Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was unprepared for the aesthetic of this year's crop of new hires. They dress horribly - sweatpants, messy hair (looks like they just got out of bed), crocs or other plastic shoes, rumpled t-shirts. For some tasks this is OK, but a lot of the time we are meeting with clients and doing site visits, and we are in the design industry, meaning we generally consider our look part of our branding. Our brand is high end but creative, so there is a lot of leeway, but I just don't know how to tell the younger adults how to dress without offending anyone or being seen to police bodies or hairstyles. But I need them not just to adhere to a list of "don't wear this," but to actively look good. Like, hair combed and styled, preferably some makeup for women, and so on. Does anyone else have this issue and how did you handle it?

Right....and Im sure you would consider a man wearing makeup and nail polish to be suitably dressed and pleasingly aesthetically to your clients?

I dont wear makeup because its dumb, expensive, and lots of chemicals for no real purpose. Sunscreen chemicals get balanced with sun exposure and risk of cancer. There is no balance benefit to makeup besides societal expectations. Not to mention that most people have no idea how much makeup it takes to make a "no makeup" look.

I'm fine if they don't want to wear makeup, but I'm not fine with a messy, frizzy ponytail topping it off. I don't care what the specific look is, but I need them to look good. Our clients are dressed up, our brand is high end and all about aesthetics. I can't even bring them into the sites with me sometimes because they look so bad that I'm sure they would cost us a sale.

You know some people can't help if they have frizzy hair? You sound seriously superficial. You are going to get your workplace sued for discrimination if you keep this sh*t up.

Even the most frizzy hair can look styled and put together.

OP said women must wear makeup, and can't have frizzy hair - a pony is considered a style. S/he sounds like an awful manager. Misogyny at it's finest!

[Anonymous]

They are young. I also made some interesting choices when I was brand new in the professional world. A clearly written dress code would go a long way in accomplishing what you are looking for from them.

[Anonymous]

I think you easily can say things like: no sweatpants, no leggings as pants, no pajamas, clothes must be not be wrinkled excessively, no clothes above finger tip length, no flipflops or crocs or plastic shoes. Appearance must be groomed.

[Anonymous]

Sounds like you want people to look polished but with leeway on style. Can you send around a memo with pictures of okay/not-okay (with some notes on the “not okay” about what is wrong - unbrushed hair, overly casual shoes, too revealing for a corporate setting, etc). You can include a diversity of people who meet your standards (corporate stooge with makeup, more natural/no make up but still polished look, highly gendered, gender neutral, etc)

They’ll all make a ton of fun of it but it will make your point and you can address your biggest pet peeves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was unprepared for the aesthetic of this year's crop of new hires. They dress horribly - sweatpants, messy hair (looks like they just got out of bed), crocs or other plastic shoes, rumpled t-shirts. For some tasks this is OK, but a lot of the time we are meeting with clients and doing site visits, and we are in the design industry, meaning we generally consider our look part of our branding. Our brand is high end but creative, so there is a lot of leeway, but I just don't know how to tell the younger adults how to dress without offending anyone or being seen to police bodies or hairstyles. But I need them not just to adhere to a list of "don't wear this," but to actively look good. Like, hair combed and styled, preferably some makeup for women, and so on. Does anyone else have this issue and how did you handle it?

Right....and Im sure you would consider a man wearing makeup and nail polish to be suitably dressed and pleasingly aesthetically to your clients?

I dont wear makeup because its dumb, expensive, and lots of chemicals for no real purpose. Sunscreen chemicals get balanced with sun exposure and risk of cancer. There is no balance benefit to makeup besides societal expectations. Not to mention that most people have no idea how much makeup it takes to make a "no makeup" look.

I'm fine if they don't want to wear makeup, but I'm not fine with a messy, frizzy ponytail topping it off. I don't care what the specific look is, but I need them to look good. Our clients are dressed up, our brand is high end and all about aesthetics. I can't even bring them into the sites with me sometimes because they look so bad that I'm sure they would cost us a sale.

You know some people can't help if they have frizzy hair? You sound seriously superficial. You are going to get your workplace sued for discrimination if you keep this sh*t up.

Even the most frizzy hair can look styled and put together.

OP said women must wear makeup, and can't have frizzy hair - a pony is considered a style. S/he sounds like an awful manager. Misogyny at it's finest!

