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This week's guru
Convenience shopper runs out of work time
As they say, it’s all a matter of timing. Guru was about to give up on his attempts to get an interview with Peter Jackson, personnel director of Walsall-based T&S Stores, which runs the One-stop and Dillons chain of convenience shops, when he finally got through.
Jackson is uniquely placed to comment on a matter of great significance: his company is the only one ever to be prosecuted for breaching the Working Time Regulations. An outpost in Norwich failed to abide by article 71a, which says employers must offer night workers free health assessments.
But without a trace of irony, Jackson said he’d love to help but was up to his eyes, and would be for the rest of the week, and indeed next week and was terribly sorry, but just really, really didn’t have the time.
Ministers play election game
Why are cabinet ministers like London buses? Because you wait for ages for one to turn up and then five rush by all in one go. This was the Industrial Society’s experience last week at the launch of the new New Deal.
As a gesture towards all the hard work it has put in on the New Deal - a lot of which got cast aside because unemployment dipped below one million - Tony Blair decided to hold the launch at the Industrial Society’s HQ. So pleased was the Government with the New Deal, which has adopted more of a welfare for work approach, that five ministers turned up, including the PM and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Apparently, the ministers demanded a massive summit table for the press briefing, and just when the press were about to arrive, rushed to get the best positions as if it was a game of musical chairs. You couldn’t guess a General Election was approaching, could you?
Fire service has pick of the crop
Guru could now write a book on entertaining performance appraisals following contributions from his disciples. The best this week come from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. Such as, “This fire-fighter is able to use his own initiative when told to do so.”
Howlers in job applications were good too: “I entered the Army boxing trials but
