Revisiting Dress Code - Current Events

A recent news story turned my eyes back to managing employee appearance to demonstrate high company standards. A female sports reporter complained that the NY Jets were sexually harassing her during training camp. We all agree harassment is unacceptable and any substantiated harassment must be addressed. In the meantime, go online and look at what this reporter chose to wear as a female business professional at work. She has skin tight skinny jeans and an equally tight backless halter top. This should be embarrassing for her employers and professional journalists. Does the company where she works for have any standards? Who do you know in a mainstream professional job that takes their work seriously and shows up for an assignment in their Friday night bar clothes? There are other pictures of this reporter that show that she may have known how to look professional in the past. Dress code is not about controlling employees, it is about the company's brand and reputation. If I give you some dress code colors, you know know the brand. Bright blue and khaki? Red and khaki? Pastel shirts and tan aprons? Tight t'shirts and short-shorts? We may not agree with all of these dress choices, but we know the company and their brand right away. It is easy to identify their employees, when we need help. If you don't have experience with customer satisfaction surveys, availability of employees is a key factor in the customer experience. For those that don't like my current events example, too bad! The real point here is that employers need to align employee appearance with their brand and hold them to it. Maybe that journalist is representing her company the way they want. If that is the case, I suggest that their brand could be exposing their employees to issues that can be avoided. I can already hear the objection that people don't have a right to treat us differently because of our clothing choices. Guess what, we all know that people do and employers have the right to expect a specific standard of dress. Let's go from ideal to get real and put our business brand front and center!