101 Dress Code
There’s no question that business culture in America has become increasingly casual. Stiff hierarchal organizations are fading away in favor of flat businesses that encourage bottom-up, not top-down, management.
That sense of casualness has trickled down into how people dress for work as well. In fact, it’s hard to tell what’s right and what’s wrong to wear in the workplace. Here are some online experts and their take on what your office dress code should be.
What’s the purpose? Before you can determine your company’s dress code, you need to understand what your underlying goal is, according to F. John Reh on About.com.
“If your goal is friendly customer service, suit and tie is probably not a good choice. If you want visitors to your office to have a sense of strength and stability, you may want to avoid the torn T-shirt look,” Reh says.
Think about job types and industry. Before you develop your policy, you should consider the different types of work people do at your company as well as that norm for your industry, according to Rick Gibbs on his blog “HR and the City.”
Once you cover those bases, it’s time to write your policy. According to Gibbs, a policy should define what professional dress is at your company.
“In your policy you can give examples of types of professional dress items that are appropriate in your workplace... You may also wish to spell out with specificity certain outfits or accessories that are not acceptable in the workplace.”
Be consistent. No matter if you embrace or outlaw flip-flops, you need to make sure your dress code is articulated clearly and enforced consistently throughout the organization.
If exceptions are made for certain employees, “the employer faces the threat of discrimination lawsuits by employees,” according to an article on EmployeeIssues.com.
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