Selecting a uniform for your brand can feel like a complicated decision. After all, even the most attractive design, if crafted with the wrong material or fit, can constrain employee body movements and limit their ability to perform the duties of their job. Or worse, can leave them feeling disempowered and on-edge, a sentiment that will rub off on your customers.
“Uncomfortable uniforms are a nagging irritant to employees,” explain researchers Kathy Nelson and John Bowen in their study on the Effect of Employee Uniforms on Employee Satisfaction. “Uncomfortable (mandatory) uniforms that severely constrain body movements are a constant reminder to the wearers of their lack of power.”
This kind of discomfort doesn’t just impact employee satisfaction; it also sends a clear message to customers about your organization and brand. Nelson and Bowen found that employee uniforms can have a direct influence on guest satisfaction. A poorly selected uniform communicates to customers “that the operation is careless and inefficient.”
At Noel Asmar Uniforms, we often hear stories from our clients about how they’re using uniforms to create belonging, ambiance and a positive guest experience. Working every day to find the right fit, color, materials,and style for a given team, we also see firsthand the transformation that a positive uniform experience brings to employees and customers alike.
And while stories about increasing employee morale and boosting guest loyalty are on the rise, we know that the road to the perfect uniform isn’t always obvious or easy to navigate.
Below, we’ll share the most important elements of selecting a uniform to boost performance, promote a positive brand, and communicate professionalism to customers.
Bring in the Experts
Although the majority of uniforms are worn by employees rather than management, the majority of decisions regarding uniforms are made by management without input from employees. Unfortunately, that also means that the most important stakeholder opinion on a critical branding decision isn’t even a part of the discussion.
Nelson and Bowen suggest that managers put more emphasis on the intended atmosphere created by uniforms than on functionality and appearance from an employee perspective. “The result of a poor selection,” they warn, “is that the uniform can actually have a negative effect on employee attitudes and, perhaps, lead to customer dissatisfaction.”
PRO TIP: Before you pull the trigger on new uniforms, or before you even begin the search, bring in the experts: your employees. Find out what they like and don’t like about your existing uniforms. What would they change? What functions do they need the new uniform to support? How do they want to be perceived by customers?
Test for Appearance and Function
“Appearance is a powerful design component that helps create an impression,” write Nelson and Bowen. Beyond employee confidence, attractive uniforms signal to customers that your staff are sociable and accomplished. “Clothing has a profound effect on degree of attractiveness. Clothing is laden with symbolism that provides information about social and occupational standing, sex-role identification, political orientation, ethnicity, and aesthetic priorities.”
PRO TIP: As you’re searching for the right uniform for your team and brand, aim to narrow the options down to the top three. Ask for employee volunteers to put your top picks to the test, and order sample garments of each for them to try out. Have your volunteers wear each of the samples for a shift, rating for design, style, fit, materials, and performance. While high rated performance and fit are essential for executing tasks, ratings on style and design give you an indication for how confident your team will feel wearing a given garment. Use the below template to collect feedback from your employee volunteers.
Employees who will be wearing the new uniform have a vested interest in selecting one that is attractive, comfortable, and functional. By engaging them in the process, you’ll eliminate the risk of investing resources in a uniform that doesn’t perform on that job.
“Simply put, uniforms must be functional to be effective,” advise Nelson and Bowen. “Moreover, employees are the best people to offer suggestions about functional design. Given the opportunity, employees will alert designers as to whether jacket pockets are large enough for guest-check pads; whether shirting fabrics are scratchy; whether the cut of the slacks restricts movement; and a host of other practical points that might easily be overlooked.”
Making the Decision
If you’re lucky, employee testing will reveal an obvious winner amongst your top uniform choices. But if not, make sure to take the feedback you receive from volunteer uniform testers seriously. Red flags about how a uniform looks, feels and functions can prevent costly mistakes in purchasing.
Begin by weeding out any garments that received “1” or “2” ratings from your testers. While this may feel like backpedaling on the decision process, knowing which uniform not to buy is a step in the right direction. And, as the research shows, if those wearing the uniform don’t like it, your guests won’t like it either.
