TheOrator.Press (TO.P) Article 1 of 3 On This Annual Business Tech Conference
The Business Book ‘The Happy Index’ – ‘Lessons In Upside Down Management’ – By James Timpson (£20.00). Published 2024 By Harper North (Manchester). A Sub-Division of Harper Collins. It Explains The Timpson ‘Algorithm’ Which Is Based On Humans, Not Computers!
Cobblers To Convention!
Welcome To Timpson.
Please, Kindly Leave Your Politics In The Weed Free, Litter Free Car Park!
Creating An Office Environment That’s Modern And Mindfully Removed From The Mundane Leads To Employee Happiness And In Turn Business Success. So Cobblers To Convention!
Effectively So Says James Timpson, The Philanthropic CEO of Timpson, The Shoe Repairers, Boot Menders, Dry Cleaners, Watch Repairers, Jewellery Fixers, Key Cutters, Engravers, And House Sign Makers (Amongst Other Things), That’s Being Going For Generations Dating Back To The 1800s.
He Puts Empathy And A Willingness To Walk In Another Person’s Shoes At The Heart of His Business. He’s Commercially-Minded And Yet Also Knows The Power of Kindness. He Hot-Footed It To The X4 Experience Management Experience Summit This Month (Thursday June 6 2024) Where He Made A Big Impression And Urged Other Leaders To Follow In His Footsteps.
A Bit Happy-Clappy?
Absolutely!
And So What?
He’s An Absolute Ray of Light!
With The State of The World Today, With It’s Poisonous Plethora of Political And Religious Wars, Including In Israel And Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, Ethiopia And The Congo, There Is Room For Greater Humanity From Leaders All Around The World. Something Which We Spoke To The Bishop of Croydon About Back In April This Year During Our Interview With Her.
Trailblazer Timpson Reveals How His Childhood Helped Inspire The Humantiy And Community-Mindedness Which He Operates Throughout His Business. He Talked The Talk About How He Walks The Walk. And How He’s Even Written A Book Giving Lessons How Others Can Do It Too (Above).
James Timpson OBE: Impressive And Well-Polished
(At Last Sang By Beyonce. Originally Etta James). The Timpson Group Launched Its New State of The Art Events, Learning & Training Hub ‘The Nest’ In Manchester, In September 2022. The Company Believes That An A-Political, Well Kept, Clean, Friendly, Happy Office, For The Whole Team, Not Just The Boss, Is Important. As Is Regular Repair, Refurbishment And Maintenance.
The Group Also Employs Wellbeing Counsellors, Finance Management Counsellors, Happiness Directors, And Even Personal Trainers For Its Employees To Help Maintain The Morale, Happiness And A High Retention Rate Within Its Company.
It Also Allocates 10s of Thousands of Pounds On Providing Healthy Breakfasts For Those Who Come In Early Enough To Enjoy One And Fresh Fruit Throughout Its Offices To Help Encourage Staff To Make Healthy Choices And Be Fit For Work.
As The Saying Goes ‘Your Health Is Your Wealth.’
Timpson Have Also Established A Workplace Menopause Support Policy Which Is Evidence of Their Anti-Ageism Stance, Commitment To Inclusivity, And The Value It Places On The Company’s Middle-Aged Women Workers.
That’s Something Presenter Davina McCall, Rod Stewart’s Wife Penny Lancaster And Their Allies Would Salute As Original Supporters of The Government’s Employment Initiative Designed To Keep Mature Females Working & Contributing To The British Economy ByEncouraging Employers To Be More Caring, Considerate And Understanding Regarding This Historically Taboo Subject. Women Have Reported That They Left The Workforce, Suffered Mental Health Impacts, And Relationships Breakdowns Because of Stigma Associated With It. Happily, Things Are Changing! See Davina On Our YouTube Channel:
https://youtube.com/shorts/uqLnsedKiRg
YouTube.com/@theoratordotpress7608
Timpson Snr, Sir John Timpson Has Written A Number of Books On Mental Health Wellbeing.
