SIR ALAN UNDER FIRE
It may only be a TV reality show but the BBC’s The Apprentice is under fire from top HR departments and legal professionals alike. Sir Alan Suger is used to lambasting his prospective employees, but apparently his interview technique leaves a lot to be desired. Aisling Tighe is the Managing Director of Perriam & Everett, a recruitment and talent management consultancy, and she says that although much criticism has been fired at the contestants for errors such as lying on a CV, the interviewers need to take a long hard look at themselves. ‘The bully boy tactics used by Sugar’s advisers in the latest episode went against every single professional rule in the book. Anyone worth their salt in recruitment knows that interviewing should be based on competencies - and not personal assumptions - otherwise you end up with subjectivity and even discrimination. Despite the somewhat gloomy economic predictions of recent weeks, there is still a war for talent, and savvy recruiters know that the best way to secure that talent is to remember, when interviewing, you are selling as well as buying - something that Sir Alan’s advisors seem to know very little about.’
Top City solicitor Richard Baty goes even further. He says asking a sloppy, disrespectful, or playful question in a job interview (as Sir Alan’s team frequently did) could spark a discrimination claim in an employment tribunal. Baty, of top London city legal firm Travers Smith, says: ‘Recruiters must tread carefully to avoid allegations, or even the perception, of discrimination. It is generally a bad idea to ask questions about a candidate’s race, disability, religion, beliefs, sexual orientation, or age. If you are going to raise controversial issues, then interview questions must objectively relate to the requirements of the role. And make sure you ask that question to all the candidates or you could be heading for trouble.’
Apparently, there’s no cap on the amount of compensation an employment tribunal can award for a discrimination claim, so in the real world, Sir Alan’s antics could have cost him a pretty penny.
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