Looks still matter in recruitment
Hiring managers have been alert for some time to the dangers of rushing to judge candidates on their appearance, and the potential implications for bias in the recruitment process. But the way people look could influence recruiters more than they think.
A new study published in The Leadership Quarterly journal found that people are surprisingly skilled at guessing somebody’s profession just by looking at their face. Participants were shown a selection of men’s faces and asked to guess what they did for a living. The images were displayed in black and white with just the face cut out, so it was not possible to glean any further clues from hairstyle, clothing or accessories.
Participants also rated how accurate they thought their guesses were. Their answers to this question indicated they were not confident in their hunches, despite the results showing that people performed with a higher degree of accuracy than if they had picked randomly.
Although the experiment may sound like an amusing parlour game, one of the study’s authors, Dawn Eubanks of the University of Warwick, says it may have revealed the existence of a significant unconscious bias. This could prevent employees getting ahead if they are not deemed to “look the part”.
“We have to be careful and be aware that even though we think we’re not being biased, we might be,” she says.
Being jobless alters your personality
What you do for a living often comes to define who you are. And long-term unemployment can have an equally profound effect on personality, says a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
The research discovered that men become less conscientious the longer they are out of work and, while they scored higher on openness during the first year of unemployment, become less open as time goes on. Likewise, while men are more agreeable at first, this trait lessens after the first two years of joblessness.
“Conscientiousness is valued in the workplace,” says Dr Christopher Boyce of the University of Stirling, the study’s author. “When individuals aren’t working, there is less incentive to be conscientious.”
Women become more conscientious during the early and late stages of unemployment but are less conscientious in the middle years. They follow a similar pattern with openness, becoming more secretive during the second and third years of being out of work.
Personality changes resulting from a period of unemployment were more exaggerated than those involving other major life changes, including getting divorced. However, the effects are not permanent, and once a person became re-employed, Boyce noted their former temperament could return.
“We need to recognise that people do change and potentially employers have a responsibility to help positive growth,” he says.
Followers not as open to feedback as leaders
Leaders are more open to coaching than followers – and that has implications for how L&D professionals allocate their resources.
Research from assessment provider PsychTests found that those who identified themselves as followers ranked lower than those who described themselves as leaders or adapters across four areas: comfort admitting faults and weaknesses, capability to handle criticism, willingness to request help as needed, and openness to learning and improvement.
Attempting to offer coaching or training to someone who is unwilling to learn is a wasted investment. Dr Ilona Jerabek, president of PsychTests, advises HR professionals to ask employees to volunteer for training where possible.
“Ask them whether they are interested in additional training,” she says. “Those who are willing to learn will volunteer for the opportunity. Those who dislike learning may turn it down.”
Those who identified as adapters were the most open to coaching. However, although followers ranked lowest for openness to training across the study, the results indicated that people generally welcomed coaching. And reluctant followers will be more receptive to coaching if it is presented in the right context.
“Make sure people know that this is an investment, and give them praise even with someone who doesn’t do that well,” says Jerabek.