NZBusiness+Management - June 2018

M 16 | management.co.nz | JUNE 2018

CORPORATE STYLE

If a tree falls in the forest...

I AM FORTUNATEenough to get

askedtospeakateventsformany

different organisations – I love sharing

my expertise and perspectives with

people, getting them to think beyond

the weather forecast when choosing

what to wear to work.

Icanbeaskedtodoaone-hour

“Whythewayyoulookmatters”

sessionthroughtoafulldayofone-

on-onesessions.ThisweekI’vehad

twomeetingswithtwoorganisations

wanting‘samebutdifferent’desired

outcomes.

Thefirstisahalf-daysessionata

conference.Thisorganisationiskeen

notonlytoseealiftinthegeneral

standard of dress and grooming, but for

their attendees to have a bit of fun along

thewaywhilelearningaboutwearing

colour (the team apparently wear a

lotofblack)andabouttheshapesof

garments that flatter different bodies.

It’sanicemixandformethe

challengeisensuringthattheirpeople

don’tsimplyfeelentertained,but

alsoinspiredtostepupandmakea

difference when they get dressed each

day.I’mreallylookingforwardtoit.

Thesecondisslightlytrickierto

navigate. I met with a new GM in an

established company who has taken

onarolethathasthemmanaginga

sizeable team of millennials. There’s

no direct customer facing contact for

thisteamasmostoftheirworkisvia

email and telephone, but this new

managerishotonthewaywedress

intheworkplaceandisverykeento

seeacompleteshiftintheirworkwear

choices.

It’sgoingtobeaninterestingsession,

asI’msurethatalthoughtheymay

never have thought about the ‘why’

ofhowyoudressforwork,thefact

theyare‘invisible’tocustomerswill

definitelycomeintoplay.Iexpectafew

push-backsofthe“butshouldn’tIjust

be comfortable?” variety.

So,letstalkaboutthat.Shouldyou,

if you don’t deal with customers and

clientsjustdresstobecomfortableat

work?

InmyownlifeIhaveafew‘client-

free’daysandIadmitthatIdodress

down slightly on those days. I am

howeveralwaysconsciousthatI’m

‘working’soevenifI’mslightlymore

casually dressed, it’s smart-casual. That

said,I’m‘working’nowasIwritethis

earlyonaSundaymorning,andhere

Iamsittingatmydiningtableinmy

dressinggownasthedeadlinelooms

and inspiration has struck.

I’mprettysurethecompletedarticle

won’tbeanydifferentthanitwould

be if I was writing in on a Tuesday,

dressedforworkinmystudio.WouldI

be mortified if a business associate saw

merightnow?Youbet.Butworking

from home is quite a different beast

thangoingtowork.

Yousee,evenifyoudonotseeyour

customers, you see your colleagues.

Evenifyouareinabackroomonthe

phones or computer, you walk through

the front doors of wherever you happen

to do business, and you are seen by

others.

When you leave your building and

buy your lunch, it’s an interaction

where you are seen. You are

representing not only the organisation

that pays you, but also who you are

as a person. If you want to be seen as

someone who takes pride in everything

they do, it follows that having some

pride in the way you dress would be

second nature to you. If you’re a scruff

who doesn’t care what they wear to

work, then how detail focused do you

appear to be?

Everything we do in life sends a

message as to who we are as a person.

The way we dress is possibly the most

obvious display of this – it’s an outward

expression of how we are feeling or

what we think about ourselves.

It could be as subtle as choosing

something loose-fitting if you feel

like you’ve gained weight, or in an

extreme example, someone suffering

from depression who stops taking any

care with their appearance or personal

hygiene.

So, my question is this: is what you

choose to wear a true reflection of who

you are and what you believe about

yourself? M

Jackie O’Fee is the owner of personal

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organisations. signaturestyle.co.nz

If your staff don’t have any direct customer-facing contact does it matter how they dress at

work, asks Jackie O’Fee.