“One reason it might be introduced is when you have a standard in your current clothing practice that it’s substandard. People might be starting to wear thongs or unprofessional clothing to work, creating an unprofessional environment. Uniforms can be used to lift the standard.
“It can also be useful if workers wear and tear their clothing quickly. Instead of incurring claims for replacements, organisations can just provide uniforms.”
And, of course, if people feel comfortable and confident in their uniforms, this can improve their productivity.
But there are dangers, Nally continues.
“If your organisation is ‘on the nose’ in society, and you require people to scream out on trams on way to work that they’re associated with you, that can have a bad effect on people’s morale.”
There are design considerations as well. “If you come up with a uniform that people hate wearing, that’s not functional, or that doesn’t look good on them, it can create more problems than it’s worth. If it looks daggy, you’re in trouble.”
This can be a problem especially if the age profile of your workforce is mixed. That’s why corporate uniforms are rarely just a single garment. They’re a wardrobe, intended to be worn by people with different body types and different tastes, but united by common visual elements.
Airlines are famous for putting a great deal of thought into their corporate uniforms. Virgin Australia, for example, has a lengthy uniform guideline document, outlining everything from acceptable skirt lengths and how makeup may and should be worn.
The major stumbling block for companies adopting an official uniform is the expense. This can vary depending on the size of your workforce, and whether, like Telstra, you chose to have a professional designer create the uniforms.
But there can be ways to bring the cost down. For example, Nally says, many organisations have a clothing allowance for their workers. Cutting this cost off and buying everyone uniforms can save a company money.
Introducing a new uniform for the first time, or changing your current one, can also improve the efficiency of your marketing efforts, even if it is a large one-off expense, Rowell says.
“It allows for a bit of disruption in the mind of the market and in the minds of staff. It allows you to draw a line in the sand, and have a physical change moving forward. It signals you’re doing something different.”
The key to implementing a good uniform policy is consultation, Nally says.
“If you start having people customise, that causes problems. You want to have a nice range so people can work within it.
“That’s where consultation comes in. It’s quite a powerful thing to say to people: you asked for this, we delivered.”
Consultation can also help people know what the expectations are about how the uniform will be worn. “Say you provide nice business shirts as the uniform, and say ties are optional, that assists people. You’ve already solved the issue of inappropriate corporate attire.”
“But if you force a policy through without consultation, that can be worse than not doing it at all.”
Myriam Robin is a reporter for SmartCompany and its sister site LeadingCompany. She has degrees in economics, international studies and journalism. She likes writing about businesses taking risks and doing new things.
