“A shoe! A shoe! My career for a shoe!” (apologies to W. Shakespeare)

I remain quite baffled as to the state of the recruiter and HR landscape. I swing from moments of fleeting joy that we seem to be making strides toward a more transparent and thoughtful industry, and then ** CRASH, BANG **, it’s back to crushing reality as we hear about the receptionist who was fired from her job after refusing to wear high heels.

Here’s the story in brief (if you’ve failed to hear about it – which is unlikely!)…

Nicola Thorp, 27, from Hackney in east London, arrived on her first day at PwC in December in flat shoes but says she was told she had to wear shoes with a “2in to 4in heel”. Thorp, who was employed as a temporary worker by PwC’s outsourced reception firm Portico, said she was laughed at when she said the demand was discriminatory and sent home without pay after refusing to go out and buy a pair of heels.

Have we all gone stark raving mad? I mean, I could imagine if the lady in question came stomping into work wearing clown slippers with a light up nose which burst into song with every step she took? But, by all accounts her flat, businesslike shoes were inoffensive, professional and, well, absolutely fit for purpose.

I’ve written about women in business in numerous other posts, noting their impact on my professional growth as mentors and coaches. I’ve also championed them as outstanding board members. Let it be known that I absolutely agree with equivalent levels of formality for men and women in the workplace – actually, make that ‘equivalent levels of everything in the workplace’. But I’m afraid that the argument put forward by some, that heels and make up requirements for women are the same as shirt and tie requirements for men simply does not wash with me.

On a note about retaining good business reputation, there’s another warning to be heard, because although PwC had indeed relinquished their front of house staffing to an external agency, that hasn’t stopped their name from being dragged through the proverbial HR/employer branding mud. In future, their name will – regardless of diminished responsibility – still be thought of in the case of the recruitment world versus women’s heel height.

Whether you’re a small or large business, it’s up to you to choose third parties wisely. You should employ them with the same level of scrutiny as you would with any other, if not more. These people are responsible for your brand, your reputation, and they will dictate how others see you and your policies – so make sure they are in line with your own.

It’s time we woke up. Are we really thoughtless and stupid enough to believe that something is ‘technically not illegal’ – we feel we can and should continue to enforce it upon employees?

I for one will be signing Nicola Thorp’s petition, because, I hope, that once the heels are off, then maybe we can start running in the right “human capital” direction.

What are your thoughts?

Look forward to hearing from you,

Mark.