When HR Directors want to call in the fashion police and send people home for inappropriate work attire, it's a red flag that employees need a major wake up call, says career counselor Robin Ryan, author of Soaring On Your Strengths. "Employees seem to be absolutely clueless when it comes to dressing for work," said Wendy Lovell, an exasperated HR Director. "Too many people--young and old alike--have lost touch with what business casual means. Sexy, sluttish, slobby, wrinkled or stained clothing has no place at work, despite what many people seem to believe," the HR Director reported.
Ryan notes in her book, Soaring on Your Strengths, that many employers and senior executives today have dismissed bright people as non-promotable because of their poor work image. Upper management realizes that employees are missing the point that, in order to move up, they need to look the part of an up and coming employee by dressing up.
What makes the work taboo list? Spandex. Nose rings. Blue hair. Ripped jeans. Huge, baggy tops. T-Shirts with obscenities on them. Stilettos. Low-rider jeans with belly buttons or butt cracks showing. Slippers. Micro mini-skirts. Underwear worn as outerwear. Body art. Fishnet stockings. Gothic makeup. Going in braless. The list goes on and on.
More and more employees need to ask themselves: What should I wear to work?, recommends America's foremost career authority, who has appeared both on Oprah and Dr. Phil. "Apathy or expecting the employer to 'accept you as you are' is a terrific attitude if you never want a promotion, or if you go into an interview with the attitude that a company won't hire you anyway," says Ryan.
"Heated discussions go on inside HR departments and senior executive's offices about what is appropriate and what is not," notes Ryan. "Experts, executives and HR directors all seem to agree that the trend in the workplace is moving away from business casual to more professional business attire. Employees have gone way too far in the direction of casual." Worries include: insulting or offending others, particularly customers, with inappropriate clothing selection; lack of productivity and ineffectiveness. And, a primary concern is how some outfits could, and indeed had, led to sexual harassment suits.
Managers often fumble with their own embarrassment when they need to tell an employee that their clothes are too sexy, sloppy or downright inappropriate for work. "In light of these career killer mistakes, made by many, YOU have an opportunity to dress appropriately and shine where others don't," says Ryan, who works with numerous executives and managers as career counseling clients in her career counseling practice.
The key career lesson to understand is that your attire and image presentation reflects positively or negatively on YOU, notes Ryan on her Career Goddess blog. Like it or not, whether you are a fashion maven or a fashion dork, the rule of thumb needs to be this: Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. Mirror the dress of the top executives in the firm, which positions you as a more promotable candidate. In Soaring on Your Strengths, Ryan devotes an entire lengthy chapter to professional image, all part of your personal brand and professional reputation. Cultivating, not sabotaging, yourself is an essential message all workers today need to learn if a better job and a bigger paycheck is part of their career plans.
