Tattoos – Ink At Work
Are Tattoos ever OK at work?
I was HR Director at a large organization when I suddenly completely got caught by a curb ball thrown by one of my main stakeholders. “What is our HR policy on tattoos?” I had to take a two second pause before responding with a gigantic wobble. The truth was that we had none, nor did I want to suggest that we should introduce one. So I covered it with our dress code policy (one of those old ones that we in Human Resources only dust off when a person really wears clothes that are inexcusable and may damage the company image), but it did make me pause. Are employers nowadays really that more relaxed about (visible) tattoos? Or should you worry when you apply for a job or get invited for a summer boat trip with important clients where you may reveal your, slightly inappropriate, politically incorrect or innately sexual tattoo on a private (yet visible in your summer outfit) part of your body?
I read somewhere that 1 in 5 adults in the UK have a tattoo and it would be fair to say that having a tattoo is more accepted now that it used to be (it definitely will not automatically be linked to prison time or serving in the army). It is accepted as a personal statement, a fashionable body decoration or a good way to commemorate a special event in a persons life.
Your tattoo may be communicating your view on life, how you want to live it and what is of importance to you. But here lies the danger as well. When you share something that personal in the work environment it may easily be misunderstood (your visual representation of your “carpe diem in life” may be read completely different by that senior manager you try to impress). And while you go through the changes of the years, are you still sure about what you are trying to say? Have your feelings, experiences and consequential statements changed, while your tattoo is still the same?
Your professional image is your key commodity. It will open doors and it will slam some shut with a bang. Nothing wrong with the latter necessarily and why would you have to change who you are for just a job? Just be sure that it is for reasons that you (still) believe in and is worth making a statement for. If so, then by all means, wear your tattoo with as much pride as I will wear my new shiny watch. If not, invest in that long sleeve t-shirt and keep your private messages away from your manager, clients and colleagues.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
ASSAULT AGAINST DATA BROKERS LAUNCHED BY PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL COMPLAINTS ALLEGING GDPR NON-COMPLIANCE
ASSAULT AGAINST DATA BROKERS LAUNCHED BY PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL COMPLAINTS ALLEGING GDPR NON-COMPLIANCE Privacy International, a UK-based activist group, complained in early November 2018 that a number of data brokers, ad-tech companies and credit-reference agencies...
read moreGDPR for Payments
GDPR for Payments GDPR is an important EU wide regulatory mandate. It provides increased protection of individual privacy and gives individuals more control over the information they share. In our view GDPR is an important element of building a scalable data centric...
read more
US Supreme Court repeal of PASPA
US Supreme Court repeal of PASPA On Monday, May 14, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States held in the Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association case that the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (“PASPA”) violated the Tenth Amendment...
read more
This upcoming change will dramatically increase online merchant’s revenues
MasterCard introduces changes for subscription and card on file transactions that will help to significantly increase online merchant’s revenues Recurring (subscription) and returning (card on file) transactions are a growing part of online merchant revenue streams....
read more
Gropay’s 5 Tips For The Holiday Season!
GROPAY'S 5 TIPS FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON With all the preparations for the holiday, last week deadlines, the multitude of drinks, parties, last minute shopping as well as high expectations from family and friends, it is easy to get lost in this busy time before the...
read more
The Payment Challenges of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs)
THE PAYMENT CHALLENGES OF OTAs Who hasn’t used an online travel agency (OTA) in the last 12 months? They are an integral part of our lives and are part of a colossal $600 billion + a year online travel market. The OTA industry is at a juncture where it faces some...
read more
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) – Impact on Online Merchants
Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) - Impact on Online Merchants The details around the European Banking Authority (EBA’s) proposal for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) are final and the requirements for SCA are expected to come into force by February 2019. What...
read more
Did Star Trek predict bitcoins and what does it mean for the future?
Did Star Trek predict bitcoins and what does it mean for the future? If you are like me, a Star Trek fan then it’s interesting to note that many of the futuristic technologies and gadgets used on the show have come true or are close to coming true. This is likely more...
read more
Is the future of payments happening in India now?
