While several police departments across the USA are testing new uniform shirts for bike officers to make them more visible, other companies are finding that hi-vis clothing has a role in promoting sales activity.

The latest police department to take to high visibility polo-shirts is Austin Texas. Their bicycle police now sport a yellow shouldered top that makes them much more visible from a greater distance, ensuring their safety in traffic and also offering increased visibility as a crime deterrent. The yellow tops replace navy uniform clothing which is difficult to spot in a crowded street. It is hoped the new uniforms will make CCTV tracking of officers and criminals easier, allowing CCTV operatives to direct police to crime as it is taking place.

Several delivery firms working in town centres have also been using high visibility clothing to highlight where their teams are: bringing fast food, office supplies and other sundries to business areas or industrial estates is a standard practice these days as lunch breaks get shorter, and many small suppliers are finding they can double their income on a planned visit by putting staff in high visibility tops and then tweeting about where the delivery van can be found: impulse sales of anything from sandwiches to staples increase when nearby firms realise a supplier is just outside and can pinpoint the vendor through their distinctive attire.

Most companies want to have productive employees and many are becoming increasingly aware of the role of happiness in creating revenue via contented and productive staff. Here are four ways to achieve happiness in the workplace and have it lead to business motivation.

Carrots and sticks
Psychology shows that people perform better when given an alternation of rewards and incentives, or – in blunt words – kicks and kisses. Great business leaders have an instinctive knowledge of when to compliment employees and when to challenge them, but for less established or confident managers, a ratio of two constructive criticisms to each compliment, spaced through the week, would probably give an ideal balance of confidence and striving in each employee.

Mix business and pleasure
While classical business thinking says that personal and professional shouldn’t be blended, the reality, especially with the current long hours people tend to work, is that social, strategic and business worlds can either meld or collide. Smart bosses will allow them to meld by linking personal goals (better social life) with professional targets (presenting at 5 networking events in next 12 months) for each employee so that their desire to achieve is inextricably linked to their personal aims and dreams.

Spoonfeed them and tie their laces
It may sound counterproductive to mollycoddle employees, but both Google and Facebook actually feed their employees for free, as well as giving them free access to nurturing goodies like gym membership, clothing and coaching in all kinds of activities. It works because tying nurturing to the workplace gives people a sense that they are supported in all areas of their life and therefore wish to give back in all areas. Supplying lockers, comfortable clothing and a free lunch every week can be a great way to get massive business returns.

Let them sing
Many employees never get heard. Their voices are not part of the choir of the firm. This means that their views, insights and ideas aren’t available to the business. Giving everybody a chance to express a view – on everything from the catering to the uniform to the next big business deal – may give the company access to tweaks and inspirations that make a lot of difference. Of course it’s vital to be clear that listening is not acting on, and reserving the right to ignore input is an executive privilege, but being able to have all facets of company opinion in front of you when you make a decision can be the vital element that leads to success.

If you’re serious about starting a new business you can learn a lot from the worlds of clothing and apps – two areas where start-ups are popular, and prone to fail.

1. With any new business, you need to have goals and a vision. But before you launch your T-shirt empire or decide your app will take over the world, you need to have realistic expectations – look at what other similar start-ups have achieved, in your local area, not just at the one or two global success stories. You may get lucky, but it’s more likely that you’ll fall into the middle of the range.

2. Know your industry – and your competitors. It’s good to see how many similar outlets there are in a travelling distance of your venue, or who tops the search engines in your chosen field. Are you competing with them or offering something different? And if it’s the latter, how are people going to get to know that your start-up may be the answer to their problem?

3. Consider finance – who is putting up the money, when (if at all) do you have to pay it back, and what happens if you don’t?

4. Do you need staff? If so, what skills must they have, where will you find them, what can you afford to pay them? It’s no good setting up a business that doesn’t allow you to take a weekend off, and it’s no good leaving your fledgling empire in the hands of a scruffy mate who may annoy your biggest customer or sabotage your relationship with your bank manager. At very least, have one person who is smart enough, and smartly dressed enough, to hold your business together if you really have to leave it for a few days.

In the year since the Royal wedding, the Duchess of Cambridge has become a minor economic phenomenon, and a major fashion one. Along with her sister, Pippa Middleton, Kate has created fashion trends, and new sources of income, for many British firms.

