High staff 'churn' as a business model? The Wickes approach

Listening to a recent Radio 4 Today programme interview with Geoff Cooper CEO of Wickes (and the Travis Perkins Group) it appeared that company was well-placed to ride out the current recession.

He was later quoted as saying " We took early action in 2008 to deal with the increasingly tough trading environment and have set our business ready to manage continuing difficult market conditions in 2009. We have already taken decisive action, and stand ready to take further steps if necessary." (Source www.diyweek.net)

However, on the radio he added that high staff turnover was a feature of their business and appeared to view it favourably as a way of managing staff costs.

It made me think. Usually businesses want to keep their staff since recuiting and training new employees is costly in both temporal and financial resources.

Making working conditions as appealing as possible in order to retain staff has always been a 'given' in management terms.

So could the current market conditions be leading to a new model in which companies welcome staff departures as a way of controlling costs?

This may look appealing to the accountants but has big ramifications for Customer Relationship Management!

It is no co-incidence that John Lewis is performing well in difficult market conditions. Their staff actually know something about the products they are selling - unlike the average salesperson in Wickes or B&Q.

Staff knowledge as a Key Performance or Profit Indicator? Why not!

I know in which store I prefer to buy my everyday DIY products!

Travis Perkins underperforms but Tile Giant sales up

Happy Birthday Facebook

Social media site Facebook is 5 years old today. Facebook has taken the world by storm and offers far more than just a personal networking tool.

Politicans are quickly learning the value of Facebook. Barack Obama understood the importance of social media and his use of the medium had a huge impact on the race to the White House.

The world of politics is finding Facebook offers a fast way of quickly gathering support for a particular campaign or issue.

Facebook allows the individual to find their political voice again.

For business it can provide a wonderful insight into what your customers think about you and your brand.