The Productive Pessimist

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Why Your Business Should Care About Carers

"What?! I've got to give one special group of people even more time off - paid ! - while making enough money to keep this place going is already stressful enough?! Jog on - I'll just make sure we never employ someone who's a 'carer'! They can claim benefits - that's what it's for, isn't it?" I suspect - even if you feel guilty about it - that's how many business owners reacted to the Liberal Democrats' proposition of a Carers' Leave Bill - swiftly followed by relief as you realised which Party had put it forward, and how unlikely they were to ever be elected. Then a niggle of anxiety; what if whoever does get in nicks the idea, because they think it'll make them popular with those in the electorate you secretly think are "lazy scroungers who just want an excuse not to work." I know it's how an awful lot of people do think - because I'm a carer for my wife. I went through the Covid-19 pandemic as a shi

Pride, Done Professionally, Made Personal

Pride isn't just about slapping rainbow stickers on things, hiring flamboyantly gay or visibly trans influencers, and doing 'awareness training.' As businesses and leaders, Pride month should be where your LGBTQIA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual/Aromantic, and other non-cishet identities and experiences) colleagues guide you in the groundwork that needs to be done for lasting change. Stonewall wasn't just a random incident of civil disobedience; it was the detonator blast that broke ground to begin to build a new way of being human, and a new way of seeing and welcoming other human beings. LGBTQIA+ Inclusion For Life, Not Just For Pride There are things which are a common, unconscious part of how people who are not LGBTQIA+ behave and set up the world, especially in workplaces, which, unintentionally, exclude LGBTQIA+ people, especially those who are also experiencing financial challenges, and/or have intersectional disadvant

The New Trolley Problem: Retail's Abandoned Carts

It's happened again. Your cookies have tracked what seemed to be an engaged, potentially high-spending customer across your website. They lingered the appropriate amount, clicked suitably quickly, examined the full, carefully-crafted description your copywriter had two fits of screaming profanity, three breaks to cry in the loo, and one episode of throwing a hardbacked version of the Oxford English Dictionary at a colleague's head before their words were finally approved. The customer's virtual basket shows enough variety to suggest new marketing angles, but not so much that your software can't categorise them effectively. It will be possible for the software to prompt the tried-and-tested selection of marketing approaches that (mostly) work with their demographic. To appeal to their ambitions, their glittering image of themselves, their fears, their hopes, their prejudices, and, in doing so, get more money from them. Then - disaster! They've left your website!

Mind the Gap in Workplace Mental Health

"Mental health at work" has become something of a buzz phrase in recent years, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. "Mental health" is the reason people "need to get back to the office" - because the extroverts are suffering, since they're no longer able to dominate meetings, talk people into agreeing to take on more work than they're actually comfortable with, or enthusiastically create a situation where, if getting drunk with people you already spend too much time with, or leaping on a zip wire, aren't really your thing, you're "unadventurous", "anti-social", and "not really a team player." The UK government insist work is good for our "mental health", even as successful GPs decide they literally can't carry on anymore, and choose a permanent solution to the problem of burnout. While the low wages, in comparison to the cost of living, and long hours of many jobs are actually c

Don't Be 'Tone Deaf' to Deaf Inclusion

The 6th-13th May is Deaf Awareness Week in the UK, where 12million people are Deaf, or hard of hearing, with 'hard of hearing' including individuals with some hearing loss, as well as those with conditions such as tinnitus and Auditory Processing Disorder . At The Productive Pessimist, our Director and Management Consultancy Lead, Ash, lives with tinnitus, Auditory Processing Disorder, and some manual hearing loss. He has given a short insight into the challenges this causes him, and what helps (and what makes life an absolute nightmare!) Ash: I found out I had physical (referred to as 'manual') hearing loss in my teens. At the age of 38, I have very limited hearing in my left ear, though my right ear is fine. (Frustratingly, this is completely the opposite way round to my sight loss, where I have no sight in my right eye, and limited sight in my left - if the ears and eyes could link up, that would be great!) Fortunately, my hearing is not likely to deteriorate

The Welfare We Need

“I don’t want your face looking like that while I’m talking.” (Face was ‘bland neutral.’) “People here don’t like you, because you’re too negative.” (Used very light sarcasm to defuse workplace tension.) “I think it’s a bit inconsiderate to overshare the way you do…everyone is struggling here, and they don’t need to be worried about you.” (Had responded to “How’re you doing?” with “Okay, I think…it’s been a bit tough at home, but I’m getting through. How’s everything with you?”) “We need happy, bubbly team players here - if that’s not how you feel, every day, then I’m sorry, but we’re just not the right place for you to thrive.” (Person was behaving normally, being professionally welcoming, supporting their colleagues.) Employers don't want to employ people with "mental health problems" (or disabilities), but the government don't want those people claiming welfare. Yes, depression and anxiety are natural, normal responses to life, especially life as it is current