Her role as fashion icon has not been limited to wearing a peplum and driving sales of High Street copycat clothing through the roof. Her role as an unofficial ambassador of British fashion has led to an estimated £2 billion increase in income for the British fashion industry, including hard-hit high street stores.

Clothing has long conveyed messages and Royal watchers guessed from Diana’s outfits whether she was pregnant or not: casual baggy tops said yes, high heels said no. Similarly, Kate is being closely watched for signs of maternal dressing, but at present it’s her choices for official engagements that drive spending frenzies to the High Street, with Burberry, Reiss and Hobbs selling out of items that Kate has worn within 48 hours of her pictures hitting the internet.

It’s not just the fashion houses that benefit. British manufacturers of buttons and hosiery, hats and fitness wear are all getting a boost from what Kate is seen in, and even jewellery designers supplying accessories for charities to sell have been swamped by orders after the Duchess has been photographed wearing their products.

There’s a fad for underwear across the globe these days. From the Moonwalk marathons by bra-clad women in British cities, through to the “Undie Classic” in Central Florida, charity events that bring people out in their skimpies are on the rise.

The Moonwalks encourage women to help raise funds to fight breast cancer by sponsored walks in beautifully decorated bras or vests. At the University of Central Florida on 26 March, students ‘streaked’ around campus, in their underwear, after donating unwanted clothes to charity – their undie run also raised funds for a number of charities including those chosen by the students themselves.

Workplaces and offices in the UK are not slow to spot the trend. Reports of ‘short time working’ days where people are able to come to work in shorts, for paying a small charity donation, are on the increase and several computer firms appear to have gone a step beyond this, by offering staff the chance to spend the day at work in their PJs if they pay a ‘pj fee’ to a nominated good cause.

A lot of retailers have become expert in the short-term business excitement that is the pop-up shop. Clothing retailers, in particular, have benefitted from the short term rents and word-of-mouth that, when well-managed, offer a high volume of sales for a low investment.

There are downsides to the pop-up concept. While it’s becoming more common for many different forms of business, from therapy to restaurants to gyms and car mechanics, have found the pop-up concept to be worthwhile, it can be difficult to get insurance, and the cost of converting available space to a specialised activity can be high.

On the other hand, seasonal businesses such as those selling ski clothing, or fitting chains to car tyres, do a roaring trade in several months of the year, and customers who find the outlet often tell their friends using social networks such as mobile phones and twitter to inform their contacts about the great new facility.

Because the business only pays salaries for the months it is open, it doesn’t have high overheads, but getting stock and guessing volumes can be tricky, especially in the first couple of years of operation, when there isn’t a track record to call upon.

It’s not just the retail benefits that matter. Some businesses run loss-leader operations, offering a free back massage and financial check-up around the traditional year end, or offer cake-icing demonstrations alongside tutorials in time-management software at Christmas – while they make no money, the buzz generated by the activity can drive sales through online sites for several months to come and innovative and fun pop-up shops often get coverage in business and trade magazines, on local TV and Radio and through word of mouth, that keeps a brand high on in the public attention for little cost compared to traditional advertising.

Workplace stress, reduced incomes and less disposable income all make for a greater risk of obesity in the workplace – as people work longer hours they eat less well, having a lower income means that they buy less healthy food or eat on the run, and less disposable income tends to stop people attending gyms or health classes as they cut back where they can.

Encouraging staff to exercise and eat healthily can help employers to reduce the risk to their health. It also means that the company has to spend less time on health and safety issues as legislations means that employers must assess risks to staff and take reasonable steps to remove or reduce them, including risks posed by obesity.

Obesity is linked to sleeping and spinal problems – both of which lower productivity. It also can reduce life expectancy and contribute to heart disease.

Employers can consider:

1. Having a cycle or walk to work policy – perhaps giving people suitable clothing (trainers, leggings, rain-wear) to allow them to be confident about walking or cycling as well as providing cycle racks.
2. Remove vending machines and offer free fruit – it’s cheap and easy and small changes to lifestyle can encourage employees to take other small steps to health too.
3. Have a noticeboard that encourages activity – with details of running groups, green gyms, cycle routes, swimming pools and activities in local parks.

Above all, management teams can set a good example themselves, by organising active events such as walking meetings in casual clothing, rather than sitting in boardrooms in suits.

