Christmas Parties - Before the event

Is it me, or are office Christmas parties just not the same as they used to be? I can remember one great do when I worked for Thomson Holidays, where Stan Boardman was the stage act, there were 200 or so of us at the hotel in Manchester, a free bar and many hangovers the next morning. I recall talking to a colleague of mine and watching her gradually slide down the wall in a drunken haze!

Tonight is our Christmas 'austerity' do. Because there are rather less than 200 of us, we'll be one of many small groups eating in a Didsbury restaurant, followed by a bevvy or two in the Metropolitan. I've no doubt we'll have a great time and learn more about each other as the atmosphere and alcohol loosens peoples' lips! We're sharing a car journey there and taxis home, eating two courses not three, and the company will make a fair contribution to the night out. Altogether less frivolous but hopefully just as enjoyable a night out. Watch this space!

Roger

How to enhance your reputation - a short story

I took our B-Class Mercedes to the local dealer in Stockport, not once but three times in the past month. The vehicle developed a clunking noise under the bonnet. It's 3 1/2 years old and I had bought what proved to be a useless extended warranty from Warranty Direct. It took the mechanics at Mercedes Benz in Stockport three attempts to discover the cause of the noise. This wasn't their fault, it was down to that strange phenomenon where you take your car to the garage, report a fault, and then they can't hear or find anything! Things like this happen to me all the time - I make an appointment to go to the dentist, and by the time I get there my toothache's gone!
The car ultimately had new shock absorber mountings fitted and is now running smoothly again.
Well done to the receptionist, service manager and mechanics at MB Stockport. They welcomed me, took out my car to listen/experience the (sporadic) noise, found the cause and replaced the parts.
The main point of this story is yet to come: I was invoiced over £600 for the job, and duly contacted my warranty people. Then I was told this specific problem wasn't covered (although of course you don't find out what the problem is until half the engine's out of the bonnet and the mechanics need to put it all back together again). I raised the point with Mercedes Stockport, whose manager there contacted the powers that be at MB head office, wherever that is. They agreed that because of the low mileage (36000 after 3 1/2 years) that the fee would be reduced by a good 60%.
The reputation of the dealer in Stockport and Mercedes Benz UK in general has been enhanced. They obviously need to sell the benefits of their extended warranty product more strongly. Price isn't everything, and a layman like me doesn't understand the implications of 'mountings' not being covered in a cheaper policy.
Roger

My favourite people?

I'm sure Recruitment Agencies are the scourge of more business owners than just in our PR world. As employers running a SME we occasionally have a need to find a new employee. The most successful means of doing this (and the cheapest) is word of mouth. However, there are times when we pay on-line and print media companies to advertise positions.
We are always up against a sea of recruitment agency ads - and they sometimes aren't even on behalf of another PR agency looking to fill a vacant position! Often they'll be looking for consultants to sign up to their books, and then they'll do the searching. Even our own trade body, the CIPR, is happy to take recruitment agency money to advertise, to the detriment of their members in the business!
What does this say about the recruitment agency? They create unrest in the minds of employees, some of whom may think the grass is greener, others may be perfectly happy where they are. They add to the already stretched recruitment costs an employer faces, especially during recession. Typically that's 20% of the starting salary. We've had two instances in the past three years where we've been let down by agencies. The first one was an employee who we realised after 7 or 8 months was not right. We'd already paid £4k to the recruitment people and there was no part or full refund after this period. Secondly, we were going to offer someone a job who we'd interviewed via an agency, and she had found somewhere privately and eventually left her agency with red faces.
I'd like to know what these agency people have done to become 'professionals'? Do they all have to wear cowboy hats?
Looking at this from another angle, and this is the key point of this rant, how do employers like us compare an applicant via a recruitment agency with one who has approached us direct? Usually the latter has not just responded to our ad, they've visited our website, phoned to discuss the job, and even sent us their portfolios. Ultimately they've demonstrated initiative and intelligence, which of course are usually attributes an employer is looking for. In contrast, the applicant with the agency probably has only done their research after prompting from 'above', and has taken what I consider to be the lazy option by getting someone else to do the searching for them.
If you're a professional PR consultant and you read this, get in touch with us! Even if we've no vacancies, and you're happy in your current position, you're putting yourself in a strong position when one of us is looking at a later date. Even when we say 'no agencies please' on our recruitment ads, they still contact us!! That's like the double glazing salesman turning up at your door when you're just having your tea!
Roger

