The Apprentice

Never seen this programme before but it just happened to come on automatically after I just finished watching last episode of Peaky Blinders on i-player. My expectations were never high but honestly, WTF! Never seen so many young, opinionated, self centred wanna - bees who have no people management skills, and seemingly little or no marketing or business skills, knowledge or acumen . These people apparently run their own businesses? I know a lot of this is set up for tv "entertainment" and so may be an element of them being deliberately bad simply so the professional panel can rip through their ideas and BS -but for anyone on here who might watch this, is this the level of ability the show normally demonstrates? So bad, I couldn't watch much more than 15 minutes with all the excuses/back stabbing/self justification and everything else that supposedly makes this "entertainment".

"You're fired"? Must have been mad to have taken any of them on in the first place.

You couldn’t be more right.

Every one of them is a useless piece of s h I t.

They wouldn’t have even got a job repping for the frozen food firm I started out with.

This show sends out all the wrong signals as to what business is actually about.

It is certainly edited and put out there as entertainment, some of them are successful in their own right, but many are up themselves. They'd be right at home with Sunak.

Maybe it's a generational thing Mick? I know this is a generalization but I speak to people across a range of businesses and it does seem to be that whilst so many younger employees these days don't have the work ethic of old and don't like being challenged, a lot of younger managers also lack core people management skills and do not like to challenge or know how to deal with more confrontational situations. Too many also seem to have expectations where they think they do not need to work for their rewards but I guess today's "instant" culture doesn't help much here when you can order virtually anything you want these days on credit and get it the next day.

My pet theory about this is that much of this is due to too much reliance on technology like e-mails/social media as a replacement for face-to-face communication and being brought up with too much of a sense of entitlement and being too Molly-cuddled from how the "real world" is. Yes, there is still racism/***ism/homophobia etc in the workplace and in society in general and whilst it is far better than it was, there is still much more to do but the pitfalls of wokeiness are also there for all to see.

More young people enter higher education today than ever before but productivity in the UK remains poor so to what end? It's great that more kids get the opportunity to go into higher education but the top jobs still go to the same group of people and not everyone is academic and so maybe having more decent (and better paid) apprenticeships would be better.

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Originally Posted by westcountryvillain

It is certainly edited and put out there as entertainment, some of them are successful in their own right, but many are up themselves. They'd be right at home with Sunak.

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Good comment WCV. Yes it’s staged on this show but some very bright people who run very successful companies. I know one who runs a huge recruitment company and he’s loaded.

Good academics mean you can fall back on them! No worries about my kids as obtained excellent grades - super uni results - excellent graduate placements and are in top jobs with money I could only have dreamed about. That’s due to hard work.

Yes some are dozy and have no common sense but a good education is another thing and one of life’s best assets.

Yes you can make it like me without opportunities but it’s a lot of luck and risk. I applaud kids who try and better themselves and usually it’s those who slate it - are jealous they did not have these opportunities. I still wish I had.

Don’t like Sugar and yes he had luck many years ago but not easy in 2022!

I never watched the programme, thing's about everyday people have never interested me. But one of the first winners was the daughter of our branch secretary Edna Hall. She was named Badger but I can't remember her first name. Ruth?

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Originally Posted by Omegstrat6

Maybe it's a generational thing Mick? I know this is a generalization but I speak to people across a range of businesses and it does seem to be that whilst so many younger employees these days don't have the work ethic of old and don't like being challenged, a lot of younger managers also lack core people management skills and do not like to challenge or know how to deal with more confrontational situations. Too many also seem to have expectations where they think they do not need to work for their rewards but I guess today's "instant" culture doesn't help much here when you can order virtually anything you want these days on credit and get it the next day.

My pet theory about this is that much of this is due to too much reliance on technology like e-mails/social media as a replacement for face-to-face communication and being brought up with too much of a sense of entitlement and being too Molly-cuddled from how the "real world" is. Yes, there is still racism/***ism/homophobia etc in the workplace and in society in general and whilst it is far better than it was, there is still much more to do but the pitfalls of wokeiness are also there for all to see.

