Dress to Impress

   In some businesse industries, appearances can make or break careers. A bank is a great example. Recently, the Swiss bank UBS released a 43-page dress code to its retail banking staff. The advices were strict to the point of excess. However, the reation to the dress code is unexpectedly positive. It is unclear whether the staff members of the UBS are at the same page with their company, but customers are welcoming the policy.

   To point out some guidelines from the dress code, staff members are recommended to wear suits in dark grey, black or navy blue beacuse these colors usually symbolize competence, formalism and sobriety. For female staff members, the skirt should reach their knee and also wearing too much accesories are not recommended. For male staff members, wearing accesories is banned except for a watch, which represents reliability and great care for punctuality. In addition , long knee-high socks are encouraged in order to prevent from showing their actual skin when they cross their legs. The code even designates which underwear one should wear. For men, it should be of good quality and easily washable but still remain undetectable. For female staffs the color of their underwear should match with their skin color in case the uniform is made of translucent fabric.

   Under these strict guidelines, there is no chance to express one's personality through their fashion. As a result, it may be undesirable for the staff. However,the fact that customers prefer clerks who are neatly dressed led many companies likely to adapt such kind of dress-code. It was the customers' preference which reversed the trend of casual dress code into a formal business attire, which was once abandoned for the sake of positive effects by expressing one's personality.

   Not only people have their own personality but also companies have a certain image that can appeal to customers. The image of a company is as important as the personality of individuals, since it determines how other people think about you. There are many elements that build up a comapany's image. It includes quality of their products, employers, corporate strategy and etc. Especially for service companies, the employees play a big role in establishing their companies' image. Therefore, employers, who care about the image of their companies, can demand their staff to cooperate with the company's policy. Policies that are related to promoting a corporate's image should not be regarded as an invasion of privacy since working in a company is open to the public.

   Especially businesses in the sevice industry, a good image is essential as well. It is a common sense that people do not like to go to a restaurant where the kitchen looks dirty and whose waiters are unfriendly. When people choose a restaurant for a dinner, they consider not only the taste of food but also the atmosphere of the restaurant. People expect to have a dinner at a clean restaurant with a nice service. This also applies to financial service companies like banks. Banks live on confidence by their customers. 

   It is the staff's duty to satisfy clients by providing good quality of service. Good quality of service includes not only the service that a company provides but also secondary services that emplyers provide such as comfortable environment, friendly attitude and etc. Dress code is one way to enhance the quality of secondary service.