Wearing Ties is so Yesterday

Ties are stupid.? No, you don’t need to wear a suit anymore.? Dress shoes just get ruined in the Chicagoland Winter.?

I have heard them all before, mostly because they are directed at me.? I wear a suit.? I wear a tie.? I get my dress shoes shined.? I have clients of 20 years tell me, “You do not need to dress up for me.”

I appreciate the concern.? I really do. However, it is not about the suit or the tie for me. It is about the uniform.? It is about getting prepped for a very important client meeting.? It is about being prepared.? It is about a respect for our current clients, professionalism for future clients’ expectations, a standard that employees understand.?

Too often in today’s casual work world, it is all about the employee.? In a tight labor market, there are a lot of employers that feel they don’t have a choice.? If I don’t let my people dress casually, they will not work for the company.? Other companies are allowing a casual dress policy, after all they work from home a lot.? As a result, the workforce has become casual.?

In some industries, this is a welcome relief.? Programming, IT, engineering and other industries that are not client facing, are all occupations that the client experience is not impacted by the dress code.? The dress code should be designed to be the most productive for these workers.?

There are other industries that are not client facing that a dress code can be an important element of productivity.? Working in a manufacturing facility could be one of those instances.? It is not often that a client does a factory tour, but on those days that they do, it presents a very different image to clients.?

Imagine walking into a facility where every worker had a clean uniform on.? What would that tell you about that shop?? It would tell me a few things.? First, the person running the facility thought pride in his work was important.? Just like in the big game, before you got to the stadium, you put on your uniform.?

Second, you are part of a bigger team.? If receiving doesn’t get the parts to the right place on the floor, production will stop.? If shipping doesn’t get the product out on time, clients could be upset.? To be part of the team, you earn the uniform you wear.?

Third, uniforms encourage safety, both on the manufacturing side and the security side.? As a facility, you want to make sure clothing does not impair the manufacturing process.? You also want to know who is in the building has a right to be in the building.

In any service business, it is the same.? Wearing a uniform creates a team atmosphere.? It creates a brand.? It creates an identity.? It helps employees know what the standards are.? It helps customers know what minimal level of service they deserve.?

I consider a suit and tie a uniform.? It tells me its time to go to the game and perform.? It tells my clients that they are important to me.? It tells me everything I do while I wear the uniform is representative of my company, and how we would like to be viewed by our clients and prospects.

Do I always wear a suit and tie in the office?? Of course not.? There are days that it is computer day and an operations day.? On those days I still wear a “uniform” but it is a dressed down version.? It still tells me that I need to perform at my best, as it is still a “game day.”

I once saw someone comment on their LinkedIn profile that instead of using a picture in their profile of them in a suit, they put in a picture of them wearing a hoodie.? Their comment was that it was “liberating.” ??Is there any employer that would not make a distinction, assuming two potential ideal candidates that were identical in every way, but one was dressed for the part and the other was focused more on their comfort than a new job?

I guess I am just old school.? Maybe, just maybe, people will again remember that first impressions do matter. ?Or maybe, I just like ties for Father’s Day.

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