JP Morgan's Investigation Jumpscare

Happy Wednesday!

Our monthly episode is live! We’re kicking things off with a workplace investigation that you’d either love or hate to investigate, Jamie’s new job title, and a pocket pastry. In other words, sounds like a very typical work meeting agenda.

In today's episode:

• Intro: Leigh has a dream with a cast of characters from Bestie Thomas J. Henry (IYKYK) to George Costanza (would you consider George a work bestie… or an HR frequent flier?!)

• Hot Topic – The JP Morgan Saga: A male employee alleged a female colleague did some very non-HR-approved things. It went viral. But then, the stories came out claiming that all is not (AT ALL) as it seemed. We break down what defamation is (and isn’t), why over-lawyering it can make things worse, and what the male employee allegedly did that made us all gasp.

• Legal Updates - SHRM Watch: From SHRM’s $11.5 million appeal to an eye-popping update in SHRM’s service dog lawsuit (Ashley explains why that's both legally fair game and a reminder that your text messages are never just YOUR text messages).

• Listener Q – The HR Cleanup Crew: We each answer the question, “What do you say to HR folks who are constantly being handed problems to fix?”

Discussion Guide (for Your Team or Podcast Club):

• What makes a workplace investigation feel trustworthy to employees - and what destroys that trust?

• When should organizations make public statements - or keep mum?

• How do you push back on leadership when they treat HR like a fix-it shop — without losing trust or looking like you don’t want to do your job?

ChatGPT Prompts of the Week

Professional:

• Draft what HR teams and managers should each know on how to handle an investigation with discretion while still supporting the people involved.

• Write talking points for an HR leader explaining to a CEO why HR can't (and shouldn't) just "fix" a culture problem on their own.

Personal(ish):

• Which Seinfeld character is most like me?

See you next month, Besties - in the meantime, pre-order Leigh’s book right here, get Jamie’s “Officially Something” shirt over here, and explore Ashley’s Manager Method leadership platform right here.

In the meantime, may your investigations be airtight and your pocket pastries be fresh. And, of course… in George Costanza we trust.

XOXO,
Jamie, Leigh & Ashley

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