where hospitality people meet
If the face doesn't fit....?
Ben McEwen from Lexington Catering argues that whereas beauty may only be skin deep, raw talent goes right to bone.
It would seem that although many establishments are working hard to achieve AA ratings it would appear that there are certain others more concerned with their double D’s! Faced with legislation governing employment according to race, disability and gender to name but a few, aestheticism is arguably the last stand in weeding the undesirables out of the selection pool.
So why hire beauty over brains? Are recruiters succumbing to the halo effect; that is being influenced by the first positive traits we see in people (such as looks) and then subconsciously suppressing any negative traits, which emerge at a later stage? No surely not! Well it is possible, and actually it makes business sense to have attractive people on the front line, especially in sales positions. Look at the world of advertising, celebrities are forever being used to endorse products and we the public storm the high street in droves. I for one do not believe for a second that David Beckham is a leading authority on mobile phones or high street fashion but there he is brandishing a Motorola and prancing about in his Armani pants! The public, blinded by his looks rushes out to buy phones, underwear, razorblades, and anything else he might happen to be photographed with forgetting entirely that he is actually a footballer.
The same principal can work on a front desk, cocktail bar or restaurant – dazzle your customers with buff staff and their ability to provide good service will start to pale into insignificance…or will it?
Furthermore what is the effect on the staff members themselves? There is certainly a link to emotional labour and the idea that staff members in customer facing roles have to repress themselves for the benefit of the guest. In many hospitality and tourism outlets there are image guidelines in existence but hiring a look takes this further and companies are starting to manipulate the physical relationship between customer and the business by creating an almost entirely different exterior persona. Is this a good thing? Are we creating neutrality? Could this be classed as branding? Or in actual fact are such establishments about to lose their authenticity?
So is this actually happening in our industry? Is it more prevalent in some sectors than others; airlines perhaps? It would seem quite possible, as last week’s poll highlighted that there must be a multitude of beautiful people working in the hospitality industry as whopping 45% of hotcatUK members have at one stage taken a fancy to their line managers…
I believe that it doesn’t matter how much surgery, make up or grooming you throw at your staff there can be no match for drive, passion and raw talent, because beautiful your frontline may be, but when our discriminating guests start scratching the surface you want to be sure it doesn’t all fall apart.
(*Thanks to Judie Gannon from Oxford Brookes for her valued input!)
It would seem that although many establishments are working hard to achieve AA ratings it would appear that there are certain others more concerned with their double D’s! Faced with legislation governing employment according to race, disability and gender to name but a few, aestheticism is arguably the last stand in weeding the undesirables out of the selection pool.
So why hire beauty over brains? Are recruiters succumbing to the halo effect; that is being influenced by the first positive traits we see in people (such as looks) and then subconsciously suppressing any negative traits, which emerge at a later stage? No surely not! Well it is possible, and actually it makes business sense to have attractive people on the front line, especially in sales positions. Look at the world of advertising, celebrities are forever being used to endorse products and we the public storm the high street in droves. I for one do not believe for a second that David Beckham is a leading authority on mobile phones or high street fashion but there he is brandishing a Motorola and prancing about in his Armani pants! The public, blinded by his looks rushes out to buy phones, underwear, razorblades, and anything else he might happen to be photographed with forgetting entirely that he is actually a footballer.
The same principal can work on a front desk, cocktail bar or restaurant – dazzle your customers with buff staff and their ability to provide good service will start to pale into insignificance…or will it?
Furthermore what is the effect on the staff members themselves? There is certainly a link to emotional labour and the idea that staff members in customer facing roles have to repress themselves for the benefit of the guest. In many hospitality and tourism outlets there are image guidelines in existence but hiring a look takes this further and companies are starting to manipulate the physical relationship between customer and the business by creating an almost entirely different exterior persona. Is this a good thing? Are we creating neutrality? Could this be classed as branding? Or in actual fact are such establishments about to lose their authenticity?
So is this actually happening in our industry? Is it more prevalent in some sectors than others; airlines perhaps? It would seem quite possible, as last week’s poll highlighted that there must be a multitude of beautiful people working in the hospitality industry as whopping 45% of hotcatUK members have at one stage taken a fancy to their line managers…
I believe that it doesn’t matter how much surgery, make up or grooming you throw at your staff there can be no match for drive, passion and raw talent, because beautiful your frontline may be, but when our discriminating guests start scratching the surface you want to be sure it doesn’t all fall apart.
(*Thanks to Judie Gannon from Oxford Brookes for her valued input!)
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Marcus Weedon on -
Great Article, you are quite right in what you are saying that beauty is something that employers do take into consideration, though they might not want to admit it, secretly they do.
I know in the past there have been people turned down for jobs due to their face not fitting as you have titled your article.
I can see why and i cant see this changing either, definitly a companies branding.
Most hotels, restaurants, corporate businesses i think feel the need to have attractive and trim front of house staff, as it is a statement / and represents the hotel in the same light.
I dont think i have ever been to a hotel where i have seen a person sat on reception and thought oh my god thats the ugliest person i have ever seen in my life, quite the opposite
This is something that has been notice during my career of working in hotels as well and feel that its a shame that some people can get over looked due to the way that look, the way they are groomed, the way that they are presented.
Surely Personality over - rules any of the above. like you say drive, passion and raw talent would certainly be more essential.
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Permalink Reply by Jose Ruiz on -
Much as I hate to admit it: it is true!
A pretty face makes things easier in the recruitment front. However, whilst this may get you passed the first few minutes of the interview, the rest is down to anything but looks.
I remember during my time at the Montcalm Hotel that a good friend of mine asked me to interview a friend of his: "he is a model" he said "very very handsome indeed". I interviewed him (of course not because he was pretty, although I have nothing against a bit of eye candy, but because I was doing a friend a favor). The guy in question was handsome indeed, impossibly so.
