Intimidation

I was ten, when in September 1973 two stations in central London were targeted by terrorist bombers, injuring 13 people and bringing chaos and fear to the capital.  http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/10/newsid_2504000/2504619.stm I lived with my parents and two small sisters in a leafy South West London suburb  - an idyllic and privileged location and upbringing.  My father was a talented lawyer and recently appointed Recorder (meaning that he was expected to sit as a judge for 3-6 weeks of the year).  It was in his legal capacity that he found himself overseeing trials of terrorist suspects and as a consequence his name was placed on that of potential targets.

On a balmy autumn evening in September ’73 my parents and I were sitting having supper with our recently arrived au pair.  My mother had suffered a very difficult birth (requiring significant surgery) for the arrival of my youngest sister, born in March, and hence an extra pair of hands were useful in looking after the family and home.  We talked about the horrors that were besetting London and other parts of the UK and Ireland and, almost as an aside, my father told us to be careful.  Little did we know how prophetic his words would be...

The following day, when he had gone to work and my mother was out shopping the telephone rang.  As the au pair’s English was still embryonic, I answered it.

“There’s a bomb in your house, you’ve five minutes to get out.”

The words chilled me and I tried to get the caller to explain, but they simply repeated the statement and then hung up.  I ran up the stairs shouting a warning and lifted my 6 month old sister from her cot.  With her in my arms and tears streaming down my cheeks I ran to the sitting room, where my three your old sister and the au pair were watching Play School on TV.

BBC's Play School
My middle sister's favourite

“Get out of the house, get out of the house, there’s a bomb.” I kept crying.

The au pair thought I was joking - a game prompted by the supper-time discussion with my parents the previous evening. It was only when I stood screaming at her to leave the house, while I cried uncontrollably, the baby in my arms, outside on the lawn, that she realised I was serious.  I lead her and my sister to my aunt’s house and it was from there that the police were called.  My mother returned to find the abandoned house being examined by bomb disposal experts.  I was never informed as to what happened thereafter.  I can only presume that the call was a hoax.  How cruel to terrorise a ten year old with such a horrific statement - my voice was clearly that of a child.

The experience had a fundamental impact on me.  I learned from that day that people are not always precious nor respected by others and that age is not a factor in how others will behave.  An adult can be less responsible than a ten year old and certainly more unkind.

I mentor a wonderful schoolgirl in Kenya called Catherine.  She goes to school in Nairobi and, since the storming of the Westgate shopping centre a week ago, with the resultant devastating deaths and destruction, my heart has gone out to her and the people of Kenya.  I do not claim to be a theologist, but I have read the Quran and I cannot find passages within it that condone indiscriminate slaughter, especially the killing of children.  It was an undeniable fact that the shopping mall on a Saturday would be full of children out with their parents and friends - there aren’t many other family-friendly and universally enticing places to go.  Over the past twenty years Kenya has progressed from a place where only basic goods were available to a consumer’s delight, but this development is limited and so people tend to congregate in certain locations at the weekends.  In the malls it is possible to buy the latest products that you would expect to find in America, Europe or affluent Asia and therein lies part of the problem.  I suspect the real issue is a clash of cultures and a reaction against rapid change and the imbalances between communities across the continent.  Kenya is one of Africa’s fastest developing economies with a burgeoning middle class.  Much of Sub-Saharan Africa is still almost medieval in the way its societies are structured and people behave - feudal tribes and groups compete for power and territory, with local rather than central control.  Countries such as the Congo, Somalia and South Sudan are dominated by men with guns who extort, rape and terrorise with little to stop them.   I have been told that after nearly 20 years of fighting to run Somalia, the Shabab had finally decided that their dream was impossible and hence were turning to more extremist measures.   What is perhaps most alarming is the manner in which the attack was carried out - not a simple, single bomb but a ruthless group of individuals determined to kill, who actually seemed to target the young and most defenceless. 

