We had to wear ties to work in management for years. Then we hired a consultant to teach us about listening and, well you know. Two things came out of it in the first week concerning the management/"associate" relationship and why it is bad to set yourself apart: 1) did away with assigned parking spaces for management, all management, and 2) dispensed with the wearing of ties. Worked for me. Interesting how it affected people differently though. A few started out down right hostile about the idea of losing their parking space. The boss finally told everyone if they wanted a specific parking spot just get to work before anyone else so you could have your choice. I thought that was reasonable.
One fellow in management always wore a grey suit to work. No one wore a suit. Come on, it's hot in GA in the summer. But this fellow continued to wear his suit. One day in one of our meetings with the consultant several guys grabbed him and cut off his tie. He got the message.