Now, you have heard the cliche about models: all looks and no brains? Wow, this young chap was off the scale! He could just about managed to tell me his name and where he was from (and he spoke perfect English so language barrier it wasn't).
Much as i wanted to help him (my friend) I was the distinct impression that for this candidate breathing in and out every few seconds was the biggest challenge he could manage.
Looks yes, but not without the brains!
Seriously though, and a request for those job seekers out there: PLEASE MAKE A BIT OF AN EFFORT WHEN YOU GO FOR A JOB INTERVIEW: A DECENT PAIR OF TROUSERS AND SHIRT OR SKIRT AND BLOUSE COUPLED WITH A DECENT HAIRCUT, SHAVE AND POLISHED SHOES WILL DO THE TRICK!
I could write a book about candidate horror stories, some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Most will definitely make you cringe.
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Permalink Reply by Claudia on -
I definitely agree with you. Good looks don't hurt but they can't replace skills or knowledge. In any case the first impression is crucial and if you don't dress decently I would probably think that you are not really interested in getting employed and you won't take your future career seriously as well. Another mistake for me is to exaggerate and come with too long too colored nails or high heels which would look ok if you tried for a position in fashion or cosmetics.
Jose Ruiz said:Much as I hate to admit it: it is true!
A pretty face makes things easier in the recruitment front. However, whilst this may get you passed the first few minutes of the interview, the rest is down to anything but looks.
I remember during my time at the Montcalm Hotel that a good friend of mine asked me to interview a friend of his: "he is a model" he said "very very handsome indeed". I interviewed him (of course not because he was pretty, although I have nothing against a bit of eye candy, but because I was doing a friend a favor). The guy in question was handsome indeed, impossibly so.
Now, you have heard the cliche about models: all looks and no brains? Wow, this young chap was off the scale! He could just about managed to tell me his name and where he was from (and he spoke perfect English so language barrier it wasn't).
Much as i wanted to help him (my friend) I was the distinct impression that for this candidate breathing in and out every few seconds was the biggest challenge he could manage.
Looks yes, but not without the brains!
Seriously though, and a request for those job seekers out there: PLEASE MAKE A BIT OF AN EFFORT WHEN YOU GO FOR A JOB INTERVIEW: A DECENT PAIR OF TROUSERS AND SHIRT OR SKIRT AND BLOUSE COUPLED WITH A DECENT HAIRCUT, SHAVE AND POLISHED SHOES WILL DO THE TRICK!
I could write a book about candidate horror stories, some will make you laugh, some will make you cry. Most will definitely make you cringe.
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Permalink Reply by Ben McEwen on -
Jose - please write that book!!!
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Permalink Reply by Jose Ruiz on
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One day Ben...one day!!!
Maybe I should serialise it here on hotcatUK
haha
Ben McEwen said:Jose - please write that book!!!
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Permalink Reply by Ben McEwen on
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Genius....
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Permalink Reply by Sam Coulstock MIH on -
Jose - you should do this on hotcatUK - it would be great for people who are thinking of joining our industry - what not to do at an interview!
Great stuff!
Sam
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Permalink Reply by Sonya Lipczynska on -
This would be a great idea, perhaps one 'what not to do' tip per week or something like that.
Ben this is a great article and rings very true, not just about employers but about the snap 10 second judgement that people in general tend to make when faced with someone new, based on their face, hair, clothes and demeanor. Sadly there are some jobs where it is all about the face...some high end stores for example recruit based on the look they think goes with the brand, but industries like hospitality rely on far more and, as Jose has said, that well-presented and intelligent will always overcome a gammy leg or unfortunately placed mole.
Sam Coulstock said:Jose - you should do this on hotcatUK - it would be great for people who are thinking of joining our industry - what not to do at an interview!
Great stuff!
Sam
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Permalink Reply by Marcus Weedon on
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Totally agree with everyone, this is a brill idea, free advise on interviewing for everyone not just people that are looking to get into hospitality but also people that are already in it.
What not to do in an interview sounds so obvious to people that recruit for a living, and you would imagine managers would be the same, but i think from experience in the past, so many poeple let them selves down on the silliest of things, whether it be a mucky looking suit, haven't shaved, piercings, over done make up etc
Sonya - Whats with the Gammy Leg...lol
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Permalink Reply by Max Barber on -
Ben- I really like this article. It is the case in alot of ways that beauty triumphs over brains but of course I would like to suggest that in the long term, brains have a tendency to be the most important thing at the business table.
People with drive passion and a love for what they do clearly are attractive. Irrespective of what they look like, if they have the commitment to do an 18hour shift and still hold their head high and absolutely love what theyre doing clearly that is more attractive than a pretty girl/boy who has never done a days work in her/his life and doesnt want to be a part of your business.
I know which one I choose.
Jose.....please write that book....indispensable reading for the graduate seeking employement!!!
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Permalink Reply by Lou Willcock on -
Ben have you checked the mirror lately? Somehow you manage to have both beauty and talent........on the outside and within. Could this be why you are the hotest cat in hotcat?
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Permalink Reply by Lou Willcock on
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Max will I see you at the Hotcat event in June?
Max Barber said:Ben- I really like this article. It is the case in alot of ways that beauty triumphs over brains but of course I would like to suggest that in the long term, brains have a tendency to be the most important thing at the business table.
People with drive passion and a love for what they do clearly are attractive. Irrespective of what they look like, if they have the commitment to do an 18hour shift and still hold their head high and absolutely love what theyre doing clearly that is more attractive than a pretty girl/boy who has never done a days work in her/his life and doesnt want to be a part of your business.
I know which one I choose.
Jose.....please write that book....indispensable reading for the graduate seeking employement!!!
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