Parallels can be drawn to bullying within workplaces and organisations.  Once co-ordinated groups start operating together, to hurt and marginalise a particular individual or set of people, the impact can be devastating.  Cyber bullying has been in the headlines for much of the past few months - the focused, ruthless action of a few destroying the lives of their victims, but similar behaviour can also occur in the physical environment at work.  I have in the past joined organisations where a long-standing group of employees, who were close friends and who had been in their roles for many years, turned on the new hires who were bringing fresh ideas and enhanced approaches - partially because they were afraid of change and a destruction of the status quo.  Often there is a ring-leader who is able to encourage others into behaving in an unsuitable manner.  They know where their victims are to be found and will usually try to hurt and deter them without drawing attention to themselves.  Clearly, these people are not armed with guns and resorting to indiscriminate killing, but even so their behaviour can destroy others’ lives. It is up to all of us to remain watchful and to react when something does not look or feel quite right.  Much better to raise the alarm, even if later to discover that it is a false concern, than not to react at all and for something awful to occur.

Walking out of my house, forty years ago, with my infant sister in my arms and tears running down my face, helped to set my moral compass.  I will always stand against terror in its many forms - life’s too precious not to.  Please join me. 

Three Men in a Boat having a Cracking Time

What an odd language English is - “career” can describe when a person has been in an occupation for a significant period, during which time they have had opportunities to develop and progress, focusing on a vocational direction and enjoying a sense of purpose at work; “career” can also refer to something that swerves in an uncontrolled manner.  I know various people in high profile roles, some of whom claim to have got there through focus and dedication, whilst others have confess to having simply accepted opportunities as/when they have arisen.  Of course, one could argue that favourable circumstances would not arise unless an individual deserved them and hence perhaps subconsciously our careers are more under control than we believe them to be.  I suspect that part of the trick is being able to spot an opportunity when it presents itself, as well as knowing the direction in which you wish to go.  This short clip sort of demonstrates what I mean...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdFZw1Q-SBg

Anther peculiar English phrase is “cracking up” - it can be used to signify an individual’s collapse under severe pressure,  

Extraordinary body painting by artist
Johannes Stoetter

but “cracking up” is also used to describe a person succumbing to humour by laughing, almost to the point of crying, and being unable to stop themselves from doing so.  

However, if the joke that is promised proves not to be all that it’s “cracked up to be”, it is unlikely that they will laugh at all.  Fragmented narratives and missing punch-lines (due to cracked delivery?) can quite ruin a good story.  Did you know that “crack” comes from the Middle English “crak” meaning an enthusiastic, loud conversation (that is often boastful) - hence the expression “What’s the Crack?”, meaning "what’s the news or gossip?".  Which brings me to the point of this post -  I want to spread the word about an extraordinary venture that is underway as I type...
 

An Englishman, a Dutchman and a Brazilian are in a boat with a hole in it, rowing the second longest river on Earth – sounds like the start to a bad joke, but this is a much more enthralling story.  I first met Dr Mark de Rond when he presented to some of my firm’s global top talent at a bespoke leadership development programme, run with the Judge Business School, at Cambridge.  Mark is a social anthropologist and performance specialist with expert knowledge in the fields of teamsmanship, high achievement, collaboration and inter-dependence.  He believes in physically living with his research subjects (groups of exceptional people including elite rowers and combat surgeons).  Mark teamed up with Anton Wright, Head Coach and Boatman for Clare College, Cambridge and Coach for the University Lightweights.  Initially both men thought that the simple venture of rowing together down the Amazon (which in itself would be a world record making first) would be a personally enlightening experience, teaching them both about how they respond to and interact with another human when there is nobody else on whom to depend for a number of weeks.  They also knew that the row would provide them each with a significant period for self-reflection.

However, the adventure to date has given them much more to contemplate and proved that they possess skills, hidden depths and personal reserves beyond those they were anticipating needing.  The record attempt has been fraught with frustrations:

• Peruvian customs impounded the boat for almost a month – thereby delaying the start of the row.  Mark and Anton are due back in Cambridge to resume their “day jobs” and hence delay is potentially a disaster;

• the shipping agent filed incorrect documentation, thus risking the food and medication for the trip being impounded;

• the boat was protected during its voyage from the UK by old car tyres (for which there was no import approval) this nearly resulted in the trip having to be cancelled;

• with time running out, Mark and Anton had to locate an additional crew member, without whom there would be no hope of achieving the record in the remaining time available.  The crew now includes Murilo Reis – whom Mark has described as mentally tough, unafraid and experienced.  Murilo is a warrior and a passionate environmentalist, owner of a jungle reserve, who loves and understands the Amazon region.  There are many benefits to having a local, Spanish-speaking member of the crew – Other than for the fact that Mark and Anton did not know him a month ago, I am mildly surprised that he wasn’t part of the initial plan;

• Mark and Anton had a 6 week timetable – 9 days to get to the border (now to be achieved in 5), 16 days to reach Manaus (now reduced to 10) and instead of 18 days only 15 to cover the final stretch – only time will tell if this is possible; and

• the boat was damaged whist in storage and, despite attempts to mend it, resulting in further delays, the men are now rowing a leaking vessel and they have many miles to go.

