The ROI of Beauty

Why investing in your appearance is a wise financial decision

When Femi Otedola disclosed in his new book Making It Big that he hired beautiful ladies when he wanted to secure more diesel orders from big clients he didn’t say anything new or strange to the corporate world. Economist, Daniel S. Hamermesh worked over a decade establishing what we all already knew but which we, being who we are, love to deny – that beauty pays! Among the young and the older- it does, and does not necessarily entail more than just the appreciation of good dress sense, nice hair, and general personal style. Findings of research do not even limit this phenomenon to the female gender. The beauty gap is in fact larger for men than it is for women but I am here only for the girlies.

It is an old practice and it’s not slowing down – The number of employment-related discrimination claims based on employees’ physical appearance. Eva Sierminska’s empirical study shows that physically attractive people earn more than those who are considered to be less attractive while those who are not attractive even when employed do settle for lower pay. In some industries the reason for this discrimination is more apparent. Jobs that require customer relations especially over the counter or physically in offices, even through phones or email sometimes are considered better occupied by people who are pleasing to the eyes. Self-assortment plays a role in this, as people who do not consider themselves reaching the beauty threshold do not apply, or they even decline offers. Attractive men as well as women get paid higher, according to research and overtime employers keep getting the feedback they expect. Survey shows that attractive workers increase a firm’s revenue by more than the money it takes to cover their higher wages and this is no surprise. Otedola gave his 14 beautiful executives brand new cars and didn’t regret it. The lack of fairness in this approach in the corporate world has been a subject of legislative debate but you sure want to enhance your looks with the right heels and the right dresses rather than wait on the law to force you on your employers or clients.

Being beautiful

Who is beautiful? Fortunately or unfortunately there is no objective view of who is beautiful as factors like ethnicity, age, and genders are judged on their own unique scales. Rich people from wealthy nations have spent big on beauty based on things such as youth, height, body weight and others which tilts the perception quite marginally. The pay-offs hasn’t been great enough compared to the expenditure. The simpler approach would work, says Hamermesh: Buy better clothing, use more cosmetics, get better coiffed, etc. Your choice of clothe that suits your body, the shoes and bags, the sunshades.. let us work it. Only where quality and style is sacrosanct can you get the things that are precise for enhancing your uniquely glorious appeal.

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