Dear Bob ... I'm writing to comment on the three columns you wrote recently about dress codes in Keep the Joint Running. [Note from Bob: The three were: http://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=469 http://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=470 and http://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=471 ] The fact that you've spent three columns on this unimportant issue (your words) shows how Dear Bob …I’m writing to comment on the three columns you wrote recently about dress codes in Keep the Joint Running.[Note from Bob: The three were: https://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=469https://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=470 and https://www.issurvivor.com/ArticlesDetail.asp?ID=471 ] The fact that you’ve spent three columns on this unimportant issue (your words) shows how thorny it actually is. Whoever said “dress for the day” and is happy with the results either has the greatest hiring and HR strategies or is an oblivious moron. Fact is, it’s hard to feel proud or your organization, when you walk guests past people who are dressed for the beach or working in the yard. Business formal may not be the way to go, but we all know what it looks like. Business casual is open to individual interpretation without a five page policy. There is nothing business about jeans, sneakers, muscle shirts, flannel shirts, etc.– Dressed for successDear Dressed … The advantage of “dress for the day” is that it creates an expectation among employees that judgment, rather than adherance to rules, is what’s really important. Among the many benefits is that it avoids creating a “jailhouse lawyer” culture, where employees expend time and energy figuring out the loopholes to the rules.Without a doubt, this kind of approach only works when a company also places a premium on leadership, and in particular on leaders with enough courage to acknowledge subjectivity.Which is to say, a concommitant of a culture of good judgment is having leaders willing to say, “We’re dealing with aesthetics, for which there are no objective standards. That means everyone has to have enough sense to understand what does and doesn’t make sense in the workplace without my having to spell out exact rules. If I have to be more specific than ‘dress for the day’ it means I have to say, “dress neatly, in clothes that aren’t excessively revealing and show good taste, and by the way I want you to practice good personal hygiene as well.’ And if I have to say that, and have constant discussions with you because you’re constantly trying to stay as close to the line as possible, it’s clear you aren’t a good fit for this culture.” I absolutely agree that once you try to codify proper dress in a policy, it gets pretty thorny. And by the way, Target’s business formal dress code runs more than 20 pages. If Business Formal were easier to define than Business Casual this would not be the case. Both are open to interpretation.In my admittedly not very humble opinion, the best way to avoid the thorns is to avoid establishing a policy in the first place.– Bob ——– Technology Industry