Do the clothes we wear affect how we work? Does it affect our influence on our customers or colleagues? How we present ourselves.
From the little research I've done before writing this, it seems that the opinion is divided between those who think dressing for work should be smart and others who think casual is fine. A question was posted on Twitter just recently regarding what smart-casual is and this blog post has come out of that. There was a variety of responses.
It's an interesting subject to consider - in my office we have recently be advised that senior management in our head office have decided all the men should wear ties again (requirement for ties had been relaxed for some time, unless meeting with clients). I had heard that some staff members (not from my office) had been away on business in a Southern Hemisphere country and had gone to visit their clients wearing shorts and t-shirts! I have to wonder why these 'professionals' even considered this would be acceptable dress for a business meeting - never mind how hot it was! It obviously didn't create the right first impression.
I also heard a story about a relationship manager going to meet their corporate client and turned up to their office to find all the staff in jeans and flip flops and felt it could have been the office of a well-known social media provider, rather than an office of corporate professionals managing their clients' millions of pounds! Why did the manager feel that way?
I had a look into what 'casual' means and came up with the following:
- being without ceremony or formalising, relaxed (casual events)
- being or seeming unconcerned or apathetic (casual attitude)
- shallow or superficial (casual affair)
- not serious or thorough, hasty and without attention to detail (casual inspection)
- without definite or serious intention, offhand (casual remark)
All seems to be negative in my opinion.
I wonder if I'm slightly biased writing this - my own opinion is that working in a professional environment (for me it's facilities management within the finance industry) should mean we dress for that environment. Smart dress, smart mind! Does sloppy dress mean sloppy work? Does casual dress mean casual attitude? That we don't work as hard? Are we as productive wearing jeans and t-shirt as we are wearing a suit? Do we work better if we feel comfortable in what we are wearing?
Personally, I feel better about myself if I make a little bit of an effort when I get dressed in the mornings. Being very honest, there are very few times when I like what I see in the mirror and if I can feel confident in what I'm wearing then it helps with my confidence in the office and facing the variety of issues/dramas of daily life in facilities management!! Something smart, high heels, hair done nicely and a bit of make up will make me feel a little more powerful. Then there's the 'lucky pants'! Actually I don't have lucky pants but a matching set of underwear is always a good way to start the day (however, if you ever meet me you can't ask me about it - I blush very easily!!!!!).
Let's get back to the point......perhaps there's an argument for wearing something in-between? Smart-casual? What about 'dress down Friday'? I feel like I'm asking more questions rather than giving answers. I don't think I have the answers.
Should what we wear be a matter of personal choice? Does it matter what our customers' think or expect? What do we expect when we go into an establishment? A bank or insurance office? A hotel or restaurant? I'm sure we all have expectations.....what are they? Should we pay attention to our own expectations of others when we make the decision of what we are going to wear, how we portray ourselves.
Please feel free to leave comments, giving your thoughts on this. It would be great to have feedback!
Interesting blog Naomi and agree with what you say. Appearance is important and goes both ways. I once attended a pre-tender briefing where all the potential suppliers wore smart business attire. The customer's procurement professional (who was presenting) wore casual clothes as it was Friday. Perhaps I am a traditionalist but think appearance does say a lot about a person.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting topic, this one, and I think a lot comes down to the occasion. When I'm in the office, it's very much casual wear - jeans, t-shirts, even hoodies (Mark Zuckerberg style) in the Winter. However, if I'm meeting clients or potential clients, it's upgraded to smart trousers and a jacket. Then for an event such as ThinkFM a few weeks ago, it's a suit. The danger, of course, is that a client may pop in unexpectedly and I get caught with my (not so lucky) pants down!
ReplyDeleteWhen in the office, I tend to find myself being more productive when dressed casually as I'm able to relax more, but perhaps that's because my job is more focused around marketing and design and I feel a little 'creatively stifled' in a suit. This is almost definitely psychosomatic - there is logically no reason why anyone's clothes should make them more or less creative - but nevertheless it does have an impact on me.
Perhaps it's also a symptom of the service we offer - as a training company we want people to feel relaxed when they are with us and so promote a culture of more casual dress, although interestingly there is a noticeable difference between our Leeds and London offices - Leeds is definitely a little more formal than London - no hoodies or t-shirts to be found there!
I think ultimately, it's down to expectations. If no-one can see me in the office, I can wear what I want so long as I do what I need to do. But if I'm going to be meeting anyone, I should definitely make the effort to dress up to match what they expect of me - to not do this would effectively be to say that I don't think they're worth bothering with, which would be both offensive and counter-productive for me.
I appear to have rambled on a bit there without providing any definitive answers, so I'll draw it to a close. On a totally different note, good luck with becoming Vice Chair of the Channel Islands region!
Chris