EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR: - Customer Service Institute of Australia

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a longer life and therefore, work out
cheaper in the long run.
Dress With Finesse.
Never neglect to cultivate and
maintain impeccable grooming
habits. Little is more off-putting than
body and food odours, greasy hair,
overdone makeup, torn pantyhose
or socks etc. Your attention to detail
will show that you care about all the
components that make up the big
picture.
Dress It Up a Notch.
The more client-oriented your
role, the more professional your
appearance needs to be. No one
wants their banker to look like they
just got out of high school or as if
they’re heading out for a day at the
beach.
Dress Into The 21st Century.
Throw away all those neon coloured
clothes, platforms and loud prints.
You don’t have to look like you just
stepped off the pages of Vogue or
GQ, but keeping your wardrobe upto-date
shows that you’re current
rather than dated which can read
‘old fashioned’.
Dress For The Part You Want to
Play.
If you look content with the position
you are at, that’s exactly where you’ll
stay. On the other hand, “looking-
and lend greater credibility to your
intended message of where you
want to go. Try mirroring the image
of the person whose position you
aspire to be at. When you look
the part, you can play it more
convincingly in much the same way
that actors do.
Last but not least …
If You’re Fresh Out Of School Get
Help.
Transitioning from a school
wardrobe to a corporate one can be
a daunting task. Take the initiative
and hire a specialist because when
you look and feel your best, your
heightened energy level will lead
others to take you seriously.
6 Things Employers Can Do
Decide if Casual Dress Is Right For
Your Company.
The start of causal dress days began
on the West Coast to encourage
creativity. However, based on a
survey of 500 companies, Dr.
Jeffrey L. Magee, a consulting
psychologist, found that continually
relaxed dress leads to relaxed
manners, relaxed morals, relaxed
productivity and an increase in
complaints to Human Resources.
Write Policies.
Provide clear dress guidelines
for each professional level in the
organisation and be ready and
willing to provide consequences to
employees who do not follow the
policy.
Provide Professional Appearance
and Etiquette Training.
Offer employees a professional
image seminar if they lack basic
know-how in this area and reinforce
dress code guidelines during new
employee orientation.
Provide Sexual Harassment
Training.
Dressing provocatively can lead to
sexual harassment complaints.
Failure to adopt a proactive and
aggressive stance on sexual
harassment in the workplace can
result not only in costly lawsuits,
but also in loss of employee
morale, decline in productivity, and
an erosion of a company’s public
image.
Provide Global Training Programs.
With the exception of marketing
materials, your employees are the
and clients. Ensure that, irrespective
of geographical location, employees
are on the same page in terms of
expected behaviours and company
image.
Last but not least …
Hold Leaders Accountable to
Model Your Company Image.
When leaders fail to live up to
your company image, employees
become de-motivated and angry.
Provide ongoing training, coaching
and review of company leaders.
The work world demands making a
it. To communicate more intuitively
day-to-day, start by understanding
appearance psychology and
non-verbal communication
techniques. Doing so can lead to
greater professional and personal
success. If you don’t believe us,
then perhaps you will believe Mark
Twain, who said, “Clothes make the
man. Naked people have little or no
Nina Jamal, AICI, is an Image
Communications Consultant,
and can be reached at 908-
902-0366 or colorandstyle@
comcast.net.
Judith Lindenberger, MBA, has
over twenty years experience
as a human resources
consultant, and can be
reached at 609-730-1049 or
info@lindenbergergroup.com.
Visit her web site at www.
lindenbergergroup.com.
!!April 2011
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