Rampaging coach drivers with road rage, lessons in discipline for small businesses.

Rather than taking inspiration from the news, I’m going to tell you a story about my being chased by a coach driver with road rage and use this example to explain more about how a management system could help his employers.

A few weeks ago I unintentionally upset a local coach driver and found myself being pursued down the road by the driver (in his rather large coach) for nearly a mile, I wasn’t imagining things, this was deliberate and included his racing up to me, hooting and slamming his breaks on just inches from my bumper (I was turning right and he could easily have passed me). To say his driving was intimidating is an understatement and I’m not a nervous driver by any means.

On safely arriving home, feeling flustered I called my mum for a chat and mentioned this event, she’d come across other people who’d refused to travel with this company so I decided I ought to speak to them.

I had a good reception from the manager who appeared to have had issues with this driver in the past but as I had been unable to get his registration, it would be difficult to follow up with disciplinary action.

When I mentioned my profession he opened up to me that he finds discipline a minefield, he, like many employers, believes it impossible to fire poor performers.

The lesson from this is that with a good management system, where objectives, expectations and standards are clearly communicated and enforced, management of performance becomes more straightforward; this coach company had failed to ensure that drivers knew what was expected of them and was therefore unable to react appropriately when things went wrong.

The thing to remember in employment when following through a disciplinary process is the importance of employers acting in a “reasonable” manner where policies and procedures are laid out and followed, ISO 9001 requires employers to “ensure that its personnel are aware of the relevance and importance of their activities” and how they contribute to the business along with monitoring staff performance and any interventions to make sure the action has worked. For small businesses it may also be worth working with an HR consultancy such as Flexible HR to develop a staff manual and ensure your HR policies and procedures are suitable.

Whether for climate change or increased fuel and waste charges, whatever the motivation, can you afford not to manage your environmental impact?

Last night’s Panorama on BBC1 focussed on the ongoing debate about climate change, is it happening or not; they went around to the top climate experts in the world and found that even the scientists who are most sceptical agreed that it is likely to be happening and that the behaviour of humans is at least partially responsible.

Whether you are a believer or not, I think I am or at least, looking at the data available believe that if it looks like a duck, sounds like a duck then it probably is a duck, no business owner can turn a blind eye to the fact that environmental taxes are increasing running costs.

At the international climate summits held between the leaders of the worlds countries, a principle known as “The Precautionary Principle” has been adopted, nobody is certain that climate change is happening but we can’t afford to ignore it because if we get it wrong, it’ll be too late.

The next enviromental principal being adopted internationally is “The Polluter Pays” which BP are feeling very acutely at present.

It is these principals which are behind the application of the Climate Change Levy which businesses will find on their site’s fuel bill; the Land Fill tax, Pollution Prevention and Control Licenses and environmental penalties for people that offend.

Although I would not recommend to all small businesses that they achieve the Environmental Management Standard ISO 14001, which is geared towards minimising the environmental charges listed above, I would relish the opportunity to work with business of all sizes to use management system techniques to investigate their environmental costs and see what, if anything, could be changed to reduce this impact. Reduce your running costs and score points with the environmentally aware, what could be better?

2010! A bad year for the oil industry as failure to take preventive action leads to catastrophic chains of events.

A few weeks ago I wrote with great optimism that BP were undertaking corrective action to stem the flow of oil at Deepwater, since then it has lurched from crisis to crisis, a public relations nightmare that could still bring the business to its knees. Along with the clean up expenses, there will also be a major investigation into whether this catastrophe of epic proportions could have been prevented.

On Monday 21^st June 2010 the news broke that a witness has claimed that a critical piece of safety equipment at Deepwater, the blowout preventer, had failed and been shut down prior to the accident. For more detail see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/us_and_canada/10362139.stm

At the same time, it has been reported that at the conclusion of the prosecution for "failing to take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents" leading to the explosion at the Total and Chevron controlled oil depot in Buncefield, Hertfordshire in December 2005; 3 companies have been held responsible for the explosion after a series of sensors failed to warn that tank 912, which contained unleaded petrol, was overfull causing a dangerous build up of explosive fumes to collect at the top of tank leading to the explosion.

It is apparent that these incidents both occurred due to a break down in the management systems being operated on site; where the businesses appear to have failed to take preventive action when it was required.

Preventive action is a key requirement of the management standards ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environment) and BS OHSAS 18001 (Health & Safety), the aim of this requirement is to encourage businesses to be proactive in managing risks to the business whether identifying where customer services break down or ensuring that preventive maintenance is carried out.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel for employers with Government promises to check the compensation culture?

