Hire ugly. All other things being equal, I’d give the nod to an ugly candidate. It’s not charity: They have less value in the marketplace and can be hired less expensively, even though looks have, for most jobs, little or no bearing on job performance. I’ve found that, on average, ugly people are more likely to be kind and to work harder because they know they’re working at a disadvantage. And unattractive people are more likely to stay with me because they tend to have a tough time getting hired, in part because they generally don’t network efficiently. If I treat unattractive employees well, they’re usually very loyal.

Look out for “lookism.” I’m not suggesting that you should give unfair advantages to ugly people. Just be sure that your staff (and you!) treats your unattractive employees fairly. Gently nip lookism in the bud; for example, “Joe, I notice you seem to be giving plum assignments to Britney even though Brunhilde is likely to do a better job. Am I not understanding something?”