Bill Cullen Gets Fired[/caption]
TV3 have announced today that they will not be renewing the Bill Cullen fronted, the Apprentice, after four seasons on the air. The show famous for the catch-phrase "You're Fired" has been a worldwide syndicated hit, stemming from the U.S original chaired by Donald Trump. Perhaps the most notable incarnation for Irish viewers has been the BBC version chaired by Lord Alan Sugar.
There is perhaps some irony that Bill, and the show have been axed from the TV3 schedule. The show has been a source of entertainment for people for the past four seasons, however there is a definitive rationale behind this for business people to look at and potentially learn from, due to the show's interesting take on recruitment and selection.
Many companies will interview a range of applicants for a position and these will be whittled down from the initial applications, to the eventual candidates successful for interview. The Apprentice follows just such a process, where hundreds of applicants apply and based on their C.V and answers provided on the applications form, 12 successful candidates are selected to take part in the process.
The process itself it also nothing new to business, where the 12 week task driven process is effectively a prolonged assessment center, where the candidates are given a range of tasks to complete and are monitored at all times by advisers. In an assessment center, which has been called the Rolls Royce of selection methods, the successful candidates will be asked to complete certain job related tasks and make submissions or presentations to a group of interested stakeholders. This will all be completed within a certain time frame with a definitive deadline provided to the candidates, as is the basic premise of the Apprentice.
The Apprentice really just dresses up the basic assessment center with a host of advertising slogans and various locations in each episode. However what also should be remembered is that the candidates on the show can also be subject to severe sleep deprivation in tasks due to the back to back nature of the show and as such will impact on their performance.
Many larger companies use the Assessment Center as a way of recruiting for high level positions, as the cost can sometimes prohibit more frequent usage, and the mix of presentation skills, role related tasks, and interaction with colleagues can provide real value to Management when making a decision. The predictive validity, which is a measure of how accurate the method is in making a judgment of a candidate, is one of the highest of all methods and is on average 9/10, where you compare this to the structured competency interview which is at its best, 6/10.
There is clear benefit to the method, and although best practice would state that candidates should not be pointed at and told "You're Fired" , the selection of a successful candidate from an Assessment Center will be a critical decision for management but by hosting an assessment center they will have given themselves the best possible foothold for picking the right candidate.
As an aside to Apprentice, does "Firing" a candidate potentially imply they are in fact employees and not applicants, which carries with it the obligation on the employer to compensate the employees for the hours worked in order to not fall foul of the National Minimum Wage legislation, not to mention the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997...
One thing is clear, Assessment centers work, and if a Company is in a position to implement this selection method, they will give themselves the greatest possible chance of selecting the right candidate.
[caption id="attachment_111" align="alignleft" width="220"]
Bill Cullen Gets Fired[/caption]
TV3 have announced today that they will not be renewing the Bill Cullen fronted, the Apprentice, after four seasons on the air. The show famous for the catch-phrase "You're Fired" has been a worldwide syndicated hit, stemming from the U.S original chaired by Donald Trump. Perhaps the most notable incarnation for Irish viewers has been the BBC version chaired by Lord Alan Sugar.
There is perhaps some irony that Bill, and the show have been axed from the TV3 schedule. The show has been a source of entertainment for people for the past four seasons, however there is a definitive rationale behind this for business people to look at and potentially learn from, due to the show's interesting take on recruitment and selection.
Many companies will interview a range of applicants for a position and these will be whittled down from the initial applications, to the eventual candidates successful for interview. The Apprentice follows just such a process, where hundreds of applicants apply and based on their C.V and answers provided on the applications form, 12 successful candidates are selected to take part in the process.
The process itself it also nothing new to business, where the 12 week task driven process is effectively a prolonged assessment center, where the candidates are given a range of tasks to complete and are monitored at all times by advisers. In an assessment center, which has been called the Rolls Royce of selection methods, the successful candidates will be asked to complete certain job related tasks and make submissions or presentations to a group of interested stakeholders. This will all be completed within a certain time frame with a definitive deadline provided to the candidates, as is the basic premise of the Apprentice.
