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Ohio On My Mind

Towards the end of last year I was chatting with Dad about life, the universe, and everything. He asked if I had plans for the forthcoming year, and I told him I would do some work in the USA. Following the direction of my 2012 pledge, I said I didn’t know where, what or how, I just knew I would.  Dad replied, ‘Go ahead and make me proud’.

Yesterday I signed the contract which confirms I’ll be speaking, blogging, tweeting, meeting and learning at the 2012 Ohio State HR Conference. I’m humbled and excited to be given this opportunity, and even though for well documented reasons I can’t pass the news to Dad in person, I reckon he would be feeling the same.

So to the good people of Ohio I say this. I salute the flag of the state of Ohio and pledge to the Buckeye State respect and loyalty. And to Steve Browne I say, I’m totally geeked dude!

More news on my USA expansion plans to follow. Meanwhile – what are you doing differently in 2012? I’d love to hear from you.

photo c/o DBduo

 

 

Learning to Paint – Spring Magnolia

Keira and I were walking home from school yesterday and we noticed how blue the sky was, and how many magnolias are in flower just now.

Keira and I were walking home from school yesterday and we noticed how blue the sky was, and how many magnolias are in flower just now. When we got home I had a go at trying to capture the hints of pink and mauve in the magnolia flower, and combine it with the very blue sky. I’ve tried to use a little white space to indicate where the edges of the leaves might be. Importantly I made no attempt to try and capture realism, just a thought of what we’d seen and talked about. There’s something about this picture I quite like – I hope you find something in it to enjoy too.

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Antidote

I’m very grateful to the mystery guest shopper bloggers who recently provided us with Vodamoan and PC Whirled. Tales of bad service abound and it’s worth giving them the light of day. These stories are not uncommon and can galvanise us into demanding better service when we see that we’re not alone. And it doesn’t always have to be like that…

First Pharmacy

Recently I’ve had to make a few visits to my local chemist First Pharmacy, to get some painkillers for some relief from a particularly angry shoulder muscle. Everything is now under control and I’m waiting for some time with the physio, but for over a week the situation worsened, hence the need to make a few trips.

So what?

On each visit I was served promptly (I had to queue briefly a couple of times), and on my third trip Valarie served me again. While I was waiting for my prescription to be sorted out, I noticed the staff were all talking with each other and their customers while they worked. There was a sense of humour in the air and at one point Valarie made a joke about being bullied at work to one of her colleagues, and they all fell about laughing. ‘I don’t normally hear laughter as a by-product of bullying’ I said, and Valarie replied:

‘We like to have fun in our work. It helps us do our jobs well and it seems to put a smile on the faces of our customers, we think that’s important too’.

I don’t think I’ve heard the employee and customer experience so well summed up in a long time. I left the shop with Valarie’s words bouncing around inside my head ten days ago and I can recall them with crystal clarity.

I’d love to tell you that First Pharmacy are some mega global brand and that their employee and customer connected ethos goes worldwide. They are not. Yet.

photo c/o Dvortygirl