Category: Blog

I always enjoy reading what David Bolchover has to say. I wonder how many of us concur with his view that while we might be just a little bored with our day to day jobs we could actually do another person’s job perfectly well, if not better.

‘Curious and intelligent minds crave variety and new challenges’, he tells us. So does this add a new dimension to our beliefs on how employees are engaged, motivated and retained? Should we really consider changing roles on a frequent basis to keep our minds fresh and sharp? I enjoyed this article.

I read recently that the 12 Safest Companies in America all have one thing in common – a passion for safety. Question: How do you instil that passion? Answer: Employee engagement. Of course, it stands to reason that employees must be engaged when it comes to safety, but a clear message is being sent out here.

Apparently America’s Safest Companies have a high level of employee involvement and empowerment in safety, as well as upper management commitment which ‘goes beyond just lip service’. So if a high level of employee engagement in the ’safety message’ results in excellence in safety – and a safety performance which exceeds the average – then it seems logical that employees who are engaged in other corporate messages could result in improved performance across the company as a whole. Not something that we didn’t know already, but the words proof, pudding and eating come to mind!

I never cease to be amazed by some of the language that comes out of companies today. And I don’t mean cursing and swearing. It’s the jargon that people use.

OK, some of it comes naturally, is universal, and is the quickest way to make reference to a particular method or process used by all. KPI’s for example – try creating a simple, jargon-free phrase to explain what they’re all about! But how often do you see the word ‘key’ thrown into presentations, willy nilly, as if it is going to make the whole sentence that much more meaningful. Not that the word ‘key’ isn’t very useful – just use it sparingly! My question (sorry, the key rationale for making this point) is, what on earth drives people to use ten words when one will do? You know who you are. Why refer to, say, ‘core capabilities’ when most humans will instantly understand the word ’skills’? Is it because it makes them feel more important / intelligent / senior / powerful / part of the inner corporate sanctum? Or is it just a strategy to buy time while they think of what they’re going to say next? Maybe they just like to hear the sound of their own voice and use jargon to make their mark – a kind of territorial mechanism. Oops, nearly fell into it myself there.

I know people whose love of using jargon and overly complicated language just to make a simple point make you want to lay your head on the table and bang it until you reach oblivion. The reality is that most of us politely nod and smile while our eyes glaze over, glance sideways at our watches and we start thinking about what kind of sandwich we’re going to get for lunch. What it does, in fact, is render that person extremely dull and boring and sends what is actually quite important and useful information on a bypass around the ears/brain and diverts it straight over the head. It is also a huge time-waster.

I hope I’m not being a hypocrite. That’s why we advocate storytelling, because it’s difficult to bring corporate jargon into simple, human experiences which are, in fact, what make us sit up and listen. You might like to buy the book ‘Why Business People Speak Like Idiots: A Bullfighter’s Guide. Great stocking filler for, oh, too many people I care to mention…

There has been an interesting, week-long-so-far debate on Melcrum’s SCM forum about what makes a good leader. The response has been amazingly varied. As the Conservative Party enters its final phase of choosing a leader, I thought this BBC News Magazine article was appropriate. I’d be interested to think what everyone out there thinks about this subject!

When Adam Crozier recently remarked that a good proportion of Royal Mail managers were sub-standard, I suspect a large number of CEO’s secretly empathised with him, in the knowledge that some of their own managers fall short of attaining the qualities needed to be good, inspiring leaders. David Bolchover, author of The Living Dead: The Shocking Truth About Office Life, points out that it is our managers, with whom we have to work on a daily basis, who are to blame for low morale, poor productivity and lack of commitment among the workforce. Interesting reading, this.

Yup, we knew it all along. There’s no substitute for the human being when it comes to communication, but when you can’t get a load of humans in one place and at one time, the next best thing has to be the human voice – even if it doesn’t have a face on the end of it! Podcasting is simple, and as Steve Smith observes, ‘this is new technology that revives our appreciation of the oldest medium.’ If, as he says, old fashioned storytelling may be the most engaging use of podcasting, then bring it on….

There really is a shift going on, says Daniel Pink, in how we are applying what goes on in the left and right spheres of our brains to how we run our businesses and improve performance. I found this article very interesting…

The term 'Skilled Incompetents' really resonated with me when I read today's article by Dr James Rieley in The Daily Telegraph. This highlights the all-too-common practice of managers looking inwards to concentrate on their own personal agendas, preventing others from achieving their own goals and in doing so preventing the organisation as a whole from achieving its goals and targets. Managers and Leaders? Reading this article, the words Wheat and Chaff spring to mind.

I was in one of my local pubs last night, fascinated by a framed front page from a wartime newspaper on the wall – The Daily Herald, 16th September 1940. The headlines were predictable and almost completely dominated the page: ‘Buckingham Palace Bombed Third Time’, ‘Raiders Chased Back To The Channel’, ‘RAF Puts Goering In Shade’, ‘Nazis Hold Up French Train’, ‘RAF Triumphs In Biggest Air Battles Of War’ and so on. And quietly, in the right hand bottom corner, was a not-so-small advert depicting a mother getting onto a bus, with the headline “Tell Daddy I’ve Gone To Boots”.

Like many other countrywomen who take the bus to town once a week, she’ll be making a few purchases at Boots. For wherever she needs anything in the way of medical or toilet goods, she knows she can rely on Boots. Her husband’s prescription, for example, will be dispensed under the supervision of one of the two thousand qualified chemists on duty in Boots branches. There are over twelve hundred of these branches, each offering friendly and reliable service that Boots have maintained over fifty years.

You can rely on Boots.

In other words, calm down dear, we may be facing bombs, battles, Nazis, blackouts and shrapnel, but as long as we’ve got Boots to supply us with our medical needs and toiletries we Brits are on solid turf. In wartime Britain this kind of advert sitting alongside the Government’s propaganda was no coincidence…it was a deliberate ploy to reinforce our sense of patriotism, faith in all things British, to strengthen our loyalty to the things we know and love, to heighten our trust in that great brand GB. And today? Loyalty? Pah! We’re far too busy rushing around with our wallets bursting with different loyalty cards, heartlessly and thoughtlessly changing from one brand to the next as long as it’s the cheapest / most convenient / nicest looking etc to be loyal, for pity’s sake. Although when it comes to brands and their values, I can think of many, many brands whose values include ‘Trust’, and who would willingly fight their own war to be seen as top dog in the Love and Trust department.

I’m reluctant to compare a 1940’s newspaper with the reportage from the disasters of recent times. It would seem a bizarre and somewhat tasteless act to place a Microsoft, McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts ad on such a front page after, say, a terrorist atrocity on the scale of what we witnessed on 9/11. But hang on a cotton-picking minute, if we were to take today’s British brands back to 1940, which one would grace the front page of The Daily Herald? Would Tesco, that giant of a retailer where one in eight pounds are spent each day in the UK, have usurped that top spot? Or would it be BT (after all, if the phones are working, we must be OK)? Maybe it would be Marks & Spencer (I’m sorry but M&S IS a great British brand). Do we hold the Virgin brand dear to our hearts like we did Boots all those years ago? Can we truly rely on on British Airways? Do we feel as safe as houses with BP? Barclays? W H Smith? Woolworths? Next? The Halifax? Marmite? Heinz?

I may be an incurable romantic, but when it comes to real Love and Trust (and I don’t mean Awe, Admiration, or Recognition for the achievements of a superbrand) in the face of deep, deep crisis, I’m telling you now, I would put Boots at the top of my list.