Happy Thursday, everyone.
I'm Frank Richardson, an organisational psychologist observing the workplace with curiosity and care. Each week, I share insights to help HR leaders better understand the people behind the processes and build cultures where both individuals and organisations can thrive.
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This week in workplace whiplash š
From āproductivity policingā to frozen layoffs, the work world has been doing its usual high-wire act, proving once again that HR is where order meets absurdity.
š¬ HRās no-nonsense email to intern goes viral: āAvoid sleeping in officeā
A seemingly routine email from HR, instructing an intern not to nap or use the terrace, went viral after being posted on Reddit and other social media platforms. A reminder that tone, trust, and transparency matter just as much as policy.šļø āEmail reveals āinsaneā 5-minute rule and bathroom policy for WFH staffā
A leaked memo from a U.S. company shows remote employees must notify their teams if they step away even for 5 minutes, including to use the bathroom, sparking backlash over micromanagement.
šHR Grapevine
š¢ Federal HR Freeze: Judge Orders Pause on 4,100 Layoffs Amid Shutdown
A federal judge temporarily blocked the Donald Trump administrationās plan to lay off more than 4,100 workers during the ongoing government shutdown, citing legal impropriety and human cost.
Ā šWashington Postš Amazon Eyes Major Cuts in HR Function
Amazon is reportedly planning a significant wave of layoffs, up to 15 % of its global workforce, with impact focused on its People Experience & Technology (PXT) division (which includes recruiting and other HR functions)
Ā šTimes of India
After a week of oversight gone wild, layoffs on pause, and HR roles on the chopping block, it feels apt to look at the other workplace tension we canāt seem to manageā¦ the coworkers who get under our skin.
I once had to work with someone who made my blood boil. Every meeting was a test of restraint. They interrupted, micromanaged, and began every sentence with āActuallyā¦ā I fantasised about telling them exactly what I thought. But of course, I couldnāt.
Unlike Donald Trump, most of us canāt look across the table and say, āI donāt like you, and I probably never willā (he said that this week to Australiaās ambassador Kevin Rudd during a meeting in Washington). For the rest of us, biting our tongue is part of the job description.
And yet, almost everyone has a āKevinā of their own: the colleague who sparks eye twitches, the boss whose emails feel like cortisol, the team-mate youād never survive a road trip with. According to Gallupās workplace research, one in two employees has quit a job to escape a bad manager, proof that itās not the work itself that burns us out, itās the people we canāt stand working with.
So if you canāt quit, and you canāt āpull a Trump,ā how do you survive, and even succeed, alongside someone who makes your jaw clench?
š§ The Behavioural Science Lens
Thereās a reason that colleague makes your blood pressure spike, and itās not just their personality. Behavioural science has a few things to say about it.
We form fast, sticky impressions: The halo and horn effects show how one strong trait like confidence, arrogance, charm (or lack of it), colours everything else we perceive about a person. That bias is why one irritating behaviour can eclipse ten neutral ones.
Power only intensifies the problem: In a classic paper on power and inhibition, psychologists Dacher Keltner, Deborah Gruenfeld and Cameron Anderson found that people in higher-status positions feel freer to act on impulse, while those lower down the hierarchy censor themselves. Itās why bosses can be blunt and the rest of us must smile through gritted teeth.
Conflict hurts more than we admit: A landmark study in Science found that social rejection activates the same brain regions as physical pain. Which explains why a dismissive glance or a frosty email from your least-favourite colleague can sting as much as a paper cut.
Not liking someone doesnāt make you unprofessional. It just means youāre human in a workplace full of politics. The challenge is managing those instincts without letting them manage you.
šWhat This Means for Leaders (and everyone else)
Reframe the enemy: Swap āHow do I get along with this person?ā for āHow do I make this partnership work?ā Anchoring to a shared outcome reduces the emotional weight of every interaction. You donāt need to force chemistry, try for clarity instead.
Find one thing to respect: Use strategic empathy. Pick a single trait you can genuinely appreciate. Maybe theyāre decisive, meticulous, or fast. Redirecting your focus can rebalance perceptions and reduce irritation.
Add structure to shrink friction: Agree on how and when youāll communicate. Set boundaries around feedback and deadlines. Systems make personalities matter less by keeping collaboration inside predictable lanes.
Mind the power effect: If youāre the senior person, your candour lands harder than you think. Those studies on power and disinhibition show us that authority reduces empathy and restraint. So pause before you āsay it like it is.ā Clarity is good, but cruelty is lazy.
Lead like a grown-up: As Stanford professor Robert Sutton puts it in The No Asshole Rule, civility isnāt soft, itās strategic. Predictability, respect, and boundaries are what keep teams functional when personalities clash.
š¬ Final thoughts
Trump and Rudd may never be friends, but they still showed up, shook hands, and did their jobs. The rest of us have to do the sameā¦ ideally with more grace.
You donāt have to like everyone you work with, you just have to keep the mission moving. Remember, the goal is progress, not harmony. And sometimes, the most professional thing you can do is quietly outclass the person you canāt stand.
How's the depth of today's edition?
If something here speaks to you, Iād love to hear it.
Until next week,
Frank
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