Are office uniforms outdated?

Our Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is very much concerned about the image of our organization that he’s thinking of requiring all employees to wear a prescribed uniform every day. He set an annual budget for all 500 workers. What do you think? — May Flower.

- REY ELBO

Office uniforms were once a symbol of professionalism and corporate unity. That was the time when an “office” meant a fixed place with typewriters, filing cabinets, and rigid hierarchies. Today, work happens anywhere: at home, in cafés, or in co-working spaces where everyone can be productive.

In knowledge-based jobs, creativity, not physical appearance, is the main driver of performance. That’s why I don’t agree with a perfect attendance award for employees. But, that’s another story.

Further, uniforms do not allow for individual taste, even if you let them choose the uniform style through a committee, which may not succeed in capturing the majority’s fashion taste.

In today’s workplace, it’s difficult to champion diversity while asking everyone to look like photocopies of each other.

And let’s face it. At times, the “uniform budget” often ends up quite profitable for someone’s cousin’s garment business or the service provider recommended by the employees’ union.

Given those, let me qualify my advice by saying — it depends on your industry, which plays an important role in determining whether to have a company uniform or not.

Just the same, it doesn’t have to apply to all workers, but to the chosen few frontliners like bank tellers or hotel front desks. This is where visual branding builds trust. Another example is when people work in highly ranked cultures like those in government service, the military, and airlines where uniformity is part of an overall brand.