Are you getting in the way of your employees productivity? Are you cramping their style? What if you create a wonderful incentive plan with no upfront investment involved? How would you go about accomplishing this? Maybe you should look at the dress code. No, seriously. The dress code could be getting in the way of employee productivity.
What if the attire worn by professionals made it easier for individuals to comfortably interact with customers? Customers like doing business with people they feel comfortable with being around. Some our VerticalResponse team meets with clients wearing the most casual gear. And the response? Customers and prospects feel comfortable sharing their information with us and find us easily approachable. It has worked to our advantage thus far. We’ve been able to attend tradeshows, expand our network of contacts and easily generate leads as a result. Our people feel comfortable and it shows in how they interact with our customers.
What if the rigid dress code policy discourages creativity? The most creative people have a style of dress that is truly all their own. Can you picture the greatest innovations in the world being developed with a suit, tie or stuffy blouse? Our company’s liberal dress code policy gives our employees a means to creatively express themselves. We’ve found interesting trendsetters in the bunch. We’ve also been pleasantly surprised at how much more creativity we’ve gotten out of our employees as a result of this lax policy. When people are comfortable wearing what works for them, we get the best results, we’ve found.
Here’s what we have seen so far.
1. We’ve had tremendous success at VerticaResponse in creating themed days. Our staff enjoys the “fabulous shoe Friday” themed day.
2. Our preferred casual style item is the logo’d hoodie, which is worn by a lot of our staff in and outside of the office.
3. Our employees work best when they wear what they want.
4. Our employees feel comfortable wearing what they want to in the presence of their peers.
5. Our employees say that this takes the stress out of considering what to wear each day.
While different types of corporate cultures and the industry type dictates the corporate dress code guidelines, some companies would find better productivity in easing up a bit on the stringent policy. Depending on the level of client interaction and the type of business, a company may be able to get away with a more lax policy.
Of course, there will always be that one person who takes it a little too far, but for the most part, people will dress appropriately for the work environment and can pull off a more lax dress code policy. They get it. Do you have any office attire surprises that took the team by surprise?
Image Credit: slworking2
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