ChatterBank0 min ago
Halifax 'Inclusion' Policy Sets Twitface On Fire ... Again ..
104 Answers
News followers may be aware of the latest furor about 'inclusion', this time involving the Halifax Bank.
The bank has decided to offer name badges to its employees with pronouns to advise their preferred pronoun address -
https:/
The badges are voluntary.
The company advises that this is about inclusivity, and ensuring that no-one is accidentally 'mis-gender identified'.
It also advises that anyone who does not agree with the policy is welcome to take their business elsewhere.
I feel that a simple reality check may be in order here.
I have been a Halifax customer for over thirty years, and in that time, as in every other walk of my life, I have never 'mis-gender-identified' anyone, probably because I am capable of telling the difference between a man and a woman in any social or professional setting where it matters - and personal in-branch banking interaction has never been one of them.
So I remain bemused but utterly disinterested in the notion that an employee thinks that their gender identity is important enough to me that they need to identify it via a badge on their front.
But, and this is where I am seriously bent out of shape -
If the company pushing this nonsense wants to confirm its 'inclusivity' by terminally excluding me if I choose not to agree with its policy, then I feel seriously motivated to take them up on their offer and move my account elsewhere.
They seem to forget, they are a service industry, and I can take my account anywhere I choose any day i fancy, and it's surely in their interests to ensure that I stay, not to push me away with their snotty 'my way or the highway' approach to my embracing their latest woke piffle.
I conduct my business without the need even to know the name of the person I am dealing with, and I have yet to feel the need to know which 'pronoun' they prefer to be addressed by.
I am all for inclusivity, but not when it only includes people who see the world their way, that is not my definition of the term, and I am not interested in dealing with an organsation that thinks it has a right to dictate my views on its staff policies.
Any thoughts?
The bank has decided to offer name badges to its employees with pronouns to advise their preferred pronoun address -
https:/
The badges are voluntary.
The company advises that this is about inclusivity, and ensuring that no-one is accidentally 'mis-gender identified'.
It also advises that anyone who does not agree with the policy is welcome to take their business elsewhere.
I feel that a simple reality check may be in order here.
I have been a Halifax customer for over thirty years, and in that time, as in every other walk of my life, I have never 'mis-gender-identified' anyone, probably because I am capable of telling the difference between a man and a woman in any social or professional setting where it matters - and personal in-branch banking interaction has never been one of them.
So I remain bemused but utterly disinterested in the notion that an employee thinks that their gender identity is important enough to me that they need to identify it via a badge on their front.
But, and this is where I am seriously bent out of shape -
If the company pushing this nonsense wants to confirm its 'inclusivity' by terminally excluding me if I choose not to agree with its policy, then I feel seriously motivated to take them up on their offer and move my account elsewhere.
They seem to forget, they are a service industry, and I can take my account anywhere I choose any day i fancy, and it's surely in their interests to ensure that I stay, not to push me away with their snotty 'my way or the highway' approach to my embracing their latest woke piffle.
I conduct my business without the need even to know the name of the person I am dealing with, and I have yet to feel the need to know which 'pronoun' they prefer to be addressed by.
I am all for inclusivity, but not when it only includes people who see the world their way, that is not my definition of the term, and I am not interested in dealing with an organsation that thinks it has a right to dictate my views on its staff policies.
Any thoughts?
Answers
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things move on and old people do not move on with them. It was ever thus.
As sanmac says, married women used to be referred to by their husband's name. now if someone called me Mrs (husband's name) bednobs, instead of my actual name, i'd like that about as much as i'd like to be referred to as "the wife" (ie not a jot). Im glad things move on. If i were getting married now, i might consider keeping my surname (or becoming double barrelled). when i actually did get married, it was the norm to change your name. Not so much now.
As sanmac says, married women used to be referred to by their husband's name. now if someone called me Mrs (husband's name) bednobs, instead of my actual name, i'd like that about as much as i'd like to be referred to as "the wife" (ie not a jot). Im glad things move on. If i were getting married now, i might consider keeping my surname (or becoming double barrelled). when i actually did get married, it was the norm to change your name. Not so much now.
Bednobs - I wouldn't mind being called by my husband's name (as it is perfectly correct) but as it happens I use both my maiden name and my current married name. It doesn't worry me. This happened because when I was in France and divorced from husband No.1, I discovered that it was the norm for a woman to keep her birth (family) name for legal business. In somewhere around 2010 this custom became enshrined in law so that all women keep their name for legal and financial use. One's married name is a courtesy title.
I embraced this wholeheartedly and still do - although it is more awkward in the UK. This is not too much of a problem usually.
