Is It Time for a Dress Code?

Q: I manage a small office with about ten employees, and I’m having a hard time convincing my very young workforce of 20-something’s that they should not dress so sloppily. The guys wear wrinkled shirts, shorts, even flip-flops. The gals don’t fare much better. Granted, most of our business is done online and we have only the occasional client or vendor pay us a visit, but I’d like us to have a more professional environment nonetheless. How do I get them to dress more professionally?

A: Dressing very casually (too casually) has become popular among young workers. And who can blame them. In addition to being just plain comfortable, this style has the added appeal of being in vogue at some “cool workplaces” in the West coast where you might even be allowed to bring your dog to work.

So it’s not surprising that in the absence of a formal dress code, your employees gravitated to what’s comfy, easy and hip.

But I’m not a big fan of this trend. And I agree with you that in an office, it’s important to have appropriate work attire and to maintain minimum decorum. So, I recommend you establish a dress code. Here’s how:

Fit the policy to the rationale. You’re not interested in having everyone wear a suit; you simply want to avoid sloppiness. Perhaps a “business-casual, emphasis-on-comfort” dress code will do the trick.
Get buy in. Enlist employee’s help in crafting the policy. Deal with objections beforehand.
Avoid the weeds. Don’t get too specific or try to anticipate every possible inappropriate attire. Leave room for using your “management discretion.”
Recognize and enforce. Give your approval if you see good examples “Everyone is looking spiffy this morning”. Conversely, be prepared to send someone home if they show up in torn jeans or cut-offs.

Lastly, recognize that dress code is only a beginning: You could later extend to the entire office environment, to the way work areas are kept, what hangs on the walls, even how people interact with each other. In other words, when you raise the bar of professionalism for dressing, you raise it for everything else. And that’s a good thing.

More Tips and ideas here.