Ask Evelina

Thursday, 09 January 2014

Question 23

Q“Hello Evelina! My name is Olga, I’m the head of interior design studio. The appearance of my employees is very important for me. It’s not even about the style they choose, it’s about how all the garments match. As a rule, the lack of taste in someone’s outfits can also be seen in his work. We can talk a lot about what is allowed to put on going to office if you are a person of a creative profession. Question: what is absolutely unacceptable or undesirable in the office outfit? And how the look of a studio director should differ from the employees, especially if he is working on projects as well? Olga Vasilieva, modniy.tv website user.

Evelina Khromtchenko answers the question.

Dear Olga! I understand that it had pent up in you, that my answer is the last argument against the talented but careless person. You may deprive him of bonuses for those projects that he works on, if he loses on these projects due to wrong outfits Because in all other cases, if he doesn’t lose, finding faults is not necessary. Therefore, your division is so obvious – you are the owner, and he directs the creative people , he has a dress code: his own idea of how he should look in the frames of leading a creative staff , managing creative projects and so on. You, as a wealthy lady who has invested in this business, are not required to understand it. If you are irritated by this situation personally, you as the person who is paying for this “music” can simply impose a dress code. But introducing a dress code to a company like yours, where working people are creative, you run the risk of losing these people, because one of the keys to work with creative people is to allow them to be themselves. It may sound strange, but I, for example , throughout my career as the leader in the creative field, never advised people to change there wardrobe. But after six months of working with me, they changed clothes themselves. I knew that, and knowing that I am taking for work talented, creative person, who knows his profile, I pledged a certain time on this magical transformation which happens to everyone without exception, regardless of size, age, gender and education. The team perfects itself if it has a right head. If you are satisfied with the financial result, which your studio shows – do not meddle in the questions of dress-codes. If you still want to get into this, you should be prepared, that the financial results decrease, because people who work there will no longer work there. Another thing is that it could be exactly the opposite situation, and, say, you’re not just a third-party investor, you are a professional, you have grown out of this business and you realize what you are losing because of your leader does not look as he should in that stylistic situation, where your company works. In this case go back to what I said at the beginning – and I think that all problems will be resolved immediately.