My Bike Ride

Occasionally I cycle to work. Mainly in the name of keeping fit, but also with half a thought for the environment. If I haven't got a meeting during the day and the weather's fair, I get on my bike and I'm not starting up the car and driving at stop-start pace to the office. I've no idea what this small contribution makes to preserving our world, but I do have to comment on the state of our foot/cycle paths and roads, which surely need to be in such good condition to make cyclists feel like hitting the roads (metaphorically not literally!) and walkers taking to the paths.
The only time you find a decent cycle path on the main roads in this country is when that road is already wide enough to accommodate a bicycle alongside a bus anyway. Even then, you have to veer out to avoid cars parked in the cycle lane! Usually we're left to the narrow strip between the kerb and the first hint of smooth tarmac. This encompasses litter strewn gutters, bone-shaking grids and loose gravel to test the best from Belle Vue Aces speedway team.
Our countryside cycle/footpaths are little better. At this time of the year, much bramble, nettles and low-hanging trees make many a rural walk or cycle almost impassable (or should that be impossible?).
Today I arrived at the office with ferns dangling from my bicycle gear mechanism! I'm not sure which is best - asking the council to send a small tractor down the local paths to cut back the foliage (thus leaving a carbon footprint) or me leaving the bike at home and hopping into my motor instead?
Roger

In which country is Serengeti?

I went to a Quiz Night at Stockport County FC yesterday. Around 60 teams all brought together by Booth Ainsworth Accountants in their annual charity event. Beechwood House (cancer care) was the beneficiary, and their representative did a great job explaining the ravages of cancer from a very personal level. The night raised £4800 - Fantastic.
Our team did pretty well, mainly because we brought a 20-year-old into our team of forty-somethings. He knew what Lady Gaga looked like, who Hannah Montana's Dad was, and even objected when 'mass which light can't pass through' should have been 'dark matter' and not a 'Black Hole'. Don't ask me!
I now know that the first Butlins was built in Skegness, William II came before Edward II and that Gay people can now get married in Portugal.
It was great to be amongst 300 folk all as equally enamoured by trivia as I am! Shame that the attendance almost matched the numbers at the ailing football club on a Saturday.
Roger
By the way - Serengeti is in Tanzania!

The English Disease

I used to work and live in Italy, and whilst I was there in the early eighties I watched the Sunday football coverage on TV.
Twenty Five years on and I'm reading a great book about Italian football called 'Calcio' (Italian for football). It's by a chap called Foot. Can't remember his Christian name although I'm fairly sure it's not the donkey-jacketed Michael.
I've read about those exotic names I remember when I was a child watching the World Cup in Mexico 1970 - Facchetti, Mazzola and Boninsegna. Even a Capello crops up from time to time. I am reminded of the dour defensive catenaccio methods the Milan teams used with such success in the sixties, the influx of foreigners (especially the Dutch triumvirate of Gullit, Rijkjaard and van Basten at Milan in the eighties), and sadly the continued violence and scandals afflicting the game even today.
It took the Heysel tragedy (Italians tagged all English football fans as hooligans after that -'The English Disease') and Hillsborough to force British football to clean up its act. Not only is the Premier League the most attractive to watch, it is also one of the safest to watch. All-seater stadia, better policing, CCTV cameras and alcohol bans have greatly improved the safety at games.
Back in Italy, outside football grounds and at motorway service stations the violence is far worse than in England. Let's be thankful for what has improved over here, and hope that our national team's support does us proud in South Africa next Summer.
Roger

Stop whingeing about wind farms

In this month's National Geographic magazine, there is an article explaining the great resource the world has in the sun's energy. You would think that sunnier countries like the US and southern Europe would lead the way in the development of solar power, and whilst Spain is up there, it is in fact Germany that is the world leader in using this form of energy.
Germany is not the sunniest place in the world, and yet its successive Governments have created incentives to companies and private households which make installing and using solar power competitive against fossil fuels.
Unfortunately until Mr Obama arrived on the scene, the US in particular had neglected opportunities to use the Sun 's power to help save the planet. Apparently the new administration is trying to reduce use of fossil fuels by 25% over the next 20 years.
Here in the UK we have a different challenge. Whilst Germany has its share of rainfall, it is also a large country with vast areas away from the coast enjoying good sunshine in the Summer months. I don't think Britain would be able to harness enough solar energy to make it a viable proposition.
Which brings me to the title of this blog! We are an island nation sat (with Ireland) alongside the Atlantic Ocean. It is often windy and of course there is potential to use tidal and wave power too. Let's embrace the idea of wind farms! They may be a little unsightly, and I presume there is a good deal of disturbance on the ground when a 'farm' is being built. However, I would imagine the impact on fauna and flora is minimal thereafter. We can site farms on hillsides and off the coast. There is plenty of space to go at. If we don't adapt to change, the coast may meet the hillside sooner than we think!
Roger