“Goodness me.” As we approach the end of the year at Mach 2 then that’s probably the politest way to describe the past year. I’ll almost certainly reflect more philosophically over the Christmas & New Year period, but for now I’m just going to list some of the most recent work we’ve been turning out (in brief), just in case anyone’s passing and interested – you never know with these blog type things do you

乐购 (know who it is?)

What – you’ve not heard of them? Think you’ll find you have. 乐购 are, as I now know, Tesco in China. Anyway they’ve got some pretty big plans over there and needed some pretty big hires to help with, well, planning it all – step in HARBOUR ATS via our partnership with Oxus (China based Employer Branding experts). Built on our China based server (all the better for fast local connections of course) it’s a simple facility and launched with 5 senior level vacancies – language switching and ‘Apply with LinkedIn‘ (excellent to get those airport lounge job surfers) functionality to boot: tesco.hrinbox.cn

Tesco.HRinbox - China recruitment

Glam’ing it up

Many many many years ago I remember a very long trip from Portsmouth Poly to play Pontypridd Poly  in the Poly Cup on a typically Welsh weather kinda day where it was P’ing down. Think we lost (so I was probably P’d off before getting rather P’d myself – which was what it was mostly about anyway ). Either way it was nice to return on a sunny day a few weeks back to finalise a really nice win this time – building (what is now) the University of Glamorgan an Applicant Tracking System. Challenges on this one were making sure that our usual seamless integration could happen with a very complex in-place nav set up, but then also creating seamless interfaces for 2 further educational institutions (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama and Merthyr Tydfil College (although Merthyr will go live at some point in the future)) that came under the same HR team who, understandably, wanted a single system to administrate all.

We love something to get our teeth into (as, I seem to remember, so too did their prop I came up against that day :-] ) : jobs.glam.ac.uk & jobs.rwcmd.ac.uk

Glamorgan University & RWCMD job search pages

and an FA final for us

Now some clients have nice offices. Others less so. But I think it’s hard to beat having your meetings at Wembley Stadium (and that’s said even as a Welshman! Although I was there in 1999 for this). Nice careers site put together by BlackBridge (who were also clearly blown away by the stadium too) underpinned with good ole HARBOUR ATS bossing the midfield (perhaps – football metaphors really aren’t my strong point :-s ). jobs.thefacareers.com “Back of the NET!”

job search page/section - FA careers site

So – that there was some of our November delivery. Fireworks from beginning to end really

No – not mine! This is a request for you to spend two minutes giving a vote to a business of which I am a big fan. Of the product, the packaging, the service, the owner and particularly the product (yes – I know that was twice ). But this vote is not for any of that (although I’m sure Kate wouldn’t mind if you voted for her for any of those ) – it’s for a competition looking for “… the most resourceful, original, exciting and disruptive small businesses in the UK”. Let me see if I can explain why I want you to vote Gower Brownies:

Gower Cottage Brownies is in every sense a cottage business. Running from the back of her family cottage on the Gower, Kate Jenkins makes IMHO the worlds best chocolate brownies (clearly Kate went to the Cuprinol school of branding ). Just a few years ago Kate thought she’d see if she could sell a box or two of her home made brownies in her local community co-operative shop – today she’s turning over in excess of £120,000, has plaudits as long as my arm and celeb fans that include amongst them John Barrowman, Emma Forbes, Andi Peters, Phil Jupitus, Jeremy Vine and plenty of people who know food – such as Gary Rhodes, Delia Smith and Gregg Wallace. Oh, and they’re a pretty big hit with many members of the Welsh and English rugby squads!

So why the vote? Well Kate’s done this pretty much singlehandedly. Not always all the production and packaging bit – she’s got @TheBrownieBitch in the evenings and weekends and nowadays a couple of “Brownie Elves” to help out more and more, but what has impressed me is the way that Kate  has truly leveraged social media (and in particular Twitter) to build the business. With nearly 3,000 followers and 43,987 tweets she has spread the word, built a face for the brand and used her loyal following network to propel the business and it’s profile. From her followers hounding Phil Jupitus to “stop by” when he’d tweeted he was having a day out on the Gower to making Kate aware that John Barrowman was filming down the road and passing on the info that he’s partial to chocolate.

The product’s good. I mean reaaallllly good – Kate has many awards and is becoming a regular star attraction at the Good Food Show. The service is great, the packaging classy and the delivery prompt. And you need all of these things to make a success in a very crowded marketplace. But:

-        Is Kate resourceful? Having spent £0 on advertising and marketing the brownies have been reviewed from the Guardian and the Sunday Times to the BBC Good Food Guide and Kate’s had spreads in Ideal Home and Woman & Home (with more in the pipeline).

-        Are brownies original? I don’t know, but you’ll never have tasted better & I believe they do make an original gift (unless you work with me, in which case it’s no longer original)

-        Exciting? This business is, in my opinion, at that point where it could go through the roof. Hell, John Barrowman is trying to get Kate to send them to his family in the US -  so yes, I’d say it’s exciting.

-        Disruptive? Kate’s use of twitter has definitely broken through barriers and propelled the business far beyond that which would have been possible pre-social media, breaking into the gift market and beyond, so I think that’s pretty disruptive.

-        And this is definitely a small business!

So there you have it – my case (as long winded as usual) as to why I think that Gower Cottage Brownies deserves your vote in the Smarta 100 for 2011. So please take a minute or two and follow the link through. Help a small business and a lovely business lady. And you never know – if you haven’t tried a heavenly Gower Cottage Brownie then maybe voting here will bring that moment all the closer for you.

[N.B. voting closes 20-9 @ 6pm – and if you think that what you’ve read makes this a worthy nomination then please pass the link on. Ta.]

