Dresscode. When I'm working, every time I go into a workplace, I find myself wondering why we have dress-codes in the office - and why they are so biased.

   First of all, the environments I work in aren't exactly places people off the street can just walk into. Where I am now, even a person who was a member (for which read "punter") of Super isn't going to walk into the finance office where the bills are paid. When I worked for Customs and Excise (yeah, sorry, but it's true) it was ina little office doing computer stuff - not a place where anyone else could just walk in. When I worked for BT in their call-centre for BTInternet, it was a CALL CENTRE for christ's sake, no-one else even knew where the bastard place was, so it was hardly like you were going to ever see someone wanting help just walking through the door. I mean, half the people calling in couldn't even find the mouse or the CD drawer without assistance, so there was no chance of them finding an anonymous building in central manchester that didn't even mention the words "BT" outside, let alone "BT Internet".

   And yet all of those work environments (and many others besides) insisted that their staff were "smart". Which actually means "Men must wear shirt and tie at all times, and women can wear pretty much anything, so long as it's not jeans - and let's be honest, if a woman looks OK in jeans, we won't complain". I'm amazed no-one's yet tried claiming a work dress-code as sexism - it obviously is, yet it's one of those things (and I must write more about this sometime soon) that is "how it's always been" so no-one dares complain. Then again, it's the kind of policy that even the Equal Opportunities Commission (another place I've worked) actually encourages in it's own offices. Go figure.

   I know there used to be a theory that people worked better if they were in suits etc. - but even that was financed by one of the companies that wanted it's employee's to stay in suits. Not that I'm saying there was bias in the results, of course - it's just a side point of information. ;¬) But is that theory still true? In IT I've worked in some of the most laid-back offices known to man, and yet the work still got done, and in fact the people were happier, more relaxed, less stressed, and generally worked better. I think there are some environments where a dress-code is still necessary, but that's primarily in industries where the customers have to deal with the company's representatives face to face. But when you're stuck in an office, sitting in front of a bloody keyboard and computer, or dealing with customers over the phone, then quite simply what the hell is the point of being in a shirt and tie?

   For me personally, shirts are OK, but ties are bloody horrible. I hated having to wear one at school, and it's never changed. Yeah, there are occasions where I still wear ties etc. - but if I can get away with not wearing one, I will. In a way I'm fortunate enough to normally be doing work where I'm hired for my skills now, and some companies simply don't give a damn about appearance, so long as the work gets done. Now that's what I call an enlightened attitude. But wearing shirts with ties doesn't make me more productive, I'm not comfortable in them, and I just don't work as well. I wonder how many other people find the same thing?

   Yes, if I absolutely had to wear a shirt and tie for work, I would do - I don't personally see the point of doing so, but that's just the way things go. However, it's this theory that if you dress in shirt and tie then your mind will be in "work mode", and you'll be more efficient. I've never understood that theory - it's never worked for me, but I suppose it does work for some people. Then again, I personally always thought the "if you want to be assertive over the phone then you should stand up" theory was epic balls too. But I've seen people do it - so they either believe it works, or they're just trying to follow the theory.

   One final thing I find interesting on this entire load of crap about dress-codes and the like - it's been documented that in the companies which have "dress-down Friday" (i.e. where on the Friday you can come in in casual clothing instead of suit and tie), the productivity of people on the dress down Fridays is no different to Fridays before the dress-down Friday was implemented. And in the majority of cases, the productivity actually increased.

   But if that's the case, I wonder why companies don't see what happens when they relax the dresscode all week? Maybe one day we'll find out...