ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 24, 1997 TAG: 9704240003
SECTION: AT WORK PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: THE DAILY GRIND
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR
Shenandoah Life ushered it in enthusiastically, with guidelines that jeans were acceptable and sweat shirts with logos were not.
Norfolk Southern chucked it after several attempts.
Casual Friday.
Casual Monday through Thursday, for that matter. A trend believed to have started not in Silicon Valley but in Hawaii in the mid-1970s as ``Aloha Friday.''
Does it boost employee productivity, as its supporters claim? Is it worth the rush to khakis?
``I know I get more work done when I can wear jeans and sit on the floor,'' said Donna Musselwhite, director of bank market development for Shenandoah Life.
The Roanoke insurance company started casual Fridays two years ago. Last fall, one casual day a week became every day of the week.
``The feeling was that people were being asked to work harder and harder,'' Musselwhite said. ``A lot of people were working long hours. [A casual dress code] was something that appealed to employees. People love it.''
There are guidelines. Casual does not mean ratty or sloppy. And when special meetings are planned or the board of directors is scheduled to be on the premises, notices are posted the day before, alerting employees that the day's attire will be standard business wear.
``Out come the suits and dresses and hose and heels,'' Musselwhite said. ``My gosh, we look like grown-ups.''
Norfolk Southern was less thrilled with its casual Fridays. So they went the way of the steam locomotive.
Susan Terpay, manager of public relations, said a few departments experimented with a dress-down code for non-union employees, who for the most part were a suit-and-tie lot. But with a constant stream of clients and customers coming through its offices, the company decided those employees were better off in traditional business attire.
So ``we don't have an official casual day,'' Terpay said. ``There might be individual situations that come up. Every day is different. But we really count on every employee who represents Norfolk Southern to put the company in the most professional light.''
Making the shift from wing tips and pin stripes to dirty bucks and comfy cardigans can be a dicey endeavor.
There is help.
``Chic Simple Work Clothes,'' a book by clothing experts Kim Johnson Gross and Jeff Stone, offers how-to tips on appropriate casual dress in the workplace.
Dockers - whose parent company is Levi Strauss, Inc. - has set up a toll-free number (800-DOCKERS) for casual work-wear ``counseling.''
I called.
``A lot of companies are changing their dress codes and want to go to casual but need a little help,'' said Aaron, my counselor. He offered to send me a video on incorporating casual wear into the business world. Seated at my desk in worn khakis and a turtleneck, I declined the offer.
Levi Strauss has in fact surveyed more than 500 corporations about work-wear trends. The company found that between 1992 and 1996, 90 percent of the corporations developed some type of casual dress policy.
And employees at those corporations said that a less rigid dress code improved morale and productivity and leveled the corporate playing field.
``The lines between work and private time are becoming more and more blurred,'' said Cassie Ederer, senior marketing specialist for Levi Strauss. ``Work days are a lot more hectic than five or six years ago.''
But is the casual workplace just a trend - here today, gone in a few years?
``It's become pretty much the norm,'' Ederer said.
Levi Strauss had record sales last year - $7.1 billion.
LENGTH: Medium: 73 linesby CNB