I was visiting with an attorney at a bar meeting that I attended to promote the bar's Lawyer Referral Service. I told him about our new blog project and the audience we were hoping to reach.
He said if you're looking for ideas about what to write that he'd like to see an article about dress code policies.
From the tone of his voice, my gut told me there was more to this story. So, I asked him to tell me what was going on, and he did.
He told me some of the female staff members in his office have been walking around barefoot (shoes under their desks) and now they were wearing low-cut and revealing tops. He told me it made him pretty uncomfortable. He told me he thought some of his clients were uncomfortable too.
I asked the lawyer if he talked with his staff about this. His face turned beet red. He said he tried and it didn't work. He told me (in almost a whisper) that his staff said he was, "making too much of a fuss".
He said, "I just don't know what to do now. Do you have any ideas?"
To be honest -- my immediate reaction was, "What? Are you kidding me? Too much of a fuss? You're the boss -- you're the person who signs their paychecks!"
But, when I saw his face, I realized my knee-jerk reaction didn't help him at all. Light bulb -- I got it now.
I asked him if he would give permission for us to write about this in the blog and he said he didn't mind.
Sometimes we need to look at a situation from a different perspective. So, here's another way to think about the dress code...
My co-worker, Mary, shared a story with me about her daughter. Her daughter was going to theatre camp and was really excited about that.
The camp leader held an orientation meeting and announced the rules to all the campers. One of the camp rules -- they were not allowed to come to theatre camp wearing flip-flops. The camp leader told them they could wear sneakers or shoes, but there will be no flip-flops in her camp. The reason? She told the kids that if they wanted to be professionals -- that professionals do not wear flip-flops.
Mary's daughter told her mom about the meeting and Mary asked her daughter what she thought about that. She said she liked that rule. She wanted to be a professional actress someday.
So, what do you think about dress code policies? Is there a policy at your work place and do you follow the policy? What if you were the client coming into the law office -- paying the fees -- and the person who worked in that office greeted you in a low-cut blouse or was barefoot? What do you think?
