It was the last day of the Premiership on Sunday and I went to the Emirates (a bold move for a die-hard Spurs fan) to watch one of the most exciting games of the season.  I’m not talking about the nail biting match that saw Man City swipe the title from Fergie’s clutches in the dying seconds of the league, but instead Arsenal vs. Reading Schoolboys.

My nephew Harry recently signed a two-year contract for Reading Football Club, which will see him train 5 times a week, tour the world with his team and play against some of the biggest teams on the planet.  Harry is 12 years old.

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I’ve been thinking about values a lot recently.  Chemistry is in an enviable position at the moment in that we are growing at the speed of knots. The challenge with companies like ours is trying to keep the amazing culture that we’ve created, as we grow.  If you’ve ever been to Chemistry Towers you will know that we take our culture very seriously (of course seriously in a fun way!) We have emblazoned our offices with the Chemistry colours of bright green & orange walls, bright blue & pink doors.  We’re about to commission a company to help bring our brand even more to life with a huge Chemi, our iconic duck, on one wall, chips & ketchup on the wall in our eating area, bumble bees & a flower in one of our meeting rooms and our values painted on the walls. 

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Does what you put into your body effect your performance at work, whether you hit your number, and affect how engaged you are at work?

The answer to this is a resounding YES!  I always thought that it had little difference and that I would be fine if I missed lunch because I was so busy, or that breakfast wasn’t that important.  The truth is that missing meals has a massive effect on the energy that you have in front of clients and colleagues, as does putting the wrong kind of fuel into your body, the classic mid afternoon slump after a heavy lunch, the so called graveyard shift at conferences, when all but the most lively presenters will see bobbing heads in the audience

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I listened to the Border Control fiasco on radio 4, the minister concerned did himself no favours.

If they believe a “roster” change is going to solve the queue problem they are sorely mistaken…the reasons why queues develop in any face-face service environment is invariably not because of staff shortages (sorry, Union) but the behaviour of the staff that are present. I call it the principle of “giving a shit” and it has two implications. First, if you have staff that care they tend to think about their behaviour and more importantly, take ownership of the situation, making autonomous decisions quickly and effectively (instead of being controlled by data driven control centres, the other answer that the idiot ministers think will work). Secondly, through their behaviour the “empowered” employee will behave in a way that makes the queueing passenger believe the queue is shorter than it is…length of queuing is 90% perception and 10% reality.

So the “roster” won’t work, and in some way nor will “over staffing”, as this will be an expensive and inefficient answer.  The way to solve the problem is to create an environment where the employees feel valued, can work autonomously and the decisions on where to put resource and how to behave is made at the front line by the operational staff…great retailers know that “the operator is king”.

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