Dumbing down work wear HSBC / BA

[deema]

I have read today that both HSBC and British Airways now feel that jump suits, jeans and sloppy work wear uniforms is the way forward. I find it both a sad indictment of standards and respect for the customers that I can now look forward to being served by somebody who might as well not have bothered to change out of they’re PJ’s.
Now I’m sure there will be those who feel intimidated by smart clothing, the stereotypical suit, white shirt and a tie. However, I’m both of an age where it was the ‘standard’ and it did make a difference to professional interactions. Sloppy attire usually meant sloppy work.
It was nice to get home take off the tie and suit and by doing so and changing into my home clothes feel the difference of transforming from either bee to father and husband. A change in clothes a change in mind set.

 

[Geoff_S]

Back in th 1990's we invited a Northern colleague and his wife and kids to come and stay with us for a few days. We're still great friends today and long may it last.

But, the first time they came we cooked dinner for them and while we were cooking, chatting & drinking they all disappeared upstairs. They reappeared some 30 minutes later all dressed up to the nines .... for dinner. Apparently that was quite normal up North but totally bewildering to us Southerners!

And today at dinner, we're now all casual. Strange how things change.

 

[Noel]

I saw the HSBC outfits, they look well. It’s good that the stuffy suit and tie brigade are becoming a thing of the past.
Wasn’t there a bit of a stupid row years ago when a BBC war reporter appeared on the news without a tie? Lots of complaints and threats of not paying the licence fee. Such a load of nonsense.

 

[Blackswanwood]

I don’t think the attire of someone correlates at all with their ability to be professional and focused on helping customers. Roll the clock back thirty years and bowler hats were still deemed necessary by the “old guard” in the City of London … how daft was that!

 

[clogs]

when working in industry I used to polish my work boots every morning before starting work....still do when I wear heavy boots......
all the lads thought I was nuts.....
working here in summer it's just shorts n aT shirt.....does that count as properly dressed for work........lol
when welding and cutting steel I usually wear a leather apron to protect the vital's...........

I had no probs with suit's n ties, just the morons in management who thought they were better than us in overall's....

 

[Ozi]

Perception makes a difference to how you are treated. When I was working as an engineering surveyor our boss required that we turn up to clients looking smart. People treat you differently some better some worse, an hour or two later in oily overalls you get the opposite reaction. There is still a very "them 'n' us" attitude in a lot of industry

 

[Doug B]

There is still a very "them 'n' us" attitude in a lot of industry

It’s not just in industry it’s the basis of a lot of problems in the country

 

[nickds1]

In the technology sector I have spent my working life in, we gave up suits and ties many years ago, unless you were customer facing. The move to "European smart casual" meant decent trousers and a jacket for the men and equivalent for women.

In the software sector, even jackets have gone now. Just be well groomed, clean and smart.

Respect is given based on how good you are at what you do, not on where you buy your clothes.

Bizarrely, when I was working in the Middle East a couple of years ago, we all had to wear suits & ties, even though in summer the temperature reached the high 40s Centigrade - nobody actually went outside during the day - even the garages were air conditioned. However, talking to folk who are still there it seems they have moved to smart casual too, mostly as a knock on from COVID where they got used to WFH and not wearing suits - life continued and folk eventually realised that wearing a suit actually meant very little - we all wore suits because that was the convention and until people started to question the rationale for that, nothing changed.

Perceptions as to what is important change and in this case, I feel strongly that it's for the better.

 

[Sideways]

Jump suits and airline toilets that aren't the roomiest of places !
I have sympathy for the staff. For them, the cabin is a workplace.
I hope they were consulted rather than having a uniform foisted on them.

Smart casual is a good thing in my eyes but if you are in a professional role and representing a large corporate in public, image does matter. There's also the dimension of showing respect to customers, partners, shareholders etc.

Some folk have both safety gear and a suit and tie hanging in their office ...

 

[Spectric]

Jump suits and airline toilets that aren't the roomiest of places !

Are you suggesting problems joining the mile high club or problems peeing down a leg.

 

[Spectric]

Standards are not falling, they have been catapulted down the nearest u bend never to be seen again. This applies to everything including social standards and our throwaway world where people cannot be bothered anymore in even delivering a basic job standard. The trouble now is that we continue to set ever lower standards and once accepted become the new norm so a downward spiral.

How would you see your boss if you went to his office and he was just wearing some tracksuit, I think the smart look helps a boss convey his position the same as some scruffy herbert turns up to repair your boiler, surely you must at least question his ability.

 

[artie]

I don’t think the attire of someone correlates at all with their ability to be professional and focused on helping customers.

Can't disagree, but the one instance that stands out for me is the police force/service.

They used to walk upright in a smart uniform and behaved in a way that drew respect from the public and even some crims.

