The Hiatus From “Whole Self”

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From Day One Editors
November 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 16 minutes

Remember when workers were invited to “bring their whole selves to work”? When they were welcomed to zones of psychological safety and encouraged to speak freely? When they were given highly flexible work arrangements to suit their lifestyles? When dogs and cats roamed through Zoom meetings?

Well, those days are over. 

While no company will exactly say, “return to the office, and please leave your whole self at home,” corporate expectations have changed. The breezy notion of colorful individuality now feels risky. But where exactly are we now?

“The pendulum is swinging. This goes back and forth through the decades,” said Janine Yancey, founder and CEO of Emtrain, which creates workplace compliance and culture training. At the moment, Emtrain’s customers are focused on productivity, cost savings, and efficiency. “It’s really about the bottom line right now.” The employee experience and company culture has receded in importance. “That’s less of a priority,” Yancey told From Day One contributing editor Emily McCrary-Ruiz-Esparza. 

The “whole self” concept became HR gospel during the first half of the decade, propelled in different ways by three events: the pandemic, the surge of support for DEI, and the Great Resignation. 

During the pandemic, remote work offered glimpses into our colleagues’ homes and lives, and widely shared stress revealed new parts of ourselves. With schools and childcare centers closed, companies granted unprecedented flexibility for workers to care for family members. The social justice movement of 2020 also opened the door for self-sharing at work. Employers spun up employee resource groups and some invited employees to share their feelings in all-hands meetings. Some, like Walmart, even trained staff in mental health first aid to better recognize distress among coworkers.

The Definition Is Tricky

But what exactly does it mean to bring one’s whole self to work? It depends, and that may be the challenge as the bar is reset. Some may feel that it’s a license to dissolve healthy boundaries. Want to pitch a fit in a meeting? Go right ahead. That’s your whole self. 

Others may feel relief that they can talk openly about being on the autism spectrum without fear of discrimination. Like most trendy terms, its definition is nebulous. While individual companies may have taken the time to define the term, there’s been no broader consensus.

It’s unlikely that any employer ever wanted employees to bring everything to work. Insubordination was never welcome, even if it comes naturally. “Authenticity at work is guarded authenticity,” said John Higgins, who studies and writes about activism in the workplace. “Because at work, you can be fired. That’s the reality.”

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