Casual Dress Codes Are Beneficial for the Company

Guests: Janice Sutherland: Executive Coach/Author/Speaker and former CEO of Digicel Antigua, Bermuda & Montserrat. Dr. Gail Hudson: Senior Director of Strategic Human Resources Management and Administration of the Ministry of Health. Welcome to Your Business Matters, a podcast of EXIM Bank Jamaica where we bring thought leaders together on thought-provoking ideas and methods to help grow your business If you have never heard about casual Fridays, chances are you have not been around that long at all. The idea came about in the early 1960s  from the concept of 'Aloha' Fridays in Hawaii and has since then been adopted by the rest of the world. Bill Foster, president of the Hawaiian Fashion Guild at the time needed to make sales on his Hawaiian fashion shirts and he needed the sales fast. As a result, he concocted a plan to bring comfort to the workplace and used the government to help him do it. Each member of state in the Hawaiin House of Representatives was then given two of the Aloha shirts under the theme 'Operation Liberation". Tech giant, Hewlett Packard in an effort to spark more creative ideas and initiatives in its employees also made use of the casual Friday custom and well, we see how that has been turning out over the years. Corporate fashion has been revamped and revolutionized a lot over the years but many employers still cling to the idea that formal wear, that is, a three-piece suit and tie in a tropical climate still make for good business. The discussion continued for years and today, it is right here on Your Business Matters, so what say you listeners, do you believe that casual dress codes are beneficial to corporate companies or should we stick to the status quo of formal wear on the 9-5? Joining me for the showdown are Janice Sutherland, Executive Coach/Author/Speaker and former CEO of Digicel, Antigua & Barbuda & Montserrat, and Dr. Gail Hudson, Senior Director of Strategic Human Resources Management and Administration at the Ministry of Health. Some of what we discussed include: Benefits of having a formal dress code. Does personality affect performance and dress code? We also touched base with a member of our audience Yunique Francis  who posed this question to our guests “How do we navigate the dress code discussion with the work from home reality?” Connect with our guests: Connect with Janice on LinkedIn at ‘I am Janice Sutherland’, podcast ‘This Woman Can’ our visit her website at janicesutherland.com. You may contact Gail Hudson at 876-855-1135 and email [email protected] . Thank you for joining us on Your Business Matters hosted by Heneka Watkis-Porter of the Entrepreneurial You podcast. Remember to join us next week for another exciting episode with our thought-provoking leaders as they debate thought-provoking ideas and methods to help grow your business and move closer to your goals. To stay in touch, you can connect with us on your favorite podcast platforms at ‘Your Business Matters’ where we bring the matters to the table or visit eximbankja.com for further information and business resources. As you continue to mind your business, I leave with you this quote from Andrew Davis Edith Head "You can have anything you want in life if you dress for it." ” Take care.