Nowadays, not all but a fair percentage I have encountered slouch around hatless in a boiler suit, with the legs tucked into their boots, a cross between a mechanic and an army cadet from the 50s

 

[Blackswanwood]

Can't disagree, but the one instance that stands out for me is the police force/service.

They used to walk upright in a smart uniform and behaved in a way that drew respect from the public and even some crims.

Nowadays, not all but a fair percentage I have encountered slouch around hatless in a boiler suit, with the legs tucked into their boots, a cross between a mechanic and an army cadet from the 50s

My brother was in the Police and my son is now. Neither would have much good to say about the current uniform. I doubt much attention was paid to what the rank and file felt was needed and it’s been picked with a budget in mind.

 

[paulrbarnard]

Years ago I was dispatched to fix a problem in the London International Finance and Equity Exchange. Trading was impacted for many traders so it was a hundreds of thousands of pounds a second situation. I turned up and was refused entry because I wasn’t wearing a tie. They realised the severity of the situation and someone took off their tie for me to put on. Hard to comprehend but it happened. They actually sent someone to buy a tie, which they presented to me as I left so I would have one the next time. I still have it, a very nice silk herring bone in blue.

It’s only been since the Fukushima incident in Japan that corporate dress policy there has been relaxed in the summer to enable them to turn the air on down. I have a lightweight suit specially for Japan.

I work for a California based company and even the CEO wears jeans and T-Shirt, though he is booted and suited for customer and media meetings.

 

[Blackswanwood]

Standards are not falling, they have been catapulted down the nearest u bend never to be seen again. This applies to everything including social standards and our throwaway world where people cannot be bothered anymore in even delivering a basic job standard. The trouble now is that we continue to set ever lower standards and once accepted become the new norm so a downward spiral.

Probably been said by people of a certain age in very generation but life goes on.

How would you see your boss if you went to his office and he was just wearing some tracksuit, I think the smart look helps a boss convey his position the same as some scruffy herbert turns up to repair your boiler, surely you must at least question his ability.

As long as the scruffy herbert is helpful, polite and fixes it he can wear a manikin and flippers for all I care about his chosen attire!

 

[Terry - Somerset]

I started work in the City when bowlers, waistcoats, and shiny shoes were de rigueur. I have also seen what some perceive as degraded standards over the decades.

I have come to the conclusion that what one wears only matters to the extent that it influences those with whom you are interacting. It is the expectations and reactions of the audience that are important, not what I think.

A suit and tie will help me get a favourable response with older folk, where informal clothing will diminish credibility on serious issues. Similarly dressed interacting with a younger group - formal dress may create distance and inhibit interaction.

 

[PaulArthur]

I’ve got mixed feeling about it. I work in the technology sector, and when I am in our head office, the norm these days is suits without ties for the men, while ladies’ attire hasn’t really changed over the last decade. A large amount of my work is done from home though, where I wear anything from jeans and a t-shirt to pyjamas, and it doesn’t make me any less professional or less good at my job.

I do appreciate that when customer and colleague facing, smartness is analogous to respect for others, and so i suppose that i’m not in favour of the jump suits, except that if the majority of customers don’t find it to be troubling for them, then there shouldn’t be a problem prioritising comfort or practicality. I’m only in my forties, but am aware that in some senses the world is evolving beyond me, and I’ve chosen to make peace with that and try not to let it bother me - I never liked ties anyway!

 

[deema]

Interesting responses. So, many feel how somebody dresses is immaterial. I wonder, would these same people shop in a place that is poorly laid out, products haphazardly placed? Do they like keeping their tools in Sustainers or in drawers or in a rack? Do they get frustrated by poorly designed web sites or for d that are all haphazard? Do they choose to hire trades people who shop up in clean vans, who are beat and tidy when do the work and look professional? How do they turn up to a first date / expect. Who they are meeting to look? Well, if you do, isn’t that because you respect and actually want order and neatness? In each case they get the same result, but they will choose to go somewhere that is ordered, neat and tidy.

There are plenty of studies that highlight that dressing smartly, working in a clean, tidy and structured environment is both more efficient as well as creating a better result. I want to deal with people who respect me sufficiently to dress appropriately and have a clean well groomed appearance. If you have blue hair, a ring through your nose, tattoos all over, wearing your PJs as far as most of the population is concerned they will seek out a different interaction experience.

 

[JoeS]

The new HSBC uniforms look like something out of a fast food chain or maybe halfords. It's a way of the banks paying even less to their high street staff, by limiting expectation- it won't be long until it's just another minimum wage job.

 

[Geoff_S]

The new HSBC uniforms look like something out of a fast food chain or maybe halfords. It's a way of the banks paying even less to their high street staff, by limiting expectation- it won't be long until it's just another minimum wage job.

Certainly when I worked for a bank, many years ago, the salary was about as low as it could be then. A quick online check suggests that not much has changed.