‘Apparel oft proclaims the man’, as Guru wrote in some of his earlier works.
This was proved true after a survey of employers in the north west of England, by recruitment agency Connections, found 70 per cent of interviewers noticed and judged potential recruits by the state of their footwear. Right from the start, you’ll be able to root out the loafers and the sneakers.
So you have to be the sole of discretion and make sure your tongue isn’t hanging out if you want to succeed, if this survey is anything to go by.
Who’d have thought Nancy Sinatra would have been so incisive back in 1966 when she wrote: “These boots are made for working, and that’s just what they’ll do; one of these days these boots are gonna work all over you”? Genius.
Super gran keeps son safe at work
These are dark days for the HR profession… literally. Last week, we heard the story of a darkroom technician who was afraid of the dark. Well check out this one from HR director and Guru disciple, Chris:
Many years ago, I was involved in the closure of a port in the north west of England. The night watchman decided to leave, and since the dock was due to close, applicants for his replacement did not exactly throw themselves forward.
Eventually one applicant did apply – a single chap in his 60s who wanted a bit of work prior to retirement. He was duly appointed. After about a week, it emerged that all was not well. Yes, you guessed it – he was afraid of the dark.
This was immediately put down as a failure of HR for not including ‘fearless approach to darkness’ as an essential criterion for the job.
What was even more fantastic was, such was his fear, that his mother had accompanied him around the dock estate every night!
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Wow – if this guy was 60-plus, how old was this bionic pensioner who was joining him on his rounds?
While you might scoff at this tale, Guru would like to suggest this is in fact an example of best practice HR. If you can’t get home in the evening to see your elderly mother, what better solution than to have her present at work, where you can keep an eye on her? Now that’s flexible working in action.
