Jonathan Harrison

I have always found this concept interesting. I understand its purpose is to increase employee satisfaction by allowing Friday’s to have a more relaxed atmosphere, but at what cost? If you interact with customers face-to-face, then impressions need to be considered. Consider the following question:

“How will ‘Casual Fridays’ affect the perceptions or impressions of our customers?”

What message might be sent by an initiative like this?

“Customers who choose us on Friday are not as important/valued as those who choose us Monday through Friday.”

In the book “If Disney Ran Your Hospital” the story is told of a CEO from a Colorado hospital that was distraught over a recent situation. The hospital had allowed employees to dress up for Halloween. The end result?

The family whose daughter had died in the operating room was given the tragic news by a nurse who was dressed up as a clown.

For me, the concepts of “Professionalism” and “Casual Friday” have moved in the opposite direction. Research has shown that school uniforms, professional clothing, etc contribute to more professional behavior. Even companies like Target have re-instituted “business formal” attire as a requirement.

While the intent is good behind a casual environment, too often the practice involves blurring the lines of what is appropriate (check out the “Casual Friday” episode of the TV show “The Office” for some laughs). Obviously, this is very dependent on the nature of the business, but I feel that Casual Fridays have added to the determination of professionalism, decrease in customer service, and global warming (or is that global cooling?).

Before I establish myself and some dried up old squid that does not like to have fun, let me dispel that by saying (depending on your source) I am either part of, or one year away from being among Generation Y (which means I should already be bored by this sentence??).

Then again, perhaps I am out of touch with reality…probably caused by too much starch in my shirt, and pulling that tie too tight!!

Jonathan Harrison is an Organizational Development Specialist and is generally needy for attention and people to read his blogs, comment, and give him lots of stars (especially yellow ones!)