Shedding One-Size-Fits-All Workplaces

Dr. Marcia F. Robinson is a senior certified HR professional, diversity strategist, and curator of The HBCU Career Center job board. She advises organizations on building inclusive talent pipelines and improving diversity recruiting outcomes.

Before I said anything, I watched a debate in a HR group a few days ago about a nurse who was disciplined for an “outlandish” hair style at work. After much back and forth about dress codes, policies and discipline, one HR pro said that people at work should conform by channeling the old axiom that “when in Rome…” – everyone can finish it. As the Workplace Evolutionist, I guess the word “conform” kinda triggered me.

Here was my response:

“The Romans did some terrible things to humans in the name of conforming back in the day. Therefore, that is not really a phrase that has any good value in contemporary HR practices. Especially, when it’s about forcing everyone into the same mold.” 

The purpose of organizational policies is not to create cookie cutter employees, but to guide behavior so we can be productive together in shared spaces with shared goals. 

I don’t urge conformity because personally, I don’t always go-with-the-flow myself. In fact, I crave independence, even in the workplace. I don’t always get it, but it is definitely something I value.

I remember when locs, like the ones I wear, were described as “distracting and out-there.” I also remember my husband—working as a network technician for a major corporation where he had to crawl under desks to do his job—being told that cargo pants were not proper work attire. The company preferred that their technicians wear expensive dress slacks that routinely ripped or stained on the job. Fortunately, the company flexed when others realized that it benefited technicians to wear cargo pants with many pockets.

In moments when we’re quick to label the unfamiliar as unprofessional, we must discern when company policies are just the personal, historical preferences of a former decision maker disguised as a rule versus real metrics for good business.

As leaders and HR professionals, we must learn to pause when employees do something that feels unfamiliar or uncomfortable. 

Instead of judging quickly, we should ask more. 

Listen more. 

Understand more. 

Ask – what could we learn from colleagues who are different and don’t consult the policy manual before every move?

When we fail to listen and ask questions, we risk missing or undervaluing talented, committed people simply because they don’t meet a one-size-fits-all bar that was never designed for everyone in the first place. 

I know that change just makes HR harder, especially when we have a million other things to do. But, workplaces are not playgrounds where students wear uniforms, walk in straight lines and sit still after recess. 

Of course – for good reasons – some employees must wear uniforms for identification, branding, or safety. In these cases, the reasons should be clear and relevant to the work at hand. It’s okay for organizations to have clear expectations for attire and grooming. However, we should think hard about any regulation of immutable traits or practices that don’t impact productivity or shared goals. This truth invites humility and the willingness to evaluate policies when someone has an interpretation that challenges our own.

Those challenges, even the subtle ones, invite reflection.

Professionals come into the workplace with their own lived experiences, cultures, abilities, and realities that cannot be standardized without sometimes losing something meaningful. 

Workplace policies should create clarity, not erase individuality.

We all probably have a trait that might at first cause others to question your professionalism — be it gray hair, an accent, ethnicity, gender, the list goes onThe list is endless when “professionalism” is defined too narrowly by a privileged few.

This is why the role of HR has always been bigger than simply fostering compliance. 

We are advocates. We are translators. We are educators who help organizations see the full humanity of the people they employ. When we expand the definition of professionalism to include dignity, capability, and respect, workplaces become stronger—not weaker.

Shedding the one-size-fits-all mindset is not about lowering standards. It is about raising our awareness.

And that has always been my approach.

The next time we see something different, don’t just instinctively grab the policy manual.