Running Head: WORKPLACE ATTIRE

Attire in the Workplace

McKenna Schrader
BUSCOM 201, Section 001
Boise State University
12/7/15

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

Attire in the Workplace

Challenge

As a relatively new company Positive Energy Beverages (PEB)

has succeeded in employee work ethic, enthusiasm, and satisfaction.
However, as the new excitement has begun to wear off, so has
employee moral and satisfaction. Employees are starting to become
divided and not as comfortable with the company that they are
working for. This development can lead to serious problems within the
company, and it needs to be addressed and discussed as soon as
possible.
A lot of different factors go into employee satisfaction and
morale. Some can be external, like income or indulgence of work.
While others involve internal factors like that of feeling
underappreciated or lack of closeness with other employees. All of
these different factors can lead to cracks in the company if left
untreated.
These cracks can lead to poor or incomplete work being
produced by employees and employees just wanting to leave the
company and job all together. This can lead to even more problems
because the departure of one employee can spread throughout the

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

company and lead to many departures, as well as the valuable niche

and attributes that employee occupies. Losing that employees
attributes and specific niche in a company can set the company back
and will take a while for it to get back to the level it was at before. The
setback would mean a new employee having to get trained and up to
speed, as well as fellow employees picking up the slack until that
employee was accustomed to PEBs culture and standards.

Alternatives
With this problem of employee morale and satisfaction that PEB
is facing, there are things that can be done to turn it around. A few
options are:

Change in dress code to casual attire.

Change in dress code to business casual attire.
Leaving things the way they are.

An overview on each of these different options, and the possible pros

and cons of each, follows below.

Change in dress code to casual attire

Dress code in companies can have a great impact on employee
morale and confidence for the company. It signifies that the company
cares about the happiness and wellbeing of their employees. Casual
dress attire is one option that has been known to improve morale
between employees and boost creativity. Allowing employees to dress

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

how they wish lets employees feel comfortable at work and bond on a
different level with their coworkers. In the article Professional
characteristics communicated by formal versus casual workplace
attire, Cardon & Okoro discuss that While some characteristics such
as authoritativeness may be projected by more formal business attire,
other characteristics such as friendliness may be projected by more
casual business attire. Allowing employees to feel comfortable in what
they wear to work will ultimately lead to employees feeling
comfortable with fellow employees and the company that they work
for.

Change in dress code to business casual attire

Allowing employees to dress business casual to work will create a
more comfortable environment throughout the workspace without
creating an unprofessional feel and look to PEB. In the article Recent
Trends in Business Casual Attire and Their Effects On Student Job
Seekers T. Kiddie said, companies that embraced casual business
attire enjoyed a 40 percent increase in productivity. This is because
when employees are allowed to dress a little more casual it boosts
comfort with the company as a whole, as well as with other employees.
It is also known to boost moral, creativity, and productivity in the
workplace. An argument that is used against dressing more casual in
the workplace is that it can create a lazy attitude in employees that

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

carry over to their work. However, this was only seen as a problem
when companies allowed their employees to be completely casual in
the workplace. In fact, most businesses man-dating a return to
business formal believe that the real blame, how-ever, lies with
employees who became too casual, (Kiddie, 2009). This involves
employees wearing T-shirts, ripped jeans, flip-flops, and the like.
Business casual is still business attire just not as formal as say a suit
and tie. Instead, business casual would be a nice sweater vest and
dress pants. The problem lies with employees not knowing what
exactly business casual means. The real definition of business-casual
dress is wearing clothes that will allow professionals to represent their
organizations if they are called to a last-minute client meeting, without
feeling obliged to apologize for their appearance, (Kiddie, 2009).
Informing employees on this definition and allowing them this change
in the workplace could greatly improve such problems like employee
moral and satisfaction.