He Has Also Featured In An Insightful Podcast About The Power of Great Service.
He’s Clearly Passed His Interest In Community Care Onto His Son James Who Seems To Be Very Much Following In His Father’s Footsteps. And His Mother’s Too (As Explained In His Book).
After All, The Company Motto Is:
‘Great Service By Great People’.
Manchester Based Businessman & Philanthropist James Timpson OBE Wins
The Lloyds Bank National Business Awards 2019 Business Leader of The Year
Recruitment
In Between The New Millenium (And The Super-Hyped Millenium Crash That Never Materialised) And Today’s AI Revolution, Timpson’s Empathetic Approach Has Made The Boot-Fixer Over £40 Million Profit With Over £300 Million Sales From Over 2000 Branches Nationwide. It’s A Leadership Style That Has Survived The Pandemic, Global Recession, The Short-Lived But With Long-Lasting Effects Liz Truss Government, Chronic Cost of Living Increases And The Advance of AI, Technology And Deeper Digitalization. All of Which He Resists With What He Calls His Tailor-made ‘Cobblers-Algorithm’.
As Well As A Strong High Street Presence, Some of The 2000 Plus Stores Within The Timpson Group Include Well-Placed Pop-Up ‘Pods’ Throughout The Country On The Site of Business Partners Such As Sainsbury’s (Like This One In Mere Green, Coldfield. Or In East Croydon Train Station, Greater London. Or Talbot Green, South Wales. As Well As Stand Alone Automated Keycutting Booths (Including Keys For The Car & House).
This Humanitarin Algorithm Doesn’t Digitise Sales Data From The Tills, Doesn’t Do Market Research, Doesn’t Do Clocking In And Out Machines, But It Does Deliver On “Innovation, Excitement And Surprises”, “The Collective Spirit”, Happy Colleagues And Support For Physical And Mental Wellbeing. And Also The Retention of Core Values – As Well As Valued Staff. It Also Factors In Change, Diversity And The Agility To Pivot Swiftly When Necessary.
Passion, Perseverance, People, Empowerment Culture, And Getting Down Onto The Shop Floor Armed With “The Element of Surprise” To “Keep An Eye On The Business” Is Timpson’s Business. And His Business Includes Not Just The Stores But Warehouses, Offices And ‘Timpson House’.
He Makes It His Business To Be Consciously Kind But Don’t Take His Kindness For Weakness. He’s Not A Pushover. And His Kindess Makes Him Stronger. His Team Too. And His Business Also.
He’s Commercially-Minded And Yet He’s Community-Minded.
He’s A Straight-Talker And Yet He Knows That Language Matters. So He’s Careful With His Words.
He’s Dedicated To Protecting His Brand And Yet He’s Proud of Hiring Ex-Cons (Whom He Calls ‘Returning Citizens).
One of The Key Speakers Selected For The Leaders Experience Management Summit Staged By Qualtrics (All About Reputation Managment In The Context of Customers And Co.Workers, Brand Engagement And Data That Flows From It).
The – XM – ‘Experience Management’ – X4 LDN Tech Conference – Is All About Data Harvesting, And Application In Order To Minimise The Chances of Clients, Employees, Customers Saying Negative Things From A PR Perspective, But Instead Giving Users What They Appear To Want, Based On Collected Data Metrics. All In Order To Maintain Brand Integrity And Business Relationships.
Timpson’s Standards Are High When It Comes To Making That Happen, But He And His Father Before Him Prefer The Personal Touch.
He Accepts That Adaptability Is Essential For Staying Relevant And Sets Goals Alongside Strategy Evaluations To Help Achieve Sustained Success As Part of What He Calls His ‘Upside Down Management’.
“The Happier They Are The Better We Seem To Do.“
I Don’t Run Timpson This Way
Just To Be Kind
Timpson CEO James Timpson
“If You Leave It To A Computer To Filter The Applications You Will End Up With The Same Kind of People Over And Over Again.”