The manner in which they responded to each new challenge is a case study in resilience, endurance, prioritisation, dedication, the importance of remaining out-come focused and responsive planning.  At times each member of the team has supported and enabled the others to succeed and thrive.  They are very different men, but their strength lies in their diversity and united determination.  We in business would do well to learn from the manner in which they have coped, effectively overcoming the hurdles confronting them.  

They have made a great start.  The best site on which to follow the journey is Voyage Manager (who have provided the tracking equipment for the expedition): 

http://www.voyagemanager.com/Explorer/Row_The_Amazon_2013/Row_The_Amazon_2013.aspx

It is fascinating watching the progress of the little boat through the sinuous paths of the Amazon - you can tell how wet the region is as, at times, the craft seems to be ploughing through land towards its destination.  Some of the Twitter updates are magical - this morning (still darkest night for them) the boat was surrounded by a pod of pink dolphins, swimming in escort under a sky of uncountable stars. 

I urge you to follow the adventure.  There are fantastic tweets on Twitter via @RowtheAmazon and a great website with an entertaining blog. http://www.rowtheamazon.com/index.html#blog

I am learning much about myself simply through my reactions to their voyage and there is no doubt that all three men will gain a considerable amount from the adventure, as will Leonard Cheshire Disability (the charity for whom they are rowing).  It is seldom that members of the public can witness a unique piece of anthropological research and actually participate (if even only to a small extent) by providing support and contact from the rest of the world.  I know that the crew would appreciate hearing from you either through tweets or by comments on their blog.

It is an amazing story and all I can say to them is “crack on and not just for the sake of your careers”.

Sounds Familiar

“God chooses our family, thank God we choose our friends” - or so the saying goes.  I spent the week before last in Wales, with my sons and husband, visiting my father and his wife.  Despite the challenges of multi-generational expectations, I find it hard to concur with the statement.  I do confess to a few clashes over ideas as to what would be fun - the grandparents requested that we bring collapsible picnic chairs and go to see an outdoor production of Shakespeare, whilst the boys wanted to take laptops and could probably have kept themselves happily entertained indoors for most of the time, without speaking to the rest of us.  As it was we all laughed at The Comedy of Errors and the laptops proved invaluable when determining the best ways of cooking an ostrich egg – a good piece of collaborative catering that resulted in a delicious lunch.  My relatives are a diverse crowd, including farm labourers, doctors, inventors, entrepreneurs, coffee shop waitresses, former Scrumpy smugglers, book binders, chefs, IT geeks, artisan craftsmen, Olympic standard athletes, high powered academics, members of the armed forces, an eminent poet, horticulturalists, inspirational figures from commerce and industry, leading lawyers, parents and civic/City dignitaries - that’s part of what makes my family interesting.  Being quite different from most of them, I am the first to admit that I might not wish to spend all my time in their company, but that does not stop me from appreciating who they are and what they do/have done and really enjoying the discussions that we have when we are together.  In addition, it is reassuring to know that, somewhere in the family, there is someone with expertise and knowledge that I can call upon, should the need arise.



The Addams Family



In many ways, employees in a company resemble members of a large family.  There are a mixture of personalities, ages and skills all drawn together under the banner of a single name (in this case the business as opposed to a surname or links through blood and marriage).  It is improbable that all employees will feel and think the same way, but that does not prevent them from being able to respect and value one another for their diversity and the talents and experience they bring to work. 

