The post Dress For Success: Workplace Outfits To Abandon In 2014 appeared first on Career Point Kenya.Click on the TITLE link for the original.
By Mark Namaswa,
Late last year, Kenyans reacted with amusement to the news that policewomen would no longer be allowed to apply lipstick, wear bangles, fashionable clothes and big earrings while on duty. The officers were informed through a circular that some of their fashionable items of clothing were bringing the good name of the force to disrepute. They were also forbidden from spotting ‘Afro’ hair and dreadlocks.
Their male counterparts were not spared either, the circular hammered on; ‘it was noted with a lot of concern that male police officers wear different types of socks, unmatching long trousers, coloured visible vests and bangles among other metals’.
And these liberal work dressing tendencies have no doubt reflected across other workplaces. Carol Mwangi, HR Crown Beverages puts this into perspective: “In the regular workplace too, the advent of a more liberal dress code has seen the traditional formal dress code relaxed,” she points out. “Professionals are being judged mainly on their performance rather than appearance,” she says, “and hair styles like dreadlocks are becoming more acceptable as a norm in the workplace.
However, in the corporate setting there appears to have some persistence of the traditional formal office wear,” Ms Mwangi says. “And industries such as auditing, and banking, still insist on formal dressing.”
So even with these liberties and changes, you need to draw the line.
1. Tights and T Shirts: Liza Shaka, HR Manager, Monarch Insurance illustrates some don’t-do dress codes. “In a formal work setting, you can’t come to work in tights,” she says. “Ladies tend to be the major culprits of this dressing misdeed. For office work you need to look official. On the other hand, picture a marketing executive dressed in a T shirt selling insurance policies, would you trust him?” she poses. “You will look unreliable as a marketing exec in a T shirt the dress code communicates a lot about you—your reliability and you as a brand.”
Edwin Macheso, a bank teller, couldn’t agree more. “It has always been a directive of the bank that all workers should dress formally at all times,” he says of his workplace. “Moreover, when you are in a suit and tie, clients tend to take you more seriously than you being in jeans trousers and a T shirt,” he says.
2. Overdone Make-up and Very Short Skirts: Ms Caroline Mwangi further advises: “Even though NGOs and Information Technology-related jobs allow a lot of room for casual dressing, modesty should always be a key element in choice of clothing. Sometimes we have individuals who go overboard by having too much makeup, or having skirts that are too short.” These, she says, might not only infringe on the comfort of colleagues and other people around you, but might also reflect negatively in cross-cultural settings.
3. Casual Jackets: “Most of the time,” says Martin Githaiga, HR Practitioner, Corporate Staffing Services, “male workers become dress code culprits in the formal sector with casual jackets,” he points out. “If you are facing a client in a formal setting such as a corporate environment, you should either get accustomed to a plain shirt and tie or a suit,” he advises.
4. Colour Clashing and Torn Socks: In Liza Shaka’s experience, male workers too hold the unenviable record of sporting torn socks, or turning up with sports shoes worn over official trousers. Moreover, she points out the importance of colour schemes in dress codes; “If you mix red and green, or appear as a teller in a banking hall in ‘screaming’ colours, you end up looking out of place, maybe an entertainer or clown at the workplace.”
“Your mode of dress at the workplace is all about being presentable but again looking the part is very important,” sums up Mr Githaiga. “First consider which industry you are in; once you have been able to determine that, dress to look the part,” he advises. “You don’t have to dress like somebody else but do your best to reflect your particular job setting. For example, if you are an outdoor person like an engineer, a less formal outlook can work for you.”
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The post Dress For Success: Workplace Outfits To Abandon In 2014 appeared first on Career Point Kenya.Click on the TITLE link for the original.
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