Why Some Men Will Never Get The Promotion They Deserve At Work

Getting a promotion at work can be a struggle for some men. Your stats are good, you’re hitting targets and you’re ready for the next big step. Then you find out the promotion that’s been dangled in front of you for the past three years is going to be given to Larry from the Made-Up Department.

If you’re really clueless as to what happened, as you know you deserve it more than Larry, take a good look in the mirror. You might have a horrible condition called: being handsome.

According to a recent study published in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, handsome men like you, while preferred for cooperative roles, may be easily rejected for competitive jobs.

The research, conducted by the UCL School of Management, concluded that good-looking guys are viewed as more competent. This is the reason why managers in workplaces that need a team player hire handsome male candidates over average-looking ones.

The study also found that good looks make men seem more threatening to future colleagues in competitive workplaces. If managers expect to compete with their employees someday, they may discriminate against them.

For women, this is not entirely the case as the researchers didn’t find the same effect for pretty women. This is because female attractiveness is not associated with competence.

“Managers are affected by stereotypes and make hiring decisions to serve their own self-interests so organizations may not get the most competent candidates,” lead author Sun Young Lee said.

“With more companies involving employees in recruitment processes, this important point needs attention. Awareness that hiring is affected by potential work relationships and stereotyping tendencies can help organizations improve their selection processes,“ she concluded.

She recommends companies rely on “external representatives” to provide fairer input on hiring and promotion practices.

She added: “If organizations make managers more accountable for their decisions, they’ll be less motivated to pursue self-interests at the expense of the company.”