’re going to be unprofessional when a young person is going to be using their personal number.

They shouldn't be made to use their personal phones/profiles. That's what's unprofessional, work/home boundaries are important.

If it were me I would use an inappropriate picture on purpose

You can have up to 2 different WhatsApp accounts on one phone (I sometimes put my husbands WA on my phone, but it means that he can't have it on his phone).

Agreed, but sometimes that does help the OP to see that EVERYONE is in agreement!

If I was one of these members of staff (not that my WhatsApp photo or username is in any way inappropriate), I'd be declining to use my personal WhatsApp for mandatory corporate business, particularly if it meant senior staff felt entitled to control how I use and present my personal apps. If this is a mandatory part of the role, staff should be adequately resourced by the organisation to carry it out.

I would be interested to know how that would play out at a tribunal if it led to a sacking.

OP: What due diligence has your employer done for this. 5 seconds with ChatGPT suggests

It's more unprofessional that they're expected to use their own personal WhatsApp account.

If the company wants pure professionalism they should cough up for company phones and accounts.

So basically, tough on the company. If they expect certain standards from staff they need to cover costs for that to happen.

Of course there are some companies who genuinely believe that employees should pay them for the privilege of working for them.

Sounds like your company needs serious updating of your GDPR policy and much more clarity on what system you will use going forward for communication. So, WhatsApp or not?! If yes, then no one can moan at the staff if they're are being forced to use personal phones.

It also sounds like you need to have some young people involved in the decision making, especially women as they will most likely be the target of unwanted contact.

Also, why don't you send out a questionnaire to highlight how the staff feel about using their own numbers, this can include suggestion on having to set a certain type of profile pic.

This will help get everyone on side as hopefully they'll be listened to.

I'm going to call it now that the OPs company - who this thread have already worked out are shit - won't be doing that.

I am so glad that everybody has jumped on this. I am shocked, not that people have to use their own numbers (I sometimes do that - calls or sms) but that you think that you can control your employees whatsapp profile photo. You do realise that 90% of their whatsapp messaging is to friends and family and some to random dates and flirtations... no WAY would I want my profile to be some corporate professional headshot. Mine certainly isn't 'sexy' or 'inappropriate' but it's usually me on top of a mountain running or skiing - my personal hobbies in my private life and I do not want to "bring my whole self to work" thank you.

I'm voting YABU simply based on the cheeky fuckery of expecting employees to buy, run/pay for personal phones that you want to use for work purposes.

And now you want to police what they have on their personal WhatsApp profile picture.

Sod that, the unprofessional element here is that you're not providing work tools that seem to be required for paid staff. Fix that, then you can come back to chat about what's appropriate for their pictures. Until then, you don't have a leg to stand on.

I'm surprised a member of staff hasn't pushed back to say "er, no" when you've asked to put all your work data onto their phone - I mean, surely from a data risk POV this would be a huge problem if your clients/users/customers find out?!

It's also stupid as a business to allow employees to be sending presentations and material to clients on their own mobile phone.

When they leave, they have right there in their hand - entirely lawfully because they've been told to use their personal phones and WhatsApp accounts - valuable business contacts and Intellectual Property/ work product of the business. Employees can copy this and leave with it, stealing contacts and IP product but if it has to be taken from their work device or computer there will usually be a trail of documents downloaded or emailed to personal addresses.

It's just daft in every sense - data protection fail; staff privacy fail; staff relations fail; commercial relations fail. AND you want to start policing their private profile photos too!

Just get these poor employees a work phone or tell them to use email.

It's unreasonable to expect staff to use their personal phones for work. They should be provided with a company mobile if one is needed. It's really crossing boundaries using personal phones and the employer can't check someone's personal device if concerns are raised.

Just wait until a sacked staff member gets a call from a client and tells them how shit their ex employer is. Or refers them to a competitor.

Or both.

You need to provide them with company phones so they can set up their 'professional ' WhatsApp. Completely unprofessional expecting them to use their personal phones and accounts for work. YABU.

This really is something where your company should be providing work phones for your employees.

As an employer requiring employees to communicate with colleagues and clients, personal phones really shouldn’t be coming into the equation. Work phones can be governed by company policy and data/ privacy laws, personal phones can’t. I don’t know the nature or level of client information that would be held on your employees personal phones but this is an important consideration that will protect your company ultimately.

I think the issue goes a lot wider than just people’s personal profile pictures on WhatsApp.

What about the costs employees incur for work calls or data? What happens if an employee’s personal phone is subject to a data breach/ hacked/ lost/ stolen? What happens if an employee can’t afford an appropriate smart phone?

The problem is you can't know what you can't know.

Clearly the OPs company has pole-vaulted the critical thinking phase of this policy. (Personally I suspect that it will turn out to be a Very Important Persons brainwave, it has the whiff of that).

Firstly I find the sharing of any client information over WhatsApp to be unprofessional and a risk of a data breach. It’s not a secure platform.
Secondly, if you want to mandate colleague profiles and pictures, you need to provide work mobiles.

I was fuming when my boss wanted me to use WhatsApp rather than Teams as 1. It was against company IT policy and 2. Why should I have to use a professional looking photo for an app I used previously only for personal use?
Your company should switch to Teams only or give company phones.

Teams and whatsapp aren't really equivalent. (Although both are shite). Done properly Teams allows you to create spaces for various teams with various O365/Azure resources. Much more suitable for enterprise use.

Whatsapp is really just "the phone" (invented in the 19th century) reimagined. And from various chats with neighbours seems to be loved by very dodgy business. To an extent that a house rule is now I will never use a tradesmen who offers a "whatsapp" contact and nothing else.

Which does make me wonder of the OPs company is a bunch of ripoff cowboys ? I haven't heard anything to make me question that.