Its been a really long time…

OK, I haven’t posted for a long LONG time. That makes me a bad person in every possible respect (well apart from a few, like being a Nazi dictator or liking tennis). This post should steer away from the controversial as much as possible (and no, at this point, I’ve no idea what I’m actually posting about yet).

Basically, its going to be a list of things that have got my goat lately (not a literal goat, my metaphorical goat):

Old news, I know, but the Islington Registrar story. Since when was religious belief a justifiable excuse for non-fulfillment of an employment contract? This is not a case – as the media liked to paint it – of one right against another (the right of a Christian registrar to not perform civil partnertships because she does not approve of homosexuals vs. the right of gay men and women to have civil partnerships) for several reasons:

• Religious conviction is an act of conscience, not an essential fact. It should thus not be considered of parallel status to equal rights based on non-discrimination against some essential aspect of an individual (go to iPlayer and watch John Barrowman’s BBC1 show last night if you want to quibble the whole nature-nurture argument!)
• Freedom of religion should not be used as a means of violating terms of employment – this would place employees and employers in a potentially ludicrous position when drawing up contracts of employment (yes, this is quite a slippery slope argument, but I feel it is justified by…)
• How come an individual wish such trenchant faith is employed as a registrar with a SECULAR council (sorry, couldn’t help capitalising that!) Surely she imagined some basic incompatibility between her faith and the secular character of civil administration in Islington?

Issue #2:

Things can only get better – I genuinely hoped/believed Labour would come out of the Glasgow East by-election with a reduced minority. Of course, this was ignoring both the huge international problems that are affecting the national economy, and the problematic local issues (aka Wendy Alexander) which have dogged Labour in Scotland. Brown is the most successful Chancellor this country has had since the Second World War and the  best person to lead this country through the current economic downturn.

All calls for a General Election are the same tired, hackneyed cliches from a power-hungry party that are still dogged by sleaze and corruption (both in Europe and Westminster) and lack any serious policy package for government beyond scoring cheap points identifying current problems (not mentioning any *cough* Conservatives).

An Apology

The previous blog has been edited for a number of reasons. First and foremost, I apologise for using the real name of my employer in a context which does not do justice to the brand’s image or the many fabulous people who work there. This has now been altered and I am sincerely apologetic for any trouble the previous entry may have caused.

However, since blogging is at base about freedom of speech, I have elected to edit out any details which identify my employer as opposed to removing the post entirely.

Furthermore, I would like to pay due credit to June and Tony who make working at OOOOO an enjoyable and rewarding experience on a day to day basis for all their employees.

Customer Service?

If anyone has either met me in the last twenty four hours, read my facebook status or (God forbid) undergone the serial joy that is retail customer service training, they can pretty much skip this entire blog and wait for the next entry.

I thought I’d get the successful things out the way first. Some of the basic stuff on disabled customers was useful. The motivating stuff almost worked. Obviously finding out about the area helped for anyone who was from outside the area. And obviously I understand that it is necessary for all employers to provide basic levels of training to all their employees.

Except, no, hold on a minute. For the fourth time, I have completed the same training programme at a venue(run by the same company) located exactly 20.8 miles from my workplace. Even in Cornwall this means that the local doctors, post office and Tourist Information office is different (I asked this time if we could answer the questions for my own workplace, but that wasn’t allowed apparently).

Going on to stage two of this rant, the training for helping customers with disabilities was exceptionally patronising. Did anyone else know that just pointing – or giving visual directions, like, for example, “when you see the big tree, turn left”, are also inappropriate for visually impaired customers? Or, alternatively, when talking to someone with a hearing impairment, it is vital not to cover your mouth? No shit Sherlock.

I thought so. I suppose the small advantage is that the revamped training booklet didn’t list the following alongside the “Customers with Special Needs” section: hearing impairment, sight impairment, mobility impairment, mental impairment, foreigners. Yes you did read the last one right!

Of course, these training things are beset by jargon. The following exchange gives a brief flavour of how contemporary management philosophy seeks to alienate the employee at every turn. 

Q: ‘Who is most important to the Guest’s on-park experience?’
    I replied ‘the staff’ (I thought, not unreasonably) However, this was inaccurate…
A: ‘We don’t have staff or employees here. We have team. We are all a team…’ 

The final – and to my mind – most serious problem with all customer service training is that it presumes several things. First of all, that Bourne employees natural – i.e. untrained, uninitiated – state is one of absolute apathy toward customers/guests.

An Update: 11/07/08

I am not normally one to edit or alter my posts – this blog is intended to allow the free expression of views and invite any reader to make reply to anything I post (see the post on Atheism and Richard Dawkins for the one successful occasion).

Furthermore, this blog clearly represents my personal views and should not be taken as an accurate, objective or empirical reflection of anything beyond my idyosincratic opinion on a variety of matters.