Dress Code Acculturation For New Hires

Does your company have a dress code? Most organizations do, either formally or informally. However, not every employer has one in writing. That can be a big mistake since policies that aren't written down are basically unenforceable. An acknowledgement of the receipt and acceptance of your dress code policy should be included during transactional onboarding. However, if you really want new hires to take your dress code to heart, you need to acculturate them.

By their very nature, corporate dress codes are arbitrary. Some group of people has to sit down and come up with the rules. For industries that don't require employees to wear a uniform, even explaining definitions is tough. The questions (and complaints) are endless. What's business casual versus casual Friday? Why does it matter how employees dress if they aren't meeting with customers? Who makes these decisions anyway?

Get New Employees On Board

One way to increase acceptance of your dress code is by presenting it in a fun way. Most people are visual learners. Having them memorize a list of written rules probably won't work that well. It's easier for them to grasp the corporate aesthetic you are going for if you use pictures or photos. Putting together an online orientation module using our acculturation portal would be fairly easy.

A library of photos showing various outfits labeled "This Matches Our Look" and "This Doesn't Match Our Look" could prove very helpful. You might even categorize these pictures for different situations. For example, slacks would be tagged as OK all the time, jeans (without holes) as OK for casual Friday, and shorts as not OK anytime.

For extra fun, you could even incorporate a test with a series of different outfits shown side by side. The new hires would be asked to check a box to indicate which one follows the dress code. This not only makes the process interactive; it gives you data to analyze later to see how well employees understand your policy.

Special Notes:

Avoid using terms like "right" and "wrong" or "acceptable" and "unacceptable". That way, people don't feel like they are being judged for apparel choices they might make off the clock.

If you show photos of outfits during orientation, use an equal number of male and female examples. That way, one group won't feel singled out.

Always present information in a positive way. Focus on a message such as: "This is what we are hoping you can help our organization achieve with this dress code". New hires should feel like it is a team effort rather than an attempt by their employer to control them.

Make very sure that your dress code isn't discriminatory in regards to race, sex, religious belief, or any other protected status.