You have two options: to go for work uniforms or to go for a DIY workwear policy. If you are in doubt, imagine yourself entering your business venue as a potential client.
Picture your workers wearing uniforms and then imagine the same scenery with all of them in their own clothing.
In which scenario would you more likely decide to take the business seriously and make a deal?
This simple test is not based on some strong scientific facts, but it is an indicator of the general attitude toward uniforms – clients like them. However, work uniforms need to be presentable and perfectly maintained.
Industries Where Work Uniforms Are a Necessity
Luckily for all other branches of industry, there are those businesses and services where uniforms are necessary. Their experience allowed everybody else to learn volumes about the good sides of having work clothes.
Uniforms in the health, military and police sectors are almost legendary. Besides those, people recognise uniforms of the kitchen staff, hotel employees and others who work in the food and hospitality sectors.
Other industries followed their lead and businesses have started to invest in proper workwear, significantly.
Frost and Sullivan confirmed that in their report on Western European Workwear Markets from 2010. Namely, companies in the UK spent over €640 million to uniform their workers. This was almost 20% of the entire amount spent on workwear in Western Europe.
Workers in Uniforms Have Better Attitudes
It has been proven that wearing a uniform changes the way employees think about themselves. Simply by replacing everyday clothes with work uniforms, employees change their attitude toward work.
Wearing uniforms :
- improves their attention span
- boosts orientation to detail
- increases overall motivation for work
This is best illustrated with a couple of experiments presented in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. The results showed that people wearing uniforms have better-sustained attention than those who perform the same task, but without the uniform.
However, the uniform should be appropriate for the task. For example, if people believe that they are wearing a doctor’s white coat, they will be very detail oriented and focused on the task that requires attention.
On the other hand, if they are told that the same coat is a painter’s coat, they will not show the same improvement in their attention for the task.
What’s more, workwear must be of the right size to ensure proper protection of every employee.
Uniforms are Practical in Many Ways
There are two main ways in which uniforms are practical:
- They help workers protect their own clothing
- Industrial workwear protects people at work
- They help differentiate employees that work in different departments
People working in the food industry cannot imagine going to work and not wearing their uniforms. Overalls, aprons, and headwear protect them from splatter and stains, while also protecting the food from being contaminated.
In large companies, there are many departments and people can get confused. However, if a company decides to provide logo uniforms in different colours for every department, this problem is solved efficiently.
Other practical sides of logo uniforms include the fact that customers can easily spot a member of staff when they need help.
Also, uniforms with a logo advertise your company wherever your workers appear.
Customers Have More Trust in Uniformed Staff
The first impression is very important and long lasting. That is why every business should make the most of the fact that uniformed staff leaves an excellent impression on the potential clients.
It is more likely for a client to have more trust in an inexperienced worker in a uniform than in an expert in a DIY attire.
Harris Interactive (now Harris Poll) conducted a research on how customers feel about businesses that have their employees wear uniforms. It shows that 2 out of 3 adults claim uniformed employees leaves a positive impression on them.
People said that uniformed employees seemed more professional and that they felt enticed to do business with that company.
DIY Workwear Is Not That Bad
There are situations when a logo uniform cannot be put into a good use.
Places that do not have direct and personal contact with their clients usually do not have uniforms. They may have a dress code – like law firms, but it is unlikely that their lawyers will have obligatory logos on their suits.
However, wherever possible, high quality and well-kept uniforms should be introduced. Today’s competitive market demands that businesses use every means possible to reflect their professionalism and excellent service. Uniforms greatly help achieve that effect.
Uniforms are a better option for those businesses that involve a large number of workers. They make much more sense when a company needs to boost the team spirit and the sense of belonging.
Alsco Uniforms Boost All These Benefits
Businesses can hope to get all these benefits from their logo uniforms only if the uniforms are flawless. They need to be perfectly clean, ironed and maintained.
One messy uniform on a worker can drown all your efforts to build an image of a professional business.
Maintaining all the uniforms at the same time is quite a chore. It consumes a lot of time and it is a work that needs to be done repeatedly. Luckily, you do not have to do it.
Alsco rents uniforms for all kinds of businesses. Your workers just need to wear them and put them back in one of our lockers. We will come over, take the worn uniforms and replace them with freshly cleaned and ironed ones. All this is included in one fee.
Contact Alsco representatives and make an enquiry about this excellent service. They will tell you all you need to know about how to get perfect uniforms for your business without having to think about their maintenance.
Photo Courtesy: Flickr Image by llee_wu
