Executive Director
of the
Jim Moran Institute for
Global Entrepreneurship
at Florida State University
Appropriate Dress in the Workplace
One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.
~Arnold Glasgow
First impressions are so important for each and every company. As an employee’s appearance sends a psychological message about the company, I believe that dress is critical whether or not the employee interfaces with customers directly. When employees look sloppy or are inappropriately dressed, it communicates that sloppy work or inappropriate behavior is tolerated.
Dress codes are a company’s best way of managing the
appearance of its employees. The military is probably the best example
of a workplace with a dress code. They carefully mandate strict dress
code requirements that each person must follow.
Of course, having
strict dress codes does not necessarily guarantee that you will be free
of sloppy work products or inappropriate behavior. It does, however,
improve the morale of your organization.
When establishing your
company’s dress code, you need to think about what you consider to be
appropriate dress. If an employee is working in a factory, jeans are
clearly appropriate; but, jeans in an office setting may not be.
Whatever your situation, I think it is important to ensure that an
appropriate dress code is in place and enforced.
A number of
issues, however thorny, should be addressed in your company’s dress
code. Among these are tattoos and body piercings. Clearly a
significant trend with Generation Y (those born after 1979), tattoos
and body piercings have increased in prevalence. Somewhere between 35
to 50% of those in Generation Y have tattoos or body piercings.
Additionally, many of my friends in their 50’s and 60’s are getting
tattoos.
I am not suggesting that people should not have these,
as I considered getting one myself when I was in my Harley phase.
Rather, I am simply suggesting that these types of things be addressed
in your dress code. Most firms have handled this issue by stating that
body piercings and tattoos should not be visible in the workplace.
Type
and condition of clothing should also be considered when establishing
your dress code. Revealing clothing, as well as shirts with messages
that are not in good taste should be addressed. Even in a business
casual work environment, clothing should be pressed and never
wrinkled. Torn, dirty or frayed clothing is unacceptable.
When
creating your company’s dress code, consider that one of the best ways
to get employees to embrace a new rule is to seek their input up
front. Ask both employees and customers what they consider to be
appropriate dress. Once you have collected this data, develop a draft
policy and re-circulate it among your staff for their thoughts. You
will never get 100% buy-in, but giving employees a voice is an
important element that will contribute to their willingness to embrace
a dress code.
Having a very clear statement about the workplace
dress code in your employee manual is so important. Now go out and
make sure that you have one in place.
You can do this!
Jerry Osteryoung is the Jim Moran
Professor of Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Florida
State University. He is also the Director of the Entrepreneurship
Program at FSU and Executive Director of the Jim Moran Institute of
Global Entrepreneurship. He can be reached by e-mail at
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
or by phone at 850-644-3372.
This article originally published on April 23, 2007.
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