The Apprentice really just dresses up the basic assessment center with a host of advertising slogans and various locations in each episode. However what also should be remembered is that the candidates on the show can also be subject to severe sleep deprivation in tasks due to the back to back nature of the show and as such will impact on their performance.
Many larger companies use the Assessment Center as a way of recruiting for high level positions, as the cost can sometimes prohibit more frequent usage, and the mix of presentation skills, role related tasks, and interaction with colleagues can provide real value to Management when making a decision. The predictive validity, which is a measure of how accurate the method is in making a judgment of a candidate, is one of the highest of all methods and is on average 9/10, where you compare this to the structured competency interview which is at its best, 6/10.
There is clear benefit to the method, and although best practice would state that candidates should not be pointed at and told "You're Fired" , the selection of a successful candidate from an Assessment Center will be a critical decision for management but by hosting an assessment center they will have given themselves the best possible foothold for picking the right candidate.
As an aside to Apprentice, does "Firing" a candidate potentially imply they are in fact employees and not applicants, which carries with it the obligation on the employer to compensate the employees for the hours worked in order to not fall foul of the National Minimum Wage legislation, not to mention the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997...
One thing is clear, Assessment centers work, and if a Company is in a position to implement this selection method, they will give themselves the greatest possible chance of selecting the right candidate.
Bill Cullen Gets Fired[/caption]
TV3 have announced today that they will not be renewing the Bill Cullen fronted, the Apprentice, after four seasons on the air. The show famous for the catch-phrase "You're Fired" has been a worldwide syndicated hit, stemming from the U.S original chaired by Donald Trump. Perhaps the most notable incarnation for Irish viewers has been the BBC version chaired by Lord Alan Sugar.
There is perhaps some irony that Bill, and the show have been axed from the TV3 schedule. The show has been a source of entertainment for people for the past four seasons, however there is a definitive rationale behind this for business people to look at and potentially learn from, due to the show's interesting take on recruitment and selection.
Many companies will interview a range of applicants for a position and these will be whittled down from the initial applications, to the eventual candidates successful for interview. The Apprentice follows just such a process, where hundreds of applicants apply and based on their C.V and answers provided on the applications form, 12 successful candidates are selected to take part in the process.
The process itself it also nothing new to business, where the 12 week task driven process is effectively a prolonged assessment center, where the candidates are given a range of tasks to complete and are monitored at all times by advisers. In an assessment center, which has been called the Rolls Royce of selection methods, the successful candidates will be asked to complete certain job related tasks and make submissions or presentations to a group of interested stakeholders. This will all be completed within a certain time frame with a definitive deadline provided to the candidates, as is the basic premise of the Apprentice.
The Apprentice really just dresses up the basic assessment center with a host of advertising slogans and various locations in each episode. However what also should be remembered is that the candidates on the show can also be subject to severe sleep deprivation in tasks due to the back to back nature of the show and as such will impact on their performance.
Many larger companies use the Assessment Center as a way of recruiting for high level positions, as the cost can sometimes prohibit more frequent usage, and the mix of presentation skills, role related tasks, and interaction with colleagues can provide real value to Management when making a decision. The predictive validity, which is a measure of how accurate the method is in making a judgment of a candidate, is one of the highest of all methods and is on average 9/10, where you compare this to the structured competency interview which is at its best, 6/10.
There is clear benefit to the method, and although best practice would state that candidates should not be pointed at and told "You're Fired" , the selection of a successful candidate from an Assessment Center will be a critical decision for management but by hosting an assessment center they will have given themselves the best possible foothold for picking the right candidate.
As an aside to Apprentice, does "Firing" a candidate potentially imply they are in fact employees and not applicants, which carries with it the obligation on the employer to compensate the employees for the hours worked in order to not fall foul of the National Minimum Wage legislation, not to mention the Organisation of Working Time Act, 1997...
One thing is clear, Assessment centers work, and if a Company is in a position to implement this selection method, they will give themselves the greatest possible chance of selecting the right candidate.
