Not all that long ago business men and women were expected to dress the “part” with a suit and tie being the norm for men and dresses and skirts being the everyday attire for women.
Today things have certainly loosened up quite a bit. Most business people regularly dress in a more relaxed fashion but casual Fridays, that’s where there is often disagreement.
Many companies have established a casual Friday policy but have not provided any specific instruction as to what is appropriate business casual attire and what is not. The lack of direction has resulted in some folks coming to the office dressed in clothes better suited for the beach, picnic or club.
Frankly it’s not really their fault. What is considered casual to one person is totally unacceptable to another and without spelling it out companies have no one to blame but themselves when employees are not dressed appropriately for dress-down casual Friday.
The best solution is a simple one and that is to detail the casual Friday dress code guidelines as specifically as possible. Sure the guidelines are going to be different depending upon the corporate culture but regardless, the guidelines should pretty much spell it out.
Jeans are ok? Great, but do you mean only blue or black and without rips or tears? (Remember that rips and tears are pretty fashionable these days and in some cases you even pay more for jeans with a hole in the knee!)
Casual shoes are fine at work but you might not want rubber flip-flops or any sort of sport sandal that is open in front. Once again the more specific the better.
Tank tops let in the breeze but your office is probably air-conditioned! You probably don’t want your female employees (or for that matter your male employees either) strolling around half-dressed from the waist up.
See what I mean. It shouldn’t be left to guesswork or conjecture. Take the confusion out of getting dressed for casual Friday and let your employees know what to wear.
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