Believe it or not, this question has popped up many times in the course of my career as a Service Desk manager. Many young managers as I was have pondered on this and some managers have even had their subordinates asking if casual dressing is allowed in operations.
Just like many before me, I have asked the question before. From what I gather, there are 3 situations that influence what Service Desk professionals should wear. The 3 situations are:
Let’s face the truth. No employee is going to work for you at Service Desk for a long period of time. Even if you have, it is a rare feat. Long period here means something like 3 years and beyond. If you have noticed, Service Desk is akin to a lightning rod. You always takes the first, hardest, most painful strike; while protecting the every entity you work for, you are generally not given a proper recognition of the sufferings you and your team go through. It’s a fact, it is widely known but more often that not, management considers that a job they paid you for.
Given the high dynamic forces of incidents at attack you and your team, day and night, relentless as the sun rises and sets, human beings on Service Desk experiences burnouts. Wikipedia defines burnout as “a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest (depersonalization or cynicism), usually in the work context” and further suggests that it is a “result of a period of expending too much effort at work while having too little recovery“. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Of course it does; it’s referring to your working environment. It is said that the average lifespan of a Service Desk professional is 18 months. That’s a short 1.5 years. Based on my experience, this assumption seems to be holding water.