In a warning to HR professionals everywhere of the perils of using humour in recruitment campaigns, a council has caused outrage by apparently banning Status Quo fans from applying for management jobs.
Brighton & Hove Council has been forced to apologise to the rock band and its fans after spending £10,000 on a recruitment web site with the web address, SayNoToStatusQuo.co.uk.
The site was designed to attract radical candidates for four new £125,000 strategic director posts who will be tasked with delivering ‘value for money’ within the local authority, which is trying to make savings of £20 million over the year ahead.
It was created by a private recruitment agency and the home page is emblazoned with the immortal words ‘Status Quo fans need not apply’ in glittering gold lettering adorned with pink thunderbolts.
But the move spectacularly backfired when Status Quo took offence, leading the council’s chief executive to apologise to the band for its “insensitive” recruitment drive in an open letter on its web site. He has also sent a similar letter to the band’s official fan web site.
Simon Porter, manager of the band, which reached its peak of popularity in the 1970s, told the Daily Telegraph: “This is a direct insult to the capabilities of millions of Quo fans, many of whom are probably totally overqualified for these jobs. On top of that, this just seems like a ludicrous waste of money, and particularly in the very week that the new Prime Minister is warning everyone about the future budget cuts.”
Therefore, he advised the Council to “make some savings in its recruitment department”.
But Brighton’s chief executive John Barradell apologised for any offence caused as it had been unintentional. “What we mean by this play on words is that we want people who will come to the council with brilliant and original ideas about how to make residents’ lives better. We don’t want people who will accept things the way they are,” he explained.
It was his wife who had pointed out to him when she saw the advert that it might upset Quo fans, he added. “I hoped it would make us stand out from the crowd and would get people interested. Clearly she was right,” Barradell said.
Status Quo now plan to retaliate by hanging a banner reading ‘Councillors for Brighton and Hove need not attend’ when it plays at the Brighton Centre in December.
