Wearing the Kilt at Work - Like Pulling Teeth

[Rex_Tremende]

But, you've wear the kilt to work? Are you in the back?

Well, yes and no. Yes, I'm in the back office, but no, my role is visible to hundreds of people and highly exposed to senior executives. Yes and no, I've worn a kilt in front of colleagues but never at the office during working hours. I've been seen more than once out and about in Cincinnati by coworkers, worn a kilt to an off-site meeting, to an all-employee holiday party and to a more intimate office party, had a life-sized poster of me in a kilt put on full display outside my own office near the COO executive suite, have discussed my interest in kilts with senior HR staff, but wearing a kilt on the job is not something I'm interested in pursuing right now.

I think the thing to remember about stuffy banks is that they don't like to be surprised, and they don't deal well with non-conformity. Or rather - and let me go a bit out on a limb here by saying - they don't deal well with reactions to non-conformity. On the other hand, many financial institutions these days are starting to recognize the value of diversity. In order to compete in the marketplace, they need to appeal to a broad swath of the cultural collage, not only among potential customers, but also in talent. As a consequence, they've had to loosen their grip on long-cherished notions and policies on what a bank looks like, externally and internally.

I don't know about your financial institution, but in this particular time of economic stress my employer has shifted a good deal of its relentless focus on shareholder value to its employees, a hunkering down, if you will, to ensure that we have the talent available to weather the storm and also be ready to go when it passes. That's why a catchphrase like "employee engagement" is more than mere lip service where I work.

I think you're working the right angles - do something important for me, and I'll do something important for you - but remember that your bank probably considers charity something you do "willingly" - not at all coerced - especially if the campaign involves the letters U and W. But they are probably quick enough to realize that if they open the door for this, you'll want to do it more often, so if you're really trying to get the corporate blessing on the kilt as casual wear, I'd suggest you try and separate the issues.

I'd discuss what it means to you (apart from a reward for charitable contributions), show them representative photos of how you'd dress, and help them formulate responses to objections that will inevitably trickle up. Help them see how respecting diversity in all its forms is good for the company. Acknowledge the limits that corporate life requires, but help them see how what you want to do is well within those limits. Start building influential allies who are probably outside your organizational structure, but who are willing and can stand with you on the issues that are important to you.

Finally, or perhaps first, make sure your work outputs are unassailable. Yeah, it's unfair, but you can't allow a crack in your performance on the job be reason for your management to crumble your case. It goes back to that quid-pro-quo I mentioned above - something good for me, something good for you. If you're already providing something really good, it makes it much easier for them to return the favor.

Let us know how it goes,
Rex.

[O'Callaghan]

Where I work, the men's dress code specifies that your shirt must have a collar and you have to wear smart trousers, and the rules for casual Friday, for both genders, only add the option to wear jeans and/or athletic shoes. It's not the strictest set of rules I've had to work under, but it doesn't provide for men wearing anything below the waist that doesn't have two legs in it.