Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all

Sample Analysis-of-an-Argument Writing Prompt

The following appeared in a memorandum issued by the human-resources department of Capital Bank:

"Capital Bank has always required that its employees wear suits at all times while at work. Last month, Capital’s employee absenteeism and attrition rates both reached all-time highs. In order to reverse these trends, Capital should adopt a company-wide "casual Friday" policy, under which all employees would be permitted, and even encouraged, to dress casually for work every Friday. After all, most companies in the software industry allow their workers to dress casually for work anytime they want; and those workers often remark that this policy enhances their job satisfaction. Moreover, most software firms experience lower rates of employee absenteeism and attrition than companies in other industries, including banking."

Discuss how logically convincing you find this argument. In your discussion, you should analyze the argument's line of reasoning and use of evidence. It may be appropriate in your critique to call into question certain assumptions underlying the argument and/or to indicate what evidence might weaken or strengthen the argument. It may also be appropriate to discuss how you would alter the argument to make it more convincing and/or discuss what additional evidence, if any, would aid in evaluating the argument.


In the memorandum, the human resources department states that Capital Bank has always had a strict policy regarding employee dress code such that employees are required to wear suits to work. The human resources department suggests that this may be the cause for increased rates of absenteeism and attrition seen last month and proposes a policy of casual Fridays. To support this point, they provide an analogy of software companies who also have a casual dress code requirement and often see lower rates of absenteeism and attrition. Employee absenteeism and attrition is a matter of great concern for any organization as it poses problems for hiring, retention, training and associated costs. However, the human resources department has failed to consider other causes that may be leading to the issue of absenteeism and attrition. They have also made a flawed argument with regards to the timeline by using only last month’s information on employee attendance and linking it to a policy that has always been in place at Capital Bank. Finally, the human resources department has also made an analogy with the software companies without taking the differences in employee preferences and organizational culture into account.

First, the human resources department has failed to present any concrete data on the various causes that may be leading to employee absenteeism and attrition. They have not considered other potential causes or have asked the employees via a survey regarding the causes behind their absenteeism and attrition. It is highly likely that a multitude of other causes may be the contributing factor behind employee absenteeism and attrition. For example, if there was a higher rate of absenteeism and attrition last month, it may be the case that there was a virus going around town and many of the employees feel sick during the season. Furthermore, the human resources should analyze the data on employee absenteeism and attrition and investigate the reported reasons when employees report missing work, spanning over a long period of time.

Second, the human resources department has made a hasty conclusion by using only last month’s data on employee attendance at work and have linked it back to a dress code policy that has always been in place at Capital Bank. If employee were always required to wear suits to work, it is highly unlikely that a large number of employees will all of a sudden start missing work due to the company’s dress code. As such, it would be highly valuable for the human resources department to conduct a survey with the employees to determine the root cause of their absenteeism and attrition and also seek their opinions and feedback on the company’s dress code policies.

Third, the human resources department presents an analogy with the software companies that allow their employees to dress casually at work. They also claim that there is a lower rate of employee absenteeism and attrition at those companies. However, the human resources department has failed to take into consideration that there are vast differences in the organizational cultures, employee personalities and preferences in the banking industry and in the software industry. Moreover, the human resources department has also failed to provide any concrete data or numbers to support the claim that the casual dress at software companies is related to lower rates of absenteeism and attrition.

Employee attendance at work is a key factor that contributes to the overall success of an organization. As such, higher rates of absenteeism and attrition are a key concern for any organization. Given that the human resources department is demonstrating concern regarding this matter by discussing it in the company’s memorandum is a great step in the positive direction. These issues definitely need to be investigated further and appropriate measures need to be put in place to effectively combat employee absenteeism and attrition rates. However, based on the information provided by the human resources department, it is not clear whether it is the dress code policy that is in fact leading to the higher rates of absenteeism and attrition. As such, further research is required where data is collected from the employees and their input is taken into consideration before changing the company’s policies.

Thanks!