Hiring That Gorgeous Secretary

By Frank Mulligan ñ Accetis International, Talent Software & Recruit China

That gorgeous Secretary that graces your front-desk was at least partly chosen for her good looks. There!, I said it. The sky didnít fall down.

Discriminating in favor of someone who makes your company look good to customers and internal company visitors is the same as choosing a Sales Representative who ëpresents wellí. It makes sense. But choose people in other non-customer facing departments, based on their good looks, and you might have a problem.

Even in the customer facing departments you might want to finesse the looks issue because of the legal implications of discrimination. Enlightened self-interest should ensure that managers refrain from indulging their sweet tooth but it seems it doesnít. (In China this has been a non-issue for the last 20 years but discrimination is becoming an issue. Chinaís new Employment Promotion Law says that applicants for employment will be entitled to sue employers for discrimination.)

Eye-candy is visually pleasing but it indicates nothing about performance capability. Hire someone for their looks and you could put your career on temporary hiatus. With so many negatives for discrimination it is hard to see why any mature person would do it. The rewards are fleeting but the consequences potentially disastrous.

Beauty & the Best

Despite all this, a recent report from employment law firm Peninsula indicates that almost 9 in 10 bosses admit to have given a job to the most attractive candidate; presumably as opposed to the most capable.

The research was based on a poll of 2,266 employers across the UK in February 2008. For what itís worth, the validity seems relatively high, not because of the number of respondents, but because the results they got surprised them. They found that 88% of respondents admitted that at some stage in their career they have chosen to hire a new employee on the basis of their looks. 92% said that appearance at a job interview can influence whether the person will be hired or not.

Peninsula staffers were not surprised that managers and bosses would hire people based on their looks but they were surprised that so many people were willing to openly admit bias in their hiring process. As employment lawyers, they were quick to point out the risk involved in not hiring the best person for the job.

This advice is to be expected and is not invalidated just because it was delivered by a company who will benefit when we take it to heart. Bias of any kind, most especially bias that is un-tethered to performance on the job, is bad business in London, and in Beijing.

Email frank.mulligan@recruit-china.com
Frank Mulliganís blog ñ english.talent-software.com

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