Actually, he/she didn't say must. said it's preferable. But an unkempt pony is not a style. It looks lazy and like you just rolled out of bed. Are we going to consider eye boogers a style too going forward? How about bad breath?

[Anonymous]

This is one of those things where Society advances one funeral at a time.

Makes no sense to have to dress to impress. The product or service should be enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did they look when you interviewed them?

If they looked put together, say “Hey, we’re stepping up our look for client meetings. Please come dressed as you did for the interview. On days we don’t have client meetings, wear what you want.”

If they didn’t look put together when you interviewed them then that’s on you, it was a bad hire.

This is a good suggestion. Ask them to wear interview wear to client sites because they are under scrutiny whenever there/representing best foot forward.

Show pictures of people dressed how you want with minimal descriptions.

I wouldn't describe requirements for hair, makeup, hosiery, etc. Just say "well-groomed" or "styled" or "polished" with pictures.

What you really seem to want is "stylishness" on top of appropriate dress.

I work with Gen Z product designers from expensive art schools. They still dress stylishly due to social influences from school and their older bosses. Expensive jeans, pants, shoes, statement watches, the women have novel statement jewelry (sometimes made by the wearer). And I'm not in a fashionable major metro.

[Anonymous]

I'd circulate a list of do's and don'ts. I don't have the energy for this anymore.
1. No wrinkled clothing.
2. No clothing/shoes you would wear to the beach.
3. No clothing/shoes you would wear to the gym.
4. No clothing/shoes you would wear on a weekend in or to a club.
4. When going to client meetings, dress for them, not for you. That means:
--clean, pressed clothing that fits your body
-- nothing too tight or too loose
- hair that is groomed and conservative

And I'd put a deck together with a couple of slides of appropriate and not appropriate.

I'm not sugar-coating shit anymore.

[Anonymous]

You can also keep a closet of emergency client facing clothing in a range of styles and sizes. Remember to include dry cleaning for this budget. People can throw on a blazer and the visible underwear problem is less of a distraction. Do you not have training for new hires? Professional expectations around situational work attire can cover this. Give examples. Doesn’t need to be offensive.

As a client, it wouldn’t bother me to see designers working at an architecture firm in sweats and a top knot, nor would it bother me to see an engineer in sneakers that have seen better days.

I might feel differently about a sales team or big law.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You can also keep a closet of emergency client facing clothing in a range of styles and sizes. Remember to include dry cleaning for this budget. People can throw on a blazer and the visible underwear problem is less of a distraction. Do you not have training for new hires? Professional expectations around situational work attire can cover this. Give examples. Doesn’t need to be offensive.

As a client, it wouldn’t bother me to see designers working at an architecture firm in sweats and a top knot, nor would it bother me to see an engineer in sneakers that have seen better days.

I might feel differently about a sales team or big law.

Why does a profession matter? i'd understand if it had to do with safety on the job but all of these are office jobs.

[Anonymous]

Kids these days were raised in barns

[Anonymous]

My boss told the young people this, on how to dress for a big client meeting.

Imagine you met the love of your life that you want to spend the rest of your life with. The parents are very wealthy, formal and live in a mansion with servants.

You are invited over for a formal Thanksgiving Dinner to meet parents for the first time and really want and need to make to make a good first impression. How would you dress?

They would answer and he would say dress like that for our important client meeting next week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was unprepared for the aesthetic of this year's crop of new hires. They dress horribly - sweatpants, messy hair (looks like they just got out of bed), crocs or other plastic shoes, rumpled t-shirts. For some tasks this is OK, but a lot of the time we are meeting with clients and doing site visits, and we are in the design industry, meaning we generally consider our look part of our branding. Our brand is high end but creative, so there is a lot of leeway, but I just don't know how to tell the younger adults how to dress without offending anyone or being seen to police bodies or hairstyles. But I need them not just to adhere to a list of "don't wear this," but to actively look good. Like, hair combed and styled, preferably some makeup for women, and so on. Does anyone else have this issue and how did you handle it?

you lost me there. no way i'm wearing makeup, but i do wear a suit every day.

But overall i'd just be like: "business casual is required for client facing meetings"

[Anonymous]

Don't just round up Gen Z. Communicate the message to everyone or to specific people.

[Anonymous]

Be prepared for pushback. I have addressed a few of our contract employees with "please no jeans or denim at the office." The response was "these are the only pants I have besides shorts."

You have to be prepared to enforce the dress code or say then you can't work here.