12 Reasons You Need To Buy Workwear For Your Business

By purchasing workwear for your business you can make sure that your staff are dressed appropriately and you can enhance the profitability of your business.

Don’t write-off workwear as something just for big blokes needing high visibility clothing, tight-fitting work shorts and steel-capped boots. Every business has some level of workwear requirement - discover yours here:

1. Keeping Staff Safe

The most important reason to buy workwear for your staff is to ensure they are properly protected. Some staff have more obvious needs than others, for instance anyone working in an industrial or medical setting, a kitchen, doing roadwork, or on a worksite. But even retail environments and offices can have safety workwear requirements if they have a loading dock, factory floor or the like. And any staff involved in an expo bump in/bump out period will also require safety vests and possibly hard hats.

2. WHS Compliance

Your industry may have a specific and compulsory Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) standard for protective clothing and equipment needed to minimise risk to the health or safety of employees. This could include boots, gloves, high visibility (hi-vis) clothing or more. Night roadworkers, for instance, require clothing that complies with Australian Standard 4602.1:2011. Disposable protective clothing that covers all or part of the clothing, face or hands may also meet your requirements in food handling, medical, processing and more.

3. Visitor Safety

Businesses that have visitors coming into an environment that requires covering up for health or other reasons will find spare safety vests and disposable clothing a simple solution. Disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) such as safety glasses and earplugs can also be a cost-effective way of catering for visitors’ needs.

4. Durable Clothing

Workwear is designed to endure the rigours of the workplace. Fabrics are chosen for their durability, breathability, and to be worn all day comfortably. The quality of genuine industrial, hospitality and corporate workwear is superior to today’s high turnover, single fashion season streetwear that can’t hold up to repeated wash and wear.

5. Uniformity

Having a staff uniform means that you can control how workers dress without being subject to their interpretation of the dress regulations, eliminating those awkward conversations about modesty. A uniform of collared or polo shirt, tailored pants, and coordinated knitwear offers a cohesive and consistent look. For workplaces with a compulsory uniform, the employer must either provide it free of charge or provide an allowance for the purchase of the uniform. Buying on behalf of staff will ensure it is the right uniform and not a cheaper, inferior quality alternative, and can result in better buying power based on volume.

6. Helping Customers Identify Staff

When staff members can be quickly and readily identified it puts customers at ease and makes them comfortable about approaching the right person. It also saves the embarrassment on both sides of one customer mistaking another as an employee. By putting your staff in a uniform they are immediately recognisable. Adding your logo to your company colours, as many franchises have successfully done, will help your staff to stand out.

7. Improved Perceptions and Profits

First impressions matter, and the way your team present themselves will immediately, and perhaps even permanently, create an impression in the minds of anyone dealing with your business. Our expectations around the level of service we will receive or the professionalism of a company we work with, are affected by how staff are dressed. Customers are willing to pay higher prices in establishments with smartly-attired, uniformed staff. By investing in quality and consistent staff uniforms you can control both internal and external perceptions of your company and even improve profits. You can also project credibility and qualification by the way you dress, making staff uniforms essential for tradies.

8. Team Spirit

In the same way that a uniform brings a sense of identity and belonging to members of a sporting club, a staff uniform fosters a team spirit and company culture among colleagues. The equality of wearing the same clothing helps workers to identify with each other and your company. The pride this inspires has been proven to lead to greater success for the company as well as increased employee loyalty.

9. Staff Performance

By providing a uniform as workwear for your staff you can improve their efficiency, decision-making skills and behaviour. Removing the need to choose clothing to wear saves workers time and helps them to be better decision-makers. According to psychology, decision fatigue, a condition where the quality of our decision-making deteriorates with each decision made, can be alleviated by the removal of unnecessary decisions like what to wear. Take Steve Jobs, for instance. His iconic black turtleneck uniform wasn’t a fashion statement as much as a productivity tool. And once dressed in their uniform, staff become aware of how easily identifiable they are and moderate their actions accordingly, making them behave better.

10. Seasonal Workwear

Companies with staff retreats, conferences or expos may only require a branded uniform to be worn on these occasions. Or maybe you want a specially designed uniform for Christmas trading, Spring Carnival, your company anniversary celebrations, or another special occasion. Branded polo shirts offer a professional look at a great price.

11. Effective Marketing Tool

Looking for an extremely effective marketing initiative? Extend your company branding to your staff for results that outstrip media advertising. Research has demonstrated that branded uniforms are more effective as a marketing tool than “internet, newspaper, TV, radio, and billboard advertising", with surveyed respondents finding uniforms at least 55% more effective. Your staff are your brand and promote your brand whenever they are in their uniform.

12. Branded Merchandise

Given this effectiveness as a marketing tool, why not put it on your customers as well? Workwear can provide a solution for your branded merchandise requirements. Sell polo shirts or hoodies with your logo embroidered on them as an extra revenue stream, or use them as giveaways. Either way you’ll make walking billboards of your biggest fans.

Talk to us about the solutions we can provide including services like custom embroidery and bulk ordering.