What Is the Importance of Managers Enforcing the Company's Dress Code Policy?

by Anna Windermere

Looking professional at work is valued at most workplaces, so each type of industry and company culture sets a correspondingly appropriate dress code for its employees. From ultra-formal to business casual attire to uniforms, workers are expected to dress accordingly. However, there's almost always at least one person who either purposely ignores or forgets about the company dress code, and it's up to his manager to decide how important it is to enforce it.

Dress Code Enforcement

When enforcing a company dress code, a manager has to take into consideration its level of importance to the company and to the worker. If the company culture places a high priority on appearance, then a manager should not be afraid to swiftly enforce it by having a meeting with the employee to review dress code policy, find out why the worker isn't complying, explain why its important to the employee's job, and set a goal to meet the code or risk possible disciplinary action. However, a strong dress code policy should be explained clearly to all employees in advance to ensure consistent compliance and enforcement. On the priority list of policies to enforce, dress code sometimes seems more trivial depending on the company's image and environment, so it may also be a question of the manager choosing his battles wisely.


Every company must portray a certain image to its customers or clients. Those representing the company need to appear a certain way consistently to promote the idea of reliability, intelligence, respect or professionalism to customers. How employees dress when meeting with customers or clients in person is part of the company's marketing scheme. If some are wearing business suits, and others are in workout wear, the company can lose a solid sense of identity. For employees who deal with the public in this manner, it is extremely important that their managers enforce the company dress code. For example, a beauty salon where stylists wear an overcoat to identify themselves should consider it important for every stylist working on the floor to wear it.


How employees appear to each other in a workplace sets the tone for how they will perceive each other and interact with each other in the course of their job duties. Those who dress more professionally, such as wearing a tie or jacket, are likely to be taken more seriously by their co-workers and supervisors. However, the importance of enforcing a company dress code depends on the level of formality established in the company's culture. In a small office where workers only interact with each other and essentially lack an official dress code, it might be considered okay to wear jeans to work. In a larger, more corporate and visible environment, a manager is likely to deem it important to enforce a dress code.


Some offices maintain the view that more casual dress can help the worker feel more physically comfortable and thus work more efficiently. However, if a worker consistently disregards a company's more formal dress code policy, and she is lagging in her work performance, her manager is more likely to correlate the two. In such a case, the worker's ability to produce quality work efficiently might be hampered by a more sloppy appearance. How an employee dresses directly affects how she feels about herself, and if her clothing indicates a lack of care for herself, it could translate into a lack of care for her work. If productivity appears to be directly linked to noncompliance with the dress code, enforcing it becomes much more important to a manager.

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