Dress is one of the most readily observable manifestations of the company vibe, professionalism, diversity and inclusion, and more. Are you being intentional about this and creating guidelines for employee attire? If your answer is yes, what do you want dress to communicate about your company and its team members? If your answer is no, what does current employee choice in clothing reveal to you about the culture in your business?
Years ago, when I was newly emerged from the relatively
formal setting of a financial institution, I met a business coach just retired
from IBM. One of things I still remember about what he told me about his time
there was that a person could wear his suit with any color shirt he wanted – as
long as it was white. In the late 1980s they didn’t even have to say it out
loud for a worker to know that a tie was mandatory. IBM was notorious for its conservative dress
for men AND women. Now at IBM, business casual is the standard. A commenter on
the job search website Indeed.com recently described it as “Dress like you’re
going on a blind date to a coffee shop located inside a chapel.” Even IBM isn’t
as prescriptive anymore.
The transition to less formal dress in our larger American
work culture was happening already, influenced by the growth in tech companies
and a generation of workers who wanted to make its own rules. Now that the
pandemic has created a tidal wave of remote workers, temporary or permanent, athleisure
and very casual attire (with or without the accompaniment of shoes) have become
a comfy norm so readily embraced that it has made workers’ decisions to return
to the office a bit tougher. After all, on Zoom meetings you only have to look
good from the chest up!
Dress codes (or the lack thereof) can serve multiple
cultural purposes:
Branding – IBM did it
with suits, ties and white shirts. Now you’re more likely to see it in logoed
apparel like polos, tees, and sweaters. This provides several benefits.
·
There are no excuses for not coming to work
properly attired when the company gives you a uniform.
·
An employee doesn’t have to spend their personal
money for an extensive and appropriate work wardrobe.
·
The employer creates a consistent look out in
the field, in effect marketing the business with branded employees serving as
walking mini-billboards.
·
Branded attire for employees can also serve a safety
and security purpose for customers. It identifies employees who are entering residences
or office buildings, reassuring customers that it’s OK to let them in. Think
FedEx.
Professionalism –
Although professional gravitas is no longer only defined by jackets, ties, and skirts
with stockings, certain boundaries are still set. Garments like picture
t-shirts and leggings in customer facing settings can still cause an employee
to be sent home in some companies. Note: overly casual attire to the point of
sloppiness, especially among management, can be a warning of other aspects of
the business that are not being managed. A salesman told us of a job interview during
which the manager interviewer showed up in a crumpled picture t-shirt, shorts,
and flip flops. (It was not a tech company!) After the salesman said yes to the
job opportunity, he discovered that there was a persistent shortage of workspace
and basic office supplies, and shoddy work processes. He left after only a few
months.
Function and Status – Two
examples come to mind here – health care providers and the military. In both
instances there is attire prescribed by the function the individual is going to
perform. Scrubs serve the practical purpose of keeping personal clothing free
of stains and other damage. Camouflaged uniforms function to keep combatants
safer in hostile settings, and elements of the uniforms are designed specifically
to protect the body from injury.
From one perspective the uniform
communicates that “we are all the same”, one unit, and we can identify other
members of our team by their uniforms. But from another perspective, the
uniform formalizes the relative status of the person who wears it. In a
hospital, pediatric nurses wear different scrubs than do nurses who work in surgery.
Physicians are identified by their white coats. In the military - stripes,
bars, clusters, wings, and stars identify one’s branch and rank. Ribbons and
medals indicate accomplishments. And one’s authority is known irrefutably by
what is worn on one’s chest, collar, or sleeve.
Formality, Informality, Creativity
– Can you take yourself seriously when you are rocking jeans and a sweatshirt?
Can others? More casual attire telegraphs a more casual style of communication
and a more egalitarian culture. It does not indicate whether you are serious
about your work. Grooming, though, is not optional regardless of the formality
of the clothing expected in the work setting.
When status is not indicated by
whether you’re a “suit”, other ways of communicating stature and credibility
come to the fore. Without the clothing caste system, team members size up their
colleagues by characteristics like their manner of speaking, their people
skills, their knowledge, etc.
In some industries, clothing
needs to convey conservatism and responsibility, whether translated into more
formal or more casual terms. In some roles in certain industries, edgier, fashion
forward clothing choices among employees reveal attention to trends. If you’re
not demonstrating that you are ahead of the mainstream in your sartorial
choices you’re probably not in the right job.
Diversity and Inclusion –
Styles change over the years. Unless there are health and safety reasons (like
the uniformly “high and tight” haircuts mandated in the infantry), people in
your workplace express their identities through their clothing, choice of
hairstyle, tattoos and piercings, etc. Some choices are practical as in a ponytail
or protective hairstyle, some are extensions of an individual’s ethnic and
racial heritage, and others are for the sake of aesthetic preference or gender
expression. If you are not making room for diversity and inclusion, you are
missing the opportunity for a vibrant – and profitable – workforce.
Traditionally very conservative
in its dress code, Disney is a prime example of the change corporations are
making to support diversity and inclusion. In April 2021 Disney wrote that it now
permits “greater flexibility” regarding “gender-inclusive hairstyles, jewelry,
nail styles, and costume choices” while working. Employees will also be allowed
to have visible “appropriate tattoos”. The company has marketed itself as the
ultimate wholesome family experience for years. And now it is making these
changes to “not only remain relevant in today’s workplace,” but to create the
space for its team members to “better express their cultures and individuality
at work”.
More than superficial, dress is a powerful tool for
expressing your company culture, and it can be a strong contributing factor in
doing good business. What it all boils down to is whether a person can be themselves
and contribute, and whether together the team can help the organization attract
and retain customers. The visual impression is the first one – and it sometimes
creates lasting assumptions of who your team members are and what they can do.
This affects your business inside and outside. You want to be intentional about
managing it.
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