PRO TIP: If multiple uniform options are tied in employee opinion, don’t immediately jump to your personal preference. Take time to consider the initial feedback given to you in the selection process: What efficiencies or qualities were your employees most interested in seeing in the new uniform? What qualities did they want to avoid?
Also take time to revisit what elements of you brand you want the new uniform to reinforce: What personality, culture, and values do you want your uniforms to convey to guests?
By taking these pro-tips to heart, you’ll finish the uniform selection process having engaged your employees in selecting a uniform that promotes a strong brand. Don’t forget to follow up with employee volunteers to thank them for their input, and communicate to your team about how essential employee feedback and insight was in the process.
What does your uniform say about you?
We’d love to hear your story about the best uniform you’ve ever worn. What did that uniform say about you as a professional, and what about the uniform made it your favorite? Share your thoughts below in the comment section or on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
]]>Technology is changing the way fashion is designed, purchased, and worn. And while the fashion industry may not be known for our forward thinking around emerging technologies, we do know how to spot a good idea.
The risk is, staying on the cutting-edge can sometimes mean wasted energy in trends that don’t deliver. At the same time, falling behind can mean becoming irrelevant to customers. And with the rapid pace of change in our industry today, falling behind quickly becomes staying behind.
In this post, we’ll explore five trends hitting, and reshaping, the fashion industry today, and look at the challenges, opportunities, and implications of each for designers.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
“In 2018, AI enhancements will go beyond the traditional areas of machine tasks into creative and customer interaction processes, blurring the line between technology and creativity.”
The above quote comes from a 2018 report from the Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company, who explored opportunities in artificial intelligence across the fashion value chain. Their findings were conclusive: the companies that adopt AI will deploy it to reinvent and lead in design, customer service, manufacturing and marketing.
“Leading fashion companies will use it to enhance the creative process, design and product development,” the report predicts. “They will, for example, use algorithms to sift vast amounts of data to predict which product features customers are most likely to prefer.” In fact, companies like Amazon and StitchFix are already deploying AI to start the creative design process with algorithms.
In these cases, AI pairs with human reasoning to enhance creative capacity. “This is not the same as the creative process, and it’s not replacing it,” says Tommy Hilfiger's chief brand officer Avery Baker in an interview with DigiDay. “It’s answering: How can data make us smarter?”
With benefits to forecasting, speed, cost, availability and customization, experts predict that customers will begin to expect the benefits they receive from fashion companies who have adopted AI to become available in all of their shopping.
3D Printing
3D printing has been called the new industrial revolution, promising innovation to both business models and consumer behavior. And while it’s currently trained more in hard than soft materials, we can imagine how the ability to print your new employee their own custom fitted Noel Asmar tunic from the comfort of your own workplace. The possibilities seem endless.
“Imagine being able to walk into a store, hop on a treadmill, have your foot measured to a T and get a pair made based on your results in less than 24 hours,” describes Edgar Alvarez of Engadget. “This approach means the shoes would match your footprint elements, including contour details and precise pressure points -- which, in turn, could give you the most amount of comfort.”
As promising as the emergence of 3D printing is for fashion designers, it still poses challenges around IP infringement and counterfeiting. We can also expect that the shift to 3D printing will change the presence of luxury brands in the marketplace.
Wearables and Smart Fabrics
A small but growing field of designers has begun to create clothing and accessories that assist the wearer in monitoring and/or motivating everything from health to the world around them. As the user goes through their day, the wearable collects data and syncs it with their preferred device.
And the market is growing. With 325 million wearable devices connected worldwide and revenue forecasted to reach around $26.43 billion in 2018 according to Statista.
In an interview with Racked, Women of Wearables co-founder Michelle Hua described a future in which our clothes listen to our body. For now, though, she says “the industry is moving to smart textiles, clothes that interact while you’re wearing them.
Virtual and Augmented Reality
While still in its early days, virtual and augmented reality has already begun to build value for the designers that use them. From virtual fashion shows where customers find themselves in the front row of their favorite designer’s catwalk to virtual fittings where customers can try on different outfits in an instant.
