It’s time to ditch the caveman look

WHEN THE UK first went into lockdown, everything changed. We all had to adjust to working from home. Face-to-face meetings were replaced with video calls. We had to juggle home schooling with our jobs.

It’s not surprising that during the first few weeks of lockdown, we let standards slide. Our beards grew. Our pyjamas became our uniform. Why bother with a shirt and tie when the world is falling apart?

But enough is enough.

The other day, I was about to join a video conference, when my daughter stopped me. “You’re not dialling in like that,” she asked, horrified. “At least wear a shirt instead.”

She was right. I have always been a staunch defender of professional workwear. I even wrote about it last year. Yet here I was, unshaven, wearing an old t-shirt. How had this happened?

I had a shave and put on a clean shirt and I felt like a different person. I was ready to go to work. My mind was clear.

I knew what needed to be done. That day, I noticed that many of the people I spoke to were in the same rut, wearing casual clothes, with messy hair, calling from rooms that were strewn with toys or dirty dishes.

I barely recognised one manager from the business, who had gone full caveman with an enormous beard and fringe down to his nose.

I’m not under any illusions here; I know things are hard right now. Hairdressers are still closed. Many dry cleaners are too. We are sharing our spaces with the rest of the family (and our pets). But it’s time to start making an effort again. It’s time to start thinking about our personal appearance, and caring about the impression we give over Zoom, RingCentral or Hangouts. It shows respect to the people we are meeting – albeit virtually.

Everyone’s heard the phrase ‘dress for the job you want, not the one you have’ as a strategy to become more successful – but it goes deeper than that. One study found that people made fewer mistakes in complex tasks when wearing a white lab coat.

Another showed that people who wore professional clothing obtained more profitable deals than those in casual wear.

Our clothing has a profound effect on our mood and performance.

This morning, during a team meeting, I told all my BigChange colleagues that anyone in a customer-facing role must be dressed smartly from now on. We are no longer in an ‘adjustment phase’. This is normal life now. Who knows if we will ever go back to an office environment full-time?

The UK economy is stalling. We need to pull out all the stops to keep moving forward. In a few shorts months, the nation will experience a deep recession, and there will be mass redundancies across multiple industries. If we are going to continue working from our homes, and growing this business virtually, we need to look like the professionals we are.

I know this is going to be tough. I don’t expect my team to start cutting their own hair, or wearing three-piece suits. I also realise there are constraints to working from home. Naming no names, I know one person who only gets good reception in their bathroom... Cats and children are going to make an appearance on work calls – that’s life.

All I’m asking is that we all try and to bring our best selves to work. Even if the office is the kitchen table.