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The Apprentice is just good television
Independent, The (London), May 10, 2007 by Nick Jackson
The Apprentice has reaffirmed that golden rule of entertainment, that you will never lose money by degrading schmucks - the schmucks here being Sir Alan Sugar's contestants. But is there anything more to the hit TV show than schadenfreude and water-cooler gossip?
Sir Alan's catch phrase, "You're fired!", is firmly entrenched in pub cliche. Now it is his turn to get the thumbs down, from recruiters and employment lawyers. Last year's series proved somewhat embarrassing to the Am-strad entrepreneur.
Just four months after Michelle Dewberry was chosen for the prize job, she quit, while runner-up Ruth Badger used the show as a springboard to set herself up as a media business guru in her own right, appearing on TV show The Big Idea and due to star in her own series Badger or Bust.
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Some recruitment professionals reckon Sir Alan had it coming. Steve Carter, head of recruitment firm Nigel Lynn, condemns the unrealistic "brutality" of the show's recruitment process. "The idea that people should set about stabbing each other in the back to succeed is not good business," he says.
According to Carter, the hyper-competitive atmosphere inspired by the show is a thing of the past. Now businesses are more interested in teamwork and constructive leadership than the ability to smile while you kill. Carter worries that young managers watching the show will take it at face value. "It would be horrible if people came and started behaving this way," he says.
The show's makers argue that The Apprentice has more to offer than just entertainment. "I believe that there is a lot that recruiters can take away from the show," says a spokesperson. "In fact, many of the tasks have been replicated and used in business training videos and guides."
The producers acknowledge that the 12-week selection process is "much more extreme" than what most candidates will face. But they add that Sugar's "no-nonsense" approach is just good TV. Critics, they say, are missing the point.
"The show isn't designed as a tool for recruiters," says the spokesperson for The Apprentice. "But it does highlight and thoroughly test key business skills such as leadership, teamwork, dedication and strategic thinking - integral skills most recruiters are looking for."
In one way, The Apprentice is spot on. Recruiters now often look beyond CVs and interviews by setting challenges for applicants at assessment centres so they can see how they work. However, if the prospect of having to set up hot-dog stands and flog rotten fruit horrifies you, do not worry.
The Association of Graduate Recruiters says the tasks set by Sir Alan are a million miles from the tasks that you will be doing in a real-life assessment exercise. "It's sheer sensationalism," says Hodgson, chair of the AGR. "Highly entertaining and nothing more than that." Tasks set in real life mimic the set-up in the organisation, rather than Sir Alan's more unusual demands.
Any reputable recruiter, says Hodgson, will make it clear what skills and attributes you are being tested for. Rather than using the Amstrad boss's gut instinct. "It's not clear what Sir Alan is looking for, what skills are required to be successful," she says. "That's a fundamental flaw in the process." TALKBACK/ BBC
Sir Alan prides himself on being a law unto himself, but lawyers warn that his boorish management style could land him in the courts.
"I think I would be very uncomfortable being Sir Alan Sugar's solicitor now," says Nicholas Lakeland at London law firm Silverman Sherliker. "I wouldn't say his approach is consistent with what employment lawyers would advise."
Although at interview you are only protected against discrimination after a year at an office, you can claim constructive dismissal, and where bullying is really bad, protection from harassment. If Sir Alan behaves in his company like he does on TV, warns Lakeland, he could find himself in hot water.
Bullying can prove very expensive for businesses. Last year Deutsche Bank had to shell out [pound]800,000 to workplace bullying victim Helen Green. In 2003 Steven Horkulak was awarded nearly [pound]1m in damages by the courts after months of abuse by his boss, president of brokerage firm Cantor Fitzgerald International. Employers be warned. An Amstrad attitude could be taken the wrong way.
"I'd be concerned if people thought that this was the only way to be a boss," adds Lakeland.
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