Settle yourself down - this will be a bumpy ride/blog. Let's examine the criteria and statistics recently attributed to "troubled families" and where they come from. Estimations of estimations or just figures plucked from the air? I hope you have the patience to wait and ponder occassionally.
So we’re told there are 120,000 "troubled families" in the UK and we assess them as such by their ability to meet a minimum five of seven criteria. This will be simple to understand then right?
But haven't we heard these figures and criteria before?
As politicians scrambled to explain why rioting and looting was rife back in August 2011, didn't some blame 120,000 "problem families?" But wait...that wasn't the first time was it? It’s a recurring number but where does it stem from?
When the coalition published their Child Poverty Strategy in April, they referred to an "estimated 120,000 families in England with multiple problems”.
But wait.... let's not go deep into the 120,000 without exploring the five in seven criteria....
A 2007 Cabinet Office report stated: “Having multiple problems is defined as having five or more problems from a basket of seven indicators including being in a workless household, overcrowding, maternal mental health problems, long-standing limiting illness, low income and ability to afford basic items of food and clothing.”
Now, wait again....doesn't that ring a bell? Meeting five out of the seven criteria anyone? Hmmm....
* No-one in the family is in work.
* The family is living in poor or overcrowded housing.
* No person has any qualifications.
* Mother has mental health problems.
* At least one parent has a long-standing illness or disability.
* The family has a low income.
* The family is unable to afford a number of food or clothing items.
No that’s not the same thing put differently (honest) but the markedly different 2011 version provided by David Cameron in his announcement on how to tackle "troubled families." Convinced?
A disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act by the Department of Education reveals that the 120,00 figure is an approximation of the 140,000 in the UK. The 120,000 is an estimated figure for England rounded up from an estimated 117,00 families. So, it's an estimation based on an estimated number - "good job" as my 5 year old likes to say when pleased with himself for tidying away his Power Rangers. Trouble is he has usually missed the rest of his toys scattered around his room. So what has been missed in providing these statistics?
On one regional radio show I heard the Head of Children Services for that area calculate they had 2% of the 120,000 families and claimed that equated to one, to one and a half, thousand families. Shouldn't that be 2,400 if correct? A career at the Department for Plucked from the Air statistics awaits you ma'am.
Now, wait again...can these figures be right?
The population in England mid 2007 was estimated at 51.1 million. In 2011 it was estimated at 52.2 million. That's an estimated 2.15% increase.
Back to the "facts"...
Apply this increase to the original 120,000 families and there has been a relative decrease in the number of “troubled families” in the UK in the last four years. Had it risen in line with the percentage increase in population, as you’d expect, there would now be an estimated 122,580 "troubled families" no doubt rounded up to an estimated 125,000 "troubled families."
Result! 5,000 fewer "troubled families" than we could have had.
Wow, we're good at sorting out issues in the UK - we just estimate our estimations and it all makes sense, right? Glad I was able to clear all that up for you.
Wednesday 21 December 2011
Thursday 8 December 2011
Rockstars, me and you, business for everyone, Winnie the Pooh.
I didn’t sleep well last night. Something was on my mind. I started to read quotes by other people. Some are famous, some aren’t but all are worth reading regardless of whether you agree with them or not, much like this blog really - at least that's the hope.
I stumbled across this quote:
“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
That was a quote attributed to Apple Inc. Was it written by Steve Jobs or by someone perhaps influenced by him? I don’t know and, quite honestly, I don’t intend to try and find out because that's not what matters - it's what the quote says that does.
Such quotes can strike fear into the hearts of some people. They will talk of potential loose canons, contrive against those who try and innovate for fear of being outshone, manipulate others in the work place to have concerns about those who dare to be creative but are they right do that? Whoever made the above quote from Apple clearly doesn’t think so.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not an advocate of crazy ideas that can threaten a business. Business aside there are peoples lives, livelihoods families that all rely on any business that employs them but upsetting the status quo? Hands up – guilty as charged – I’m a fan of people that do that in a measured way, with the right heart, with the hope that it will benefit the business they work for, its customers and colleagues. Always know though that if you do this you will always make some people nervous as hell.