“Through virtual fitting, customers can view different outfits with simply a swipe of the hand, and the retailers can keep measurements on file to ensure the perfect size every time” describes Awane Jones, President of Zone 3 VR. Jones notes that those who make the shift into 360 video and mixed reality will be joining top designers in the field, such as Dior, Topshop, and Balenciaga.
Getting in early with mixed reality means getting an edge on a technology that promises to reshape the way we engage and navigate the world around us. At the same time, it’s important to scale expectations for where the consumers, hardware and resolution limits are at today.
“When one thinks how engaging VR could be, I imagine that this will indeed be even more important than mobile in the grand scheme of things,” says Luca Solca, head of goods at BNP Exane Paribas. “However, it took 20 years for e-commerce to reach an inflection point. I’d imagine VR would need a similar amount of time to really shape our everyday experience in the same way as our mobile phones.”
Fast Fashion
Made possible by the technologies described above, many designers are making the shift to rapid prototyping and replication. Gone are the days of only two fashion seasons. Fast fashion — in which retailers identify and deploy new trends in an agile and rapid supply-chain environment — has as many as 52 weekly “micro-seasons” per year.
“This allows fast fashion brands to beat traditional labels to market,” according to research from CB Insights. “Garments and accessories strutted down runways in September and February may get spotted and replicated by fast-fashion brands before the originals even hit stores.”
The fast fashion movement is changing to give customers what they want, exactly when they want it: now. “Listening to the customer is very important, and what the customer wants is immediate gratification,” says Hilary Milnes, senior reporter with DigiDay. “I want them to see something on the runway, click and buy it. I want the fastest delivery and the most incredible experience. If there’s no risk, there’s no reward, and our risk was changing our entire design and production process.”
Conclusion
Through the influence of artificial intelligence, 3D printing, wearables, virtual reality, fast fashion, or other emerging technology, our industry is being disrupted. The way we design, the way our client's shop, and the pace of change will likely look significantly different in 15 years.
Having just celebrated our 15 year anniversary here at Noel Asmar Uniforms, we’d like to hear from you about what you think the fashion industry and design process will look like 15 years from now. In what ways do you think the industry will be disrupted? In what ways will we still be the same? Share your thoughts in the comment section below, or on social media on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.
]]>When Arianna Huffington, founder of the Huffington Post, woke up after collapsing from exhaustion at her desk, she had a broken cheekbone and a cut above her eye. She and her company had achieved success by many definitions, but the experience made Huffington realize the hidden cost that success had been achieved at.
“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in,” says Huffington. In her book Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder, she notes that what is celebrated in eulogies at the end of life is strikingly different from how we define success in society.
“Remember, we’re paying people for their judgment, not their stamina” Arianna explained in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. It was with that reminder that Huffington went on to launch a revolution within the Huffington Post to change workplace culture and wellness, and in the process changed her own habits as well.
Getting Started with Wellness
High employee satisfaction doesn’t happen by chance. It’s a process that takes deliberate planning and consistent upkeep. With competition for top talent in the spa and service industries becoming increasingly fierce, attracting and retaining team members has become a top priority of many managers.
But what does employee satisfaction look like day today? As we’ve been exploring women’s leadership in the wellness community as part of our Women in Wellness series, we’ve found inspiration to help others develop strong cultures, engagement opportunities for employees, and care for the caretakers.
Wellness is more than a competitive paycheck, it’s about creating an environment where employees are supported physically, mentally, and emotionally. And it turns out, creating that environment really pays off. According to survey data from the State of the Industry Survey organizations that invest in wellbeing, culture, and engagement see a measurable impact on business performance and outcomes.
In this post, we’ll explore the three key elements of employee care: culture, engagement, and wellbeing. We’ll also provide tangible tips from experts on ways to increase employee satisfaction, retention, and well-being in your workplace.
Why Employee Satisfaction Matters
In a study featured in the Journal of Operations Management, researchers explored the impact of employee satisfaction on quality and profitability in high-contact service industries. They found that “employee satisfaction is significantly related to service quality and customer satisfaction, while the latter in turn influences firm profitability.” Further, they found that profitability, in turn, affects employee satisfaction, leading to a “satisfaction—quality—profit cycle.”
