Ask HR: Should I concede and remove the family pictures on my office desk top?
What you need to know:
- You must have had good reasons for carrying family photos to the office.
- Similarly, your colleague might have reasons for not having hers on her desk.
- Some people keep family photos on their desks to kindle thoughts about their families as they work or as a way of remaining somewhat connected with them.
My colleague has a problem with me putting photos of my family on my desk. I have a picture of my wife and two sons on my desk, and it always motivates me to work harder. Additionally, my family lives in a different town and the photo helps me feel like I am with them in spirit. There are no laws prohibiting such items on my desk in our HR policy and I therefore do not plan to remove them. Should I bother responding to her?
It is not possible to craft HR policies that cover every possible aspect at the workplace. The purpose of policy is not to exclude the exercise of discretion in decision making. There are many instances where common sense is sufficient to handle situations that arise at work.
In most working environments, you are likely to find personal trinkets on work tops, of which photos are part. What you place on your desk should ideally be your business. What issue does your colleague have concerning your family photos? Do they block her view? Do they distract her work? Do you share a desk? Is yours a hot desk that is shared by others? Is there a feeling that a great deal of you is left on the work top even when you are away from work? Who else in your office has a problem with the photos? Do others have similar photos on their work tops?
You must have had good reasons for carrying family photos to the office. Similarly, your colleague might have reasons for not having hers on her desk. Some people keep family photos on their desks to kindle thoughts about their families as they work or as a way of remaining somewhat connected with them. Others might consider family photos on work tops to be ostentatious artefacts that run against the grain of professionalism. Colleagues express themselves differently. There should be room for diversity at work.
It should be a matter for you whether you have a family photo on your desk or not. However, if your desk teems with photos and you hardly have sufficient work space as a result, you ought to welcome a greater sense of proportion. Ultimately, you need to make the call: Would you rather have your family photos on your desk and have a disgruntled colleague or vice versa?
HR practitioner
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