Here’s a scenario very likely to happen at a small-business this summer: The owner arrives in the morning and is greeted not only by the company’s receptionist, but by her exposed navel. And maybe her nose ring, too.
In the summer heat, many employees, particularly those in their first jobs, may show up for work in rather skimpy attire that a small-business owner feels is unsuitable for the workplace. The solution is to create a dress code — something that every business has the right to do.
Tory Johnson dealt with the issue just a few weeks ago. Three interns, ages 19 to 21, showed up at Johnson’s Manhattan recruitment services firm with tank tops, exposed bra straps and flip-flops.
“Not only is that totally inappropriate in any office — I couldn’t care less how hot it is outside — but since my company focuses on the advancement of professional women, it’s doubly unacceptable to me,” said Johnson, chief executive of Women For Hire.
Johnson spoke to the young women, and “they got it immediately.” As is often the case, they had no idea about how they should dress for work.
Bonnie Beirne, director of service operations for Administaff Inc., a Houston-based company that provides human resources outsourcing, says a dress code should be in writing, but even if a business doesn’t have one, an owner still has the right to tell a staffer that he or she needs to wear appropriate attire.
That means telling an employee: “I realize we don’t have something in writing, but I’m going to be putting together a policy communicating our dress-code policy more formally.”
An owner also needs to explain to workers that how they dress delivers a message to customers and vendors.
“It goes back to image and branding for your company, what are you saying to your customers,” Beirne said.
When staffers dress for work as if they’re going to the beach, there’s also likely to be resentment among co-workers who do dress more professionally.
At Logos Research Systems Inc., the dress code was ultra-casual; even the president came in wearing shorts. Just about anything was OK, until a new employee showed up in sweats and a baseball cap and not having taken a shower for several days running.
Dan Pritchett, vice president for marketing and business development for the Bellingham software company, said, “sadly, we were big chickens; we waited longer than we should have” to address the situation. But after about three weeks, it had to be dealt with and the staffer was told to dress better and take regular showers.
“The reaction was much rejoicing because the majority of the people couldn’t take the smell and the look,” Pritchett said.
Logos does have a dress code now, but it’s still quite lenient; shorts, but not cutoffs, are OK. But Pritchett said the general attire in the company, while casual, has become much more serious because the president, Pritchett’s brother Bob, is dressing a little more professionally.
“He got tired of being embarrassed” when customers, vendors, even journalists would show up wearing business clothes while the president was wearing shorts, Dan Pritchett said. When Bob started dressing better, wearing slacks and a button-down shirt, so did staffers.
A dress code should spell out what is and isn’t appropriate for that company. But it should be specific: For example, if you want to allow workers to wear shorts, you should make clear how long they should be, and if you are banning cutoffs, say so. If it’s all right for women to wear sleeveless tops but not tank tops, and if their blouses shouldn’t be made of see-through fabric, you need to state that as well.
When you do address the issue with an individual employee, Beirne suggests doing so in a nonthreatening manner. Very often, a worker truly doesn’t realize that his or her clothes don’t belong in the workplace. And make it clear you’re not singling out this employee — you’ll be creating a dress code for everyone to follow.
“Keep explaining this is how we want our company to be run,” she said.
With that context, employees aren’t likely to balk, as Johnson and Pritchett’s company found. If they do, then an owner is likely to end up dealing with a performance and discipline issue.
You should also consider the physical environment in your company — is there a lot of exposed skin in your office because the air conditioning is faulty, or because there are no shades on the windows to prevent the sun from streaming in? If so, you should remedy the situation, and, in the process, acknowledge your employees’ needs.
Joyce Rosenberg writes about small-business issues for the Associated Press.
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