Blog

I’ve been thinking a lot about social media over the years.  Mainly because some of what I have seen has not been good.  And this month we are all being reminded to #bekind and to think about what we say to people online from behind our keyboards or devices.  We have seen, again, the real and dramatic consequences of unthinking and unkind online content.

Some social media use in my work sector has been unprofessional, disrespectful and unhelpful.  It has not presented our profession in the way it should, it has not reflected our leadership, tolerance and commitment to equality.  On reading such material, I often wonder if it would pass the test against the British Values we are tasked with promoting.  Those standards of mutual respect and tolerance, democracy, rule of law, and individual liberty.

Yes, we all have individual liberty to express our own thoughts in a democracy, for freedom of speech, and to lobby and hold people to account.  But language choices, should always be respectful and tolerant of difference.   We all have a profound responsibility to be advocates of anti-bullying behaviours that support everyone’s self-esteem, wellbeing and personal safety.

I use social media, Twitter mainly, in a professional capacity to highlight best practice, share news and information, and to share information about what is happening in early years.  Across early years and childcare settings I am aware that Facebook has become a popular way of networking and debating between practitioners, and to communicate with parents.  Clearly, social media is something increasingly integrated into personal and professional lives.  The need for best behaviour and boundaries has never been bigger.

We usually refer to social media in our child protection and safeguarding training.  This is generally around supporting practitioners and leaders to consider the impact of team members using it.  The case of Vanessa George is discussed and how social media was used by her and others.  Accepting parents from the setting as friends or followers on platforms like Facebook or Instagram is usually a hot topic.  In small communities such friendships either pre-date or emerge during their time using the setting.  This is important to contemplate as it is all about the difference between personal and professional boundaries.  In many settings, the position is one of absolute intolerance to such boundary challenges.  In others, it’s considered okay as long as there is no discussion about work or the setting.  Our usual guidance is that staff should always think ‘would I want my manager or a parent to read this – and how would they respond?’

There is no specific reference to social media in the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), probably as it is an emerging issue.  Instead, the focus is on limiting mobile telephones and cameras – both devices that are inextricably linked to social media, as they facilitate one’s access to, or the posting of material for social media.

What may start with a seemingly harmless social media posting may be the start of something more significant; the beginning of a ‘slippery slope’.  For young people, there is an emerging body of evidence about the harm thoughtless postings can cause, including mental health issues being increased by social media use, notably from the NSPCC (2016) who found increases in low self-esteem, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and depression.  The pace and range of how such public information can be shared is staggering.  Within seconds, your close or even closed contacts can be sharing your postings with their own open groups, and before you know it, your comments and images could be on the device of your employer, parents using your setting, children, work colleagues or even the local media.  It is something to be managed very carefully indeed.

A different version of this blog first appeared in Teach Early Years Magazine.

Today was one of those events.  20 years after unexpectedly setting up my own consultancy business, I found myself mentoring someone exactly 20 years younger than me in precisely the same boat. It came at a time when I have naturally been reflecting on the past two decades – as we all do when celebrating a birthday or anniversary.  In many ways it felt like I was supporting my younger self.  It was quite a moment.

My mentee had been spotted as a talent by an associate and invited to deliver a small consultancy project in their specialist area.  And rightly so.  I have every confidence they are the right person for the job.  So it all sounds simple enough doesn’t it?  But the issues presenting themselves were around getting the process right, confidence and communication, and value or worth.

For someone delivering their first piece of consultancy it can feel like a lonely place.  It is common to have feelings of uncertainty and to take on the entire responsibility for the project.  It can be quite daunting with lots of questions and doubts.  Sometimes I think the common perception of a consultant is it’s an easy life.  It may be once in a while, but not always.  Experience helps, and that is what I was sharing in this mentoring session.

First, we needed to check the consultancy question, mission or ‘ask’ was clear, so we could be confident in describing what success looked like.  That way, we knew what we were aiming for.  That can save many sleepless nights.  Consultants are often commissioned for their specialism, but more often for their time, objectivity and independence.  It is a big investment for any organisation.  One’s loneliness is supported by being boundaried.  It may seem counter-intuitive but believe me drawing clear limits about your role is incredibly enabling and freeing for the consultant and client alike.

The best piece of advice I received when I started out was setting my daily rate.  I had ideas of charging half of what I ended up billing for.  It was a client who told me what to charge and he told me in no uncertain terms I was worth it.  I thank him to this day for his advice and for his faith. And I am still getting advice from him now.  Nothing gave me greater pleasure than to pass that advice on today.