In other words, employees that feel well cared for, go on to provide superior care to clients, who in turn become returning customers and increase profitability, which then drives further employee satisfaction, and so on.
Creating a Wellness Program
Although creating an intentional wellness program is only one slice of the employee satisfaction puzzle, it’s a big slice. In the State of the Industry Survey, 74% of employers with strategic, holistic wellbeing programs saw improvements in employee satisfaction.
When it comes to wellness, begin by practicing what you preach. As part of her reform efforts at HuffPost, Huffington created nap rooms for employees to recharge in. Yet it’s unlikely that the nap rooms would have taken off if Huffington herself had not championed and modeled the need for sleep, breaks, and rest. Identify the ways that you can create wellness in your own life and habits, then model those habits for your team so they see your commitment to real and authentic change.
Education is an often overlooked element of wellness programs, yet plays an important role in habit change both individually and collectively. Wellness education can take the shape of resources on local food, health, and activities, or can be guest speakers or workshops on wellness related topics. Chances are, the more you and your team learn, the more opportunities you’ll find to reinforce your burgeoning culture of wellness.
When local WeWork coworking chapters began making commitments to their health and environments, the global umbrella took it as a sign that the time had come for collective action as well. Beginning with education, they found that avoiding meat on an individual level would have a greater environmental impact than switching to a hybrid car. Ergo, a company-wide commitment to not serving meat at events could save an estimated 16.7 billion gallons of water, 445.1 million pounds of CO2 emissions, and 15 million animals. The initiative has aligned WeWork locations across the globe in what they refer to as the “Power of We.”
While creating a healthy and balanced environment in the workplace is important, remember that wellness extends into home and community life as well.
“The most successful of these plans recognize employees only spend 20 to 60 percent of their waking hours at work, and so it’s their entire lifestyle that has to be supported through positive behavior change,” says Emily Regenold, of Tal Matrix. “Additionally, the most successful wellness plans are those that can be tailored and shaped for each individual. If a wellness initiative isn’t set up in a way where it can be relevant to each individual’s lifestyle, it’s not as likely to cultivate lasting behavior change or impact their level of engagement.”
Another method for developing wellbeing is to incentivize and reward wellness. This may take the shape of a financial incentive such as a reduced health insurance premium or incidental perks such as a free massage or lunch with the CEO.
Stay Inspired and Be Good to Yourself on your Wellness Journey
Developing workplace wellness can be hard work, but if done right can also be fun and rewarding. Find stories, individuals, or companies that inspire you on your wellness journey. One resource is our recently launched Women in Wellness series, which provides stories and ideas to help fuel your efforts.
“Be good to yourself,” Sandra Fikus, Owner of Sereno Wellness & Spa, reminds us. “That’s one thing that we tend not to do when we get into stressful situations. We put ourselves aside but that’s the time that you really need to be taking care of yourself.”
(Click play above to view our latest installment of Women In Wellness)
Developing Culture
Strong cultures breed high employee engagement and satisfaction, which in turn increase profitability... According to the State of the Industry Survey, “95% of organizations view culture as important for driving business outcomes.”
Candidates, particularly from the millennial generation, are drawn toward organizations with a strong brand, a clear sense of mission, and values that align with their personal beliefs. “When you have a winning culture, employees can speak genuinely and convincingly about why your organization is a great place to work,” according to a report from Nate Dvorak and Ryan Pendell for Gallup. “And that naturally attracts people who are seeking exceptional workplaces.”
Dvorak and Pendell recommend that you ask yourself two questions in order to zero in on the strengths of your workplace culture:
Once you’ve answered those questions, identify what makes your culture unique, and monitor its health. “Strong organizations understand their unique culture,” say, Dvorak and Pendell, “and use multiple methods to continuously monitor the state of their culture and align the culture they want with business performance priorities -- like attracting top talent.”
In any discussion of culture, it’s essential to discuss the role of teams and teamwork within your organization. “It is imperative, at a time of accelerated change, to create cultures that value building teams,” says Arianna Huffington. “Teams can be always on, but individuals can’t. They can offer support, and amplify and reinforce incentives. They also build empathy, foster creativity and strengthen resilience. As you learned from your high school gym teacher, for a team the total is more than the sum of its parts.”