(That’s Is A Scenario Played Out In The First Episode of ‘Suits’ – Starring Meghan Markle, Pre Harry – When A Commercial Lawyer Gets Bored of Interviewing & Hiring The Same Person. Over And Over Again . Just In Different Bodies With Different Names. From The Same Ivy League University. Available On BBC iPlayer).
“The Qualities That Truly Distinguish Exceptional Candidates Are Not Spotless Academic Results, Nor References, But Rather The Intangibles of Personality And Vitality.“
Nonetheless He Does Give A Shout Out To ‘Artic Shores’ A Tech Company He Describes As:
“A Trialblazing Recruitment Technology Business, At The Forefront of Innovation, Applying ‘Gamified Psychometrics’ Grounded In Cognitive Neuroscience To Uncover Top-Tier Talent.”
They Evaluate Candidates Using Online Gaming Challenges Designed To Make The Recruitment Process More Modern, Engaging And Enjoyable. It’s Another Example of How Technology And People Power Are Changing The Employee Landscape And Culture In General As More Consideration In Given To The Likes of The People, Not Just The Powerful. arcticshores.com
Yet The Polished CEO Maintains That’s Just Not Timpson’s Style. Whilst They Use Online Agencies Like Other Companies, 25% of Their Team Comes From Word of Mouth And Recommendations By Family, Friends And Associates. And That’s How They Like It.
A 15 Minute Telephone Discussion Acts As ‘Foundational Filter’ Deciding Who’s Happy, Energetic, Funny And Idiosyncratic Enough To Move On To The Next Stage, Which Is A Paid Trail Day. (How Candidates’ Interaction With Reception Is Part of The Asssessment – Whether They Know It or Not).
An Assessment of 5 Out of 10 Means Sayonara. Timpson Don’t Do Average or Mundane.
6, 7, 8 Means The Computer Says ‘No’. Except of Course It’s Not A Computer. It’s “An Intuitive, Gut-Based Rating” From The Recruitment Team, Which Can Include Timpson Himself, As His “Upside Down” Management Style Is Very Hands On.
9 And 10 Out of 10 Means “Hello And Welcome To The Team And The ‘Red Carpet’ Treatment”. Literally!
Timpson Says There Are Always Super Team Members In Reserve Even After Vacancies Are Filled, To Protect Against Ever Being So Desperate That It Would Lower Recruitment Standards.
Rejection
Modern Store Shop Fronts State That Timpson Was Established In 1903
He Runs The Risk of Course That Candidates Will Just Move On If They’re Not Offered A Job There And Then Once Successfully Passing The Stringent Tests. But It’s A Chance All Parties Concerned Seem Willing To Take. And Timpson Is Proud of His ‘Mr Men’ Hiring Process All The Same. As He Says He’s Created A Working Environment Which Has A Natural Magnet Force Where People Want To Work Because of A Kind, Caring, Contemporary Clued Up Company Culture. It’s Far Removed From The Tyrannical And Abusive Working Conditions of Old In Some Organisations. Run By Egotisical, Chauvanistic, Dictatorial Bosses.
“When You’re Desperate You Lower The Bar”
Hence He Always Has A “Super Team” On Stand By.
“Build It And They Will Come!”
As Well As The Recruitment Process He Cares About The Rejection Process. He Is Ahead of His Time Because One of His Fellow Keynote Speakers Later Gave A Talk About Tik Tok And How Some Employees Are Even Uploading Their Sackings As They Happening And Also Talking About The Most Toxic Leaders They Ever Encountered. It Was An Excellent Talk By Digital Anthropologist Rahaf Harfoush @foushy rahafharfoush.com
Today’s Applicants Could Well Be Tomorrow’s Customers He Says, So He Lets Unsuccessful Candidates Down Gently Based On The Company’s Internal Commitment To Humanity And Respect. Something He Says A Computer Cannot Do.
He Claims He’s Even Had Thank You Letters From Rejected Candidates Happy With How He’s Handled Their Rejection.
