There’s a commercial for a uniform supply firm playing on Toronto radio that features a member of the Maple Leafs telling employers that when staff put on their new uniforms they’ll feel as proud as he did the day he donned the fabled blue-and-white hockey jersey for the first time.
Now, we all know this is advertising hype and not a case of one-too-many pucks to the head, but sometimes the writers of advertising copy just go too far.
No one likes unnecessarily wearing uniforms at work — in fact in some cases, particularly in the services and retail sectors, it can be downright degrading.
There are many occupations where uniforms are essential to identify personnel, such as health-care professionals, bus drivers and flight attendants, and having service staff who call on residences clearly differentiated from people trying to convert homeowners to different religions or energy suppliers certainly makes sense, but that’s about where it ends. The fact is people don’t like wearing uniforms that make them look silly or subservient. Just as teenagers resent their parents telling them what to wear, employees dislike bosses dressing them.
Unfortunately, some employers are unconcerned with employee feelings, preferring to create a certain look, as if staff are part of a military machine or a group of life-size Barbie dolls to play dress up with.
If wearing a uniform was popular, you’d see senior executives dressing like a sports team. Instead, it’s usually employees in low-paying service and retail jobs who are targetted for unnecessary uniform wearing. Is this because they need uniforms or because they are easier to push around than, for instance, computer programmers?
One argument for dressing these people up is that customers will be able to identify staff. This can be taken too far — a bank teller, for example, doesn’t need a uniform in order for a customer to appreciate the person handling money behind the counter works for the institution. And odds are the person carrying the big tray of food and drinks in the restaurant is the server.
So, what about retail? Isn’t it good for staff to be easily recognized by customers requiring assistance? Frankly, if you need customers to visually track down staff, you have a bigger problem than grumbling about wearing uniforms. There should never be wayward customers wandering stores looking for the person in a uniform as if they are searching for an oasis in a wasteland. Staff should be aware of the presence of customers and promptly approach them with offers of assistance. If they are not, putting them in uniforms achieves little.
Adopting staff uniforms runs the risk of employees feeling foolish rather than respected. It’s not worth the laundry.
Now, we all know this is advertising hype and not a case of one-too-many pucks to the head, but sometimes the writers of advertising copy just go too far.
No one likes unnecessarily wearing uniforms at work — in fact in some cases, particularly in the services and retail sectors, it can be downright degrading.
There are many occupations where uniforms are essential to identify personnel, such as health-care professionals, bus drivers and flight attendants, and having service staff who call on residences clearly differentiated from people trying to convert homeowners to different religions or energy suppliers certainly makes sense, but that’s about where it ends. The fact is people don’t like wearing uniforms that make them look silly or subservient. Just as teenagers resent their parents telling them what to wear, employees dislike bosses dressing them.
Unfortunately, some employers are unconcerned with employee feelings, preferring to create a certain look, as if staff are part of a military machine or a group of life-size Barbie dolls to play dress up with.
If wearing a uniform was popular, you’d see senior executives dressing like a sports team. Instead, it’s usually employees in low-paying service and retail jobs who are targetted for unnecessary uniform wearing. Is this because they need uniforms or because they are easier to push around than, for instance, computer programmers?
One argument for dressing these people up is that customers will be able to identify staff. This can be taken too far — a bank teller, for example, doesn’t need a uniform in order for a customer to appreciate the person handling money behind the counter works for the institution. And odds are the person carrying the big tray of food and drinks in the restaurant is the server.
So, what about retail? Isn’t it good for staff to be easily recognized by customers requiring assistance? Frankly, if you need customers to visually track down staff, you have a bigger problem than grumbling about wearing uniforms. There should never be wayward customers wandering stores looking for the person in a uniform as if they are searching for an oasis in a wasteland. Staff should be aware of the presence of customers and promptly approach them with offers of assistance. If they are not, putting them in uniforms achieves little.
Adopting staff uniforms runs the risk of employees feeling foolish rather than respected. It’s not worth the laundry.