A lack of confidence can lead to all sorts of compensatory behaviours that pass on that lack of confidence to the client.  Before you know it, their trust in you will be damaged.  Advice here was about being confident and not allowing self-doubt to break boundaries or result in you saying ‘yes’ when you mean ‘no’, over-delivering on tasks, or making a hash of your client communications.  A risk here is you find it difficult to finish and sign-off a project as you never feel it is not good enough.

Be aware not to overload the client with tasks, they will start to wonder if it had been easier to do the job themselves.  Indeed, a plan for communications, and check-ins at the appropriate milestones means everyone knows what is happening and when.  And if it needs to change, talk about it.  Don’t avoid the issue, instead review and agree the plan.

Finally, we looked at progress against the project plan and timeline.  A common anxiety here is feeling you are behind or things won’t be ready in time.  Blocking off time (however long) to get some things moving quicker helps and creates a sense you are ahead of yourself.  Being able to estimate how long a task will take is a vital skill for consultants.  Of course it is, you are selling time.  Underestimate and it could cost your own time and resource, overestimate and you could be required to return some contract value, or under or overspends may balance each other out.  Importantly, getting time estimates wrong can be a block to progress, making you believe there isn’t time to get the simplest of things done.

It was great to be able to uncover the development needs of my mentee and unpick some of the elements of a considered piece of consultancy.  I enjoyed giving some of my learning back as well.  I will keep an eye on this one to ensure things go to plan!

I was thrilled recently to spend time with an ex-colleague who retired 10 years ago.  It was lovely to welcome her back to celebrate her contribution to our business and to reconnect with ex-colleagues.  What struck me, however, was the words and reactions from those other colleagues.  I first started to notice this when three or four times I overheard the phrase “I would be bored if I retired”.  That got me thinking.

Now, I love to work.  I really do.  But given the choice I might not work at all, I would work less, or at least differently – perhaps on other projects.  I look forward to when my work is done at the end of every day and each week.  Because when work ends, play begins; my professional self becomes the personal me.  I can garden, cook, socialise, read, write, travel, volunteer or study.  Who would not want more time to do that?

What a strange state-of-affairs to think one would be bored without work when there is so much more to do in life.  And I know my retired ex-colleague has a very full, vital and active life without work.  I admire her for that.  I started to wonder if people think they would be bored without work, are they bored now?

Now there have been times in my life when work has got in the way of life, I have had work-life imbalance and it has suffered.  I haven’t had time to pursue all other interests.  But those days are long gone – thankfully.  If people are thinking retirement isn’t for them is there imbalance in their work and life now?  Or is work their play?  Are they fearful there will be an imbalance in retirement?  Either way there are boundary issues for me.  I think it is vital we have boundaried work and life identities.  I have not met anyone in their later years who told me they wished they had worked more.  Indeed, the opposite is the case.

Like many others, I am not a fan of the term ‘retirement’.  It literally means to withdraw from life.  When my time comes, I will not be doing that.  It could be the time I take up an alternative or new work or volunteering role.  It could be another degree or writing a novel.  I know that doesn’t sound like a traditional retirement – to stop work and then start again.  But this is the new reality of ‘retirement’, one where people have so much more they want to achieve for themselves or contribute to their communities.  This is a massive shift from how things were when I was a child; have one career, stop work at 60/65, and do seemingly very little afterwards.  Now it is more about phased careers, 2-3 for each of our work lifetimes, and use one’s retirement and make your own choices and achieve one’s dreams.

I think I will simply call mine ‘next’, and I will not be bored.  I will have worked too hard to settle for that.

Okay, be honest, have you ever thought you could do a much better job than your boss?  I know I have (mentioning no names!).

A recent poll of 1,500 workers by giffgaff caught my attention. It found two-thirds of workers thought they would do a much better job than their boss.  With as many as one in five describing their boss as ‘hopeless’.

Let’s face it, being a boss – the person in charge – is never easy.  Many of us have found ourselves in this position, either by accident (or because no one else would do it).  In early years, this often is the case as staff, motivated by working with children, progress up the ranks and gather experience in terms of years and practice roles.  They then find themselves to be the senior worker, when others leave or retire.  It is not always an easy fit, and can be a frustrating role, as the tasks and challenges of being a boss can feel much less rewarding, and full of pitfalls.  And then you find you are surrounded by a team of people, two-thirds of which think they could do better than you.  It can feel very isolating.

But what can we learn from this finding and from our knowledge of the early years sector?

