Does your company really need a dress code?

Your company might not need a dress code at all.

I can see your fingers poised to write a furious comment, but hear me out.

A lot of companies have dress code policies that are legacy documents from years or even decades ago. Dress codes are often the most neglected policy in the company handbook, and when it comes to the modern workplace, they may not even be relevant anymore.

Think back to the pandemic. It seems like a lifetime ago now, and it was a strange time for many of us, but it did prove one thing: remote working in sweatpants, vests and slippers while cats climbed all over our desks didn’t reduce output. In fact, many people I knew said that they worked better and were more productive when they were in their loungewear than in ‘office dress’. Why? They were more comfortable, and didn't feel like they were dressing up for an audience.

With the return to office, people all over the world suddenly had to dress up again, and for many, that became an additional stressor they didn’t have the bandwidth to deal with. Employees had become settled into their new way of working and wearing whatever they wanted, and this relaxation of dress codes worked better in terms of productivity metrics than a lot of companies would like to admit.

Personally, I have always thought that non-client-facing employees should dress however makes them feel the most productive. Nobody sees them, so why make them put on business dress to sit in a cubicle all day without any interaction beyond their equally non-client-facing colleagues?

There is a concept that the clothes we wear affect how we think, act and work. This is called enclothed cognition, and I have seen it cited as a reason for making people obey dress codes even when working at home. The reasoning for this is that if they wear 'work clothes', they'll be more productive because they're in a 'work' mindset. The problem is that enclothed cognition isn't one size fits all, and some folks are actually less productive when they’re forced to wear something 'office-appropriate' that they’re uncomfortable in.

Using myself as an example, if I'm creating content or doing admin work, I usually wear some variation of leggings/shorts and a t-shirt or a hoodie depending on weather. If I'm interacting with clients or networking, I'll dress up. I always change out of my 'dressed up' clothes once I am done with being seen by others because I simply cannot work comfortably at my desk in my dressy clothes. It actually affects my thinking. I'm more worried about my comfort (or lack of it) than I am my work, which isn't ideal when I've got a pile of invoices to wade through.

I will agree that client‑facing roles need to look the part. They're representing your company, after all. But it's worth taking a look at what your client-facing staff are wearing. Are they comfortable, and is the dress code enforced equally across all client-facing employees, regardless of gender expression, age or body type?

And obviously, safety comes first, always. If you dress code is designed to keep people safe in an environment with hazards, it's a given that your company needs a dress code.

To all HR professionals reading this now: does your company really, honestly, need a dress code, especially for your non-client-facing staff? And if the answer is yes, does your dress code policy fit today's diverse modern workforce and their needs?

If you want a fresh pair of eyes on your dress code, I offer a dress code policy review service. Click here to find out more.