Of course it doesn't have anything to do with the business
But some companies will see their good employes leave, old employees retire and then won't find out why they can't compete and can only retain the worse professionals.
You wander into my office with a "petition" signed by some employees stating that the "Free coffee needs a better quality bean" or "We want to wear jeans to work".
It looks to me that you've just solved both of my problems.
A few less employees who fail to focus on improving the business will help me reduce expenses and make payroll. It also gives me some spare cash to buy better quality coffee. Both problems solved by self-selection.
People seem to think that "being a good culture fit" is a new idea. But IBM used to "write up" employees who failed the dress code as "not a good culture fit". If the company wants polo shirts, wear polo shirts. If the company wants suits, wear suits.
Running a company is hard. Your suppliers demand immediate payment. Your retailers demand volume discounts. Your sales people want "promotion specials". Your landlord wants more money. Your employees demand "competitive wages". Your competition announced a new product. Your major customer threatened to quit.... And YOU want to argue about dress code? Will all those who don't focus on improving the business please step forward.
And yes, running a company is hard.
If you're so strapped of cash why are you wasting money enforcing a dress code (unless necessary)? Will that increase revenue or cut cost?
> And YOU want to argue about dress code?
I would probably be fuming as well if I got a complaint unrelated to the core business. But guess what, your employees are not robots. Sure, it's not inhumane to demand a dress code or the fact that the free coffee sucks. But it will make them think twice if another opportunity shows up and the first to move are usually the ones with more skills.
Do you know who was fired for being a poor culture fit? John Lasseter
IBM "enforced" a lot of things beyond dress code. I got called on the carpet for answering a question at a conference because I was not an IBM official spokesperson. Everything (including dress) about the company mattered.
If you want a company image then dress code matters. FedEx people who drive trucks still wear uniforms. Airline pilots wear uniforms. Losing the company image loses a reason to work for the company. IBM today is run by people who forgot that. It seems to me that IBM will go out of business shortly based on that loss of "cachet".
IBM repair people wearing suits sent the message that IBM CARED about business, about perception, about quality. It showed they pay attention to their front-line workforce. It transmits the idea that this person is well-trained, not picked out of a lineup. IBM invested in that training (something most companies don't do anymore).
IBM people never complained that they felt like robots. They were universally proud to work for the company. IBM didn't fire, they retrained. (Not anymore, though. And you can see it on the IBM postings.) IBM people cared about quality. If something was wrong they worked to make it right and they were backed by management, even if it really wasn't IBM's fault. Robots, no. Workers who were proud of and cared for the company, yes.
Few companies seem to train employees, seem to care about quality, seem to care about a dress code as a corporate image. Starbucks seems to be "the new IBM" on those terms. They only recently allowed "visible tattoos".
I have "skills". The only thing that will make me want to move is a more "interesting" problem. If you show up with an interesting problem I'll wear Saran Wrap or anything else you want to work, dress code be damned.
> IBM people never complained that they felt like robots.
I think this is a mix of the cultural context of that era (where people dressed more formally) and the other items you mentioned, especially the dress code being part of their image
But then IBM got "old", other companies did other interesting things and stopped caring for formality and that's where we are today