Well, I think it is important that settings have the right boss.  One that understands the importance of quality practice, and can manage the decisions around its delivery, whilst keeping on top of the day-to-day tasks any business manager has to deal with: income; expenditure; finance; planning; marketing; and people.  Trust me, these rare and special people do exist.  But this all takes planning; sometimes we need to grow our own bosses, and this is helped by open management approaches, and ongoing leadership, mentoring and coaching.  The more that is delegated earlier, the more team members can grow and develop their skills.  And if team members think they could do a better job, bosses should ask them how, and take on their views to drive decision-making and change.  This is really important, as in the same survey, more than half (54%) felt they had no prospect of career progression.  Approaches like this certainly help.  I’ve definitely been to many settings (and other businesses for that matter) where there feels like there’s a block at the top.  The boss that has been there for years, perhaps has lost some of their appetite for change, and staff have no option but to leave for the sake of their career progression in the sector, and often out of it.  If that is you, there are some hard choices to make, and some real change opportunities to grasp.  And if you are one of those thinking you could do a better job, then now is the time to act positively, support your boss, and be a better boss yourself.  Without such amazing entrepreneurial spirit, confidence and commitment, early years simply wouldn’t exist.  It’s what we are best at.

A version of this blog was first published in Teach Early Years Magazine.

The high street isn’t dead. But the past decade’s financial greed resulting in every high street looking and feeling the same needs to end, and it should be used as the inspiration and stimulation for a new plan. Says James Hempsall OBE, co-director of www.harrimanandco.com

Shame on those financiers, who not content with fuelling the financial crash, have been hell-bent on foisting upon us a diluted offer best described as ‘retail average’. Their cynical experiment has failed. And shame on the landlords who have made things worse by appearing content to stick with a status quo of extortionate rents and the unsustainable and often temporary occupation they facilitate. 

Both have resulted in the same shop being present in almost every high street, offering our towns and cities little or no point of difference. Instead, an indistinguishable personality and predictable offers. All delivered with the chatter of scripted discourse prioritising mystery customer scores. All over and above our proper mission of deriving real pleasure, real relationships and real loyalty from actual customers. 

The outcome is empty units, a proliferation of charity shops. The same shops and brands all closed in great swathes. Ghosts of their former selves, the empty stores are decaying where once trusted brands stood. Constant and concrete reminders of childhood Saturdays, memories of buying a first suit, and the long-forgotten excitement of furnishing a new home. These stores will continue to fade away, grabbing the headlines in their death-throes. 

Unsurprisingly customers have roundly rejected much of it, or at best continued to down-grade their expectations and endure lack-lustre experiences. They feel uninspired, unsafe, and unvalued whilst the high street crumbles around them. 

This sorry state of affairs must make way for a new offer, and big business still has a role to play in making that change happen. They hold the blame and they have the responsibility to create the necessary change. It’s not only their fault, the doomsayers who just don’t understand the high street and what people want from us, and truly believe it is about to flatline need to alter their attitudes as well.    

It’s time for a new high street plan, but we will all have to be patient. And the biggest opportunities are all about scale.  Most of the high street is not big business, and the sums just don’t add up. The first opportunity is we need to revise expectations around income, expenditure, rates and rent. They are so out of kilter it is no wonder so many new start-ups struggle to make ends meet and are suspended in a hand-to-mouth state, and why the biggest retailers find themselves in huge financial holes, in which they have been digging deeper and deeper in recent years. 

Who is it in head office who thinks their bright ideas for huge flagship stores actually match the reality of customer demand? Our second opportunity is to change the physicality of the high street. The infrastructure is too big, it just does not reflect the current level of demand or space required for retail and food and beverage offers alone. This results in occupied premises being spread marmite-thin across a town-centre. Town planners need to use their levers, business rates relief, rent control, transport policies, and other powers creatively to radically transform the bricks and mortar of the high street. And if they haven’t got such powers, then government should legislate to bring them in. In Leicester the council has actually been buying empty units, and knocking them down to better offer routes for the customer and linking retail areas by reflecting how they really move around. Brilliant!  

The third is the supply chain is neglectful of small retailers. Wholesale suppliers need to be much more supportive of the smaller independent trader, and not skewed to advantage the bigger players. They need to promote smaller ordering, affordable shipping costs, realistic credit control, and identify new ways of satisfying what customers want from their high street, online and order fulfilment services. Customers still want to see and experience products, to sit on them, try them on, smell them, and taste them. But they want to be able to take them home now, or receive their no-hassle delivery efficiently and promptly. 

The high street is not dead, nor is it dying, look carefully and it is being reborn before your eyes, and more can be done to transform it for generations to come, if we think big and be brave enough to be small.