I’m sure many employers last week breathed a sigh of relief at the news of the Government plans to encourage a more common sense approach to Health and Safety. I believe the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be equally relieved as they are frequently blamed for some of the dafter “Elf & Safety” initiatives and have to issue disclaimers that they are not responsible for councils banning lamp post mounted flower baskets in fear of falling flowers or children not being allowed to paddle on a school trip.

Unions have voiced their concern that this initiative of the Coalition Government may put employees at risk. I very much doubt this would be the case for now at least, there is a growing paternalistic culture in the UK which will always seek to protect the vulnerable.

It is this culture that will always mean that the requirement to have a robust Health and Safety Management System, with clear risk assessments and evidence of training, will reap benefits for all businesses.

The Management Standard BS OHSAS 18001 is a framework of best practice which, if implemented, could go a long way to reducing the likelihood of accidents which lead to lost time, profits and potentially legal action.

Sustainability! Proof it works and as a result Cod and Chips is back on the menu.

A couple of months ago my teenage niece, Olivia, and her school team won the Southampton Business Enterprise scheme. While discussing her victory she told me that her teachers keep banging on about sustainability. I avoided the opportunity to get on my soap box about how it can lead to long term benefits but will be emailing her this blog when it is finished.

Last week there was a breakthrough reported in the news providing evidence that when businesses work together to act for the benefit of the environment they too can reap the benefits. The WWF announced that cod is now being caught sustainably off the coast of North East England, apparently stocks of the fish have increased by 52% since 2006. This was achieved by taking drastic measures that at the time appeared to be the end of the great British favourite, Cod and Chips. The supermarkets looked for alternative fillings for fish fingers but they were never the same; now, things are looking up, we’re not out of the woods yet but this proves “short term pain for long term gain” applies in business.

Some efforts to improve the sustainability of your business can result in having to make capital investment or spend time and money on feasibility studies; at present with the economic climate as it is, businesses are reluctant to take the step towards sustainability, maybe the news of this success will offer encouragement.

The environmental management standard ISO 14001 requires businesses to carry out an environmental review, to draw a line in the sand, from which point they can then seek to improve, in my opinion, as with most management standard requirements, this is solid business sense - without an objective review, how can you measure improvement? Last weeks news shows that after that line was drawn, the stakeholders were able to work together and now all can reap the benefits and I’ll be first in the queue at the chippy.

“Talking and Listening” lessons for business from this weeks political to-ings and fro-ings.

Last night the media was in a frenzy. On television, we were treated to unending shots of a silver Jaguar sitting in traffic which the broadcasters hoped was carrying the future Prime Minister to Buckingham Palace. After several days of negotiations between the Liberals and both the Labour and Conservative parties we were told that talks had broken down between the Liberal and the Labour parties and that the Conservatives had been more receptive to negotiate despite differences in their political manifesto’s and beliefs which had led to an agreement that they could govern together as a coalition.

What we saw last night was something that occurs regularly in business. That the people who are most prepared to talk, listen and negotiate are those who win, that its not a sign of weakness to seek middle ground whether in politics or business.

In the management standard ISO 9001, customer focus is a key requirement for certification, it specifies that businesses must develop communication processes to inform their customers about their products and services while also ensuring that they fully understand the customer’s requirements. If there are gaps between what is offered and what is required then negotiations should ensue until essential common ground is found or the order should be declined.

People say that talk is cheap, but in business it is invaluable when paired with listening to what your customers are telling you.

Fear, uncertainty and personality clashes follow change in businesses large and small.

Sneaking into the consciousness of the business press during this week’s election fever was an announcement that two large US airlines are to merge, United and Continental Airlines.

The national press covers the financial issues and concerns about cuts and redundancies but for the people on the ground working for these airlines this change will bring out sides of their characters many would prefer were left dormant.

Change for many is stressful and frightening, leading to paranoia, jealousy, bullying, negativity or even rebellion, none of which are positive contributions to a business environment and can manifest itself at all levels from cleaners to senior management in businesses large and small and sometimes in the most unlikely of people.

With careful management this impact can be minimised. Clear, honest, timely communication of the matters which affect people directly can go a long way in building trust. Investors in People (IIP) in particular tackles the need for people to feel valued by being included in the decisions which are being made in the interest of their working lives. The ISO management standards 9001 and 14001 also specify the need for staff to have a clear understanding of the businesses objectives in addition to their personal ones.

By adopting an open, honest communication style, business leaders could reap great benefits which go way beyond certificates on walls in the form of improved morale and better reaction to change. In business as well as politics, we all respond better to a leader we can trust.