November 1, 2017 at 6:54 am
I have worked at bank which required business casual and the IT dept. was a 5 out of 10 on skill and time to get things done.
I currently work at a software company and we can dress anyway we want (within reason) and its some of the most talented hardest working people I have ever been around. We can do in weeks what would have taken a year at the bank.
We have customers and local business people coming to our building all the time. Dress does not make you more professional or a better worker. Let employees where whatt they want and hire good people and you willl be way more successful. Ik ow for a fact some of these really talented people would avoid working for a place with a dress code.
November 1, 2017 at 7:59 am
I don't know whether dressing formal helps you work better or more professionally. I have worked in both formal and casual environments, and I much prefer casual. The place I work now is a casual environment and I consider that the second best perk of working there, right behind the extremely short commute.
Be still, and know that I am God - Psalm 46:10
November 1, 2017 at 8:01 am
craig.fullen - Wednesday, November 1, 2017 6:54 AMI currently work at a software company and we can dress anyway we want (within reason) and its some of the most talented hardest working people I have ever been around. We can do in weeks what would have taken a year at the bank.
Ah yes, Craig, but there is a dress code amongst coders and that is jeans and a t-shirt. Turn up in a suit and you are not treated by the coders as one of them.
November 1, 2017 at 8:34 am
In my current position, from day 1 we were required to wear an approved polo type or button up shirt with the department name and county logo, so that as we move about the building, people would know that we were in I.T. and belonged in the department area. Jeans are ok, as long as they are in good shape. Recently, someone complained about one person in our department wearing shirts that showed cleavage, and yoga pants, ( as time went on, and managers came and went, the dress rules became lax ) so our manager has spent hours with research and meetings to upgrade our dress code, rather than enforce the one we already had with one person. So now, the bulk of our department has to spend lots of money upgrading their wardrobe for work, and the one that caused this change is happy because she gets to go shopping. Being the most senior member of our department, I have never heard a complaint from a user, or department on the manner of dress the I.T. department practices, but this one incident caused the manager to determine that we don't look professional enough for an I.T. department. Now we have users complaining about no helpdesk service because we are in meetings discussing a dress code. Professionalism is more about the quality of work, and positive interaction with your users/customers, as they will remember if the work was done well, and if you were a jerk or not, before they remember if you were wearing holey jeans.
November 1, 2017 at 8:34 am
I work in state government and in my state's capital, so business attire is required of everyone. I believe for most people its fine. Its harder for me, because I worked for a university for several years, where no one ever wore business attire. However, let's be honest, that's just my problem. My co-workers seem fine wearing business attire.
Kindest Regards, Rod Connect with me on LinkedIn.
November 1, 2017 at 8:50 am
In reference to the first poster who was given a job because he wore a suit and tie in spite of being told not to, that is a bad situation all around. I would go against hiring someone because if they can't follow interview instructions they may have trouble following other things as well.
In truth, I think the best advice is to consider what position you want, and mimic the person hiring for that position. The truth is that clothes don't matter. But most bosses look to replicate themselves. Meanwhile dress code can provide companies with a competitive advantage. As a developer I wouldn't consider a job requiring suit and tie without at least a 40% premium in pay. Personally, I would question any IT person willing to take such jobs without some extra compensation because so many jobs don't require it.
November 1, 2017 at 8:53 am
Back in the days when I got calls in the middle of the night, it was apparently OK for me to fix production problems in my pajamas. OTOH, the various financial crisis' of the past few decades were perpetuated by people wearing Brooks Brother, Armani, Brioni, etc. suits. Draw your own conclusions.
November 1, 2017 at 9:50 am
Short-term and long-term communications
I think the key phrase is "make an effort." The clothes we wear are a non-verbal communication of making an effort.
If what we wear communicates that we don't care at all, and *will not* make an effort, to some extent, it will be taken as a statement of what kind of work we will do. It makes a difference both to ourselves, our colleagues and our customers.
