Dress Down To Success: CASE-1

DRESSING DOWN FOR SUCCESS

SUMMARY OF THE CASE: The case starts with the example of Mr. Steeg, he is quite confused of the term office casuals and now he after getting troubled hired an image consultant. He found that the casuals are supposed to make a person feel comfortable, but the dressing sense n meaning of casuals is generally interpreted from person to person. This all lead to dress down confusion. According to fashion consultants men cannot go wrong with sports coat in muted colors & flannel or gabardine trousers. Shirts with button down or knit pullover with collar. Few organizations on allowed their employees to wear casuals five days a week, but they simply wore the dresses they want, totally irrelevant to the organizational demand and the professional requirement. This led management feels employees going out of hand, but made employees feel delighted. This was totally going to spoil the organizational image, in the market. The management then formed a committee to device on official dress policy. It then attached new guidelines to the employee handbook. Taking this incident as a lesson, Los Angeles commercial real state firm made new dressing guidelines for the employees that the employees have to wear shirts with collars and muted patterns, and on Friday they can wear Hawaiian shirts. After this the organizations started hiring the image consultants, which were supposed to help all employees by answering their all dressing related questions. These consultants started giving training module to the managers regarding the dressing sense n the implementation of the official casuals in the office. This all happened because of not the confusion occurred in the minds of the employees regarding the word CASUAL. Thus, the people wore jogging suits, torn jeans, gym outfits, tube tops & sundresses in the offices. MAJOR & MINOR PROBLEMS FOUND:
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The main problem found here was, the employees got liberty to wear casuals of there own choice and the outcome of this wearing sense could harm the overall organizational image and the internal environment of the enterprise. The other very important problem found is, the term CASUALS is not clearly mentioned or defined anywhere. So the employees got confused and dressed themselves the way they desired/ perceived. POSITIVE ASPECTS OF THE DRESSING: 1. The casual dresses always make employees happy n delighted. 2. They feel free and comfortable in the dresses, they work more creatively n efficiently. 3. The freedom to wear of the choice always motivates the employees, thus higher productivity.

NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF THE DRESSING/ CASE:

1. The employees on getting liberty to wear casuals may affect the brand

image of the organization. 2. As a matter of fact, the dressing sense n uniforms works as the mirror of the organization, it tells the internal work culture n environment of the organization, if misused may cause very harsh consequences. 3. The cases of harassment and employees conflicts may increase at an increasing level. 4. The employees may feel the difference of superiority n inferiority in the case of wearing the casuals of choice. 5. The lots of money n labor is used to implement the new guidelines & attachments as well as in the training the managers. SUGGESTIVE MEASURE:
1. The term OFFICE CASUALS must be clearly defined and must be

stating the types of dresses n all dressing style may be used.

2. The pictorial explanations and conducting seminars on dressing styles

would be effective.
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3. The employees must be allowed to wear the casuals of there own chice once or twice a week. 4. The importance of shirts with collars and muted patters n gabardine trousers must be explained to all employees n the various queries must be answered satisfactorily. 5. For the time being image consultants may be hired.

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS:

Question1: what is your reaction to the current status of dress codes in todays organizations? Give both sides, but on balance, what do you think the code should be? Answer: the current status of dress codes in todays organization is quite good they are now wearing the office casuals, that is the requirement of the profession one is working in . SIDE1:
1. This dressing sense is quite impressive the employees after going

through the new guidelines started wearing the dresses that is the demand of the profession which is gabardine trousers and the muted colors collars shirts. 2. The image now projected would be positive and would project the good organizational culture & healthy internal environment. 3. This new dressing sense is very old and always pleases the visitors and the customers of the organization. SIDE2: 1. This dressing sense due to confusion and liberty to wear of choice of your own led to management feel, employees going out of hand.
2. The dressing style is not at all formal or the office casual, thus the

brand image of the organization is hampering, that too only by the employees. 3. The employees wore the dresses of their own choice due to confusion of wearing WHAT? Thus they wore torn jeans, gym clothes, tube tops, sundresses and jogging suits. SELF ASSESSMENT: The dress code must be suitable to the profession the person is in. I am explaining it by few examples.
1. The railway TC wears the black coat on the muted color trousers, thus

it suits to their profession very well. If he is wearing something very

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junky and punk, it would reflect the wrong image of the Indian Railways before the passengers. 2. The software engineers are supposed to wear pure formals thus giving them more formal n professional appeal and enable lay man to connect them to their professions.
3. If they airhostess in Indian Airlines is wearing the ultra minis and

backless tops, it would end up getting some sought of harassment and misbehave by the passengers, generated by the airhostess. Thus hampering the overall brand image if the very reputed organization. Question2. From a perception standpoint, why do you think there is such variation in employees interpret dress polices? What, if anything, should be done about these differing perceptions? Answer: The basic cause of this all problem is the perception of the word official casual. The employees interpreted it and wore the dresses of there own choices and the way they ever wanted to wear the dresses in their offices. The word casual is not defined neither in employees handbook or even by the managers of the organization. Thus this led to the great levels of confusion and generated dressing down confusion. The solution was finally been generated out by hiring the image consultants, these image consultants answers all he questions generates by the employees regarding the image building and the dress selection. If, something is done of these differing perceptions it initially may get some oppose but in few days after the understanding of the positive outcomes, one may get convinced and would dress down to attain the success.

Question3: With the current status of dress codes in organizations, what implications are there for use of impression management to get ahead in your career? Answer: I will dress up my looks and would arrange my wardrobe the way my profession calls. It gives you the feeling of relativity towards the organization I would be working in.

Taking example of Dominos, if the sales boy or the counter boy would wear gym clothes at the counter, it would automatically will degrade the brand image of the Dominos.