Arthur Devis
1712-1787
The John Bacon Family

Families vary greatly around the globe - often as a result of local culture, customs and ways of living.  Research (such as the ecocultural framework devised by John W. Berry in the 1970’s) shows that typically agricultural communities encourage patriarchal, large families, in which it is conventional for deference to be shown to elders and where the repetitive labour, required for producing food and goods to enable communal living, can be shared.  Children are encouraged to be compliant, responsible, obedient and respectful.  In contrast, in hunting and hunter-gatherer communities, an individual who is an expert at sourcing food is revered for their skill.   The offspring in these groups tend to be taught to be independent, achievement-orientated and self-reliant.  These latter societies are often comprised of small nuclear families (partially because of the need to be easily mobile and also to enhance the chance of survival in lean times).  It was the advent of the industrial age that resulted in a shift in these traditional groups within society.  As people moved to cities to seek work in factories they resumed living in small nuclear groupings, usually two generational – hence the predominance of this type of family structure in Western Europe, America and Canada.  In addition, in many societies in both the East and West, shifts from an agriculturally dominant to an industrial system, during the 19^th/20^th centuries, resulted in an increasing number of children (including girls) attending secondary education and university/college.  It is a proven fact that, after qualifying, few graduates choose to return to work on their family farms; hence the emerging change in society (not just in the West) towards nuclear families is being reinforced through education.

 

I am reading a fascinating book at the moment, The Journey of Martin Nadaud, a life in turbulent times, by Gillian Tindall - a fascinating study of life in rural France in the mid-nineteenth century, plotting the true story of a migrant stone mason who becomes a leading French revolutionary and a Member of Parliament, before fleeing into exile to England, establishing himself in a new life but eventually returning in triumph to France.  At the time of Nadaud’s youth it was expected that the young masons would enter into arranged marriages with village girls from the farming communities from where the men originated from; their masonic income, earned in Paris, where they were away for up to two years at a time, supplementing the meagre agricultural returns of the rural homestead.  The women would remain on the land, tending fields, animals and children.  A tough way to sustain a marriage.  It was the advent of enhanced education within the community, specifically reading, that changed the habits of centuries and resulted in couples moving together to live and work away from their family and roots.

 

Modern media, especially television and film, has exposed most people in the world to the US style nuclear family (comprising parents and their immediate children) and the more recent adaptions on this theme - step families following divorce and remarriage and single parent or single sex parents - are becoming increasingly common and accepted.  Sit-coms such as Hannah Montana (in which a father tries to raise the family after the mother’s death) are widely viewed around the world and same sex parenting amongst celebrities such as Elton John and David Furnish are covered globally. The NatCen of Social Research in the UK released its annual British Social Attitudes Report on 10th September 2013, which suggests that Britain has become significantly more tolerant of same-sex relationships, with 22% declaring them “always wrong”, compared with 64% in 1987 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-24021037).  Families are changing, in 1970 the U.S. Census Bureau reported 19% of households as being “nonfamily” (i.e. unmarried and unrelated people sharing living spaces, cohabiting couples and people living alone) vs. family (i.e. two or more people living together who are related through marriage, birth or adoption) in 2007 this number had changed to 32%.



Nuclear Family by Travis Pitts

As an aside, if you are interested in Nuclear families and their homes, this link might be of interest (!) http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/09/05/the-1970s-cold-war-era-home-built-26-feet-underground/

The family has and will continue to change, as will public attitudes.  Given the amount of time that people spend within the work environment, it is hardly surprising that work is a place where a high proportion of relationships and ultimately families commence.  According to Vault, in a survey of 2083 US workers run in 2011, 59% of respondents said they had dated a person they had met at work. Barack and Michelle Obama commenced their relationship at a Chicago law firm in 1989, when he was a summer associate and she was his supervisor.  CareerBuilder.com undertook a survey last year (asking 7,780 people in America who were full-time workers who were neither self-employed nor worked for the government) in which 38% of workers said they had dated a co-worker at least once in their careers and 31% said office romance lead to marriage.  As collaboration, cross-border working and globalisation increase, societies and groups will continue to intermingle and mix - exchanging ideas and goods but simultaneously developing relationships, many of which will blossom into more than just working colleagues.  In the past mixed-race relationships have been viewed with disdain, hostility and sanction.  Marriage practices in certain countries and communities have evolved to preserve religious and ethnic groups and clans. I had drinks last night with a chap whose grandfather was physically barricaded out of the Welsh town in which his sweetheart (and ultimately wife) lived, because he was of a different nationality.  I have a great uncle who, being Greek, was viewed almost as an object of curiosity, despite being much loved by my fairly conventional Yorkshire relatives.  What was seen as strange yesterday is now viewed as the norm; society continues adapting and as it does so opportunities to meet and develop relationships with others from around the globe increase.