In my current job, my customers are almost exclusively other information technologists.
On the other hand, if you build a strong reputation of good work, work that shows you make an effort to excel, clothes become less significant. Even then, there are boundaries. Our different cultures, temperature zones, and other factors are part of determining those. Of course, making an effort with what we wear must be followed up by making an effort in our work; it is a two-way street. I would rather have a co-worker who does excellent work and is not concerned about clothes than one who always dresses smartly, but cannot be bothered to make the same effort in their work.
November 1, 2017 at 10:00 am
Where I work it is casual wear. We are pretty much free to wear what we want, within reason. Some people wear jeans, trainers and possibly a rock t-shirt etc. Other dress smartly in a suit. I'm somewhere in the middle. Despite having the option to wear jeans etc, I choose to wear slightly smarter wear: chinos, collared polo and shoes. It separates my work attire from my "normal" attire.
Regards
Steve
November 1, 2017 at 10:36 am
I worked at a company in the late 90's that still required a button down shirt and tie every day for the men. Of course the women's dress code was more relaxed for whatever reason. Anyway, there was one guy who managed to actually get a note from his doctor saying he didn't have to wear a tie because it aggravated a breathing condition of his.
November 1, 2017 at 10:46 am
While back I was working with another consultant for a client with multiple sites which we had to wisit, none of those had a strict dress code. My consultant partner wore t-shirts and jeans whilst I was suited and booted as usual. Cutting it short, there was a massive difference in how the the two of us were addressed (think Master/Slave)
😎
November 1, 2017 at 11:06 am
kiwood - Wednesday, November 1, 2017 8:50 AMIn reference to the first poster who was given a job because he wore a suit and tie in spite of being told not to, that is a bad situation all around. I would go against hiring someone because if they can't follow interview instructions they may have trouble following other things as well.
My impression is that it wasn't the company that told him that, but was other people. Maybe he can clarify.
The truth is, numerous testing has shown that no matter what people say, well (not overdone) dressed people DO sub consciously score higher in judgement of reliability. That's not completely unreasonable. Someone who takes to time to care about how they look may well tend to have higher personal standards than the 'take me as I am crowd'. Similar testing has shown a number of other seemingly trivial personal habits that have similar negative/positive effects.
Now, I say this being a guy who hates to wear a tie, fortunately that is not a big issue here. But I never come to work as a slob, nor do I go for the minimum required by our fairly comfortable dress code.
[Maybe it's a bit much, but at home if i'm knee deep in work on the house or the cars, I will change my clothes just to head out to Home Depot or the auto parts store, where one might be expected to show up a bit messy]
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
November 1, 2017 at 11:23 am
The idea that people are smarter or more professional because they wear a suit is simply because of history; not so very long ago, everyone dealt with a person wearing a suit and so suits were expected. It's purely psychological and over time, as people dress more casually for work, then casual will become the accepted normal.
Personally, I feel that people do their best work when wearing clothes that make them feel most comfortable, whether it be a suit or shorts.
November 1, 2017 at 11:24 am
Chris Harshman - Wednesday, November 1, 2017 10:36 AMI worked at a company in the late 90's that still required a button down shirt and tie every day for the men. Of course the women's dress code was more relaxed for whatever reason. Anyway, there was one guy who managed to actually get a note from his doctor saying he didn't have to wear a tie because it aggravated a breathing condition of his.
I know a woman who got a note from the company nurse that she didn't need to wear a bra for the same reason.
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-- FORTRAN manual for Xerox Computers --
November 1, 2017 at 11:45 am
Hi Ben,
I´m convinced that a good suit will never replace you skills at work. But also, I´m convinced that you must feel comfortable, and powerfull, with you attire. Because it is an extension of your personallity.
In general as my mentor Dan lok said, I prefeer to look as the owner of the bank rather than as customer who ask for a loan.
Miguel.
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