'If you're waiting for everything to blow up, it's already too late'

In today's rapidly changing work environment, the lines between employment law, workplace culture and societal expectations have become increasingly blurred. T. Maxine Woods-McMillan, employment law attorney at Equity Esquire, PLLC and Of Counsel at AbsolutLAW, began her career in HR – meaning she’s seen all sides of the entire employment cycle.

Speaking on the major challenges lawyers and employers are seeing right now, she tells HRD that they’re both grappling with the same pitfalls and practices – mainly looking at how culture and environment impacts employee expectations.

“I think it's two sides of the same coin," she tells HRD, emphasizing the importance of understanding and inspecting workplace culture. 

Woods-McMillan notes that while companies have traditionally stuck to their handbooks and policies, the evolving societal demands require a more adaptive approach.

"Our collective culture society in general is evolving and as a result, demands more from us."

Speaking to HRD, Woods-McMillan stresses the significance of HR leaders becoming strategic partners, ensuring policies align with company values, especially in an age where everything is documented.

“It's demanding more from us as HR leaders, where we’re definitely no longer managing paperwork,” she says. “We have to be strategic partners in designing policies and inspecting cultures – ensuring that the policies are congruent with what we say are. Because people are holding us accountable more than ever before – and everything is documented. Nothing disappears.”

As such, it’s imperative that employers and HR leaders keep abreast of any changes, ensuring those policies are adhered to in the fullest. It’s also about identifying and tracking any potential future trends – and keeping an eye on what’s coming down the line.

“When I started in HR,” says Woods-McMillan, “you responded to what was brought to you. You didn’t go looking for extra problems. However, the wiser HR practitioners know that if you’re waiting until everything blows up then it’s already too late. Because in HR you’re already wearing hundreds of different hats – and one of them should be crisis prevention.

“I work with clients on this because it's important to look at what's coming down the road. If you see 15 other businesses contending with it, what's your plan? Because time spent in prevention is far less  than time spent in cure.”

As Woods-McMillan tells HRD, both the challenges and the opportunities for employers this year entail looking at how the social political climate impacts what they do in the workplace.

“Although everyone doesn't have to come out and declare their position, they have to know what their position is. Because our workforce and society as a whole demands more of workplaces now than they have in the past. There's no longer a dark line of demarcation between workplace and culture. We're in a new place. We’re evolving and so it's a challenge, but it's also an opportunity.”