The link between physical attractiveness and perceptions of ability in the workplace turns heads in our latest lighthearted take on the HR world.
“It’s who you know,” we are often told when gazing in wonder at the gilded careers of the anointed few.
Occasionally, colleagues might concede that some people are particularly talented and possess rare leadership qualities.
But a new study brings us face to face with an unpalatable proposition. What if it’s simply what we look like, how conventionally attractive we are, that determines your career?
A new poll of over 1,000 Americans from career experts StandOut CV has revealed how “pretty privilege” affects hiring and earning potential in the workplace. The poll found that “attractive” employees earned $19,945 more than “their less attractive colleagues”. How dare they!
Careers expert and director of StandOut CV, Andrew Fennell, somewhat distanced himself from the message of the findings. He said: “being physically attractive should never be a reason that you earn you more money”.
Further shocking revelations from the survey were that chief executives were more than twice as likely to rate themselves as extremely attractive than average (71% compared with 33%). This was greeted with a riot of scoffing in the Personnel Today office. Hardly a trump card, if you pardon the expression.
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But colleagues quietened down when they heard that those who rated themselves as unattractive were five times more likely to say their looks impacted their career negatively (46% compared with 7.6%).
Perhaps a uniquely American statistic was that two-thirds of people felt pressured to alter natural features to comply with conventional beauty standards at work. Those present who happened to have dental veneers began to look rather smug at this point.
The vast majority (81.3%) felt that conventionally attractive people get ahead at work and that people who invest more in their work appearance are perceived as more competent or professional.
Fortunately, the office’s natural scepticism forestalled a late afternoon stampede down to Next, the local beauty salon, or TX Maxx at this point.
It’s an uncomfortable subject, not one we generally like to confront.
The report authors advised us that it was important to consider that these ratings were self-prescribed. They said: “Confidence is key to success, and rating yourself nine or 10 out of 10 also indicates a high sense of self-worth.” Somewhat worryingly, they added: “This is consistent with another study which found that 18% of CEOs are narcissists – compared with 5% of the general population.”
Good looking and narcissistic! We were surprised this didn’t feature more in executive search callouts. What will AI make of it?
At the Personnel Today office we agreed that beauty was in the eye of the beholder, and in any case the entire process works in reverse in the UK – with a direct correlation between being aesthetically bland and rocket-fuelled promotions.
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