There’s a rash of new books out this spring on the meaning of clothing: we all know that the type of clothes we wear can carry basic messages: if we have handmade shoes and a designer outfit we’re one kind of person – a hoodie and low-slung jeans, even from the same designer, and we’re a completely different kind of person.

A recent study on enclothed cognition proved that people can be influenced by what they wear. Students given a ‘doctor’s coat’ to wear for an experiment were more careful and attentive than those give a ‘painter’s coverall’. In fact, both were given identical garments but the belief system they pinned to the clothing changed their behaviour.

So now it appears that there is a psychology of clothing and that we can change our behaviour by what we wear.

Suggestions for the workplace are:

Look at the age of clothing you wear. Does it seem younger or older than your actual age (you may need a good friend to be honest with you about this) because if you are dressing younger you may be hiding a fear about being left behind and if you are dressing older than your real age you may be trying to claim authority that you don’t feel you possess.

Look at your colours. Are you dressing drably to try and avoid attention (if so you may be worried about your proficiency in the workplace) or are you dressing brightly (when you may be trying to attract attention because you feel you’re being passed over).

Do your clothes allow you to do your job easily? If not you may be telling your employer that you are unhappy at work which puts you first in line for redundancy or being laid off.

To improve your work situation:

Dress your age, choose light colours but not bright ones – pale blue T-shirts and grey, white and beige sweatshirts for casual workplaces and white, pale pink or cream shirts for formal ones.

Think about what is work-appropriate, so that you are dressed for your tasks, which may mean more casual clothing on days when you are being active – polo shirt and trousers for example, and smart shirts for days you are meeting clients.

The fashion of business has changed, as has the fashion of politics. The old formal-style grey suits and stiff shirts are beginning to give way to different views of political and business life. Vladimir Putin has set a standard for pectoral-baring, hunting, shooting and fishing presidential fitness.

In a similar way, business leaders are being judged by their essential fitness – are they sporty or cerebral, are they fit or fashion-conscious? The image of business leadership can strongly influence the way a business operates.

So how does business clothing influence business performance? The strengths of a business are reflected in the appearance of its leaders so the values of a business are evident in the way a business leader dresses, speaks and acts.

If a business is professional, the appearance of the leaders of that business should be professional too: starched shirts and three piece suits may be too old-fashioned for modern business practices, but simple cotton shirts with plain black, grey or navy trousers and formal or semi-formal jackets will give an appearance of respectability whilst still allowing for comfort when commuting or working actively, in a way previous generations, with their oak desks and secretaries, would never have considered.

It’s important for business leaders to appear adjustable too, and dress down Fridays are a sign that a business can cope with the demands of modern life, so those are the days when a pale blue or white polo shirt, chinos and an unstructured cotton or linen jacket allow an executive to look smart without looking stuffy.

For women in business the rules are more complex: skirts denote professionalism, but dresses don’t. Sandals suggest slackness or lack of authority, but a suit can look more air-hostess than leader of industry. Colour is important and staying away from ‘trolley dolly’ combinations like blue and navy helps a lot. Ideal colours are non-uniform so consider cream or pink shirts, or for casual days, charcoal, chocolate or heather long-sleeved T-shirts, worn with a linen skirt or fitted black trousers, and topped with a good formal jacket.

Britain now has one of the lowest rates of corporation tax in the developed world and there will be continued decreases down to 20% from the 28% under the previous government.

This is good news for larger businesses, as is the reduction in the top rate of income tax, which will definitely benefit the heads of large corporations.
While unemployment is expected to peak this year, the Chancellor reckons that around a million new jobs will be created in the next five years with extra attention being given to jobs for young adults through the provision of both a record number of apprenticeships and looking at the creation of enterprise loans for young people who want to become entrepreneurs.

There will be new tax credits for entertainment industries such as TV, games and animation industries. There’s a hope that exports will double within a decade and a warning from the Chancellor that exporting abroad has to be accompanied by investment in staff, buildings and research at home.

A focus on new technology is to bring broadband to smaller cities, and to support businesses in the technology sectors.

On the downside, there was little detailed tax movement for small businesses and the hope that tax breaks for uniform wearers and work vehicles did not materialise although there will be extra council tax concessions for those in the armed forces serving overseas.