Introduction:
According
to SHRM (2017), “Dress codes are used to communicate to employees what the
organization considers appropriate work attire. A dress code or appearance
policy allows an employer to set expectations regarding the image it wants the
company to convey. Dress codes can be formal or informal and might include the
use of uniforms.”
In
this paper, I will discuss how clothing preferences affects the relationships
we form at work or in other business situation. I will also provide my personal
opinion about workplace dress code and explain how far should employees go in
setting dress and other behavior standard. To add, I will provide few reasons
why these standards are important (or not) from an ethical perspective. Lastly,
I will tackle how clothing might affect an international company’s approach to
business ethics.
Main
Topic:
In
the modern world where fashion is becoming a trend and many clothing styles are
released, I believe that this does not change how people perceives the
appearance of an individual. The way how we dress up helps us present ourselves better, for example, in a business event, it would be appropriate to wear
business suits whether a modern style or old-fashioned suit – so long that it
will make you fit in to the event’s theme.
It
is our right to choose our own fashion but it is very important that our
choices are within the acceptable standard especially when at work. Presenting
yourself in a way that your friends and colleague will respect you as one of
the employees in the company is ethical because you are abiding to the policy
imposed while making sure that we are not giving everyone an opportunity to
discriminate you because of how you dress.
I
am agreeing to the idea of imposing a specific dress code but not to the extent
that a company will impose a specific uniform for its employee because it will
limit the employee’s expression to fashion. Dress code is an important policy
within the organization as it will help the organization minimize
discrimination and sexual harassment issues. People are accustomed to perceived
and judged an individual based on how s/he is dressed, for example, wearing a
dress that perceives sexual attraction will definitely result to possible
sexual harassment issues; therefore, dress code must be implemented.
Imposing
a dress code policy within the organization is ethical because it will minimize
the issues related to physical presentation without limiting the individual’s
expression to art and fashion. It is ethical because it does not discriminate
social status, gender expression and self-expression in terms of fashion
preferences.
Conclusion:
To
conclude this paper, clothing may greatly affect globally operating companies’
approach to business ethics because it would be better to implement a global
standard policy specific to the way how their employees should present
themselves. For example, a large corporation who operates multi-nation
implements casual business attire to all of its employees regardless of the
position. This policy will restrict liberated designs to avoid discrimination
and harassment issues. Employees can still express their clothing preferences
by choosing designs or style that are closely similar to casual business attire
without flaunting their public parts to the general public.
References:
SHRM (2017).
Managing Employee Dress and Appearance. Society for Human Resource Management
(SHRM). System ID: 285739810. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/tools-and-samples/toolkits/pages/employeedressandappearance.aspx
Byars, S.
M., & Stanberry, K. (2019). Business ethics. OpenStax College and Rice
University. Retrieved from: https://opentextbc.ca/businessethicsopenstax/
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