I am sure this has been around a few times but don't remember if it made it onto PDML or not...
Stan ----------- £7m cost of telling staff how to keep desks tidy By Paul Stokes Last Updated: 3:03am GMT 05/01/2007 Civil servants are being trained how to keep their desks tidy as part of a £7 million Government project described by one union as "madness". Staff at one HM Revenue and Customs complex have had strips of black tape fixed to their desks to mark where items should be placed. The pilot study at the offices at Longbenton, Newcastle upon Tyne, is designed to improve efficiency by clearing clutter and keep computer keyboards, telephones and stationery in their optimum positions. It is included in a programme entitled Lean, introduced by consultants Unipart to improve the performance of public sector workers more used to dealing with red tape. HMRC would not disclose how much Unipart was being paid for its service but the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) yesterday claimed that the dictum to desk-users was part of a £7.4 million national project. One Longbenton worker said: "Telling people where they should place their telephone is demeaning and demoralising. "It's absurd that all this public money is being spent on this when staff are quite capable of deciding for themselves how their desks should be organised." The union has had reports of staff in one office being asked if a banana was "active or inactive", meaning it had to be cleared from a desk unless it was going to be eaten immediately. Kevin McHugh, the PCS branch secretary, said some staff at Longbenton share the same desk, and have to rearrange their workspace, regardless of the tape. He said. "This office has been open for 60 years and people have managed to find their pens and staplers without consultants helping them in that time. "They are trying to turn people into robots but the whole thing falls down because in certain areas we have hot-desking where different shifts come in and use the same desks. "If the person coming in after you has slightly shorter arms, then the markers will be in the wrong place. "Marking the desk tends to get members upset sometimes when they've got personal photographs on their desks and they have to move them around." A HMRC spokesman explained it was "only right" that staff sharing desk space be given advice and support on how to make the most efficient use of the space. She said: "It will also help to make sure everyone has what they need to do their job effectively and in turn support working relationships. Staff can still move the things on their desk to positions that suit them best. "Lean is all about how we can work more efficiently to deliver an even better service to our customers." -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
