Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:10     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

I'm curious -- did they dress to impress for their job interviews? Or did they dress this way and you hired them anyway?
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:09     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Maybe you are just and old fuddy duddy and not "in" with the new styles? You sound like my grandmother tut-tutting my perfectly normal outfits.

If your clients are creative, they may be more likely to appreciate the GenZ style vs a fuddy duddy.


Sweatpants and flip flops are not trendy styles, they’re unprofessional. Does your company have any sort of policy stating business casual, or professional, etc? You can’t address gender or make up but you can specify no flip flips, athletic clothing, leisure wear for all genders. Even differentiate between attire for outside clients vs more casual clothing for internal tasks only.


I've tried - but "slacks" translated as yoga pants for them, and no flip flops just means they wear other plastic sandals or athletic shoes. The issue is that they don't seem to have any clue how to dress. I'm considering a dress code that says something like "pretend you're going to the club." Surely they don't go out like this?
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:08     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

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?


It's called a written dress code. Don't you have one? Most places do.

These kids today. They're feral.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:07     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

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.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:06     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you are just and old fuddy duddy and not "in" with the new styles? You sound like my grandmother tut-tutting my perfectly normal outfits.

If your clients are creative, they may be more likely to appreciate the GenZ style vs a fuddy duddy.


Sweatpants and flip flops are not trendy styles, they’re unprofessional. Does your company have any sort of policy stating business casual, or professional, etc? You can’t address gender or make up but you can specify no flip flips, athletic clothing, leisure wear for all genders. Even differentiate between attire for outside clients vs more casual clothing for internal tasks only.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:04     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you are just and old fuddy duddy and not "in" with the new styles? You sound like my grandmother tut-tutting my perfectly normal outfits.

If your clients are creative, they may be more likely to appreciate the GenZ style vs a fuddy duddy.
\

My clients are mostly prestigious corporates, mostly Millennial and Gen X, so they are definitely not OK with these sloppy looks. We can hardly walk into an upscale law firm where everyone is in suits, including the women, wearing sloppy clothes, with messy bed hair, and then try to sell them on letting us beautify their space. I'm not trying to force any one look on people - just get them to dress up on par with our clients and in keeping with our brand.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:04     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

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.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 11:03     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Anonymous wrote:Maybe you are just and old fuddy duddy and not "in" with the new styles? You sound like my grandmother tut-tutting my perfectly normal outfits.

If your clients are creative, they may be more likely to appreciate the GenZ style vs a fuddy duddy.


There has always been business attire and casual attire.
People in my office also notice that Gen Z dioesn't dress appropriately. Today one wore a cream colored see through dreess and we can all see her tongue underwear. Another one is wearing a crop top that exposes her belly with leather pants. Nothing fuddy duddy about workplace guidelines about what not to wear.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:59     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Maybe you are just and old fuddy duddy and not "in" with the new styles? You sound like my grandmother tut-tutting my perfectly normal outfits.

If your clients are creative, they may be more likely to appreciate the GenZ style vs a fuddy duddy.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:56     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

I don't think you can force women to wear makeup?? What is wrong with you?
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:56     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Anonymous wrote:You just need to tell them what you need to do. Be straightforward and very very clear about your expectations, just like you would be about any other job performance expectation.


This. Keep it gender neutral and don’t mention makeup.

They will still get offended bc that’s what they do, but push through.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:55     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

You also need to be really careful with the gendered expectations because that’s actually illegal
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:54     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

Are you paying them enough that they can afford what you are asking for - regular haircuts, a working wardrobe? Honestly you probably want to give them a wardrobe stipend if this is such an important part of their jobs. Give everybody five hundred dollars a year to purchase professional clothes.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:54     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

You just need to tell them what you need to do. Be straightforward and very very clear about your expectations, just like you would be about any other job performance expectation.
Anonymous
Post 07/25/2024 10:52     Subject: Need help getting Gen Z hires to dress better at work

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?