More young people enter higher education today than ever before but productivity in the UK remains poor so to what end? It's great that more kids get the opportunity to go into higher education but the top jobs still go to the same group of people and not everyone is academic and so maybe having more decent (and better paid) apprenticeships would be better.

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I just don't go along with this bashing of the younger generation. I am full of admiration of what I see around me.

My eldest has just been promoted from Sales Director to MD. He was the only one of my 3 to not go to Uni. He is now the only one with a 6 figure salary, company car, a host of other benefits and no student debt. He does love his job but I am concerned about the number of hours he does.

My next door neighbour's lad got a Covid related redundancy. He got some funding and started up his own company and now employs 8. Some of which he employed without actually meeting them in the flesh.

My mate's lad has his own business recycling plastic somewhere in the West Mids. Judging from the car he drives he's doing OK.

I saw the other day there were over 600,000 start ups in the UK (by far and away the biggest number in Europe) last year the vast majority I assume by the 'younger generation.'

As regards the 'challenging bit' are you sure it's not a case of the older generation don't like to have there old ways being challenged?

Part of my lad's proposal to become MD was a salary reduction for the directors in return for more performance related pay.

Agree wholeheartedly about more apprenticeships.

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Originally Posted by 9goals2hattricks3pen

I just don't go along with this bashing of the younger generation. I am full of admiration of what I see around me.

My eldest has just been promoted from Sales Director to MD. He was the only one of my 3 to not go to Uni. He is now the only one with a 6 figure salary, company car, a host of other benefits and no student debt. He does love his job but I am concerned about the number of hours he does.

My next door neighbour's lad got a Covid related redundancy. He got some funding and started up his own company and now employs 8. Some of which he employed without actually meeting them in the flesh.

My mate's lad has his own business recycling plastic somewhere in the West Mids. Judging from the car he drives he's doing OK.

I saw the other day there were over 600,000 start ups in the UK (by far and away the biggest number in Europe) last year the vast majority I assume by the 'younger generation.'

As regards the 'challenging bit' are you sure it's not a case of the older generation don't like to have there old ways being challenged?

Part of my lad's proposal to become MD was a salary reduction for the directors in return for more performance related pay.

Agree wholeheartedly about more apprenticeships.

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I don't disagree that there are many of the younger generation who do work hard and do well for themselves and that-the whole woke thing aside-their questioning on things like climate change, racism and ***uality is a good thing.

I totally admit that the older I get the more like Victor Meldrew I become and -like most people-I can be reluctant to accept changes but whilst some changes may be much needed and I can ultimately see the value in others, too many also seem to almost be made for the sake of it without being properly thought out or without much proper consultation and simply cannot see the benefit in them. What I meant by "challenges" in my post however was more a reference to challenges on their performance rather than challenges on method. I see too many staff who take offense at being (rightly) challenged on their performance and too many managers who seem wary of making those challenges or else go about making them in the wrong way.

The comments I made were certainly generalizations but they were also genuine observations. I did think it was "just me" at one point but others I speak to (many of whom are in their early 30s so not all old duffers like me!) feel the same. Guess so much depends on the values all of us get instilled with as we grow up.

There will always be cultural shifts between the generations as little progress would be made other wise, but just as each generation adds value so can each generation be seen to make mistakes. The "boomers" brought about significant cultural changes after the war, for example, and many of their ideas were beneficial but parts of their legacy have been rightly criticised by "millenials" or the "X generation". By the same token, these generations too have their failings.
It's all generalizations of course but that does not mean that there are not grains of truth in them.

As for education, it can only be a good thing that more kids now have the opportunity to access higher education as it can certainly improve their prospects in life and helps "level up" society. The problem is that, without alternatives such as decent apprenticeships, many go into it almost for the sake of it because they do not really have enough other options that may have better suited and benefited them.

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Originally Posted by WBA1955

I never watched the programme, thing's about everyday people have never interested me. But one of the first winners was the daughter of our branch secretary Edna Hall. She was named Badger but I can't remember her first name. Ruth?

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Ruth Badger was the runner up in 2006..... apparently.

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Originally Posted by Albionic68

Ruth Badger was the runner up in 2006..... apparently.

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Ruth Beaver would’ve been a more apt name.