 

 

All organisations, not just multi-national conglomerates, need to be able to support and encourage a broad range of employees.  As societies change, so must the working places within them, so that they too can benefit from and support the diversity of employees that are reflective of their communities.  HR needs to keep abreast of demographic and economic trends, anticipating and creating appropriate environments in which people can thrive.  My family would be greatly diminished if its diversity was reduced and the same applies to my employer.  Change is a constant – new creations, unanticipated as well as predicted demises and a flow of fresh unions and collaboration – this applies as much to businesses as it does to people in outside work relationships and is something we should all be familiar with.

Cygnet Rings - or Swan Reflections

As my mother and I watched the swans, waiting to be fed from the balcony of the hotel opposite, on our last night in Brugge (Bruges), it was hard not to smile, they provided a perfect finale to a memorable few days away.  Swans are important to the people of Brugge.  In 1488 Maximilian of Austria, head of the Duchy of Burgundy to whom the City owed fealty, demanded an increase in taxes.  Incensed, the burghers rioted, capturing and executing Maximilian’s representative, Pieter Lanchais.  The surname “Lanchais” is a traditional local Brugean name, meaning “long neck”.  Maximilian, safely secured in House Craenenburgh on the market square, witnessed the torture and execution of his faithful bailiff.  Legend has it that, shortly after Pieter Lanchais’ death, a flock of swans landed at the scenic Minnewater, the canalised lake the feeds the waterways that cross the City.  (Minnewater translates as the “Lake of Love” and it is a beautiful and romantic spot - resembling the inspiration for a scene from a Disney cartoon. My mother, son and I enjoyed watching a huge terrapin swimming in the warm waters by the lock on Friday afternoon).  Horrified at the brutality, Maximilian decreed that the citizens of Brugge should atone for their misdemeanours by being obliged for eternity to keep swans on the lakes and canals of their City. The swans that are there look like small Mute swans (mutant Mutes?), but, unlike the ones we have in England, they are not silent (they hiss and honk softly when calling for their supper) and they don’t migrate – they are clearly content in the town.

In honour of their swans and the exceptional local produce, the people of Brugge held a chocolate making competition in 2006 to choose the best local praline (Brugge is recognised as the centre for hand-made chocolates in Belgium).  The winning chocolate, which has a secret recipe only known to members of the Brugge Chocolate Guild (the people entitled to make it), is in the shape of a swan.  My mother insisted on locating the best chocolate shop in Brugge, in order to buy gifts to take back to members of the family.  I have many good friends who are recognised as leading artisan chocolatiers, most of them make fantastic chocolates out of fresh often seasonal ingredients (including surprising combinations such as olives, fennel, tobacco and marmite).  Brugge is famous for its pralines and the best place we found was Dumon – a small family run establishment whose initial shop is tucked behind the Markt, Brugge’s main square http://www.chocolatierdumon.be/shop/brugge-bruges-eiermarkt . Unlike the famous Belgian chocolate names (such as Godiva and Leonardis), which are mass produced in factories, Stefan Dumon makes his chocolates by hand and the care and attention to detail really shows. The balance of flavours, textures and soft, smooth chocolate are a testament to hours of dedication and craftsmanship.

Research shows that people put in more effort when they work by themselves or as a member of a small team, rather than as part of a large group where it is easy to blend into the crowd.  This effect was first assessed, in 1913, by a French agricultural engineer, Maximilien Ringelmann, who developed the theory whilst conducting an experiment involving subjects pulling a rope (either by themselves or as part of a group), whilst Ringelmann measured the force they exerted.  His research showed that in larger groups individual effort declines – when the subjects believed that others were pulling with them, on average they pulled 18% less strenuously.  Ringelmann tried to explain this as being in part due to groups being inefficient at coordinating their efforts.  However, more recent studies have shown that an individual’s perception of the effort being made by their companions has an impact on their own contribution.  The harder people believe others are working, the less effort they are likely to make themselves.  This is sometimes referred to as “social loafing”.  Subsequent research, by Kurua & Williams in 1993, has also shown that even when group members believe that they are contributing at their maximum effort level social loafing can occur – it is built into us.  The key to overcoming it seems to be rooted in motivation – if a person genuinely believes that their contribution is exceptional and can be distinguished from those around them then they are less likely to “swan around” and not pull their weight so to speak. 

