THE MEDIA TAKE UP SWEET MOMENTS
I am really pleased to see that our non-smoking staff are taking short breaks and chatting to colleagues at the sweet moment stations and the positive reaction from the media to this idea. However, I notice that there’s still a reluctance by staff to stay by the station and not return hurriedly to their desks, so for any of our staff in Leeds, please remember the purpose of this exercise is not to rot your teeth and increase your sugar consumption by 200 per cent but is an opportunity to stretch your legs and have some rest breaks during the day.
Our research indicates that the majority of our communication is done via email. This puts more pressure on the recipient in being clear about exactly what’s being said and required. We are now working with our teams to encourage more telephone contact and less email contact and the results have been really great. Queries and questions that could have turned into complaints, often unfounded, are being immediately resolved so we will be continuing to work with our team to make them feel more comfortable to make these calls in the future.
We have also introduced the role of Chinese Communications Officer. We are getting good reports back that despite the fact that the Chinese staff already speak English really well, it is a great help to have someone who can support with written communication and act as an interpreter to ensure a greater understanding.
We have checked with some of our top clients and have been surprised at the lack of translated and interpreted communications within their companies, so we intend to work more closely with our clients to help with their internal communications. Whilst many of our clients provide excellent communications with their customers, many seem to be failing to replicate this with their internal stakeholders.
Now, moving on from sweets to sex…
It’s not often that I find myself agreeing with politicians but I do agree with Women’s Minister Maria Miller who says that imposing boardroom quotas for women would be wrong.
The European Commission’s drive to impose a minimum 40 per cent quota for women on company boards is not only patronising – as she says – but it undermines the women who’ve already got there on merit.
At thebigword our board is currently 40 per cent female and at times it’s been 50 per cent. That’s not because of some daft quota but because the women who’ve achieved it are the best people for the job.
Here at thebigword we are incredibly proud at how so many people that started with the company at entry level have grown many years later into directors. At the other end of the scale we are told of the successes we are having with apprentices. We now have more than 30 in our company and many have and will be offered full-time jobs after completing their apprenticeship.
Moving on from sexism, I want to mention ageism. As many young people think that university is becoming far too expensive or can’t afford the sky-high tuition fees so the introduction of apprentice schemes has swelled our numbers of younger staff and they are doing great. On another great note, thebigword has more than 20 different nationalities working in our head office and more than 46 different nationalities worldwide. However, there is an area of disappointment. That is in applications received from the more mature over-40 year olds. Where are you hiding? We want you to apply!! We want your maturity and wisdom and we especially welcome your customer service experience. So please contact our offices and help us fill some of our outstanding vacancies!
Next week I’m having a holiday so not sure I’ll get a blog to you.
Hope you have a great time.
Larry
Our research indicates that the majority of our communication is done via email. This puts more pressure on the recipient in being clear about exactly what’s being said and required. We are now working with our teams to encourage more telephone contact and less email contact and the results have been really great. Queries and questions that could have turned into complaints, often unfounded, are being immediately resolved so we will be continuing to work with our team to make them feel more comfortable to make these calls in the future.
We have also introduced the role of Chinese Communications Officer. We are getting good reports back that despite the fact that the Chinese staff already speak English really well, it is a great help to have someone who can support with written communication and act as an interpreter to ensure a greater understanding.
We have checked with some of our top clients and have been surprised at the lack of translated and interpreted communications within their companies, so we intend to work more closely with our clients to help with their internal communications. Whilst many of our clients provide excellent communications with their customers, many seem to be failing to replicate this with their internal stakeholders.
Now, moving on from sweets to sex…
It’s not often that I find myself agreeing with politicians but I do agree with Women’s Minister Maria Miller who says that imposing boardroom quotas for women would be wrong.
The European Commission’s drive to impose a minimum 40 per cent quota for women on company boards is not only patronising – as she says – but it undermines the women who’ve already got there on merit.
At thebigword our board is currently 40 per cent female and at times it’s been 50 per cent. That’s not because of some daft quota but because the women who’ve achieved it are the best people for the job.
Here at thebigword we are incredibly proud at how so many people that started with the company at entry level have grown many years later into directors. At the other end of the scale we are told of the successes we are having with apprentices. We now have more than 30 in our company and many have and will be offered full-time jobs after completing their apprenticeship.
Moving on from sexism, I want to mention ageism. As many young people think that university is becoming far too expensive or can’t afford the sky-high tuition fees so the introduction of apprentice schemes has swelled our numbers of younger staff and they are doing great. On another great note, thebigword has more than 20 different nationalities working in our head office and more than 46 different nationalities worldwide. However, there is an area of disappointment. That is in applications received from the more mature over-40 year olds. Where are you hiding? We want you to apply!! We want your maturity and wisdom and we especially welcome your customer service experience. So please contact our offices and help us fill some of our outstanding vacancies!
Next week I’m having a holiday so not sure I’ll get a blog to you.
Hope you have a great time.
Larry
