I have been persuaded, much against my better judgement to get involved with some benchmarking, not once but twice. The results are in and interestingly they are contradictory. (One says that we do too much of something whilst the other says that we don’t do enough of it but that’s a tale for perhaps another … Continue reading The internationally recognised rules of benchmarking
Is regional pay a good idea?
Is regional pay a good idea? Probably not if what is proposed is adopted and here’s why. The premise is that having the same pay rates across the country within the public sector leads to a distortion of the market in that local businesses find it difficult to recruit staff in areas of relatively high … Continue reading Is regional pay a good idea?
A casualty of the digital age
Access to digital services must be a force for good and we must work hard to improve broadband accessibility and service take up across the country to ensure economic competitiveness. After all ninety per cent of jobs require some degree of ICT skill, over fifty per cent of jobs are only advertised online and those … Continue reading A casualty of the digital age
Employ lazy people
Someone once told me that you should always employ lazy people because they will always find a better way of doing something by making it easier on themselves. Having done a small amount of research (looking on Wikipedia) it seems that he was misunderstanding a quote attributed to a German World War One General called … Continue reading Employ lazy people
Low cost office accommodation
How much does it cost to have high availability touchdown office space? 99p an hour that’s how much. If your work requires you to be about and about, if you are always on the move then having access to somewhere where you can connect to your systems in a secure way, to make use of … Continue reading Low cost office accommodation
I want a business like Ikea
I want a business like Ikea. No, not a flat pack furniture business although this has been something that I have considered (It was going to be based in Spain and be called Ex-Pat Flat Pack). No, I want a business that runs like the instructions you get when you buy a piece of self-assembly … Continue reading I want a business like Ikea
In a community
I’ve joined a community. Well, I’ve really been a member of it for some time but I had never thought about it in this way before. It’s a community of interest, a COI, a collection of individuals brought together by a common interest or purpose. If we were in the phone book you would find … Continue reading In a community
Back to the floor
As part of our celebrations of National Customer Service Week the management team have gone back to the floor. We have been pursuing a belief that the road to true enlightenment about our business can only be achieved through a deep understanding of what really goes on, as opposed to what we think goes on … Continue reading Back to the floor
In praise of planning
I had the privilege of listening to John Seddon present in Durham last week. He is the managing director of Vanguard and an advocate of using an approach to transforming businesses and the public sector using principles akin to the Toyota manufacturing process. I have seen him present several times and have always found him … Continue reading In praise of planning
The forth utility
Bill watched the television, remote in hand as the update bar crept across the screen, 87%, 92%, almost there and with a flicker the picture appeared. He pressed a few buttons, ran up and down the channels to make sure everything was working and turned to his daughter. ‘There you go Nora, you’re in the … Continue reading The forth utility
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 