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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Feb 2017 - 15:25

null Granny dumping

  A elderly man found wandering and confused in Hereford bus station has no means of identification on him, his clothes are new bought from a Tesco's he appears to speak English but his speech is difficult to understand , all he can tell the police is his name and that he is not from round here. No one has reported him missing and no one comes forward when his  picture is published... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
08 Feb 2017 - 11:56

null Managing Maverick Managers

  Name me one TV cop who isn't a maverick. Wouldn't  we all like to stick two fingers up to senior management on occasions, to follow our professional instincts rather than inflexible procedures , do what we think is right rather than blindly follow instructions, do the job the way it should be done rather than hit arbitrary targets and struggle to stay within an unrealistic... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Feb 2017 - 11:11

null Three strikes and you're out

  February 6th is national "sickie" day, so called because traditionally absenteeism is at it highest at this time of year. Employers in the public sector have in recent years being getting tough on high levels of sickness leave and copying the strategies used by the private sector. If you work in the public sector you may not be aware of what happens to your counter parts in the... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Mar 2017 - 01:04

null More people with a business background would be good for local government, Not

  Donald Trump US president is appointing people with a business background to key posts in his administration because he believes government would be better if it was run like a business and who better to do this than people who have run successful businesses. For a number of years management gurus have told us the public sector should learn from the private sector about how to be... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
24 Jan 2017 - 12:47

null Let's do a deal

    Donald Trump the new US president with a business background has appointed people to his senior posts on the bases that they are good at "doing deals". Is this a new and worrying tend in the public sector  which we are likely to follow? A worrying tend because doing deals in the commercial world is a rather murky business where ethical and moral considerations are... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
16 Jan 2017 - 13:54

null The Happy List

  The NHS is in crisis, the country is divided as never before, the gap between the super rich and the just getting by is ever widening, climate change seems depressingly inevitable and the election of Donald Trump as President of the USA seems to signal in an era of intolerance, ignorance and self interest. In these gloomy times what cultural gems can cheer us up? What songs lift are... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
06 Jan 2017 - 17:14

null Make my day punk

If only you were in charge you could sort this mess out. You know what needs doing and you know how to do it. But how long before you turn into Dirty Harry the Clint Eastwood anti hero  who is the epitome of ruthless policing and never hesitates to cross professional and ethical boundaries in his quest to get justice.  In senior management team meetings perfectly reasonable and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
03 Jan 2017 - 18:52

null Bug fixers and performance improvers

  The bugs are making people angry and unreasonable. People are disaffected with a deep seated discontent  finding expression in misogyny and racism. Like a virus they infect people, exaggerating prejudices, distorting the way they see the world around them. People become opinionated and intolerant they are dismissive of those who hold different views to them. The bugs... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
27 Dec 2016 - 20:02

null you're very experienced with an impressive track record but will we get on?

  Traditional recruitment practices, panel interview, presentation and trial by sherry, take a short list of suitably qualified candidates and ask members to chose the one they like best not necessarily the one most compatible with their boss. I know attempts has been made to convince members that psycho metric tests can identify and match personality traits but I have never yet... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
13 Mar 2017 - 21:10

null No lying necessary

  When I first became a specialist social worker for people with dementia I took a very purest view to lying to clients. All to often staff who cared for some one with dementia would collude with the the individuals confusion and memory loss as away of placating them when they were anxious or agitated. The individual insists on leaving the care home  to pick up her children from... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
19 Dec 2016 - 16:33

null Halford's an example of poor customer care and probably sexism

Halford's at Crystal Peaks Sheffield told my wife it would take an hour and a half and involve removing the bumper to replace a break light bulb. Mets of Dinnington did it there and then, took 2 minutes cost £5. What's so difficult about customer care? Guess where I'm going for my next service and MOT?  See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
15 Dec 2016 - 14:24

null Funsultant

Has your LA engaged the services of a " funsultant" to advise on how to make the workforce more positive? Have you come across a job advert for the post of " happiness officer". If LA stood for Los Angeles rather than Local Authority then you undoubtably would be familiar with the typically wacky approach to job satisfaction and employee relations in California. Our approach may be more... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
09 Dec 2016 - 12:50

null Mansplaining

Mansplaining comes from combining the words “man” and “explaining”, and refers to situations where a person (typically a man) explains something to someone else (typically a woman), often in a condescending way and frequently disregarding  the greater experience of the person they are talking to. Someone who attempts to impose their views assuming they have a greater knowledge and... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
30 Nov 2016 - 21:08

null A failure of leadership

The Virgin take over of health and adult social services in Bath has received little media coverage. This is a hugely significant  development. As a former director I am very disappointed but not surprised by the absence of any comment or statement from the association  of directors of adult social services. I can not believe directors of adult social services don't have a... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
23 Nov 2016 - 12:37

null Vampire managers

  Some chief executives want blood. They demand loyalty, ruthlessness and total commitment. Whether deliberately or by default they creat a culture of intoxicating machismo. The aim is to make a very tight senior management team that is determined to be a top performing organisation. The loyalty is personal loyalty and allows no room for doubt or debate.   When it comes to... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
18 Nov 2016 - 17:22

null Just another day just another night terror

You are an office worker. Your day begins at the same time every morning and ends uneventfully back in bed at the same time every night. During the day you follow the same routine. You drive to work along the same route, you interact with the same people in the office, you receive more emails than you send, you go for lunch at the same time, at the same place, you sit in your favourite spot by... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
16 Nov 2016 - 23:00

null What are managers and professionals getting over enthusiastic about this week?

What are managers and professionals getting over enthusiastic about this week? Education, housing, environment, leisure and social services there isn't a local authority service that isn't periodically subject to the claim that someone, somewhere has come up with a way of providing a better service more cheaply.    There are management fads and social work fads.... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
01 Nov 2016 - 12:47

null How to kill enthusiasm and stifle initiative

  I once stood up at a large meeting of managers to announce that the social service department was going for Investors In People (IIP) accreditation for the whole department. I said how impressed we were with the social work teams ,day centres and residential homes who had all ready archived IIP status through their own initiative. I said these teams could be proud of their achievement... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
21 Oct 2016 - 13:24

null The Mad Hatter's tea party

It was a large table set for many places. The mad hatter and the March hare sat together. Alice went to sit down. The mad hatter and the March hare shouted,"no room". Alice said " don' t be ridiculous there is plenty of room". The mad hatter looked at his watch and shouted "tea time, all move round". Alice asked , "what time is tea time?" To which they replied in unison," it's always... See more
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Blair McPherson
wrote a new blog post
16 Oct 2016 - 10:57

null The day the sun didn't rise

It had been an unseasonably hot day and it was still uncomfortably warm in bed at 2 am.The duvet cover lay on the floor where I had kicked it off. There were a lot of animal noises, a donkey brayed, the camels made grumpy sounds and dogs where barking. The barking seemed to go on for hours but it wasn't urgent barking it was  back and forward across the valley a shouted conversation full... See more
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