Sherpa

Monday, July 14, 2008

Big Bad Bill

Poor old Equality Bill. Along with his pal Harriet Harman, he's been getting a bit of stick recently. Apparently he'll be driving people to vote for the BNP and is putting the future of the white middle class male at risk.

No fan of red tape I'm not exactly in favour of yet more rules and regulations, however well intentioned. However, I think the creative writing favoured by our tabloid press has more to answer for when it comes to keeping a them and us culture alive and kicking.

My favourite sensationalist headline last week? Has to be the Advert for Blind Air Traffic Controller. Oh no, was it political correctness at its worst? I shouldn't have been fooled, after all it was the Daily Mail I was reading. Reading between the lines the real story seems to be quite boring really: a normal advert with bog standard equal opps statement tagged on the end. So, the crime wasn't about ignoring requirements for the job, it was using the standard format for an ad. The out of proportion coverage does reinforce the terror of error that must face so many public bodies in today's climate. No wonder there is a feeling of can't do right for doing wrong amongst those subject to the public duties.

It's not all bad, occasionally common sense does prevail, I liked one journalists re-writing of the Bill in plain english. "Appoint on Merit and Don't discriminate" Seems simple doesn't it.

posted by Sherpa at 8:58 AM 0 comments

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Model behaviour

AMTM, BNTM - either an acronym too far or like me you are well aware of the empty head nonsense that is Americas/ Britains Next Top Model. Programmes where lot's of girls who are (by industry standards) too old, too short etc etc fight it out in the hopes of becoming the next 'top' model. Great fun, but I suspect Agenyss Deyn is still sleeping soundly.

So working on the premise that model perfection lies somewhere between size zero and 5ft11" can a disabled girl become a mainstream model? This is the question posed by BBC3's Britains Missing Top Model. As with the more familiar Living TV series, a handful of stunning girls have to share an apartment and compete for the top prize through a series of modelling tasks. The difference of course that the girls all consider themselves to be disabled.

In episode 1 the ranking of disability started, the girls moaned about who was more disabled than who, the judges couldn't agree if they were looking for a model or a role model, a poster girl for disability if you like. At judging all of the contestants were angry at the lack of constructive feedback, disappointed at with comments like ' didn't you do well', 'do you think you could cope in the real world?' .

By episode 2 things really started to heat up:- well, my blood was boiling! The models mentor, Jonathon 'i've only ever met perfect people' Phang, decided that ensuring the deaf girls could participate in a group discussion was a bit of a luxury, after all wasn't it annoying/inconvenient/expensive (for him) to have an interpretor on hand. Never mind the phone call to give instructions for the next days task - couldn't he send a text or did he really enjoy telling the girls who hadn't heard what was going on a dressing down?

For me the jury is out on this show. Like The Apprentice I can watch and cringe at the gaffs of the 'industry experts' and sneakily enjoy the catty remarks between contestants, but I do wonder if this programme will really achieve its aim of challenging stereotypes or if in fact it will perpetuate a view of disability as one of inability and not ability.

posted by Sherpa at 11:58 AM 0 comments

Friday, June 27, 2008

Sugar Coated

I like to think I don't watch much telly, I'd like to tell you that I was more of a culture vulture dahling. However, I'd be lying. I, like so many others, have been completely spellbound by the going ons in that board room. I didn't care about the real Francis, but I couldn't wait for the double standards and blatant sexism that the apprentices faced each week. Everyone, well nearly everyone, behaved badly. Punishment for bad behaviour was much stiffer for the girls. I suspect this harks back to Sir Sugar's youth and the expectation that girls were made of all things nice. Strong girls don't fit with the picture, so sorry Claire, like Badger before you, you had no chance. Girls who fib and play the cunning game, they won't go far. Michael gets another chance, Jenny quite rightly got what she deserved. Girls who succeed at their tasks and wear hats and bright colours will probably realise the prize would be more of a poisoned chalice. In the end the 'prize' went to the charming Lee, a hard working good fun kinda guy, well he must be, surely folks who bully their co workers and lie on their CV's don't get hired?

Of course I recognise that exaggerated personalities, careful editing and a healthy dose of controversy all make for compulsive viewing but I do worry about the messages we are sending out to our aspiring entrepreneurs and our future leaders.

Is the 'how' important in the real Board room or like in The Apprentice do results alone rule?

posted by Sherpa at 9:56 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Are all men macho?

Watching the news today I discovered that an all male team might not be the best thing for investment banking. It's to do with testosterone apparently. The solution, older men and more women. So at last, we have some inconclusive but scientific evidence that says older men and women might not cause chaos if they were to get jobs as traders.

The danger of course is that these sweeping generalisations lead to tokenistic appointments and a failure to recognise the hidden diversity in our prospective workforce.

The big question for the city has to be - can they recognise trading talent in all its guises, or will they still go for the usual bankers?

posted by Sherpa at 3:57 PM 0 comments

Friday, April 11, 2008

sherpa style

The Diva is over the moon and ready to crack open a bottle of shampoo, we've just heard that our groovy corporate identity has been shortlisted by the judges of the Scottish Design Awards, not bad for the new kid on the block.

Of course whilst the sherpa team were the inspiration for the brand, its the cool creative types at 'So.. it begins' who made it look so good

good luck all!

posted by Sherpa at 3:50 PM 0 comments

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Coffee time blog spot

You're a busy person so if you are visiting me, it probably does mean that you have a caffiene fix close by, when I'm grabbing my 5 minutes down time, I do like to sneak a peak at the other blogs out there, so much going on, from extreme ironing to extreme HR, the UK recruiter site has rather helpfully put a whole host of recruiting blogs together. The Diva's favourites? gotta be the Evil HR Lady and for a fun filled friday, its got to be the guru at personnel today.

Check out UK recruiter, the central hub for recruiters at www.ukrecruiter.co.uk As for the extreme ironing blog, you can try and find that one yourself!

posted by Sherpa at 6:07 PM

Monday, March 31, 2008

Mad March

Wow! So where did February & March go? The Diva has been busy of course being rather divaesque but not quite as bad as one reality TV 'star' ...

I nearly chocked on my morning cuppa watching Katie "apprentice" Hopkins on BBC breakfast saying that women just had to act like men to get on. It took a long time to pick my jaw off the floor after hearing her admit that she would be unlikely to employ a women as they would be more likely to get pregnant, erm.. I take it Katie missed out on biology at school then.....

Of course no other employers (apart from Sir Sugar) would be agreeing with her .... would they? do you?

posted by Sherpa at 3:23 PM 0 comments

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