Saatchi CEO Denounces "Entitlement" in Hiring; His Son is Agency's Europe HR Director
Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts used his New Zealand Herald column to imagine a bold new world of talent recruitment in the face of recession:
The days of fat and surplus will disappear. Entitlement will disappear … working together will be what makes the difference, not personal gain.
Stirring stuff — especially this part:
My oldest son Ben is the Talent Director for Saatchi & Saatchi Europe and the Middle East.
We learn from Ben’s LinkedIn page that he arrived in that job in 2004 — well after his father became CEO of the company in 1997. A coincidence, obviously, and nothing to do with the “entitlement” that Roberts is adamantly against.
The column gives another glimpse that helps us see the world from Roberts’ point of view. It states:
As head counts are cut, jobs eliminated, and offices closed, we will still be faced with running the business and winning.
Notice that the “we” are the people who are keeping their jobs, not you plebs who were “cut” or “eliminated.” The chances of Roberts or his son getting laid off are … well, I’ll leave you to calculate those odds on your own.
- Previously:
- Saatchi Web Site Being Used by Rival Agency Asabailey
- Saatchi’s Roberts to “Let It Rip” on Daughter’s Wedding Day
- Saatchi Exec Describes Taking a Glass to the Face in Nightclub Fight
- Publicis Executive Pay: A Raise for Levy; Saatchi’s Roberts and Vivaki’s Klues See Packages Cut
- Can Saatchi CEO Roberts Fix Sponsorless All-Blacks Rugby Team?
- Saatchi’s Roberts Got Massages in Thailand While 401(k)s Sank and Clients Stiffed His Agency
- Saatchi Opposes Garbage Truck Depot Near Its Corporate HQ
- Saatchi Ad Offends Hindus; Client Office Ransacked by Protesters
Jim Edwards, a former managing editor of Adweek, has covered drug marketing at Brandweek for four years, and is a former Knight-Bagehot fellow at Columbia University's business and journalism schools. Follow him on Twitter or send him an email.
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