That Demonstrates Some Seriously Impressive And Effective Management Skills. Perhaps He Can Have A Word With The Police About Improving Their De-Escalation And People Skills Which Appear To Be Diabolically Low To Non-Existent (Both Here And In America). Especially As He Cares So Much About Certain Elements of The Criminal Justice System.
His ‘Mr Men’ Strategy For Achieving Diversity Amongst What He Calls A Carefully Selected ‘Super Team’ Is Not Just About Race, Gender or Background Diversity, But Also Personal Skills, Traits And Characteristics. For Instance ~ Mr Keen, Mr Hard-Working, Mr Reliable, Mr Successful, Mrs Ambitious, Mrs Conscientious, Mrs Determined, Ms Meticulous, And Miss Helpful.
This Super Team Is The Exact Opposite of Mr Scruffy, Mr Grumpy, Mr Rude, Mr Careless, Mr Scrounger, Mr Dull, Mr Dishonest, And Mr Is-It-Five-o’-Clock Yet? As Well As Ms Late, Mrs Slow, Miss Don’t Care, And Miss Fib.
Even So, He Maintains That Giving Staff An Opportunity To Improve Is Important. Sometimes Hires Don’t Turn Out How He’d Hoped They Would And He Has To Let People Go.
Whilst Timpson Do Not Knowingly Hire Mr Scruffy, Mr Grumpy, Mr Dull (Or Mr Smelly In Whom One Might Diplomatically Say He Inspired A Fresh Outlook On Life And Subsequently Retained Him., Another Example of His Seriously Impressive Communications Skills), Sometimes He Retains Them By Giving Them The Opportunity of Self Improvement. As The Aforementioned Example Highlights. Timpson Is A Businessman With A Heart. Compassion. Empathy. And Knowledge of The Street Before He Became Rich. It Clearly Makes A Difference!
Suffice To Say The Mr Men Strategy Can Be Applied To Various Areas of One’s Life And Help You See People Around You So Much More Clearly. It’s A Fun, Simple But Effective, Versatile Tool. And We’ve Already Started Using It (And A Few Other Lessons Besides)!
Now Where’s That Feather Duster…And Weed Trimmer…
The British Footwear Association
https://micam.it/en
Vistors ~ Media ~ Workshops
Micam Milano
Is The World’s Largest International Footwear Trade Fare
With Buyers From All Over The World.
Footwear Matters!
Fashionistas The World Over Know That Shoes Are Essential To Completing The Ultimate Outfit. Timpson Know They Can Help With That. So Maybe That Explains Their Recent Instagram Commentary On The Met Gala 2024.
It’s A Pretty Good Effort. We See What They Did There! Only The Well-Heeled Make The Met Gala Red Carpet (Which Was Actually Deliberately Green This Year Given The Theme ~ An Eternal Garden).
But No One’s Perfect. Fashion Can Be Notoriously Hit & Miss. As Was The Said Commentary In This Case. It Seems Just A Bit off The Mark Compared To Timpson’s Usually Great Commentary, The Images & Details In The Selected MET GALA Photos Compared To The Commentary In The Post Were A Touch Mismatched.
The Ed Sheeran (Passport) One Was Good Though (Even If It Didn’t Say ‘Timpson’ Like The Previous One. But Even In The Previous One There Was No Watch For Instance – Despite Referencing Being Happy With A Watch Guarantee). There Was Also No Mention of Who The Designer or Indeed Lady Is In Photo Three, But We Love The Rose In The Dress Nonetheless. The Photo Itself Is Indeed Excellent Picture Selection By Timpson. Even If The Lack of Detail Is Somewhat Frustrating. All Other Photos In The Post & Associate Commentary Follow In A Similar Frustrating Vein. Practice Makes Perfect!
More MET Ball Points Next Year Maybe…
Oh To Be There…
With A Fairy Godmother…
Recidivism
As Well As Hiring School Leavers, And Operating An Apprenticeship Scheme, Since 2021 He Also Regularly Hires Prison Leavers.