Nonetheless, upset the apple cart. No apples need get bruised and there is no need to hang the person that gave the apple cart a bump.
Instead why not embrace those people, encourage colleagues to first understand the thinking behind the bump but if you can’t resist then at least ask all colleagues – get a wider view. Don’t try and squeeze out of people negativity about the bumper because you feel threatened – it’s disingenuous and can confuse young colleagues especially. Another quote “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
Instead inspire colleagues – encourage rock stars in your work place – you’ll find they are the biggest team players you’ve ever known. They think outside themselves, their immediate team, their section of your business.
They are not a threat to you, not the loose cannons – trust them, don’t try and marginalise them, or cause problems for them, and you’ll find they have the biggest hearts and exciting minds. They won’t always get it right but when they do – boy oh boy!!!
I’m not sure if I’ve heard the term ‘rock stars in your workplace’ somewhere else. Apologies if I’ve stolen your notion but no matter as I believe in it. Encourage them, let them fly, let them make mistakes, let them show you what they can do, let them shine. If they do something great and you can’t think of greatness yourself then bask in the reflected glory. Nothing wrong in that as, if you have encouraged them, then you are just as part of the great ideas as they are – if you don’t you’ll ruin the opportunities for your colleagues, customers and the business you work for.
Dare to do something different today. Make a difference.
And now some light reading………….
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them” – Mother Teresa
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere” – Albert Einstein
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me….Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” Silverstein
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh?” he whispered.
“Nothing said,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.” – A.A. Milne
-End-
I stumbled across this quote:
“Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
That was a quote attributed to Apple Inc. Was it written by Steve Jobs or by someone perhaps influenced by him? I don’t know and, quite honestly, I don’t intend to try and find out because that's not what matters - it's what the quote says that does.
Such quotes can strike fear into the hearts of some people. They will talk of potential loose canons, contrive against those who try and innovate for fear of being outshone, manipulate others in the work place to have concerns about those who dare to be creative but are they right do that? Whoever made the above quote from Apple clearly doesn’t think so.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not an advocate of crazy ideas that can threaten a business. Business aside there are peoples lives, livelihoods families that all rely on any business that employs them but upsetting the status quo? Hands up – guilty as charged – I’m a fan of people that do that in a measured way, with the right heart, with the hope that it will benefit the business they work for, its customers and colleagues. Always know though that if you do this you will always make some people nervous as hell.
Nonetheless, upset the apple cart. No apples need get bruised and there is no need to hang the person that gave the apple cart a bump.
Instead why not embrace those people, encourage colleagues to first understand the thinking behind the bump but if you can’t resist then at least ask all colleagues – get a wider view. Don’t try and squeeze out of people negativity about the bumper because you feel threatened – it’s disingenuous and can confuse young colleagues especially. Another quote “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
Instead inspire colleagues – encourage rock stars in your work place – you’ll find they are the biggest team players you’ve ever known. They think outside themselves, their immediate team, their section of your business.
They are not a threat to you, not the loose cannons – trust them, don’t try and marginalise them, or cause problems for them, and you’ll find they have the biggest hearts and exciting minds. They won’t always get it right but when they do – boy oh boy!!!
I’m not sure if I’ve heard the term ‘rock stars in your workplace’ somewhere else. Apologies if I’ve stolen your notion but no matter as I believe in it. Encourage them, let them fly, let them make mistakes, let them show you what they can do, let them shine. If they do something great and you can’t think of greatness yourself then bask in the reflected glory. Nothing wrong in that as, if you have encouraged them, then you are just as part of the great ideas as they are – if you don’t you’ll ruin the opportunities for your colleagues, customers and the business you work for.
Dare to do something different today. Make a difference.
And now some light reading………….
