The FINANCIAL — “Being fat is not a problem when working at front desk positions but being overweight might be taken in to consideration during the hiring process,” says Lili Bibilashvili, Head of the HR Department JSC Nikora.
“If a person has a problem with being overweight he/she would feel discomfort when sitting on comparably small chairs in a very tight space which is the reality of working at front desks and that might be one of the reasons why they wouldn’t be able to find front desk work.”
It would seem that if a person has good communication skills and is professional, then their weight won’t make a difference to their work output. As most of the companies interviewed by The FINANCIAL say, a candidate’s weight has no affect on their getting hired.
“In the recruiting process, weight should not be considered a criterion. There are more important things to take into consideration. One’s approach towards people at both ends of the weight spectrum should be absolutely equal when taking decisions about job cuts,” says Mikhael Bregvadze, Employee Services Director of Geocell.
“Being overweight has no effect on the end recruitment decision,” says Sophie Balavadze, Corporate Communications & PR of Bank of Georgia.
“Decisions when recruiting people are determined by his/her professional background and required skills,” says Dea Chkhaidze, Head of Personnel Management Division Insurance company Aldagi BCI.
Companies inquired by The FINANCIAL say that they pay attention to the general appearance of candidates when hiring. “The first impression is quite important,” HR professionals say.
“The recruitment and selection process is full of observations and diagnosis in many possible ways and of course the first impression isn’t an exception. Yes, first contact matters a lot and tidy candidates, as well as those well-prepared for the interview, are more welcome, appearance still isn’t everything and is not enough to decide the outcome of an interview,” says Mikhael Bregvadze.
“Physical appearance is definitely very important and does have a large influence when recruiting,” says Nino Khachapuridze from GPI Holding.
Nana Mukeria, HR of Magticom, says that appearance is a very important criterion.
“As a customer oriented company we are making sure that the visual side of our staff is aligned with company values and vision. The biggest importance is paid to employees who represent the company in front offices, those who have everyday face to face contact with our valuable customers/subscribers,” says Bregvadze, Geocell.
“A first impression is always important, but if the person is qualified enough for the position, then their appearance, even if unappealing, shouldn’t stand in the way” Dea Chkhaidze notes.
According to Nana Mukeria, the company itself pays attention to and cares about the appearance of their personnel by offering them entry to a high standard fitness club.
All of the companies interviewed say that one’s manner of speech is quite important for front desk workers and so they always pay attention to candidates’ speech.
“If it is regarding a client relation position (front/desk) we pay attention to speech manner, but when recruiting for other positions it is not relevant. We are looking for well educated people with good skills,” Chkhaidze says.
“If a position requires strong communication skills, like for example a position in PR or sales, then we certainly care about speech manner,” Balavadze notes.
“Speech manner is very important, especially when working in the front office, at positions like: salesman, call centre operator, etc,” Nino Khachapuridze says.
“The manner of speech, calmness, as well as overall temper, to be focused on as a subject of interviewing and so on, are components of one big process of recruitment and are all relevant when getting acquainted with a new person,” Mikhael Bregvadze told The FINANCIAL.
Nana Mukeria also says that their company pays much attention to speech manner.
According to the above mentioned company representatives, dress code at their companies is strictly controlled and they care about it much.
“As any service provider company, we have our own dress code which is administered by HR division and direct supervisors,” Dea Chkhaidze says.
“A neat business style dress code is followed closely by most of our office workers (perhaps engineers could be an exception). As a conclusion I would like to highlight that we the company believe that the tidy appearance of our employees, regardless of internal regulations and code, shows respect and professional approach toward our customers and potential clients,” says Bregvadze, Geocell.
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