He Shares The Story That His Mother Was A Foster Carer And Regularly Visited Styal Prison In Manchester To Allow Imprisoned Mothers To See Their Babies Subsequently Under Her Charge. It Stayed With Him And He Believes In Giving People A Second Chance.This Source of Human Resource Has Also Been Seized Upon By Greggs The Bakers, Who Appear To Have Followed In His Footsteps.
A Well-Maintained 55lb ‘Shoe Last'(A Mechanical Device Used In The Shoe Industry For Designing & Repairing Shoes Based On A Crude Mechanical Model of The Human Foot)
Prison Leavers Are Referred To As ‘Returning Citizens’ And Timpson Reports That They Account For 10% of His Workforce. Amongst Them He’s Found A Former Finance Director, A Lawyer A And Call Centre Manager. Whilst He Says He Recognises The Irony of Potentially Employing Reformed Burglars To Cut Keys, Former “Societal Failures” Provides Concrete Evidence of A Company’s Commitment To Diversity, Uplifting Society And Humanity, As They Reveal The Simple Fact That Some Ex-Offenders May Well Be Just Like Some CEOs. Ambitious, Hardworking And Eager To Make Their Families Proud.
With 24% of Prison Leavers Returning Within A Year He Says Such Recruitment Can Help Reduce Recidivism. But He’s Equally Clear And Upfront About The Fact That It Is Full of Challenges But He Believes It’s Worth It Which Is Why He’s Help Set Up Employment Advisory Boards Within 93 Prisons Which He Persuaded Former Secretary of State Dominic Raab To Get Literally Get On Board With.
Timpson Is Now:
Chair of The Prison Reform Trust.
Chancellor of Keele University
Christian Louboutin, Tom Ford And Gucci Conscious
Apart From Timpson, A Famous Example of The Power of This Approach Is The Clink Restaurant Run By The Clink Charity, Adjacent To Brixton Prison In South London. Staffed By Inmates. The Idea May Not Be To Everyone’s Taste But Its Doing Really Well And Counts A Number of Celebrities Amongst Its Diners.
theclinkcharity.org/restaurants/brixton
Talking Cobblers ~ The Word On The Street
Not All Cobblers Are Multimillion Pound Companies. There Are Still Some Independent Cobblers On Britain’s High Streets. One We Can Vouch For (Having Used Their Services) Is Based On Sydenham High Street, Has Been There For Over 20 Years And Is One of The Coolest Guys You’ll Ever Meet. And From South East London He Connects With Cobblers Internationally, Including An American Chap Who Happened To Venture Into His Shop Some Years Ago And Turned Out To Be A Cobbler Himself. They’ve Stayed In Touch Ever Since.
A Star Cobblers ~ Sydenham High Street, London
BFA ~The British Footwear Association
Meantime As We Were Out And About Talking To The People (As We Like To Do When Covering A Showcase Event) We Met Millennial And Gen Z Delegates Who Told Us How Much They Liked Timpson’s Presentation And How Impressive As A Leader They Found Him.
To This Generation Cultural Alignment Is Seriously Important.
In Fact Everyone We Spoke To, Including Middle-Aged “Big Bosses” And Middle-Aged “Medium Bosses” (Those Modestly Denying They Were Big Bosses) Loved The Chance To Get Together, Learn From Each Other And Hear of New Developments.
We’ve Read Timpson’s Book (Available To Delegates As Part of A Physical Goodie Bag Obtainable Via The Associated X4 App). We Checked It Out.
It’s An Excellent Read.
Innovative And Very Refreshing.
Genuinely Game-Changing.
Immediately Inspiring.
Long Overdue.
And…
Full of Humanity.
Not Just Technology!
It Happily & Wholeheartedly Shows How Things Can Be Done Differently, For The Better, When We Afford Ourselves The Courage To Be Conscientious, Constructive, Caring And Kind. Even As A Commercially-Minded Corporate Company.
And Even Within The Age of AI.
Timpson: Talking The Talk. And Walking The Walk!
TheOrator.Press ~ A New, Monthly, Online, Independent Magazine 