Stressed at Work? You Might Be Wearing the Problem

The pandemic has opened the eyes of workers to the comfort of working in old ragged hoodies. While businesses had the realisation that having a remote workforce is a viable business model. 

In fact, the Office for National Statistics reported that 48.3% of businesses in the UK that have implemented work from home setups permanently, cited increased productivity as a reason for doing it.

While flexible working arrangements are great at improving overall productivity, there are still a lot of issues that need to be worked out, like data security and to a lesser degree, workers losing interest in dressing up for work.

 How Does Workwear Affect Work Performance?

“Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence in society.” –Mark Twain

A study known as the Red Sneakers Effect has shown that what you wear at work can affect other people’s perception of your competence. So much so that merely dressing differently from the rest of your coworkers could lead to a quick promotion.

And according to the author of Productivity Project, Chris Bailey, your workwear affects both your comfort and confidence. So those working from home might focus too much on comfort which could have a negative effect on their work performance.

After all, we still need a certain degree of confidence to complete tasks that require taking on risks. And the right workwear can provide you with the pride and confidence that you’ll need to succeed.

Choosing the Right Workwear for the Job

Choosing the right workwear isn’t as simple as choosing between comfort, confidence, or utility. We need to think of workwear as another tool for the job. 

This is something that outdoor workers have always known, since their safety is on the line every time they show up to work. And the right workwear could be the difference between them getting home safe or getting into a preventable work accident.

So before you reach for that old hoodie, think about the tasks that you need to do for the day first. According to the author of Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing, Mike Slepian, casual clothes are best worn when completing detail-oriented tasks. While formal clothes are best worn when you need to make executive decisions or when you need to tackle problems that require a great deal of confidence.