> From: Stan Halpin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: 2007/01/11 Thu AM 03:38:14 GMT > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List <[email protected]> > Subject: OT: Only in England (revisited) > > I am sure this has been around a few times but don't remember if it > made it onto PDML or not... > > Stan > -----------
Very amusing but........ Longbenton is the Pensions Agency office. Unipart is a major car spare part supplier. Looks like an "urban myth" to me. If you want _real_ idiocy, how about the fact that HM Revenue and Customs (i.e the Taxman) recently sold all its buildings to a property developer and then leased them back, in the interests of "efficiency". Idiotic enough, until it was made public that the parent company of the developer (to whom all the profits go) is based in a tax haven. Then to find out that the developer reneged on the deal unless the rent was increased. I often wonder who puts politicians' clothes on in the morning. They are certainly too stupid to put them on themselves. > > £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 > ----------------------------------------- Email sent from www.ntlworld.com Virus-checked using McAfee(R) Software Visit www.ntlworld.com/security for more information -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