Usually if one is unsure of Miss or Mrs. one can use the first name on the badge without specifying and I can't think anyone would be upset if you got it wrong. Anyway I read the question as going deeper than that. The company is trying to force customers into its mould and that is simply wrong. They are there to serve the customer.
Then there is the question of gender identity - which is another issue. I would not address a chap with a beard, for instance, as Miss or Mrs. I suspect that this is behind the moves by the Halifax and others.
I embraced this wholeheartedly and still do - although it is more awkward in the UK. This is not too much of a problem usually.
Usually if one is unsure of Miss or Mrs. one can use the first name on the badge without specifying and I can't think anyone would be upset if you got it wrong. Anyway I read the question as going deeper than that. The company is trying to force customers into its mould and that is simply wrong. They are there to serve the customer.
Then there is the question of gender identity - which is another issue. I would not address a chap with a beard, for instance, as Miss or Mrs. I suspect that this is behind the moves by the Halifax and others.
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ginge - // My thoughts...it's really not important enough to get into a tizzy about. People can wear whatever name badges they choose - it doesn't affect me. //
Just to be clear - the sheer attention-seeking woke nonsense of pronoun badges matters less than not at all to me.
I have not reached this age without being able to swerve the self-aggrandising nonsense of the woke minority and treat it for the pointless puffed up brainless nonsense that it is.
My anger is caused by the arrogance of the Twitter poster who advised me that if i did not agree with the policy, I was free to take my business elsewhere.
First of all, I don;t need some pimply teenager with a keyboard and an undeserved sense of moral superiority to tell me that I can take my business elsewhere.
As a customer in a service industry, that right is mine any time I may choose to exercise it.
My anger is reserved for anyone who wants to preach 'inclusivity' at me, and in the same breath, exclude me if I exercise my moral and legal right to disagree with their approach.
I am not willing to be patronised so aggressively by anyone, anywhere, ever, and I am still considering my future options.
I strongly suspect that this nonsense has been put into the wider world by someone who does not have the sanction of agreement of the real decision makers at the top end of the company, who will have arrived there by understand the basic concept in business that alienating your customer base is never a good idea.
At best, said idiot will have their company social media access curtailed with immediate effect, since they clearly lack the maturity to use it properly.
And as I write, the execs at Halifax will be working out how to climb out of this public relations black hole into which their idiot employee has dropped them, and see what sort of damage limitation they can get up and running before the end of the day.
The moral of the story - stop giving company social media access to employees until their suitability has been thoroughly established.
Just to be clear - the sheer attention-seeking woke nonsense of pronoun badges matters less than not at all to me.
I have not reached this age without being able to swerve the self-aggrandising nonsense of the woke minority and treat it for the pointless puffed up brainless nonsense that it is.
My anger is caused by the arrogance of the Twitter poster who advised me that if i did not agree with the policy, I was free to take my business elsewhere.
First of all, I don;t need some pimply teenager with a keyboard and an undeserved sense of moral superiority to tell me that I can take my business elsewhere.
As a customer in a service industry, that right is mine any time I may choose to exercise it.
My anger is reserved for anyone who wants to preach 'inclusivity' at me, and in the same breath, exclude me if I exercise my moral and legal right to disagree with their approach.
I am not willing to be patronised so aggressively by anyone, anywhere, ever, and I am still considering my future options.
I strongly suspect that this nonsense has been put into the wider world by someone who does not have the sanction of agreement of the real decision makers at the top end of the company, who will have arrived there by understand the basic concept in business that alienating your customer base is never a good idea.
At best, said idiot will have their company social media access curtailed with immediate effect, since they clearly lack the maturity to use it properly.
And as I write, the execs at Halifax will be working out how to climb out of this public relations black hole into which their idiot employee has dropped them, and see what sort of damage limitation they can get up and running before the end of the day.
The moral of the story - stop giving company social media access to employees until their suitability has been thoroughly established.
Corby - // ou said, "They seem to forget, they are a service industry, and I can take my account anywhere I choose any day i fancy" yet when they make it very clear they've not forgotten and folk CAN go elsewhere, you're not happy still. //
That is not what they are saying, and i think you know that.
They are not saying "You are welcome to take your business elsewhere whenever you feel like it ...", which is an obvious given for any business with any customers anywhere at any time.
What they are saying is - "If you don't agree with our pointless woke nonsense, we don't want you as a customer ..." and that is unacceptable.
That is not what they are saying, and i think you know that.
They are not saying "You are welcome to take your business elsewhere whenever you feel like it ...", which is an obvious given for any business with any customers anywhere at any time.
What they are saying is - "If you don't agree with our pointless woke nonsense, we don't want you as a customer ..." and that is unacceptable.
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