Do Bald People Make Better Recruiters and Sourcers?

Clarification: I'm talking cranial hair - you guys are terrible!

So do bald people make better employees?

What if you're simply on your way to being bald? (this is a gender-neutral question) :)

- What if said employee was bald by birth?
- How about if they would be bald, but choose to shave their heads? (I believe I may fall into this category!)
- What if they should shave their heads as opposed to exhibiting their current level of baldness? (Ladies, you know the male look I'm talking about!)
If so, does head-shine come into play? Sometimes when I meet local female candidates, they ask if they can rub the baldness . . . while guys say, "bro, what do you put on your head to make it shine like that?"

Ok, so maybe I was born with a sales skill or two, but I've actually made hires and closed deals using my baldness. I mean that - it's truly possible.

For you PhDs' out there, is there a direct correlation at play between the baldness of an employee and the coinciding engagement levels (not just QOH) of the candidates that are hired as a result of their efforts?

I appreciate your insights and opinions as we move forward with this groundbreaking study of "Baldness in the Workplace"!!!

[Note: I'd recommend the original post at www.lgexec.com as it has links and video.]

Joshua Letourneau
LG & Assoc Search Talent Strategy
BLOG: www.lgexec.com
jletourneau (at) lgexec.com

Comment by Joshua Letourneau on April 5, 2008 at 11:01am: Interesting - so you think "hot" recruiters and sourcers are better? With today's version of Sourcing 1.0 (pure name gen . . . evidence: Rob Mcintosh's [Deloitte] Wikipedia "Sourcing (personnel)" entry in July 2007), do you think "hot" Sourcers get more names? That's interesting and you very well might be on to something. Now, on the recruiting side, I'll shoot straight with you - I've met lots of "hot" ladies that couldn't close a deal if their life depended on it . . . especially if we're talking long-distance phone deals.

Comment by Joshua Letourneau on April 5, 2008 at 11:05am: P.S. To briefly elaborate, I mean I know "hot" ladies that can develop local networks of candidates based on their looks and physical attributes . . . but I haven't seen that result in any more deals than the "average" looking recruiter. In fact, some may say there can be an inverse correlation between looks and work ethic. I don't know if that's true, but it's the word on the street in the recruiting world :) At a company I worked for a few years ago (before starting my own), I remember the Market President telling us to interview and hire "hot" females in their "early 20s" (because they're "cheap" labor - no, I'm not kidding) . . . and then they literally had to turn over all 'deals' to senior recruiters as we moved from conversation and into interviewing & closing.