“If you judge people, you have no time to love them” – Mother Teresa
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere” – Albert Einstein
“Listen to the mustn’ts, child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossibles, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me….Anything can happen, child. Anything can be.” Silverstein
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
“Pooh?” he whispered.
“Nothing said,” said Piglet, taking Pooh’s hand. “I just wanted to be sure of you.” – A.A. Milne
-End-
Saturday 3 December 2011
Trusting in you at Bromford
Colleague engagement: two words that strike fear into the breast of many a manager, and indeed their employees. But for us, it is very simple. We believe that to be happy at work we must help our employees to feel comfortable enough to be themselves in the workplace.
We encourage our colleagues to bring their personalities to work, not foster a persona that bears little relation to their life and relationships outside the job. To stifle someone's personality at work is positively Dickensian; why, as a business, include personality description in a job specification and then fail to make use of it? You wouldn't buy an expensive computer system and then leave it standing dormant.
Our internal social media platform, Yammer, has no rules and actively encourages our people to say what they think about their work. It provides an informal link for everyone who wants to join in, including the most senior colleagues in the organisation.
We encourage customer service staff to be themselves in their relationship with tenants. We ask them to give honest, no-nonsense advice, make the most of every conversation, recognise everyone's differences and show enthusiasm and individualism.
Equally, we don't prevent the use of social media at work but actively encourage it. If you use it at home, we trust you to use it here – just make sure you think before you tweet. We encourage a culture where it's OK to break the rules when it's the right thing to do. We don't want to find our people hiding behind policy and procedure.
Who we are, our experiences, our ideas and our interests are all part of what makes us individuals and the employees we become. We identify this in people right from the start of the recruitment process, where we'll just as likely gain an insight into the real abilities and motivations of a candidate by playing a board game with them as discussing their CV.
Once in post, we encourage colleagues to take ownership of their role and help to steer the future of the organisation. We motivate everyone to be an active, not passive, member of the Bromford community. Nothing is more motivating to colleagues than to know their ideas matter and there is a mechanism to make sure those ideas are heard throughout the organisation.
Our advice to others is: be a 3D business. Engage your people in what you do, how you do it and why you do it. Learn from other people and unashamedly incorporate the best of those ideas into your business. Most of all, ban the words "staff" and "department". Nobody spends lives their life in a department and shares lunch with staff. We are colleagues, and we work in teams.
We encourage our colleagues to bring their personalities to work, not foster a persona that bears little relation to their life and relationships outside the job. To stifle someone's personality at work is positively Dickensian; why, as a business, include personality description in a job specification and then fail to make use of it? You wouldn't buy an expensive computer system and then leave it standing dormant.
Our internal social media platform, Yammer, has no rules and actively encourages our people to say what they think about their work. It provides an informal link for everyone who wants to join in, including the most senior colleagues in the organisation.
We encourage customer service staff to be themselves in their relationship with tenants. We ask them to give honest, no-nonsense advice, make the most of every conversation, recognise everyone's differences and show enthusiasm and individualism.
Equally, we don't prevent the use of social media at work but actively encourage it. If you use it at home, we trust you to use it here – just make sure you think before you tweet. We encourage a culture where it's OK to break the rules when it's the right thing to do. We don't want to find our people hiding behind policy and procedure.
Who we are, our experiences, our ideas and our interests are all part of what makes us individuals and the employees we become. We identify this in people right from the start of the recruitment process, where we'll just as likely gain an insight into the real abilities and motivations of a candidate by playing a board game with them as discussing their CV.
Once in post, we encourage colleagues to take ownership of their role and help to steer the future of the organisation. We motivate everyone to be an active, not passive, member of the Bromford community. Nothing is more motivating to colleagues than to know their ideas matter and there is a mechanism to make sure those ideas are heard throughout the organisation.
Our advice to others is: be a 3D business. Engage your people in what you do, how you do it and why you do it. Learn from other people and unashamedly incorporate the best of those ideas into your business. Most of all, ban the words "staff" and "department". Nobody spends lives their life in a department and shares lunch with staff. We are colleagues, and we work in teams.
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