One sure fire way to influence employee satisfaction is to say thank you and to mean it. “Four out of five employees who feel appreciated stay with their companies,” according to Ben Peterson, CEO of BambooHR. “If you want your people to feel appreciated, a little thank you goes a long way. But it must be thoughtful and personalized. The next time you want to thank an employee for a job well done, take a few minutes to tell them why you're grateful they work with you and point out something specific about them you admire. Don't make a spectacle of it (some employees would hate that); just express sincere appreciation and make sure they know you mean it.”
Engaging Employees
If it feels like your employees aren’t engaged, you’re not alone. According to a Gallup poll, only 13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. That number is 33% in the United States. But that’s no reason to take engagement off the list of management priorities. In fact, it’s quite the opposite.
Investing in employee engagement has a strong impact on business results, according to the State of the Industry Survey. They found that 56% of companies surveyed saw improvements in employee satisfaction, 40% reported enhanced company culture, and 14% saw revenue growth as a result of employee engagement programs.
To achieve those business results, bring your employee engagement efforts to life. “Define engagement goals in realistic, everyday terms, recommends Robyn Reilly, Senior Consultant for Gallup. “To bring engagement to life, leaders must make engagement goals meaningful to employees' day-to-day experiences. Describing what success looks like using powerful descriptions and emotive language helps give meaning to goals and builds commitment within a team. Make sure that managers discuss employee engagement at weekly meetings, in action-planning sessions, and in one-on-one meetings with employees to weave engagement into daily interactions and activities and to make it part of the workplace's DNA.”
Chances are, you have a perfect employee engagement opportunity somewhere on the long list of decisions you have to make in the coming week(s) and month(s). As we’ve worked with clients to create a professional brand look for their uniforms, we encourage them to engage those who will be wearing the uniform in the process of selecting it.
“A number of our clients have used the process of buying a uniform to engage and empower their team,” says Noel Asmar, “How do they see themselves in their profession? What message and environment do they want their uniform to convey to clients and customers? And the teams that are engaged in that level of decision making have an increased sense of not only belonging but agency and potential.”
Particularly when the decisions you’re making directly impact the way your team perceives their role and value, or the manner in which they can succeed in delivering quality service, engaging them to provide input and perspective goes a long way to creating a culture of empowerment and professionalism.
That level of engagement begins on day one. “Filling out mountains of paperwork and sitting through a canned PowerPoint presentation on the first day at work is a surefire way to kill engagement,” says Tim Eisenhauer, President, and Co-founder of Axero. “New employees start with enthusiasm and curiosity, so capitalize on that momentum by putting them right to work, helping them to get to know their co-workers or pairing them with a mentor. Acclimate them to the culture by making an excellent first impression, and they’ll fall in love with your company and their work.”
How are you creating employee well-being?
We’d love to hear how you keep your team engaged and happy! Comment below to share how your business creates wellness, culture, and/or engagement.
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1. What inspired you to follow a career in the wellness industry?
I have always been passionate about helping people. In my undergraduate studies for my Exercise Science degree, I did a research paper about massage therapy and its benefits. I was drawn to it immediately and ended up interrupting my college studies to go to massage school. I finished my degree and worked in Cardiac Rehabilitation for 7 years, along with working as a Nationally Certified Massage therapist. I have been a massage therapist for 20 years and love being fully immersed in the whole person approach of the wellness industry- body, mind and spirit- and do not plan return to the medical system. The Wellness industry is definitely where I belong.
2. How long have you been with Red Mountain Resort?
6 ½ yrs.
3. What is your favourite Red Mountain Resort memory?
Becoming Director of Spa & Wellness! I am so honored to be in this position and I am enjoying the challenges and learning so much.
4. Which recent trends in the spa and wellness industry are you most excited about?
Self-care and its importance along with so many ancient healing techniques coming back into the spotlight. I love that what so many of us in the industry have known to be effective, science can now “prove” the benefits of and how it works and guests are looking for more than a basic massage.
