With the Rise of the Millennial Comes the Fall of the Suit
Kyle Reyes
Owner, Law Enforcement Today, Blue Lives Matter and The Police Tribune. CEO, The Silent Partner Marketing. Serial entrepreneur. Christian conservative. Keynote speaker.
Is it possible to have Casual Friday EVERY day at the office ...and actually increase productivity?
Dress for success. It was something that was always stressed to me growing up. My parents. My teachers. My bosses.
I was a rule breaker at a young age. In Catholic school, my feet were so big that we had trouble finding affordable dress shoes that fit. So my parents bought me black sneakers.
With them came a detention for breaching the dress code. My first detention…and it wasn’t even my fault. Go figure. To my mother’s credit, she went all momma bear on the school and I don’t believe I ever actually served that detention. Unlike the detention I got for bringing my mother’s bra into school for show and tell in second grade. Sister Gertrude did NOT like that.
I digress.
At my first job, I was written up for growing facial hair. For the love of God, going through puberty I was sprouting facial hair faster than I was serving up Big Macs.
Working in television, I was given hell if I wasn’t perfectly ironed and tucked in.
Then something magical happened. I became a business owner. And I decided that if I never wanted to wear a suit again…I didn’t have to.
If I didn’t want to shave, I didn’t have to.
If I wanted to wear jeans and a hoodie and a backwards baseball cap, I could.
And so could my staff.
Here’s the thing. If you are hiring members of your team who can’t differentiate between what is and isn’t appropriate and WHEN it is and isn’t appropriate, than you’ve got bigger problems than a damn dress code.
A study back in 2012 by Adecco, a human resources consulting company, asked about 500 hiring managers about millennials. 75% of those hiring managers said that said that millennials fail to wear appropriate interview attire.
Interesting stats. But I’d argue that the number means 75% of those hiring managers need to loosen up their neckties and chill out. Welcome to the real world, baby. Just because you aren’t wearing a tie doesn’t mean you’re not qualified for the job.
You know when I get my best work done? When I’m in jeans and a hoodie. And I have music playing. And a beer next to me – but that’s an entirely different story. Or is it?
Here’s a look at some of the top perks (as unusual as they may be) that some top creative companies (such as The Silent Partner Marketing) offer to their team to keep them around.
- Weekly chair massages
- A stash of snacks
- A keg or a bar in the office (or a super stocked bar like ours)
- Ice cream parties
- A pile of fresh fruits and veggies
- Child care on location
- Napping rooms
- X-Box
- Free breakfast or lunch every day
- Show or sports tickets
- Paid gym memberships
- Organized volunteer efforts for the whole office
- Paid time off for volunteering or board service
- Monthly parties
- Business retreats to places like breweries or vineyards
- Flexible scheduling
- Telecommuting
- Reduced summer hours
- Paid birthdays off
- Errand services (dry cleaning pickup, taking your vehicle for oil changes, etc.)
- On-site fitness gym
- Use of company equipment for freelancing
- No “no swearing” policy
- Lunchtime workouts
What are your thoughts on the casual workplace? Does it help or hinder the creative process…and are we facing the death of the suit?
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POSTED BY
Kyle Reyes is the President and Creative Director of The Silent Partner Marketing, New England's #1 Marketing Agency. We're a boutique marketing firm focused on helping businesses grow in an age of exploding technology. You can find him on Google+, Facebook and Twitter.
Application Services Consultant at IBM
7yA few things, 1: Is anything mandatory? 2: If someone wants to wear a suit let them, Jaimie is right a suit is comfortable and 3: If we are talking about casual everyday to raise productivity already our productivity is taking a hit!
IT Help Desk
8yYes, suits are seen as formal. Required. But does that therefore mean there aren't some who would choose it regardless? Maybe there are people who are more comfortable working in suits than jeans. Maybe one day jeans and hoodies will be the norm, and people will start questioning that? It’s all subjective, really, to current times. So, yes, times are shifting. Suits have less of an important role as they use to. But that’s the the important focus, necessarily. It's not the suit that should (and likely will) be eliminated. It's the idea we have to do something a specific way, always. It's the culture of business we should question, and whether there are ways people can perform and live better as a result of changing something like attire, work schedule, management, incentives, and other factors. Suit or jeans. 9-5 or not. Work remotely or not. Coffee or beer. (Personally, I’m all for the coffee. Because, come on, it’s coffee!) I think we should continue as individuals and organizations to question these things, but not necessarily choose the opposite way just for the sake of it. There are plenty of times I enjoy wearing dressier clothing, as much as I enjoy dressing-down. And as Kyle himself said, you need to use judgement. Not everyone, everywhere will adopt the same ideas as you or your organization, and you judgement serves you in knowing when to compromise and adjust for these situations. For those that haven’t read these books yet, but are interested in this sort of topic I suggest The Decision Maker by Dennis Bakke and Reinventing Organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness by Frederic Laloux and Ken Wilber. Great reads.
IT Help Desk
8yRead this and your other article. I like some of the fresh ideas here, though I think it's important to realize that we aren't there yet. While things are changing both in business management and culture, there are still a lot of people who aren't following this new trend. It's good to question the traditions. I support doing so. However, I think the better point, and perhaps maybe even the point Kyle is trying to make, is to question it. Although times are changing, we still need structure. As one commentator has pointed out, there will always be tangible things which are tied to our identities, including what we wear. Part of that is fine. I believe most individuals like having our clothes contribute to our identity--why else would you wear that hoodie or those jeans? Those sunglasses? That necklace? In the end you have the same outcome, it's just your view on the clothing that is deciding this...
Real Estate Agent at Family Value Realty
8ythey show a lack of judgement!
Real Estate Agent at Family Value Realty
8yWell, I agree with most of this. So much of the "requirements" are not at all necessary, but if I'm interviewing someone, I would expect them to dress according to the job they were being interviewed for, and if they didn't, I would consider this to be a lapse in judgement and would then wonder in what other areas would