Appearance-based discrimination in the workplace is a common leadership challenge that needs addressing. As a result of beauty bias employees often experience real issue that can affect how they are hired, paid, evaluated, and promoted (Schwantes, 2021). Unfortunately, implicit biases related to notions of professionalism, professional appearance, attractiveness, and tolerance for individual expression are woven into a company’s culture, often without awareness.

Most experts agree that professionalism is important to any successful company or organization's culture. Professionalism is what leaders, employees, and customers expect. There is a growing recognition that the idea of professionalism is often culture-bound and based on European standards. Being “professional” is often loosely defined and arbitrary. It is important for companies overcome this challenge by clearly defining and describing their expectations in written policy to avoid unnecessary harm and litigation (Timmons, 2021).

While policies around workplace attire should reflect the standards of the industry, they should also be sensitive to individual differences in gender & cultural expression. Today’s workforce expects a certain degree of safety as it relates to individual expression, and businesses would do well to recognize and support employees as individuals alongside company goals & vision (Pearlman, 2019). Additionally, the notion of attractiveness is worth examining as it relates to a company’s hiring and promotion practices. “Beauty bias” is a real phenomenon based in social psychology, but one that can and should be acknowledged as a source of inequity and discrimination (Schwantes, 2021).

In summary, leaders must overcome the challenge of beauty biases in order to fully support a more talented, ever-changing, and dynamic workforce of diverse employees.