Leaving things the way they are

Leaving things in the PEB Company the way they are could both
have positive and negative affects. This option would take the least
amount of effort from the company and the employees. It would also
keep the company looking very professional from outside viewers
because the dress code would stay business formal. Not adding change

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

creates the least amount of resistance from employees, because

whenever there is change there is usually at least a small bit of
pushback and questions. This would allow it so there would not be
employees questioning their relationships in the company, and with
PEB itself. However, leaving this problem of employee morale and
satisfaction to sit could allow it to boil enough to create an even bigger
problem than there was to start with. As well as the fact, that when
employees are upset it is usually best to try and find a solution to
make it better so things dont get worse or out of hand.

OPTIONS
Causal Attire

PROS

Business Casual Attire

Increase in
creativity
Increase in
employee
morale
Creates comfort
and trust with
company
Increase in
employee
morale
Increase in
creativity
Increase in
employee
satisfaction

CONS

Creates laziness in
workplace
Looks unprofessional
Lowers employee
motivation
People preform
better when they
look better
Can create laziness
in workplace
Doesnt look as
professional
People dont feel as
competent

WORKPLACE ATTIRE
Do Nothing

Least amount of
work
No chance of
change causing
negative affects
Keep company
looking
professional

Employee morale
stays down
Employee
satisfaction stays
down
Problems could get
worse

Recommendation
Looking at the research, one of the best options is to have a
change in employee dress attire from business formal to business
casual. In the article the impact of workplace attire on employee selfperceptions J.V. Peluchette & K. Karl said, Clothes are not just a
device of perception, but a tool that can really affect how one
perceives themselves. This shows that wardrobe; especially involving
work, can have a great impact on employees happiness and boost
their attitude and perception of themselves and the people around
them.
With employees attitudes boosted they are more likely to
preform better in their job and be more satisfied with the company
they are working for. A study by A.M. Chatelain, in the article The
effect of academics dress and gender on student perceptions of
instructor approachability and likeability showed that, business casual
attire increases employee morale, is viewed as a job benefit, saves

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

employees money, attracts new employees to their organization and

increases employee productivity.
With the implementing of business casual dress to PEB it will not
only help raise employee moral and satisfaction, but the change can
also benefit the company in a variety of different ways. In fact 78% of
executives prefer business casual attire over professional attire,
(Chatelain, 2015). With this preference and success in other
companies, the change in dress code can only benefit PEB.

Implementing Plan
Implementing business casual attire in to PEBs workplace could
be very easy and would not require much time at all. It would also be
very cost effective in the fact that it can be done without using any
money. It would begin with upper management creating a layout of
what they find appropriate for business casual attire and the rules that
they want to be followed. This would help clear up any questions
employees would have about business causal attire and make the
transition more organized and formal.
Once management has decided the implementing plans they
should send out memos and updates to employees about the change.
As well as providing contacts for employees to call or message if they
have any questions. I would also recommend that this change is

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

optional and employees can stay business formal if they wish. As well
as to start out with employees only wearing business casual attire two
days a week to start, Monday and Friday, and then update the
requirements in time depending on the success of the change.
The process of this change is very simple but the outcomes and
benefits can be very widespread. The allowing of PEB employees to
dress business casual will create a comfort with the company that was
not already established. It will also create a way for employees to
become more comfortable with each other and boost moral among
them. This improvement will not only increase employee satisfaction
and happiness but also could lead to better results for the company as
a whole, and better work being produced.

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

10

References

Cardon, P.W., & Okoro, E. A. (2009). Professional characteristics

communicated by formal versus casual workplace attire.Business
Communication Quarterly, 72(3),355.
Chatelain, A.M. (2015). The effect of academicsdress and gender on
student
perceptions of instructor approachability and likeability. Journal
Of Higher Education Policy & Management, 37 (4), 413-423.
Kiddie, T. (January 01, 2009). Recent Trends in Business Casual Attire
and Their
Effects on Student Job Seekers. Business Communications
Quarterly, 72, 3, 350-354.
Peluchette, J. V., & Karl, K. (2007). The impact of workplace attire on
employee selfperceptions. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 18(3),
345-360.

WORKPLACE ATTIRE

11