But younger workers, aged 18 – 34, are most likely to feel judged on their choice of clothing and pressure to stay ‘on trend’
The SEEK research, which surveys 4800 New Zealanders that are representative of the workforce each year, found most people thought dress codes impacted them in some way from motivation to how they perceived their colleagues, and career progression.
Young people, aged 18- 34, were the group that were most affected by dress codes – either feeling judged by their choice of clothing or pressured to keep up with fashion trends.
New Zealand workplace dress codes
For the survey, dress codes were defined as:
- Formal business (e.g. business suit and tie for men; business suit or business style dress for women)
- Smart casual (e.g. sports jacket with chinos or nice jeans for men; nice slacks, skirt or dark jeans with a collared or dressy top for women)
- Business casual (e.g. pressed khakis or chinos with a polo or collared shirt for men; dress pants with a fashionable top for women)
- Casual / Informal (e.g. t-shirt and jeans)
- Uniform
- Other
In New Zealand, the most common workplace dress code is the uniform (23%) and casual/informal attire (23%). This isn’t entirely surprising given that the industries where uniforms are most commonly worn, trades and services, retail, hospitality, healthcare and medical and sales, account for the largest proportion of New Zealand’s work force.
A total of 36% wore smart and business casual and only 11% wore business attire.
Mark Hall-Smith, Director at Blade Recruitment, said this finding was generally reflective of his experience of dress code requirements when recruiting for companies.
“I would say there has generally been a move towards relaxing some formality around dress, particularly in the growing digital sector but I think it still depends on the industry you are in and what role you have,” Mark said. “From my experience, the media sales industry still retains some formality around dress and I think that really boils down to if you are asking a client to be spending a lot of money, looking ‘smart’ does build a certain type of trust and confidence that the business deal will be handled professionally,” he explained.
The right fit
Most people surveyed said their current workplace had their ‘ideal’ dress code, with smart casual at 29%, followed closely by casual at 24% and uniform at 23%.
Nearly a third of people (32%) believe that the current dress code at their place of work doesn’t allow them to dress in a way that represents their personality/personal style, this can largely be attributed to the significant number of people who wear a uniform to work.
Not surprisingly, workers with a casual dress code felt that they had the most flexibility to dress in their own personal style.
When it comes to dress codes, 57% of people believed a company should provide guidance on what to wear at work to provide a united company image and for safety reasons, particularly in jobs where uniforms are worn.
Career progression and motivation
A total of 29% of people surveyed believed what they wear to work could impact their career progression and whether or not they get promoted. Most people said they believed it was important to present yourself in a professional manner and gain ‘respect’ in the workplace to improve career progression.
A total of 45% of people believed some people in their workplace don’t dress appropriately – either ‘too provocative’ or ‘too daggy’.
More than one in three people (37%) said they feel judged based on what they wear to work, and this feeling is significantly higher among 18-34 year olds at 59%. One in three of 18 - 34 years olds (34%) said they felt pressured to keep up with the latest ‘fashion trends’, compared to just 14% of all people surveyed.
Just over one in three people (37%) felt that what they wore to work impacted how motivated they were and how they performed at work.
Despite perception on how it can impact motivation and career progression, less than half (46%) of people surveyed said dress code didn’t impact their decision to choose a place of work at all but dress code had either some impact for 19% or a small impact for 29% of people.
Mark said these findings were generally reflective of his dealing with candidates.
“I do think the dress code of a workplace is probably a factor for a candidate when assessing whether to join or remain with a company, but I rarely hear anyone mention it when I specifically ask why they are leaving a company and what they are looking for in their next role. Having said that, I think most people would probably consider dress code as further justification of their decision,” he said.
Dress code perceptions – what other people think your workplace dress code says about you:
- MOST MOTIVATED – Smart Casual
- LEAST MOTIVATED – Formal Business attire and Casual / Informal
- MOST PRODUCTIVE – Casual / Informal
- LEAST PRODUCTIVE – Formal Business attire
- COLLABORATIVE – Smart Casual and Uniform
- FEEL LIKE YOU’RE PART OF A TEAM – Uniform
- MOST CREATIVE –Casual / Informal
- LEAST CREATIVE – Formal Business attire and Uniform
