Avoid these mistakes when designing a company uniform

A company uniform can have many benefits from making your company look more professional to helping unite staff. However, it is important that your company uniform is well designed. There are many mistakes that can cause a company uniform to be a disaster.

Below are some of the big mistakes to avoid when designing a uniform for you and your team.

Going too cheap

A cheap uniform is going to look cheap - and this won’t reflect well on the quality of your company. Such uniforms are likely to be damaged more easily and may also come in limited sizes. All in all, it’s better to spend a little extra.

A few upgrades that could be worth spending more money on include opting for cotton over polyester and potentially looking into embroidery instead of screen printing (you can find out more about embroidery services here at https://matohash.com/pages/custom-embroidery.

Going too expensive

While you don’t want to go too cheap, you also don’t want to spend too much money on uniforms. If you have a large team and a fast staff turnover, constantly ordering new uniforms could quickly eat away at your returns.

Always shop around for uniform prices and avoid any premium materials unless you are catering to high-end clients who expect the utmost sophistication. There’s no reason to dress expensive when serving everyday people.

Ignoring practicality

A company uniform needs to not just look good, but be practical. Some poorly designed uniforms can end up not just being uncomfortable to wear, but also a safety hazard.

A good example of this is the hospitality industry. More baristas and bartenders are following the example of chefs and are doing away with ties and baggy sleeves which can often get caught in things or become a contamination issue.

White uniforms are also becoming less popular in this industry because they stain more easily - black and grey can help to hide stains much better, which can allow you to stay presentable while working with food and drinks.

Betraying your brand

Make sure to consider your visual branding when designing a uniform. This can sometimes get forgotten, resulting in a uniform that doesn’t align with your brand.

If your company signage and website and flyers all use a distinct logo and colour scheme, it’s important to include this logo and color within your uniform. This will ensure that customers can easily identify your staff as members of your company. It can also help to strengthen your brand consistency and make your brand more memorable.

Getting the formality wrong

It’s important to consider the level of formality that your customers expect when choosing a uniform. A polyester branded t-shirt may be acceptable when working in a laid back fast food restaurant, but could be inappropriate in a fine dining setting where your customers are likely to be dressing up smart.

At the same time, you don’t want to overdress in a more laid back setting, as this could put off customers who may think your service is too premium for them.

Think about who your audience are and choose a uniform that is likely to demand respect from them. It’s worth looking at your competitors for inspiration - if their employees have a fairly casual dress code, you may want to follow suit.

Not being inclusive

While a uniform can help your employees to feel equal by making everyone dress the same, you need to be careful not to exclude certain people who may not feel comfortable wearing certain items.

For example, someone who is a strict sikh may not appreciate being told to wear a hat that cannot be worn with a turban. Similarly, you need to be careful of buying clothing in limited sizes if you have employees who are very large or very short.

You can always order separate uniforms for these employees. This could include a branded turban for a sikh employees, or a custom-made larger uniform for a large employee. This site explains more about designing an inclusive uniform: https://employernews.co.uk/hr-news/how-to-create-an-inclusive-work-uniform/.

Designing without employee input

If you already have a team of employees, the worst thing that you can do is to design a uniform for them to wear without asking for their input.

Your employees should be able to have a say in the clothing that they are going to be wearing. Consider hosting a team meeting to go through uniform designs and see what styles appeal to your employees.

There may be some disagreements about uniform styles, in which case you may have to cast a vote. Do not let very outspoken employees dictate a uniform choice to everyone else - get every team member to give an opinion if you can.