YES, APPEARANCE MATTERS

I have always been lucky to work in the creative industry where dress code is very flexible or honestly, even close to non-existent. The office manuals and contracts in all the places I have worked have flexible expectations but after reading it, one gets the feeling that the employers expect you to enjoy the flexibility but also be responsible and adult enough not to push it too far. 

But that is where I have worked, because in the arts world, employers and clients don’t expect much in terms of how you dress, they are more interested in what you can deliver. After all, there is nothing quite ‘normal’ about designers, painters, musicians... 

But that is in the creative world. The story is very different elsewhere. When enforcing a company dress code, the management has obviously considered its importance to the company and perhaps to the worker too. There are companies whose client pull is highly dependent on appearances as it is on delivery. These companies must portray a certain image to their customers or clients and those representing the company need to consistently appear a certain way to promote the idea of reliability, respect or professionalism to customers.

The employers of such companies expect their employees to dress in a particular way when they are meeting with customers or clients in person. Imagine how awkward it would be if someone showed up for a business meeting wearing a business suit and the other showed up in workout gear. Unless the meeting is at a gymnasium, I really don’t understand how you would expect to get out of that embarrassment. 

A while back, I used to work with someone whose hair would have put peacocks to shame. You see, peacocks have really beautiful colours going for them, but what my former colleague had was the ability to change her hair colour every day. Before I met her, I had never imagined the existence of pink or blue or purple hair. Her hair was a very interesting way to express herself, but our clients didn’t quite agree because they finally asked our boss to talk to her about her image or simply not come back with her for presentations. I had never seen my boss look so out of place.

No one wants to be embarrassed. As long as the employer communicates the dress code to the employees in advance, there should be no issues. We should all understand that not putting a dress code in place gives anyone the liberty to wear anything of his or her choice, something that poses a risk of distraction to other employees.

In the end, a dress code really protects both the employer and the employee and helps both avoid safety problems, unfortunate human resource issues, or even a public relations disaster.

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ARE PEOPLE HIRING TEENAGERS?

It’s only teenagers who have the ability to wear just about anything and get away with it simply because they are teenagers. However, adults are mature and responsible people who don’t need a manual of dress code policies. I think a simple "dress professionally and smart,” can generate 98 per cent of the expected results (no proof though).

I believe that the best dress code policies don’t insult employees by stating every stitch, style, and fabric employers might pull out of their closets. Imagine spending valuable time discussing what to incorporate in the dress code policy when that time could be put to better use.

True, when things don’t go accordingly, a simple conversation like "I know it’s difficult to balance between professionalism and nonchalance, but I think you should lean more towards the professional side,” can help streamline things. Conversation is critical in business. Why would we want to force everyone into a rigid and conservative attitude that assumes they can’t dress themselves?

Before we even begin to write these dress code policies, has anyone ever thought how they affect an employer’s financial status? For instance, bankers and lawyers are supposed to adhere to a strict suits and ties dress code for men and conservative business attire for women.

With exception of Fridays when they can wear company branded t-shirts, and weekends, it’s pretty much like that. Imagine how they’ll have to spend on clothes because they have to have a new suit, which as we know, doesn’t come cheap. 

Secondly, since when does someone’s dress code ever guarantee good results? We should treat employees like adults, and stop writing endless policies that tell people how to do things any adult can do without help, such as picking clothes to wear to work. We can get out of the policy-writing frenzy and make room for people to dress themselves for work.

Of course this doesn’t mean that one should come dressed like they just walked off the set of some X-rated movie. Keep the club-wear and fetish clothing for after work or better still, do away with it completely. Human Resource (HR) personnel need to always let people know that working in an office is different from working in a night club, or whatever.

So, it is trivial and meaningless when HR’s drink too much corporate Kool-Aid and think that the best way to put their time to good use is to discuss whether employees should be allowed to put on pedal pushers at work or if men with pierced ears should be allowed to show up with their studs. 

HR personnel have far more important things to focus on than telling grown people how to dress. The most important thing is to hire mature and creative people who don’t need parenting. However, if we are determined to continue managing even the most trivial of issues, we’ll get mediocrity and apathy.