Page 7 - BusinessWest December 12, 2022

Tanzi Cannon-Eckerle says being overdressed and underdressed in certain settings are equally problematic.
employers we talk to, so many now are going to casual to business casual, and everybody seems to be accepting of it.
“But, again, no matter what, it’s still know- ing your audience. You might have that one cli- ent that you know dresses up all the time. Well, maybe you need to dress up a little bit more for that client because you want them to take you
seriously, and sometimes you have to look the part.”
Albano said job seekers need to be careful with accessories like tattoos and piercings; both are fine at Bacon Wilson, as long as visible tat- toos aren’t offensive and piercings aren’t too numerous.
Sneakers and flip flops are a hard no, but jeans are fine on occasional charity days, when, like at MP CPAs, employees can pay $5 to dress down a bit. “That’s always a positive thing,” he said.
Lessons Learned
Looking forward, Cicco said employers and employees both learned something about each other during the pandemic, and those lessons will inform dress codes at countless companies in the future.
“As much as we were apart while working remotely during the pandemic, we also became more personally acquainted with one another,” she said. “We were welcomed into each other’s homes as we took Zoom calls from our liv-
ing rooms with family members and even pets debuting in the background, and with that
came a different level of familiarity that further empowered people to dress how they felt most comfortable.”
Therefore, “as we have instituted our new hybrid workplace approach, which balances in- person collaboration with personal flexibility to best meet the needs of our employees and cus- tomers, we’ve seen this level of comfort continue, and I believe it’s here to stay.”
English said the managers at her firm have had meetings and talked to consultants about what’s happening throughout the industry and
how it informs the dress code moving forward. “Because we are so casual now, should we go
back to a more business casual? What we came up with is the term ‘smart casual.’ You can come in the office in jeans and a polo, whatever, but if you know you are going to go out to a client, then you need to dress in more of a smart casual. You need to be able to dress up and be presentable and make a good impression.”
Having been a business owner and manager as well as a lawyer, Cannon-Eckerle’s take is that, “if you walk in the door and the first thing people think about is what you’re wearing, you might have to rethink it. But if you’re clean and pressed and not wearing a T-shirt that’s flipping the bird, most likely you’re OK.”
In short, read the room.
“Because of COVID, things have changed, and I think people have been more open to some- one’s style, open to the fact that dress is part of their personality,” she added. “But that doesn’t mean you can be disruptive in the workplace.
“And, as attorneys, they pay you a hefty hourly rate. If you roll in with sweatpants and flip flops, that isn’t professional. What we see as profes- sional may be changing, but not in all industries, I think.”
As Albano put it, “you don’t want someone to turn their head and say, ‘oh my God, what are you wearing?’ We’re trying to be flexible and make it a healthy work environment, but also a professional setting.” u
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