Senior colleague refuses to be photographed - what to do

[Waferbiscuit]

We all have be photographed for work with the photos used for internal comms including our intranet. This is a pretty standard approach in large organisations as it helps to identify people. Photos are perfectly fine, generic photos and we get to select the one that is used.

Staff member is very senior but refuses to be photographed as 'doesn't like it/doesn't feel comfortable'. May be an anxiety thing.

Can they opt out? Should this opting out be supported or is this indulgent? Seems to me part of what you sign up for when you're in a senior role.

Staff member is not part of witness protection program, doesn't work in the community and AFAIK no safeguarding or privacy issues.

Yes of course it depends on what your organisation requires. I would have thought that was obvious.

I have hundreds of indirect reports and don’t have my photo on the internal directory.

It’s almost like different companies do things in different ways. Who would have thought it!

There's no policy on this that I know of and producing it would be a bit overkill.
If there's no policy then how can you enforce it? If there were to be a policy then presumably you'd risk assess it and consider your liability in the event of it affecting someone's mental health, facilitating stalking or otherwise putting someone in danger etc. (I worked for a large multinational that quickly dropped the idea of photos.)

There are some people with whom you carefully pick your battles. Leave this one (been there, done it, got the scars).

Exactly.
Also in the age of hybrid/remote working there are plenty of opportunities for people to screenshot your face on video calls.
If someone was really in the witness protection program/abuse etc they wouldn't be suitable for this role.

"There's no policy on this that I know of and producing it would be a bit overkill.

My assumption is that if you're senior in the go along with this because you support the policies in the organisation. Can't imagine a CEO of a company said 'no pictures of me, sorry'."

So there is no policy in place. So why would they do something that's NOT a company policy? it's very strange that you're worked up by this. People are allowed to be private. Maybe find some real issues to worry about.

I lead an internal comms team in an organisation of 15,000 employees. For very senior management it's expected (but unwritten) that they have profile pics and bios on the intranet, and for the most senior hires we often issue press releases (if it's newsworthy). For the rest of the organisation we do have a policy that a photo and video release form needs to be signed if we wish to use an employee's image in any capacity. We also have a policy to remove images related to employees no longer with the company within three months of their departure.

It is completely outrageous that your workplace expects people to be photographed.

It does not matter what the reason is and you have NO RIGHT to know.

My children do not have photos of them because DH's first wife has made threats to life against them. No-one actually knows this because it is not something we advertise. They are 14 and 11. And accidentally they put Ds1 in the local paper because he got a great lamda result and we had to then pull him out of school for a bit.

In other words- you have no fucking idea what is going on. And you have no right at all to question it.

Spot on. How are some people so thick. I work in a very sensitive industry and loooaaaads of colleagues refuse to have a picture on their work doodah. Me included. I also opt out of any photos that are going to be posted on LinkedIn or X etc

What do you do?

You accept they said no.

I would tell my CEO ‘No’ over anything I felt uncountable about. And no, as a Senior member of staff it not my job to blindly support company policies. It’s part of my job to challenge them if they are pointless and make people feel uncomfortable.

But as you said, this isn’t a policy.

Would he accept having a cartoon representation of him being used such as the ones on Facebook?

As you say Op it’s completely standard in very senior roles. I have never come across anyone refusing.

my view is nothing can or will be done but that persons card will be marked as difficult/ uncooperative and they’ll be viewed differently going forward so unfortunately for them, it could be a hill they chose to die on.

Also to add, we have had many people decline to be photographed. We don't ask for a reason- it's their choice and right.

I think they are being ridiculous. Ultimately a big part of leadership is about visibility. If they can’t even have a photo done I would really question their overall suitability to a leadership role.

But these are not children, but adults who have applied for senior roles where they will presumably be in the public eye.

I work in comms, and come across this problem all the time - and it is a major problem when you are trying to promote the work of the business or charity. After one celebrity opening, so lots of pictures, press- one member of staff (who was in nearly every shot) then refused to have pictures used. They knew there were cameras there, they knew why celeb was used to get coverage. After that it DID become part of staff contract, unless v good reason why not, and the ‘nos’ list came to me.

No one likes having their picture taken- but guess what, everyone looking at you can see what you look like, so majority of refusers just need to suck it up when it’s part of the job.

It's not obvious from all of the bolshy replies on here r.e. policy.
What I was getting at is the organisation's cultural norm but also use.
You mention an internal directory, no pic on there IMO isn't a big issue because not everyone will have one.
But in firms like myself and PP with industry talks, big briefings etc where a photo is typically displayed, the lack of one would be very conspicuous. It would draw even more attention.

Also as @AquaPeer said it doesn't create a good impression. Which is well what senior roles are about.

Therefore, unless someone has an actual cast-iron reason for refusing - it doesn't come across great. It's not anybody else's business really. Their career their choice to make.

Apart from MN, I'm not on any SM. When I got to an event, a charity thing, a whatever, they say 'oh, everyone's okay with photos on SM, right?'.

No. No, I am not.

I make that clear for a number of personal reasons.

Why should anyone allow a pic taken and shared if they don't want to? Doesn't matter if they were the first person to land on Mars. If they don't want their photo shared, then respect it.

We've had staff members refuse to be photographed because they have adopted or fostered children who left dangerous home situations. And having their photo shared can lead to ways in which the children can be located. We don't ask but this reason was volunteered. There are MANY reasons why someone doesn't want to be photographed.

@Waferbiscuit are you senior to this person? Depending on the size of the company, and whether the image is for internal or external use, I too would expect that a photo of a senior exec is par for the course.

Have you asked them why they don't want their image taken? Also, if it bothers you that much and you are senior, change their contract, or introduce a policy.

I was asked by my employer whether I would have my photo taken and I said no.

No drama, they just accepted it.

I think we are agreeing with each other from opposite directions.

I don't think people who are part of witness protection or don't have photos for safety issues actually share that information so I'm not sure why you are so confident you'd know it. I like the cut of his jib (I know that's slightly the wrong phrase).

I refuse to have my picture used on my company's website or social media.

I do this because I am no contact with toxic relatives who no longer know where I live or have my contact details and I also had to block them on social media as they were harassing there. I certainly don't want them to try to find me through work next...

I would not want to discuss the above in details with my workplace and would say something generic about not being comfortable having my picture taken.

Your colleague probably has a very good reason for saying no and you need to respect that.

YABVU - loads of people can’t publish their photographs for loads of reasons that they don’t have to disclose. Ask for a picture that represents them effectively and then Leave them alone.

Yes me too, but this is about the senior people. The public faces of the organisation.