One of the most efficient non-verbal communication tools, clothes can mean in your career path more than you think. Even if you haven’t heard the term “power dressing”, if you are one of those people who stand in front of your wardrobe and think what to wear to work, you probably know what it refers to. Even if it is symbolical, dressing according to the present environment means power and companies are among the ones who value people who works with this mindset the most. Today, many companies dropped strict dress codes, however employees who work in face to face contact with their clients still make efforts to apply an attentive dressing style. For people who do not know you out of your business career, your looks make up your identity. From personal hygiene and shoes to your manners and clothes, your appearance defines you. These are as much important as your individual success in your work for your career and promotion opportunities. Yet the first impression you leave in a business meeting or in the first acquaintance with your client will be the hardest feature about yourself to break in future periods. Your reputation also depends on how you look after yourself. According to many researches on the topic, as one of the most important tools of nonverbal communication appearance has many advantages over verbal communication. Appearance and dressing style are considered to have effects on success at work. In the meantime, especially global technology companies and innovative startups have become the new defendants of dress code freedom. Lately Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed his wardrobe that includes only multiple grayscale t-shirts from his social media account and proved the world that Facebook did not follow any dress codes. Companies similar to Google, Apple and Twitter supported casual dressing and became fore front defenders of this trend. However according to TAV Airports Corporate Communications Director and Corporate Communication Professionals Association President of the Board Bengi Vargül Şen, this trend is suitable for companies that base their corporate identity on individualism. On the other hand, many companies try to follow this trend with applications such as “free Friday” where employees can dress more casual clothes. Şen comments on the matter, “In a globalizing market where flexible working is on the rise and functions converge more and more, institutions are expected to increase similar applications. However, the main point is that employees are representatives of their companies and their dress codes are to be in line with the corporate identity.” DOES DRESSING PROPERLY BRING SUCCESS IN BUSINESS LIFE? People tend to do business and be together with their likes. In order to make your customer like you, you can show how similar you are with them with your speech, tone, gestures, mimics and also clothes. Dressing properly brings many advantages in business interviews as well. If you happen to dress inappropriately for an interview, the human resources responsible is likely to remember you with your appearance rather than with your educational background. HOW IMPORTANT IS IMAGE FOR BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS? Today, many corporations value the way their employees dress and create dress codes for them to adapt. These companies know that they can succeed with the power of representation of their employees in the public, therefore they define how the employees should dress when they represent the company. Dress codes in business life vary by the field, employee’s age, position and the corporate culture. Of course you do not need to change your individual style completely while complying with the dress code. WORK PLACE IMAGE SUGGESTIONS It is very easy to dress according to the corporate culture without sacrificing from your own style. Avoiding the mistakes below will suffice: • No matter how your clothes are beautiful and trendy not caring about your hair and personal hygiene is one of the most critical mistakes. The secret lies within personal care. • Perfumes inappropriate for the season such as spicy scents used in summer can affect your image negatively. • Dressing unmatching with your body type is a mistake of fashion and style. We encounter these mistakes not only in business life but also in daily life. In order to avoid these mistakes think if the clothes you wish to buy are appropriate for your body. • One of the difficulties about this topic occurs while shopping for clothes online. You can at least try the clothes in stores then buy them online. Remember no pain no gain. BENGİ VARGÜL ŞEN TAV Airports Corporate Communications Director and Corporate Communication Professionals Association Chair of the Board Bengi Vargül Şen Studies about behavorial sciences and cognitive psychology prove that body language carries an important role for communication between individuals. Therefore employees adapting a way of dressing matching with the corporate identity gives an idea of the corporate values and business manners as it is effective in face to face communication. What is important here is to define dress codes that will represent the qualifications of the job as well as it matches with corporate identity and implemented appropriately. TAV Airports and its subsidiaries regulates this subject with dress codes. The dress codes are designed by the industry professionals with cooperation of our employees, in order for them to carry on their duties correctly, comfortably and securely. We renew our designs periodically. Our corporate education platform TAV Academy includes extensive programs that involves dressing, make-up, body language and communication courses aimed especially for our employees that work closely with our guests.