5. What is the most influential part of creating a great customer experience within the spa?
Training staff to provide amazing service from the moment the guest enters the spa, seamlessly continuing through every interaction with every staff member until the guest leaves. All team members that interact with the guest are equally important and influential to the guest experience and need to be empowered with the skills they need to accomplish this task.
6. Do you have any tips for fellow spa directors/owners to help improve their customer experience?
Train your team well and know your customer so you can appropriately meet their needs and exceed their expectations. Get input from your team. Listen to what they hear the guest complain about and their ideas to improve your systems or offerings.
7. What are your favourite products to use in your spa?
All of them! I do not put anything in my retail area unless I have used the product personally and had good results. This makes it easy for me to promote all of the things we have to sell our guests.
8. How did you become aware of Noel Asmar Uniforms?
6 ½ yrs ago when I started at Red Mountain. After experiencing other company’s products, I would never use any other brand than Noel Asmar. No one else can compare in my opinion.
9. Tell us about any benefits you’ve experienced from having your team wear uniforms?
We have a high standard of service for our team. Having staff in well-made and beautiful uniforms contributes to the professionalism I expect from my team. The uniforms also contribute to the continuity of experience we want the guest to have while they are with us. They know immediately who is an employee that can assist them with anything they need. A well uniformed staff member brings a sense of ease for the guest with just one look. And the staff remember when they put that uniform on, they are now representing our business, no matter where they are.
10. How do you find social media is affecting the spa industry as a whole, or your business more specifically?
We are a destination resort with a loyal local business following. We love utilizing social media to broadcast our special events to both of these demographics as they are very different. I think social media challenges us as spa owners/directors to find what makes us unique and pushes us to continue to be creative and innovative. It also allows us to peek into each other’s worlds a bit for sparks of inspiration.
11. Have you experienced any major social successes this year or roadblocks you’ve encountered?
I am working to build relationships in the spa industry to build my tribe. I have been blessed to make some really deep connections with several in this amazing spa industry in the past year and I look forward to making many more in 2018.
12. What do you find is most successful in drawing in new guests to your spa?
Word of mouth. We strive to create experiences that leave an impression and make our guests excited to share their experience.
13. How do you build client retention and return visits?
It all begins with superior service from start to finish. For our local clientele we have created really competitively priced packages and we keep modifying them to keep them interesting. We also reward our resort guests with discounts for returning to visit us and we create packages connected to their room stay that give them fun options in the spa.
14. 3 quick tips for running a successful spa business?
Invest in training all staff very well. Know your clientele and what they want. Continually look for ways to improve and adapt your business.
15. Tell us about your most successful business moment of 2017. What made it stand out?
I have been the Director of Spa and Wellness for just 3 years. 2017 was the spa’s most successful year since opening. I am proud to see the changes I have implemented are creating success for all of us at the spa.
16. Anything exciting coming up in 2018 that you can share with us?
It is Red Mountain Resort’s 20th anniversary this year!
We recently launched our new Self-Care retreat package and I am so excited about it. It includes 5 treatments over a 4 day stay. The treatments are intended to be done in order and are a Himalayan Salt Stone Massage, Vibrational Sound Therapy, Cranial Sacral, Table Thai Yoga Massage and our signature wet room body treatment the Red Mountain Revitalizer. We give the guest a gift of two Phytomer Oligomer Sea Bath sachets, a Himalayan massage stone and instructions on how and when to use these products to support their journey with these gentle, yet potent bodywork sessions.
Don’t Get On The Plane
Fifteen years ago I was home in Canada on a short visit with my family when I suddenly had a choice to make. After years of working over seas in the hospitality industry, where I had enjoyed designing clothes as a personal passion, I found myself on home soil creating a custom tunic for my pregnant sister.
A one off design that suddenly sparked something deeper.
My return flight was booked, I had a career that I loved waiting for me overseas, but I couldn’t shake the desire to see this thing through. A yearning to introduce the wellness industry to the figure flattering and functional uniform designs they deserved.
So I didn’t get on the plane.
Instead, I took a leap of faith into my entrepreneurial journey and have never looked back. Over the last fifteen years I have experienced some ups and downs, but this is what I’ve learned: