The CEO's facing the reality of redundancies - even if elsewhere

February 26 - The sober reality of the recession hit me today. Late this afternoon I got a call from a person who works for one of our customers. I’ve got to know him well over the last couple of years. He is (or perhaps I should say he was) a ‘lifer’ with the company. He joined straight from school at 16. He's been there almost 30 years. And this afternoon they made him redundant.

He was in shock. Like the good manager he is he could not help but communicate to his contacts what he thought to be important news on behalf of his employer. That important news was that he was going. He really had no reason to do so.

I offered my commiserations. I asked them when was actually going. He already has. They've let him keep the phone for the moment. I asked him what was next. He tried to sound cheerful – “something will turn up” he said.

I didn't believe them. His skills are decidedly niche. There is no real demand for them elsewhere at present. Everyone is cutting back, especially in his sector.

Nothing will turn up in all likelihood. He's going to be unemployed. He has children, not much different in age from mine. No doubt he has a mortgage. I've met his wife at a dinner. She is charming. But what will the impact of this be on their marriage? How will it affect their long-term future? Will all that he has paid into the company pension fund ever be worth very much? And what does he do now?

I asked yesterday if keeping jobs was a sufficient motivation at this point of time. I'll tell you, the answer is yes.

* * *

February 25 - plain straightforward hard work is going on here. This weekend sees our year end, there is always pressure to get billing out. We are resisting payment for a few days. It will do no harm to look as though we have ample cash on the balance sheet. I do not want too dramatic a fall, though a big one is inevitable given last September's change in structure. Stock take preparations are going on. #1 and her crew are working flat out.

And in the meantime I continue to muse on what a stable state company looks and feels like.

Is preserving jobs enough to keep people motivated? Right now I have a very strong feeling that it will be.

* * *

February 23 - Early morning data showed we logged no signifricant new sales in the core business last week.

And we lost no significant accounts last week.

I can't remember standing still before.

Thankfully the new activities did make progress.

But this is extraordinary.

* * *

February 19 – Interesting session with our major northern customer this morning. They were not nearly so worried about the current state of the economy as many customers seem to be at present. Of course, they may be naive, but in practice I do not think that is true. I actually think they have a more objective view of the need for survival, and because they have been removed from some of the hype of the South East of England they are better placed to assess the real problems they face than are our customers who are now facing the collapse of the bubble within which they have lived.

Whatever the reason, whilst we were not talking about growth today we were also not having to discuss serious reductions in service levels to meet budget constraints. That made it a better meeting than I had hoped for.

And now I am progressing smoothly down the East Coast main line, where it seems seats are easier to get these days, net book on lap and broadband in operation, feeling all the benefit of not having to drive back home. It is amazing how productive the portable office can be.

* * *

February 18 - One of my 'days in the north'.

Newc covers this patch more than me now: we know that North who manages the division is our weakest sales manager amongst those managing a division. Newc balances that. But then, this division is dominated by one customer and a real mix of smaller stuff - and North is good at the client relationships - just not closing deals. The perfect management package has probably yet to be created - and I'm not it, I know.

None the less, sometimes I am duty bound to turn up, mainly to see staff, do reviews on occasion, see a customer or two (especially the main one, who is on the agenda for tomorrow), spend time with North himself, mainly to learn what is really going on - or at least his view of it - and generally feel it's all under control here.

It's always hard to value the time spent on this sort of activity. Long ago I realised that 'water cooler' time is not always badly spent. Knowing details about people's lives - what drives them to come in each morning, what they're passionate about outside work (and I have no realistic expectation that most people who work for us should be passionate about their work - it's a good job, but it's not a vocation) - all of that is important to team building.

I hope I'm good at team building. It seems to be working right now. But it's so easy to overlook the time it takes to do this stuff - or to sometimes justify the pay back.

But I believe in it. So I'll do it. And it's a major, but not much written about, part of my role.

* * *

February 17 - Management meeting day. The last before the year end.

No one is excited by the outcome for the year.

Everyone is relieved by the outcome for the year - it's fine - just not what we did in the past. But right now there are no real signs of stress here. Cash is OK. Debt is being rigorously managed - and #1 is communicating fantastically on this issue to make sure everyone has access to all the data they need whenever they are in contact with a customer to ensure that money can be made a condition of service.

We are making money. We can pay everyone. Profit related bonuses will be small this year (and they're never staggering - this is not banking land). But we have jobs, and I see no reason to change plans in that respect.

The new division is integrating. Staff transfer has been smooth. The one hiccup of a couple of weeks ago apart contracts seem to have been re-issued without problem. And the management team spent most of the meeting talking about cross selling opportunities from this acquisition. That's exactly the proactive response I want.

I'm not complaining right now. But I never stop worrying. That is the price of being boss. I admit I never thought about work so much, took it so seriously, or carried it with me always before I became CEO. Now it is omnipresent. I guess that's what I'm paid for.

* * *

February 16 - Back to work and feeling human after a weekend off.

I wanted to get on wth my agenda.

So did everyone else. The day disappeared.

The best bit - a new toy. I have a Netbook to use - to replace my aging laptop, and because I really do not like my BlackBerry much.

For the techies it's the Samsung NC10 - which I'm told is great. It feels fine - I can read the screen. It connects to the network like a dream. And my shoulder is going to love it. It weighs next to nothing.

Boys like toys. I have a feeling I'm going to like this one.

* * *

February 13 - A week to write off.

I went in for essential meetings yesterday morning.

Then I dealt with 17,000 things on my desk depsite my PA's best efforts.

And I was dead beat at the end of the day.

Today I tried and tried to get in - and my wife called in for me saying I wasn't arriving, without my permission.

OK, I've worked at home. But I just have to accept it - this one took more out of me than I expected.