Most people think that the English phrase “swanning around”, meaning to act in a carefree, irresponsible and unencumbered manner (not to be confused with the American “peacocking” meaning to show off), originates from the observation that swans appear to glide in an apparently effortlessly way across the water when they swim.  However, I was surprised to find that the idiom has military roots http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-swa6.htm – being first used in 1942, in an article in the Daily Telegraph, to describe tanks (German Panzers) appearing to meander aimlessly on the battlefield when seeking out the British Eighth Army in North Africa.  One can only presume that the journalist found the guns protruding from the turrets to be neck-like and, due to their length, reminiscent of swans. 

Panzer IV tank

It’s a funny thing the human imagination.

Here are a few images that might make you think twice:

Swan or squirrel?

Frog or horse? (hint - rotate clockwise)

Do you see a face or St. George fighting the dragon?

Dali's Swans Reflecting Elephants
a picture I had on my wall as a teenager

This was made with squares and does not bulge

It is easy to let our imaginations play tricks on us.  Most of us are aware, when recruiting, of the tendency people have to favour candidates who appear to share similar traits to ourselves – “we went to the same school”, “we wear the same clothes”, “we speak with a similar accent” so, “given that I’m OK, they must be great too”.  It’s an easy trap to fall into.  In addition, people tend to have inflated opinions of their own capability and worth to others.  The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) undertook some research into this last year and found that 80% of managers within corporates believed that their staff were satisfied or very satisfied with them as a manager, whereas just 58% of the employees reporting to them said that this was so http://www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/press-releases/reality-gap-capability-UK-8million-managers-030512.aspx .  Similar research has occurred in America since 1946, repeatedly showing a mismatch between how managers view their performance and how they are perceived by people in their teams. http://www.examiner.com/article/what-employees-want-vs-what-managers-think-they-want .

To avoid gaps in understanding and opinion, we need to make an effort to become more self-aware, as well as becoming increasingly alert to our surroundings and the people with us.  In my experience it is often the person whom we believe to be a misfit, whom we think won’t amount to much who, in the right circumstances, turns out to be a star.  Churchill is a good example of this.  However, don’t despair, even the supposed experts can get it wrong.  Here are some examples of school reports for a few famous people who perhaps turned out not quite as their teachers predicted:

• Einstein’s schoolmaster in Munich wrote in his school report, “He will never amount to anything”;
• Charlotte Bronte’s school report said that she “writes indifferently” and “knows nothing of grammar”;
• Hitler’s secondary school report card said, “Moral conduct, excellent; diligence, irregular; religious instruction, adequate...freehand drawing, good; gymnastics, excellent”;
• John Lennon was described as “hopeless. Rather a clown in class.  He is just wasting other pupils’ time.  Certainly on the road to failure”;
• Alan Sugar’s report in 1960 said “Alan can do better than this, He has ability, but seems afraid to use it.”; and
• Gary Linekar was told that “he must devote less of his time to sport if he wants to be a success.”

So, in conclusion, remain alert for the “ugly duckling”, who might be a fledgling swan...

 Danny Kaye, "The Ugly Duckling" 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMKxnYRhk6I

and help them to be motivated and focus on what is important.  It is amazing what can be produced if an individual really wants to achieve something...

Emma Taylor sculpture Swan Song

Roar!!

This post originally appeared on the Discuss HR blog for the LinkedIn Group Human Resources UK

  http://discusshr.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/roar.html?goback=%2Enmp_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1%2Egmp_58949%2Egde_58949_member_265136563#%21

There were some excellent comments

Roar!!

Meeting for coffee dates back to 14^th century Turkey and coffee houses remain a cultural hub for people around the world.  The coffee house concept was first brought to London in 1652 by Pasqua Roseé, an eccentric Greek who had worked in Turkey.  By the early 18^th century London had over 3000 coffee houses.  They are not to be confused with the Starbucks and Caffè Neros of today – the coffee was dark and almost unpalatable and the conduct of patrons greatly differs from us, who now sit in solitary silence sipping our Lattes.  You were expected to talk and debate.  Button’s coffeehouse (located 300 years ago in the site of the current Starbucks on Russell Street near Covent Garden) is a good example – it was frequented by playwrights, poets, thinkers and journalists.  It was customary for a stranger to sit himself beside you and immediately demand your opinion on the news or place the text of a novel before you and seek your criticism and comments.  Button’s was famous for the head of a roaring lion affixed to its wall – the public were encouraged to feed the open mouth this statue with letters, tales and testaments; the most appealing of the lion’s weekly diet were published in Joseph Addison’s Guardian newspaper, under the heading “the roarings of the lion”.