Now sometimes you just come across something that is too good to keep to yourself – even though it has nothing to do with anything I might usually blog on.

I supposed I could point out how clever it is in terms of video production etc etc, and you’ll see that. But, and you’ll have to excuse the language (please don’t be tempted to play this if you have any children craning over your shoulder), it’s just very funny. I personally like watching and reading Mr Fry’s work and I don’t actually think this would do his image any harm at all, I’d like to think he takes it in the sentiment with which it’s meant and similarly marvels at the skill of the production, but at the same time… well – judge for yourself

a bit of fry and jay z from defyingdarwin on Vimeo.

I’ve been a t-mobile customer for a year now. How do I know that? I know that because a week before my contract expired I was inundated with unsolicited calls from 3rd parties offering to upgrade my phone if I renewed with them. This niggled me. I’m sure I hadn’t consented for t-mobile to pass my details on – and I also couldn’t work out why they would want to as this would only serve to cost them commission on my account?!

Luckily for t-mobile though (I would have thought) I was in no rush. Well not exactly true. With the recent high profile phone releases (i-phone, Blackberry storm & the G1 (google phone)) I was of course in a rush as much as anyone that gets excited by new things (in a real “boy with a new toy” type way) to see what phone I might upgrade to. I’ve had a mobile phone for a good while and you kinda get used to getting a shiny new toy to play with in exchange for your continued loyalty at no cost (well – we all know it’s hidden in the contract, but you know what I mean). So you can imagine how that was magnified when I realised that my renewal date coincided with the day the G1 came out only on the t-mobile network. GET IN! This was surely fate solving any decision I might have had to make about whether to go sexy, business chic or web guy functionally cool.

Interestingly – whilst everyone and his brother (particularly if they worked in a South Wales call centre it would seem) was in a hurry to sign me back up in the days leading up to my contract expiring t-mobile didn’t want to speak to me until the day it had expired. It’s OK I thought. I’ll wait. I’m a loyal kind of customer.

Unfortunately that was the start of the customer service paradox and the wait was all in vain. My hope shattered. My nose was to be left pressed up against the virtual shop window. You see it would seem that about 6weeks ago t-mobile changed the upgrade game for their customers, although you’ll not find it explained in any of their literature or on their website. No longer do they automatically offer reasonable upgrades after your contract expires – oh no. It’s all spend dependent. And I don’t mean that I was told I just had to pay a little something extra to get the phone that would keep me being a loyal customer – nope – this was a point blank “’dems the rules as of now, so it’s pretty much pay the price of the phone or make do”.

I’ll be fair – for customers not entitled to an upgrade they offer £5pm off your bill. And I’m sure for any logical decision process that’s probably not a bad deal – I’m well aware that the price of the new generation of phones to the phone companies is certainly creeping up and they have to make some tough business decisions – but when has getting your hands on new toys been a logical decision process. Logic doesn’t see people queuing for days before to get their hand on the new i-phone. Logic doesn’t then see the same people wait patiently days later whilst O2 get their systems in order to activate the thing. Logic doesn’t see people paying for two phones on different networks just so they can have the latest thing in their pocket.

I can’t work out whether it’s a bold or stupid move by t-mobile – as with many such changes only time will truly tell. But whilst there are other providers in the same space at about the same price with similar coverage as t-mobile and who would love to steal my custom and will give me a new toy right now (with a 1month lag and cost to port my number) then perhaps t-mobile have misjudged this one. I don’t feel any unbreakable brand affinity with the people in pink. But perhaps they’re target audience are people who can’t be faffed moving to another provider (although looking at their advertising and target demographic shown in that I think not).

This is what I can’t get – surely every business knows that it’s cheaper to retain a customer than it is to acquire new. If I walked off the street and wanted a new number and contract they’d give me exactly the phone I want (tariff dependent). But they’re gambling, and I think it is a gamble, that the majority of their existing customers who are good regular (but maybe not the highest) spenders with them won’t feel cheated when they’re denied that annual little technological lift that people on contracts generally have come to expect.

So if you’re reading this and are responsible for managing relationships, be they customers, employees or candidates, then my advice is to be sure before you change anything that you put yourself in the shoes of those who have come to accept things being done a certain way. Cutting back on providing a company water cooler may on paper look like an easy way to save a couple of hundred pounds – we’re lucky to live in a country where we can all drink the perfectly decent water from the taps after all – but what if that’s the last straw for a half decent person who’s feeling the “place just isn’t the same as the one I came to work for”. How much would they cost to replace? What if you’re working at an agency feeling the pinch and decide that the annual Christmas client lunch is an easy thing to cut back on, certainly for anyone other than the top billers? I’d suggest you ask yourself how much you’d spend re-pitching or pitching to replace that business if that’s the final nail in the coffin for your relationship – they never saw you and always felt unloved speaking to a different Account Exec each time they called anyway.

Loyalty can be a fickle thing – but thought and good communication can generally re-enforce the bond even when some prickly decisions are having to be made. Had t-mobile been clear and honest about what their new policy is and why then maybe I might be more tolerant – rather than still reading:

You and your mobile have been joined at the hip for ages now, but let’s face it, ever since the paint rubbed off the 0 key you just don’t feel the same way. Well, here’s some good news: if you’ve been with us for a while, you may well be eligible for a free upgrade or a brand new mobile at a reduced price… If you’re still thrilled with your mobile, you can choose other savings instead.

I’m not thrilled with my mobile and I’ll get a new shiny one without spending £400+ thank you very much, because it’s the price that you and your competitors are willing to pay to get me to switch, but clearly not something you are willing to stretch to to retain me. I hope your clients or employees don’t feel they want to try a shiny new interface just because they feel shortchanged.