Casual Fridays as a Business Tool

I can't help but think about how many times I've heard working people say "Thank God it's Friday" !

It seems that people who work (Blue Collar / White Coller or any Color Collar) always look forward to Friday, and the difference between a Monday Morning in an office and a Friday Morning in an office is dramatically different. Mondays you'll see people somewhat on the edge -- looking to kickoff and "get ahead" on their work week.

The difference is evidenced by various little observations on indirect behaviors.

Here's a completely unscientific view of Monday Vs Friday at the Office.

_________________________	Monday_____________	Friday____________________
Parking Lot	Full Early	Not Full
Coffee Machine	Busy Early	Not so overused
Lunch	Work at Desk	Desks Empty
Conference Rooms	Jam Packed	Available
Elevators	Long Wait Time	Waiting for you
Coat Closets	Full	Extra hangers
Greetings	Good weekend?	Any plans for the weekend?
Receptionist	Frazzled	Tetris

Large companies have noticed that people very much look forward to their Fridays - it's an unavoidable fact.

Companies also surely saw a dramatic dip in workplace attendance on Fridays when people would take a vacation day to start their weekends early.

While shirts, ties, and dress shoes are the norm in a formal business environment from Monday through Thursday, many companies allow a behavior we are familiar to be known as “business-casual” wear on Friday.

Companies, in order to assuage people's desires to "just completely bug out" on Fridays and not show up at all, decided to allow employees to "be themselves" and work in a slightly more relaxed environment. While some people feel business casual attire may cause an overly relaxed environment, companies have a strong logic behind this idea. Friday night has traditionally marked the beginning of a weekend- representing relaxation, peace, and an environment in which work is not the prominent focus.

Throughout my experiences of school, and my limited but studied understanding of offices, Casual Friday gives employees a small incentive to show up at work, allows employees to have a greater comfort level, and also mends the disconnect between formal attire and a lenient environment.

Whether Casual Fridays were intended to reward employees for their hard work throughout the week, or to reduce the level of absenteeism on Fridays is debatable. In either case however, I believe it's a win-win for both the employees and companies, since employees who are allowed to dress down on Fridays usually end up with less stress, and are more likely to get to work. Also remember, "dress down Fridays" also applies to colleagues who run the HR department and the corner office, so I don't believe anyone is really complaining!