18th Century Coffee house - courtesy of British Museum

It was apt that I started last Friday with a cup of coffee, when invited to have a discussion about HR and its role going forwards with Peter Cheese at the CIPD.  Peter joined the CIPD in July last year as Chief Executive, following a successful career in Accenture, which culminated in a seven year stint as Global Managing Director leading the Talent and Organisational Performance Consulting Practice and three years as a senior consultant with various non-executive roles, including Chairman of the Institute of Leadership and Management (where he has continued as a Board member).  I was joined by a couple of inspirational leaders from the HR community - both exceptional bloggers who are not shy in stating their opinions (see http://flipchartfairytales.wordpress.com/ and http://adjusteddevelopment.wordpress.com/).   

I must confess to not being a member of the CIPD – despite having spoken at a number of Institute conferences and being invited to various events over the years, for which I am very grateful.  I have never seen the need to belong.  I did not require the qualification to succeed in my job – I was one of the fortunate few to experience the excellent two year modular HR leadership development programme devised by Lloyds TSB, in conjunction with Roffey Park, which covered much more than the CIPD curriculum did at the time – I can understand a balance sheet, spot anomalies in data and am comfortable being consultative, questioning business approaches and testing strategic plans.  Perhaps I was at ease challenging members of the executive team because I am a “quarrelsome lawyer” who has crossed into HR from a commercial role and was already known as a business leader.  For me, the CIPD seemed to have little to offer, indeed I found it frustrating how tied it was into the production of “best practice” policies and procedures, rather than encouraging its members to get under the bonnet and really understand the drivers for their organisation and its people.  I have always believed that HR’s role is to enhance the lives of workers and through them to enable the achievement of desired outputs for the organisations in which they are based.

We had a robust discussion about the role of HR and hence the purpose of the CIPD.  Peter is passionate about people and what makes them work.  Being an ex-consultant, he looks at business from a number of angles and is mindful of the need to have strong foundations on which to build for the future; it is no surprise that Peter is a European Board Director with Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Europe (which focuses on the encouragement of financial, entrepreneurial  skills that enhance employability in young people through business involvement in universities and schools).  He also sits on the Council of City & Guilds  and is an Executive Fellow at the London Business School, with close links to the faculties of Organisational Behaviour and Strategic Management.  He has not come from the conventional ranks of HR and he brings a fresh pair of eyes and a commercial but compassionate mind.

Peter sees a broad role for HR that can ensure that the function adds value.  Currently, in many organisations, HR practitioners concentrate on only a small part of the overall requirements of the function.  Cost-cutting and dogmatic espousing of “The Ulrich Model” to the exclusion of all else has not helped.  I think Peter is right, to add value, HR needs to think “in the round” – how can a person expect to talk with authority unless they are:

·         aware of the context in which a business operates (economic, social, political, environmental, etc...);

·         appreciate the underlying drivers of people (psychology, cultural impacts, behavioural traits, neuroscience, etc...);

·         understand the business in which they are based, its strengths, weaknesses, competitors, opportunities and planned future direction; and

·         can devise approaches that will encourage optimum performance and instil job satisfaction and genuine appreciation of worth in the workforce and those with whom they interact.

However, there is more that is needed.  HR is often its own worst enemy – people in HR devise their award winning policies and procedures, often copying what is perceived as best of breed, without giving due consideration to the business that they are supposed to be supporting.  Frustrated employees and individuals vent their anger in blogs on the subject and apocryphal stories abound illustrating what I mean   (http://www.timsackett.com/2013/08/09/reason-2763-people-hate-hr/ )  We people working in HR  need to stand back and consider our role in a business and what we can do to add value.  I am not saying that there is not a place for good policies and procedures – we all benefit from appropriate structures and knowing what is expected of us – but HR is best placed to view what’s going on across the whole business, to hear things from employees at all levels, to have access to data that can be applied to enhance understanding where there are issues and to make proposals as to how to improve things.

Many in HR need to change their attitude and start to roar.  

We must join the debate, challenge when we see that things that could or should be done better or that would be more effective if approached in a different way.  The time has come for HR to start leading by example, rather than sitting back, observing the business and waiting to be told what to do.  Being a “support” function, HR usually sees its place as being subservient to those who are client-facing or who make the products.  However, HR has the knowledge and insight to make a real difference and that opportunity will be lost if we won’t join the debate.  As Edward de Bono says in his book Think:

“provocation provides a means by which you can unsettle your mind in order to increase the chance of having a new idea.” 

