Dressing for Success

While working on a new and improved handbook for our TriLeaf team, we’ve had to define and verbalize our stance on a number of important issues. One section of our handbook is dedicated to TriLeaf Designs official dress code. While this section is not particularly critical to the success of our company, I feel that this continually changing aspect of modern businesses is interesting and important to address. Turn on AMC’s hit television show Madmen and you’ll see how formal workplace attire was 50 years ago. But in the years since then, office dress code has changed dramatically. Like many businesses in our industry, we see the benefit in allowing our team members to dress casually. Gone are the days of formal suits, ties, dresses, and skirts. Instead most businesses today strive for a more casual office environment which has been shown to increase employee productivity, satisfaction, and retention. Such offices allow employees to dress in attire befitting the terms “business casual” or (more common in design and marketing industries) “casual dress”. While defining such lose terms can be difficult, it’s important to us that our team members understand what is and what is not acceptable attire for work. We are working on developing a dress code that is both appropriate and appealing for our team.

What do you think about casual dress codes in the business world: acceptable or inappropriate?