If you are going to tackle the business of building a brand, you should consider every aspect of your business. One
such aspect of
branding, and one which is actually being personalised, is to consider the possibility to introduce a dress code for your employees.
The benefits are that it would support and enhance the personality of your business but the employees could also benefit as such uniform could be part of their employee benefits and on the long run they would get more money out of their wages. Nothing is more soothing for the eye and more consumer friendly than a group of employees at any business, wearing the same uniform, bright in colours. What is the use of spending a big budget on designing an expensive logo or planning an up-market advertising campaign if you are not even prepared to consider simple matters as what your staff members look like.
Not so long ago actually nothing was going on in the field of a uniformly corporate wear or image for a business or company. Both male and female employees were actually expected of to wear expensive designer clothes to show the world a wealthy image – normally to the expense of the employees themselves. Fortunately, sanity prevailed and more or less from the mid eighties to the beginning of the nineties, businesses and the corporate world moved to a more consumer friendly corporate wear for their employees.
Business owners and managers realised that the dull designer clothes should be replaced with brilliant colours which actually could send out a message to
customers of unity, informality and neatness. Suddenly image branding came to the forefront and it was realised what difference it could make to the success of a business. There are obvious reasons why corporate uniforms are important in business. Bright uniforms in a busy supermarket allow customers to quickly identify the person they need to deal with. Seeing the business as a whole, it looks professional and well thought out. Uniforms carry the branding message further - when staff is out and about in their uniforms your brand is visible.
A common dress code provides a sense of team spirit, of belonging and of being responsible to the group and the brand. When employees put on their uniform they step into “work mode” and become your representatives. Remember, it does not need to be formal uniform as such, just a way of managing a dress code so that there is a homogenous appearance or something in it that’s relevant to your brand. The secret of the success is that your employees should live your brand.
To equip them to do it, they must be properly motivated to wear their uniform in a way that enhances your business. If they are correctly trained and motivated, and informed about the core of the business, they would be proud of their uniform and be the best advertisement for your business. Employees are the front line of engagement with the public. You as owner or manager cannot always be there to be neat and charming and look after every aspect of customer care. You must trust and rely on your employees.
Employees are there to speak for you, and they can speak volumes before even opening their mouths – by means of their uniform. On its own, the employee complement is any business’s greatest asset, but makes them proud of their uniform and you have an employee complement that would stand by you through thick and thin.