Perhaps I needed half term. The children are on it next week. I'm not.

* * *

February 11 - Yesterday's note was decidedly optimistic - written before I crashed into bed for the afternoon, unable to think about anything at all.

Then our pre-school daughter got it during the night.

So today I'm at home nursing her and me.

How much thinking have I done? About as much as it takes to decide Ballymory has definite advantages over Teletubbies.

I'm not sure she agrees.

***

February 10 - I am ill again. This time unambiguously ill. Unsafe to move far. You don't need to know more.

It's better today. I am up. And working on something I've wanted to do for a while. Avid readers of this diary will recall that some time ago we tried to product differentiate our market offering by providing three levels of service described respectively as gold, silver and bronze. It worked pretty well, not least because our people understood that they had options available to them so that if an initial approach at a high level of service did not work they could offer an alternative. The reality is that the dividing lines between the product offerings have, in practice, become somewhat blurred because each is still pretty much tailor-made to the customers need but we did certainly succeed in differentiating price.

In my mildly dull state of mind I'm going to spend a little time musing on whether this is still the right strategy for us now.

It is quite clear that there are still some people who want to outsource significant responsibility to us, and for us to simply confirm that their equipment is working, and that compliance standards are met. That is what the gold standard was all about.

It is equally clear that a rather larger number of people are now seeking the bronze standard service, or less. When cost-cutting is the order of the day service contracts always come under scrutiny. We need, therefore, to boost our offering at that price sensitive end of the market, and in particular to really look very hard at our menu of pricing for those customers who want to work on a callout basis. Even then we charge a small retainer fee to keep a customer on our books at present but I am wondering whether we should differentiate in this market as well. Being able to work online and having a good database of what we do accessible from home means that my misfortune can be turned into valuable thinking time.

I hope.

***

February 6 - Our man is out of hospital and will be fine as a result of the accident. The guy who hit him is still in very poor shape. It's a horrible situation.

I know it's not our fault - the police have now confirmed that there is no risk at all that our guy will be prosecuted as a result of the accident - he being an innocent victim, but you can't help but feel desperately for the family of the man who is in hospital and fighting for his life. I do not think I am alone around here in feeling down as a consequence.

After what has been a very difficult week in any event simply keeping the organisation going against the elements this has taken all the sparkle off anything achieved by some Herculean efforts by some people.

I am well aware that some people think that bosses cease to be human beings. I've got news for them. It's not true.

* * *

February 5 - Yesterday was lost to one of our vans being involved in a serious accident. Thankfully these are rare, and on this occasion it seems highly unlikely that our guy was responsible. Nonetheless, he is in hospital but likely to be out today, the driver of the car that hit him is in pretty poor shape and we immediately mobilised managers to ensure our guy and his family were supported, that we knew what was happening with the van, the insurers were informed and all the other paraphernalia that goes with a major incident like this, including all the health and safety stuff.

See why I might have just missed doing a diary entry?

Now it is snowing again. In the light of yesterday the instruction has been 'stay off the road unless it is an absolutely essential call out'.

There is a skeleton of staff in here.

People come first.

* * *

February 3 - Snow has still been an issue, and chaos in schedules makes everyone grumpy around here. Perhaps that says that most of the time we do operate pretty much in accordance with plan and that is no bad thing.

Today was dedicated, at least in part, to planning. #1 and I met the auditors. You may recall that I plan to change these at the time of the potential buyout last year. Stealing AM from them did not really endear me to them, I suspect. But with so much else on I have not had time to consider alternatives and so we met today to see how the audit might be planned.

They appear to have no undue concern: they have accepted that AM had a right to choose where her future career path might lead her. They are quoting a fee that remains reasonable. There appeared to be little bad grace.

This year they can keep the account. I admit, we might think again after that but it is just not a high enough priority at the moment. Their work was not an impediment to what I want to achieve last year, and maybe that suggests I should stick with the status quo.

* * *

February 2 - In a business that needs people on the road snow is a nightmare.

It doesn't necessarily increase our demand for calls, but it sure as heck seems thta way.

And so today has been horrible. Several people have been stuck. Some just could not get on the road this morning. I was nearly in that number - and the rise from my house to the road is no more than 4 feet - but it nearly defeated my best efforts.

So, you can imagine the atmosphere around here. Best stay away.

* * *

For previous instalments of the CEO's Diary, see:

January 2009 [2]
December 2008 [3]
Movember 2008 [4]
October 2008 [5]
September 2008 [6]
August 2008 [7]
July 2008 [8]
June 2008 [9]
May 2008 [10]
April 2008 [11]
March 2008
February 2008 [12]
January 2008 [13]
December 2007
November 2007 [14]
October 2007 [15]
September 2007 [16]
August 2007 [17]
July 2007 [18]
June 2007 [19]
May 2007 [20]
April 2007 [21]
March 2007 [22]
February 2007 [23]
January 2007 [24]
December 2006 [25]
November 2006 [26]
October 2006 [27]
September 2006 [28]
August 2006 [29]
July 2006 [30]
June 2006 [31]
May 2006 [32]
April 2006 [33]
March 2006 [34]
February 2006 [35]
January 2006 [36]
December 2005 [37]
November 2005 [38]
October 2005 [39]
September 2005 [40]
August 2005 [41]
July 2005 [42]
June 2005 [43]
May 2005 [44]
April 2005 [45]
March 2005 [46]
February 2005 [47]
January 2005 [48]
December 2004 [49]
November 2004 [50]
October 2004 [51]
September 2004 [52]
August 2004 [53]
July 2004 [54]
June 2004 [55]
May 2004 [56]
April 2004 [57]
March 2004 [58]
February 2004 [59]
January 2004 [60]
December 2003 [61]
November 2003 [62]
October 2003 [63]