Gosh, my second blog already.
So, this week I returned to work after a (very) long weekend enjoying my annual pilgrimage to the Le Mans 24 hour race. I’ve been going since 1994 and if you’ve no idea what it is, imagine Glastonbury for racing cars. After the event there is the usual social media moaning about what was wrong with the organisation, everything from too few toilets, too long queues for beer, poor camp site security, confusing ticketing system, even too many people. However, I am always remined of the complexity there are in these systems. We all know how complex some of our processes are just for paying an invoice, or closing a road, or selling a cemetery plot, or allocating an allotment. I imagine that for an event with 325,000 people coming from multiple countries, many parking, more camping, all the food events facilities, seating, 50 odd race teams, a race on public roads. The processes must be astonishingly complex. Even getting all that right, they (and we) need to meet shifting customer expectations, so whilst we don’t sell beer or provide toilets for thousands of people, we do need to know what our customers want and how they want it. It’s a major strand of Evolve 2026.
In between dealing with a cake locker that didn’t meet some customer expectations I took a day to do some personal development as part of a group doing a coaching and mentoring course. It was super interactive, I got to practice with several people I wouldn’t normally work with, and it was good to admit to myself (and the group) how bad I am at actively listening. Having said that, it was great to find out that it’s not just me that finds it hard to listen without my brain being filled with stuff I want to say. There are going to be a lot of development opportunities that Charlie is working on to help all of us get the most out of, and do the best we can, as we run through the Evolve 2026 programme.
I’d also like to mention that I am very grateful to Darrell Rhodes taking over as the Armed Forces Champion lead from me. He’s got some great ideas for ensuring that we understand the specific needs of ex armed services people. We have also achieved the Defence Employer Recognition Award, moving from bronze to silver level, and I’d like to particularly thank Charlie and the HR team for all the work they did on updating and providing new employment guidance so we can demonstrate to prospective employees, particularly those who are supporting cadet forces and are Reservists, that we understand and can accommodate their specific needs.
That’s all folks. Have a good weekend.