In a world of almost constant change, new ideas are needed.  When will HR be capable of synthesising and provoking ourselves and others to enhance the world of work?  How can the CIPD best help our industry?

I have placed my comments in the lion’s mouth, now let’s hear yours...

What a Week

Until a teenager, I grew up in leafy London SW19, better known as Wimbledon.  As a result, although I am not a fanatical sports fan, I do have a soft spot for tennis.  The Wimbledon Fortnight was always a slightly challenging time of the year for local residents, the Village was festooned with purple and dark green (the colours of The Championship), all streets were lined with no parking traffic cones, the church field turned into a cream tea venue manned by Brownies, celebrities moved into houses around us (as did the press) and I will never forget my mother’s frustration the time that a stranger, clearly desperate to find somewhere to park, left their car in our front drive, blocking us in.  

Wimbledon All England Tennis Club seen from above

Aged twelve, I became a bell ringer at the local church (St. Mary’s - the one with the iconic spire that you see in the panoramic views of Wimbledon).  We campanologists were able to climb through the bell loft to the platform around the base of the spire and look down on the Lawn Tennis Club from our eyrie on the steeple.  The applause for a great game, set or match carried up to our ears and we feasted on strawberries and cream to celebrate the occasion.  Happy memories - it is such a shame that the church spire has been damaged by parakeets and the ravages of time ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-23148638 ) - it is clad with cedar wood tiles, known as shingles, which are now brittle and hence have been easy for the birds to prise off, thereby enabling their access to shelter.  The damaged cladding has allowed the elements to further damage the edifice.  £100,000 is needed to repair it - if each Wimbledon fan donated £1 the church would reach its target before the end of this year.  For more information and if you would like to do something to help please visit www.stmaryswimbledon.org , text SPIR19 with an amount or visit www.justgiving.com/spiresw19 .

London parakeets

1000's of fans queuing to get into Wimbledon
 with St Mary's church and spire behind
picture - Getty images

In perhaps more globally noted Wimbledon news, Andy Murray’s straight set win in the Men’s Final was magnificent.  All of us should take note of his ability to follow the advice  of his fellow Scot, the arachnid-watching Robert the Bruce - who supposedly said “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and try again” - before he trounced the English at the battle of Bannockburn in 1314.  Murray persevered until, eventually, he achieved his goal.  Good things are seldom easy (witness his tears at coming second in 2012) and they are usually not the result of good luck, they demand dedication, hard work and determination.  The golfer Gary Player is credited with saying “The harder I practice the luckier I get” and Murray’s practice regime (including the ice baths) was gruelling.  He deserves the respect and accolades he is now receiving.  It has been perhaps the most important week of his career.

Andy Murray - Wimbledon Men's Singles Champion 2013

I’ve had a big week too.  This was the commencement of my time as an elected governor of Guy’s and Saint Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.  I have had two meetings this week, part of my induction to learn what is expected of me and my peers, to meet important people from the Foundation Trust and to become acquainted with my colleagues.  I am humbled by the knowledge and experience of all those whom I have met.  These are demanding times for society and the NHS that cares for the people within it.  The breadth of Guy's and Thomas' operations are breath-taking: they range from the provision of care in the community; the employment of world-leading consultants and medical staff pioneering treatment and appropriate care approaches within the hospitals; historic museums providing a glimpse on what has been; and the training of the next generation - the teaching hospitals provide actual hands-on exposure and learning to many of the medical students learning in London.

How can I add value?  I have been elected to represent the public of Lambeth.  There are so many issues facing the Borough and its people - reduced funding, wide ranging needs, an ageing population, cultural diversity that requires linguistic skills as well as sensitivity and understanding, challenges including how to have a two-way channel of communication so that people know what is being done/is available to them and to ensure that the Trust is providing what people need and want.  Despite coming from medical roots (my maternal grandfather was an eminent professor respected, amongst other things, for his involvement in the design of the iron lung and my uncle championed the establishment of health provision in parts of Africa and the Middle East), I am a former lawyer who works in Human Resources.  I would like to appeal to all who are interested or who wish to let the Foundation Trust know of matters that concern them, to reach out to me - by commenting here or contacting me via Twitter ( @KateGL  https://twitter.com/KateGL ).  I genuinely want to help.