Working Naked

The Globe and Mail recently featured a no-dress code article:

"A Buckinghamshire (England) computer software company is looking to recruit female web coders who are prepared to work naked," Orange News reports. "Nude House, where staff work as nature intended in a 'warm and private' naturist office environment in Amersham, also wants naked male and female sales staff. ...The company web site says: 'New applicants will be required to work in the nude from the time they arrive at work until they leave to go home. Nude means no clothes whatsoever and no shoes either. All new applicants will be naturists and could be males or females.'"

Further digging on the Nude House web site revealed:
"Company founder, 63-year-old Chris Taylor, claims Nude House is the only business in the world whose employees don't wear any clothes. It's apparently every naturist's dream work environment - warm, clean and great fun - and since most of the business is conducted online, nobody needs to know they're naked. Mr. Taylor himself has been a naturist for 20 years and says that hasn't affected his business at all. In fact, it's going so well he's thinking of opening another office, soon.

In case you're wondering why the ad asks specifically for women, it's because Nude House wants their office to be less male-dominated. There are currently seven nude guys working hard over there, and only one woman, so management is looking for more females to balance the number. "Sex does not concern us and is not promoted by us - we merely provide an environment where the staff may be in offices that are all naturists," Taylor told the Daily Telegraph.
In fact, the company is trying very hard to identify job applicants who are only interested in seeing other naked people or trying to have sex with them, since that's not what naturists are about at all. So far, seven women have applied for the wacky job that pays approximately $37,600 a year."

Well, you'd certainly never have to worry about what to wear in the office, and a simple commuter's trench coat will be all you need.

The Un-Talent

By Pam Hadder

Never mind the Age of Aquarius, forget the Baby Boom, and don't talk about (or to!) the Gen Xers (they are annoyed by being lumped in with the Boomers, and are too busy making ends meet!)

We are living in the time of the Un-Talent. Not specific to an age, demographic or nation, and fuelled by sparks of social media fame, un-talent philosophy abounds. Un-Talent disciples are low on commitment, ethics and the follow-through side of things. Ask what they do, and they will paint you a brilliant picture of their fabulousness! Remember the childhood tale of the emperor's new clothes? That surely is the Un-Talent guide book, or at least a volume in the required training series.

Fickle, go where the wind blows types, UTs have been raised in a sticky bubble of doting parental paradigms. A steady diet of "you're the best" and "you can be anything you want to be" doctrine has spoiled them for wholesome fare like personal accountability and global realities. Clever chameleons and mimics, they graft onto buzzwords like vultures on carrion, and can talk green, wear a business suit, or schmooze with egg-heads at academic events; all the while doing nothing and gathering "credentials" of even greater personal glory.

Do you need REAL ability versus the virtual UT variety? SWJ understands working on real terms, within real budgets, to achieve real, measurable results that will transform your business. Let's talk TALENT.

Trust Your Gut

By Pam Hadder

Recently, SWJ was asked to respond to an RFP - not a big deal, we've responded to many RFPs and have won a number of new jobs and some long term clients in this way. What was unusual was how the process evolved into a meaningless exercise.

We should have heeded our inner alarm bells, but the referral came to us from a respected and trusted contact, so we quashed any misgivings and gave the RFP our full attention.

The good news, we over-delivered and felt great about our end result.The bad news (Part One) is that we didn't get the work. The even worse news (Part Deux) is that a publisher won the RFP! This publisher bills themselves as a "PR company" - not only is this untrue, they do not have a team with the skill-set to complete the items identified in the RFP.

Yes, a prickly situation - to be trounced by posers with no marketing campaign experience, no web development and programming ability; and with debatable understanding of PR! To say we were gob smacked by this turn of events is really an understatement.

Looking back, there were so many red flags - flaming red, actually: the group was slow to confirm the details of the RFP and delivery time lines, the meeting time was changed at the last minute; the re-scheduled meeting ran through typical lunch hours (guess who supplied a lovely lunch?); only two of the four expected guests attended the meeting, with one guest arriving late; and the latecomer had the audacity to mock our walls covered in advertising and marketing awards on his way out the door (???).

The moral of our tale - always trust your gut. Never get sucked in by the dine-and-dash crowd who ask for all of the flexibility on your part, but deliver little commitment on their end. Know your value and guard it with your life.

I think of our strategic marketing and advertising firm as a five-star restaurant with a wonderful, ever-changing menu tailored to the unique needs of our diverse clientele. Patrons of our restaurant can survey the menu prices and choose according to their preference and allotted budget. When someone orders everything on the menu and we deliver, as ordered, our expectation is that we will be paid for our work.

We are just lucky that all these pirates gobbled up was some of our time, our preliminary thoughts and a free lunch! Eyes bigger than your tum-tum, Buddy? Not a problem - we'll box it up for you in some award winning packaging "to go!"