Why Business Casual?

Why? Because whatever you choose to wear at work does not only send a nonverbal message about you, but it also affects the way you work. Both employees and employers have mixed feelings about work their attire.

You might ask, 'Why not just allow casual wear in the work place?'

Well, casual apparel is often opposed by employers because the boundaries of what is acceptable is often pushed beyond its limitations. Employers have come to believe that casual apparel in the work place can be blamed for a serious disregard for work and is, in fact, the cause for an increase in absenteeism, tardiness and flirtatious behavior.

Seemingly though, their opposition is not unfounded. It has been discovered that a bit too relaxed dress code can lead to reduced productivity and flaccid behavior.

Thus, business casual happened! These policies are less restraining than business formal, but at the same time defines the limits of ‘business casual’. As a matter of fact, business casual is such a popular policy that that 84% of businesses implement this dress code.

Business casual has proven to be a very versatile dress code and here's to hoping that this policy lasts for a long time. 

Source: Adonis, J. (December 16, 2011). Dressing up to avoid a dressing down. In The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/blogs/work-in-progress/dressing-up-to-avoid-a-dressing-down-20111216-1ox7h.html.

What level of casualness is allowed at the workplace on work days

Noticeably, Business Casual is becoming an issue at many companies. The issue at some firms is obviously that employees want a more casual dress code. While at others, the issue is that the casual dress code feels as if it is getting out of control.

Upon receiving many requests asking for a list of appropriate attire for casual days, an online business research lab conducted an online poll in which the employees were asked what the most casual type of attire they were allowed to wear on most days of the week. The results in the below graph are based on 235 responses.

What is the most casual type of attire your

employer lets you wear to work on most days of the week?

Source: Agredano, R. (October 4, 2007). Difference Between Business Casual & Business Attire. In Small Business. Retrieved June 28, 2013, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-business-casual-business-attire-24536.html.

How does Casual Apparel in the workplace benefits employees and what needs to be done to keep this betterment consistent?

Generally speaking, attending the workplace in casual apparel is perceived to help eliminate boss/employee lines. Furthermore, this discovery suggests that employees have the potential to be better team players. As a result, contributions, productivity and creative thinking by employees may also increase drastically.

To keep the consistency of this progress, further examinations should be conducted into the future research on the effects of casual apparel on measures of productivity and other motivational factors as well as gender discrepancies. In addition, the study of a pre-/post-casual dress implementation needs to be done in order to measure actual changes in productivity and motivation.

Source: Anderson, D. (August 22, 2007). The Benefits of Dress-Code Policies at Work. In Yahoo! Voices. Retrieved June 27, 2013, from http://voices.yahoo.com/the-benefits-dress-code-policies-work-497281.html.