Author: VU Faculty
When I first started in this business, my employer required not only a coat and tie, but also a HAT! My how times have changed. In many organizations now, "business casual" is the order of the day. However, what constitutes "business casual," like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. As a result, without some guidelines, things can get out of hand.
"I know this question is very subjective, but I would like to hear what some of your experts' opinions are regarding agency dress codes. We are struggling with the corporate business dress or business casual dress issue within our agency. The management team seems to think corporate dress with coat and tie is the only way to go to promote a professional appearance and production would be negatively impacted if we lightened up on the dress code some.
"The staff believes a more flexible business casual dress code with a coat and tie on an as-appropriate basis is more staff friendly and practical, especially during the hot summers we experience here in Texas. I know this may seem a trivial issue but it is causing some serious dissention between the staff and management within our agency. Your thoughts and comments would be greatly appreciated."
When I first started in this business, my employer required not only a coat and tie, but also a HAT! My how times have changed. In many organizations now, "business casual" is the order of the day. However, what constitutes "business casual," like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. As a result, without some guidelines, things can get out of hand.
We ran this by our faculty and got the responses below.
Virtually all of my Texas clients, and this goes for agencies with $300,000 in commissions to $10,000,000 in commissions, have a business casual dress code. Most practice the upper end of business casual.
It causes dissension in a lot of agencies. The biggest problem is, when you relax dress codes, people take advantage. The agencies that have had most success have gone to a khaki or navy twill for pants or skirts and shirts with the agency logo. I have one agency that provided shirts for all of the employees in a variety of colors, 5 for each person. This is their summer dress code.
All employees come in looking professional in their cotton twills and shirts. They love it. When the occasion arises that a coat and tie or similar attire for the ladies is required, there is no problem.
When the dress code is relaxed, people have different tastes and you get all kinds of inappropriate dress. I recommend the "uniform" approach or nothing.
I am pretty much constantly on the road visiting agencies throughout the U.S. and Canada. Professionalism is reflected by what's above the neck more than below it. However, radical and extreme casual dress does reflect an attitude back to clients that may be different than the one desired by the agency.
Most agencies are now in 'business casual' attire with an even more casual (or a themed) Friday. Many are purchasing logo products and either having employees wear the same (or any) logo attire as a form of uniform. Formal attire is used when important guests are expected or for staffers who visit clients expecting more formal dress.
Business casual has taken over because businesses have become more aware that professionalism can actually be enhanced by allowing employees to be comfortable at work.
Over the last few years I have seen most of the larger, more professional agencies move toward a more casual dress code but with specific, strictly enforced guidelines for what is appropriately called "business" casual — definitely no jeans, T-shirts, shorts, tank tops, sneakers, etc. It is rare that we see an office requiring coats and ties.
My suggestion is to form an employee team to draft the guidelines for management to approve. Let the team know that in drafting the guidelines, it needs to answer this question — if our most important client were to visit the office unannounced and for the first time, what impression would they have of the staff?
On approving the guidelines, management should probably stress that a relaxation of the dress code does not also mean a relaxation of the work ethic! With management being supportive of employees' desires to go a little more casual, and letting them set the standards, you might just see an improvement.
I generally follow one simple rule - if I'm interacting with a prospect, client, or referral source face to face, I'm wearing a tie.
Back office folks can dress business casual (collared shirts, no jeans/sneakers, etc.). Have clear, written guidelines and do not deviate from them.
I worked in a 40-person shop and we went to a business casual dress code. The problem was that 2-3 individuals didn't understand the concept of BUSINESS casual and initially came in with tshirts and jeans and sandals. It's important to define the parameters of what is and is not acceptable. Otherwise, you'll find that a small number of people will ruin it for everyone.
In our case, rather than show a little backbone and discuss the issue with the offenders, the office manager took the easy way out and reverted to our old shirt and tie requirement. Do the numbers...when I wore a suit daily, my annual dry cleaning and laundry bill was just over $1,000. Adopting an effective business casual dress code not only makes for a more comfortable working environment (and less dress time in the morning), it's like giving everyone a raise!
Do you have an opinion? If you have implemented an agency dress code? If so, feel free to email your tips or even your entire dress code if you're willing to share to Bill.Wilson@iiaba.net and we'll post the information here:
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