Just read this article.

And as soon as I finished— the quote, "defense wins championships" popped into my head.

It piqued my interest initially because it's a about local business (just a 5 min walk from me), but then I saw that this hotel, which was suffering from a toxic culture of sexist, racism and misogyny— had hired an attorney to address people issues, in lieu of an HR person/ resources -- a practice I'm hearing more about.

Here's the problem-- if you're hiring a lawyer to address employees complaints, you are ONLY playing offense. (and you may be exacerbating your problems with the escalation) That’s why I had that thought— YOU MUST play both sides of the field.

You MUST play defense.

You HAVE to understand underlying issues, behaviors and culture.

You have to WORK pro-actively to make it a better place to work.

You need to SOLVE for the right problem.

Great HR professionals are there to help navigate issues and conflicts-- for both the employee and the Company.

Foundational HR practices ENABLE good companies to scale and flourish. You MUST invest at the right time-- and you need to invest in the right professionals who can guide you.

You’re not just investing in that “HR stuff”— you are investing in your business and your people.

If you don't know where to start, let me know.

Be well, stay well and WEAR A MASK!

Jean

PS: I love my L&E lawyer colleagues. I have learned so much from them. I think they would also 200% stand with me on this one.