As the competition in BBC1’s The Apprentice hots up and the queue for the infamous black cab journey home gets shorter, office workers across the country have given Lord Sugar a helping hand and reveal the characteristics of their own perfect hire.
The survey of 1,000 consumers was conducted by Office Angels (www.office-angels.com), the UK’s leading secretarial and recruitment consultancy.
Surprisingly humour, good communication skills or ambition don’t come anywhere close the top spot as over half (55%) would hire someone who is reliable over any of these qualities.
Jamie Lester describes himself as “honest and trustworthy” but then again, Lord Sugar has already told the nation that he isn’t looking for a “Steady Eddy” or a “Cautious Carol”. Instead, he wants someone who is “dynamic and ambitious and is not scared to take a risk”.
If popular opinion has anything to do with it, the following candidates should fear their marching orders:
Only 2% of people are most likely to hire someone who is opinionated such as cleaning company boss, Joanna Riley.
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Stella English is tipped to win, but the poll suggests she might lose the job as the calm, collected and laid-back attitude appeals to just 4%.
Refreshingly, only 8% would hire the best dressed person. Not necessarily good news for super model look alike, Liz Locke then.
The survey also asked people what types of bosses they have had and which asset they value most in the workplace:
Almost half (43%) have had a boss who didn’t do any work themselves, a bit like Dan Harris the first Apprentice to get the boot for standing around and shouting orders while the other lads made sausages.
Around a third (31.8%) have had a boss like Laura Moore who changed their minds all the time, she failed miserably heading up the task to make and sell a beach accessory in week two.
Teamwork was the most valued asset in the workplace (38.60%) and we have seen Lord Sugar is highly critical of those that don’t get stuck in. In week two Joy Stefanicki got sacked for not pulling her weight, in week three Sandeesh Samra was almost fired when Lord Sugar said her contributions had been ‘minimal’.
Commenting on the findings, David Clubb, Managing Director of Office Angels, said: “Extreme personality types might make good television but in the real world, employers are looking for a healthy balance of attributes. That doesn’t mean being good at everything, but able to overcome weaknesses and build on strengths. Few of the candidates on this year’s series of The Apprentice have shown themselves anywhere close to being capable of this.”
And David’s advice to employers, “It’s no secret that bad hires can cost your company dearly. The estimated cost of hiring the wrong person can be three times the employee salary. The direct costs are time spent recruiting, advertising, training and wages but don’t forget to consider other losses such as a drop in sales, unacceptable customer service or bad performance.”
