Friday, October 14, 2011

Is there a right and wrong way to hire?


  Hiring to fit a specific “type” has and will always be used to build an image for a company. All kinds of companies have tried hiring certain types of people to increase customer satisfaction. For many companies it is very successful, for others it is not, and for some companies it goes unnoticed. Every company has an idea or image they want to portray and they have the right to do that anyway they want. Giving a company it’s image is done by hiring a certain type of person, giving the product a certain style, and advertising the company in a certain way. If people are able to create their own self image why can’t a group of people working together create an image for their company?
    Clothing stores, like Abercrombie and Fitch, are not the only stores that hire certain images. For example, stores selling athletic equipment and athletic gear usually have very fit looking and athletic people. Abercrombie and Fitch has become such a big target for hiring based on an image because people tend to see it as a race issue. Abercrombie and Fitch tend to employ skinny, Caucasian, and blonde women, and tall, muscular, and Caucasian men. More people make it a bigger deal when it seems like a race issue compared to it being a stereotype issue. Most people do not complain about clothing stores hiring “punk” employees in edgy clothing stores or athletic stores hiring athletic looking people. Someone always complains when they feel like people of different culture are being discriminated against or attacked. Different people analyze situations much differently. Some people may walk into Abercrombie and think that the employers are only targeting young and beautiful girls to work there, others may walk in and think they only want Caucasian people to work at the store. Both of these different people may complain about the issue of targeted hiring, but the argument that race is a factor will always be the most popular argument. More people find it offensive if someone is hiring a certain race then just a general type of person. As long as a company is not trying to form something like a racial supremacy group or discriminating against buying customers, companies should be aloud to hire and create whatever kind of image they would like for their company.
    Hiring a certain type is a very strategic move to gain more customers and earn a larger profit. If an employer wants to attract a lot of men in to their company, they are going to hire a lot of young and beautiful women. If a company wants to attract punk groups, they will hire a group of pierced and tattooed employees. Employers want to sell their company as best as they can. They want the most popular inventory, the greatest ads, and the hottest staff. Many customers are all about buying into “the image.” Especially teenagers want to dress in the hottest clothes and the newest trends. The newest trends are set by the coolest stores and the coolest stores have the best overall image. Only the smartest and best advertising companies become the “it” trend for teenagers. The way to do that is to find any way possible to attract customers. Whether people agree or disagree with employers hiring a certain type, they still are going to purchase the clothes in order to fit in with the hottest trends.
    Hiring to support a company image could either be very helpful or a complete waste of time. Customers always start by going window shopping, looking from store to store to see if the certain stores have things they would like to purchase. When you window shop, people do not go through every magazine to find the latest ads, analyze the type of management, and then see if they like the clothes. The clothes are always what brings a person into a store. Ads are not necessarily always the best indication of the store and what the store sells. For example, Abercrombie and Fitch does not always have models in clothes in heir advertisement. Many customers do not over analyze whether or not the store clerk is a boy or a girl, black or white, or skinny or fat.  Some customers go into store just because they like the style, the fit, and the look of the clothing. People buy clothes because they want to buy the clothes. Customers will even return multiple times to the store just for the clothes even if they do not like the service. Customers may either dismiss the stereo type of the store or just not notice it.
    To many people creating an image of a company by hiring a certain type of workers is a great strategic move, others may think it causes a lot of acts of discrimination and increases situations of unfair hiring. Whether one thinks it is wrong or right to hire a certain type of person, the opinion does not matter. It is companies rights to be able to hire how ever they would life. Everyone’s daily lives is about images. Everyone judge others and classify them as an image.  People act, dress, talk, and do everything a certain way. Whether it was an image they created themselves or an image they are imitating off of someone else, everyone has the right to create images and so do companies as well.

1 comment:

  1. I did a response post to this here!:
    http://annaerway.blogspot.com/2011/10/rp-going-for-look.html

    ReplyDelete