No surprise then that these are the words of David Ogilvy, a real-life 'Mad Man', who is thought by many to be one of the greatest advertising geniuses of the last century. And although I find his prejudices wholly unacceptable, there is also a big idea buried in here that I think today's HR practitioners can learn from.
It is the same big idea that is found in the words of management guru Peter Drucker when he said: "The purpose of business is to create and keep a customer", or in the comment by retailer Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart: "There is only one boss. The customer."
So, what is the big idea? Quite simply these customer-facing professionals talk about (and think about) their customers in the singular as well as in the plural - as individuals as well as collectively. It's a big idea that even influences their job titles. They are, after all, singular in having customer service agents and client relationship managers. In HR, however, we have a plurality of personnel managers and chief people officers.
Now, at face value this might seem like a trivial distinction. But I promise you that once you start listening out for it, it's absolutely endemic on both sides: customer-facing professionals shifting seamlessly between the individual and the collective; while HR professionals are stuck almost permanently in the plural.
As a result, I feel compelled to ask whether, in its efforts to distance itself from an image of being a 'pink and fluffy' profession, HR has swung the pendulum too far in the direction of corporatism - maybe even to the point where we're in danger of losing sight of the fact that employees are human beings rather than, well, human resources. Furthermore, if this is the case, then I think that this swing has taken place at a time when then there is a growing body of evidence to suggest that most other disciplines are headed in the opposite direction, leading ultimately from collectivism to individualisation.
Many commentators point to the influence of technology on the younger generation. For example, in his book, Grown Up Digital, Dan Tapscott talks about a generation that has been "bathed in bits" since birth, and has "grown up customising everything from their iPods to their ringtones - and as they start working, they want employers to manage them as individuals, not as a big group."
It's a compelling argument, but I think that technology has merely accelerated a trend that had been gaining momentum since the 1960s. As such, it impacts upon every generation in the workplace. And it is most visible in our supermarkets. Walk into any major supermarket chain, anywhere in the world, and you can create your own, unique shopping profile by blending 'value' lines with branded items and 'premium' ranges. It's a concept known as mass individualisation and, by analysing what we buy via our discount card, data retailers can build up a detailed picture of what we are likely to buy in future. That's why the offers they send us are so tempting.
Imagine that concept translated into the workplace. I don't simply mean by offering cafeteria benefits and flexible schedules - I mean by giving every employee the ability to create the role and the working patterns that fits their individual needs and aspirations.
Put in those terms, I think it really is a big idea: to celebrate and empower the individuality of our people.
Maybe it's an unattainable idea. But it's one I think we should strive for - because in the words of that other advertising genius of the 1960s, Leo Burnett: "When you reach for the stars you may not quite get one ... but you won't come up with a handful of mud either."
- David Fairhurst is senior VP/chief people officer, McDonald's Restaurants Northern Europe.
