Ask HR: Does one’s looks influence success at the workplace?

I now believe that outward appearances can be advantageous at work. Our boss tends to favour my colleague yet I see nothing special about her apart from her looks. She recently received a promotion after a series of internal interviews in which a few of my colleagues and I took part. We are just as qualified. Why this unfair treatment?

Although losing a coveted opportunity usually brings disappointment, people emerge from such experiences uniquely, based on their attitudes. Competitive selection in general, interviews included, leaves in its wake winners and losers. It is therefore unlikely that every candidate will celebrate the outcomes of such a process. To some, failure signals areas that require improvement while to others, it is tantamount to unfair treatment.

Promotion ought to be predicated on merit, not attributes that have no bearing on the role in question. What role do you play in your organisation? To which role did your colleague move? Does success in either of the roles require the incumbent to bear certain looks? Some roles may require certain looks yet even these need to be examined with the aim of locating and eliminating discrimination from the workplace as much as possible.

It is the duty of an organisation to ensure that selection processes are as objective as possible in part by having clear requirements for roles, involving diverse stakeholders in the selection process, providing candid feedback after interviews and developmental support. Even then, candidates could still perceive a selection process to be subjective.

Are you certain that you would have been the successful candidate if you bore the looks of the colleague who has since been promoted? Apart from you, is there another candidate that you thought was better suited for the role? Beyond the consideration of physiognomy, what lesson have you drawn from this experience? Yes, biases exist, but do you consider that your line manager deliberately sabotaged himself by promoting an unsuitable individual? Did you seek interview feedback? Could it be that you have areas of development you need to work on?

Focus on what you can control. If you work hard to earn merit, there will soon be a welcome knock on your door. Besides, how long do looks last?

HR Practitioner                                                                                   [email protected]