Uniform Vs. No Uniform: What is best for your business?
Across the country, there are increasingly lax attitudes towards uniform, even in the biggest chains and names. Uniforms can bring a sense of cohesion to a team, helping mark out your employees as the face of the company – however, others view uniforms as an outdated policy in the modern world. In this article, we’ll explore the big question of whether uniform at work is beneficial to your business.
What are the pros and cons of work uniforms?
Benefits of uniforms
- Customer Service: In customer-orientated businesses especially, it is important that your employees are easily identifiable to the public so they know exactly where to direct queries. Not only this, but it elevates the professional image of your company.
- Marketing: Uniforms are excellent marketing tools. Wherever your employees are, your company name and logo are – this includes in the workplace, on the bus or on their lunch break. Making your company name, colours and logo prominent on a work uniform is an ideal opportunity for brand awareness. Companies such as Midway Clothing can custom-create uniforms for your business, expertly transferring your company logo and name onto garments.
- A Sense of Belonging: Dressing alike with colleagues promotes a feeling of comradeship, and can instill a sense of team spirit and togetherness.
- Confidence: An overlooked advantage of wearing work uniform is the touch of confidence and pride it can offer the wearer. Being clad in different clothes from your every outfits can put you in a unique, work-centred mindframe that can boost feelings of confidence and assurance – this can, in turn, positively affect performance.
- Health & Safety: In some cases, uniforms have safety benefits – this is especially true in the case of construction or warehouse workwear, where each piece of the outfit is designed to offer protection against hazards.
Drawbacks of uniforms
- Poor Design: If the uniform has not been properly designed or is ill-fitting, this can hinder worker performance and create a bad impression to the general public. Therefore, it is imperative to hire a specialist manufacturer with an excellent reputation to produce your uniforms – someone like Midway Clothing & Promotions.
- Personal Restrictions: Occasionally, whether it be for religious or medical reasons, people may have qualms with a uniform. In these cases, though, adjustments and compromises can be made with little hassle.
- Lack of Individuality: One of the most commonly discussed drawbacks of uniforms is the lack of individuality it allows. Whilst some people can gain new-found confidence with a uniform, wearing the same thing as all your colleagues can make some people lose a sense of themselves, so it’s important that companies allow their workers to display their personality in other ways.
NOTE: Even if you work in a non-uniform environment – as is the case in many offices – it is still vital to encourage some sort of dress code to make the level of professionalism very clear to workers.
How to enforce a dress code?
Whether you’ve opted for a uniform or not, a dress code is still an important way to present a professional front to the public.
The best way to enforce a dress code is to:
- Inform new employees of the dress code or uniform as soon as possible, ideally during the interview stage. This way, they will be clear on the rules from the very beginning.
- If somebody is not following the dress code, listen to the reason why that person is choosing to dress against the dress code – it can sometimes be for medical or religious reasons. Following this, decide whether to make an exception or readjust the company dress code for everyone.
- Keep employees informed of any changes to the dress code with company-wide communications.
If you’re searching for quality-made uniforms and workwear that personalised with your brand colours and logo – look no further than Midway Clothing & Promotions. Though based in Nottingham, we offer nationwide delivery to clients across the UK, ensuring your workforce is dressed smartly and in accordance with company dress code. Get in touch with our team today to discuss your needs.