India Makes Important Advances in Biometric Payments In India it’s already possible for a consumer to authorise and authenticate a payment with their fingerprint or iris scan. As a largely cash based economy India has leapfrogged the use of Cards and Smart Phones for...
read more
How Do Bitcoins Impact Online Merchants?
How do bitcoins impact online merchants? There’s a lot that has been said and written about bitcoins. They are the talk of the town these days. Undoubtedly bitcoins and related distributed ledger technologies will have a lasting impact on payments and financial...
read more
PSD2 What Will Really Change?
PSD2 What Will Really Change? There has been a lot written about the PSD2 and rightly so, it is important regulation soon to be enacted into legislation that will bring significant innovation and change to electronic payments. But what will actually change in the day...
read more
SafeCharge Three Years After IPO
SafeCharge 3 Years After IPO In this post we look at SafeCharge, a medium sized payment processor and recently formed acquirer. We look at the following items; history, the IPO, recent performance, drivers of growth so far, recent strategic moves and execution...
read more The Stamina Of Clinton Or Trump?
The Stamina of Clinton Or Trump There have been lot of comments made by presidential candidate Donald Trump triggering a lot of media attention and public debates recently. Not the most notorious comment, but still one that made me pause in the work I was doing....
read more GDPR – Data Protection Gets Serious
GDPR - Data Protection Gets Serious On 14 April 2016, the EU Parliament adopted the long awaited General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) The GDPR will have considerable impact on all companies that provide goods or services to Europe, regardless of the company’s...
read more Authentication – Payer! Reveal Thyself
Authentication - Payer! Reveal Thyself EPC releases results of latest consultations for e-mandate today: what does this mean for authentication and your online business? Earlier today, 5 April 2016, the European Payments Council (EPC) announced the launch of the...
read more Fantasy Sports – It’s All A Fantasy
Fantasy Sports - It's All A Fantasy Fantasy Sports continue to gain popularity California recently introduced a bill to allow online sports betting. The motivation of this bill is believed to be the increasing popularity of fantasy sports. Although, the bill has yet...
read more Cash – Kicking The Habit
Cash - Kicking The Habit There was an interesting article in The Economist recently about strikes on the London Underground (Tube). Such strikes are commonly believed to have a short term net cost to the economy. However the article quoted a study by Oxford and...
read more Data Protection – To Russia With Love
Data Protection - To Russia With Love Data Protection Russia Russia’s new data protection law came into effect on the 1st of September 2015. It’s now required by law to store personal details of Russian citizens on servers physically located in Russia. Copies of the...
read moreDressing For Work – Looking The Part
I had a manager once who was a real mover and shaker in HR, brilliant in strategy and amazing to work with. Although visionary in his business outlook, there were some basic things that could really set him off when meeting new people: things like scruffy shoes. You...
read moreWirecard’s $9 Billion Bid For Worldpay
Wirecard with a market value of $ 5.2 billion made a $9 billion bid for Worldpay. Is this a serious bid? What will Wirecard do with Worldpay? Wirecard has extensive experience with M&A and also in acquiring companies larger than itself and making it a success; as...
read moreChanging Jobs – Stay Or Go?
Changing jobs - How long should you stay in your current job? In this day and age, most employees are not even aware that organisations used to have tenure incentives like a fancy watch, a toaster or at least a bunch of flowers when you reached your 20 or 25 years of...
read moreDistracted Living – A Simple Life
Distracted Living Psychology Today published an interesting blog on distracted living. Distracted living is where you miss out on much of your life because you generally aren’t paying attention, or your attention is so torn in many directions that your really do not...
read moreIs Visa Worried About Paypal?
Is Visa worried about Paypal? Visa recently published a report on Visa Checkout in which they stated that Visa Checkout delivers 17% better conversion than Paypal. One of the interesting points about this report is that Visa considers Paypal as enough of a threat to...
read moreMergers And Acquisitions
How do I deal with my company going through a merger or acquisition? Working in the payments sector? There is a big chance that your company is engaged in a merger, is taking over another company or is about to become an acquisition. 2014 was a big year for payments...
read more
0 Comments