I read an article last weekend about dress code in the workplace and selecting on the basis of difference and wanted to share my own experience of wearing the wrong clothes.    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8187689.stm

My first particularly gruelling experience of dressing inappropriately was at the tender age of 19 and was only my second job interview ever.  I was a “first jobber” with good A levels results and had managed to get myself an interview for an admin position in an investment bank in the Docklands.  When I turned up in a bright turquoise jacket and turquoise flowery skirt, soaked from head to toe, (it had been raining heavily and I didn’t have an umbrella) no one had told me about appropriate interview dress.  I thought that I had done well to wear a nice jacket and smart skirt.  Admittedly, the soaked through look didn’t help but by that point it was too late.  The interview itself seemed to go very well although the two girls interviewing me were wearing black fitted skirt suits and crisp white shirts and I did feel a little out of place!   Anyway, needless to say I didn’t get the job and after feedback from my recruitment consultant, I went straight out and bought a navy interview suit and promptly secured my first job in the City.

As a naive “first jobber” doing the interview rounds, I was shocked at how shallow these people were.  I was still a bright school leaver with good “A” level results and a host of skills waiting to be tapped into.  I still had the same personality and I was smartly dressed (if a little damp and flowery).  I realised very early on in my working life that image is more important than anything else.  If you have two candidates who present equally well on paper and have identical qualifications for the job, it can be a hard lesson to learn that the dark interview suit will get the job over the flowery skirt and bright coloured jacket.  Or do they?

It could be that I also support difference when recruiting as I tend to be drawn towards the bright flowers rather than the plain suits.  I looked nothing like the two “suits” that interviewed me and I didn’t get the job. However, if I had to choose then I would go for the flower over the suit every time, which ironically makes me the same as everyone else -  I too prefer people who are more like me. Maybe I just see myself as more of a flower than a suit?!

A good friend of mine (who shall remain anonymous) works for a company (that shall also remain anonymous) that is doing rather well. Even in these tough financial times, sales targets for the year have been met, the senior management team all received their bonuses last month and they have a new member of staff starting next week.  Not the signs of a company in financial difficulty.

However, in all of this, said company announced to all its employees last week that redundancies are to be made from certain departments due to these difficult financial times.

Several things occurred to me as my friend told me all about this over lunch at the weekend. The first was, given that it is still really hard to find employment with the job to applicant ratio averaging anything from 1:50 to 1:250, these poor redundant people are really going to struggle. The second was, is this right, morally? Bosses receive their bonuses, new staff are employed, the company thrives, yet, people are made redundant and forced to join the ranks of the unemployed, now at its highest in over 20 years.

The third, was that maybe this is a good sign. If a company is doing well, yet is still making redundancies, it could be that these tough economic times are soon to be over and companies are preparing for this by getting rid of “dead wood” ready for when the economy is more buoyant. Whilst redundancy can be costly to a company, over time, a reduction in the wage bill will almost certainly help company finances and could ultimately prevent a company from bankruptcy.

However, if recovery from the global recession can be assisted by spending (and this has been mentioned), then making redundancies just to clear some “dead wood” at a time when employment is at its lowest for years, is perhaps not the best way to encourage spending. 

If my friends company are making redundancies based on the “dead wood” theory, then chances are that there are many more out there doing the same thing. Whilst a good clear out can be a positive thing, is this really the right time to be making these sorts of redundancies?

I always know when summer is here and it is not when the sun starts to shine as let’s face it, this is never guaranteed. No, it is when Big Brother starts!  On the run up to my annual signal for the start of summer, the media is concerning itself with the mental health of reality show Britain’s got Talent runner up Susan Boyle. Thrust into the spotlight overnight, she is now said to be recovering from exhaustion and anxiety in The Priory. A casualty of reality television and a product of the media environment in which we live.

What is unusual about Susan Boyle is that she is a talented lady with a beautiful voice (unlike most BB housemates) who has become overwhelmed by the huge amount of media attention that she has attracted; she is just an ordinary lady with a lovely voice who is clearly struggling with being such a public figure. The cynical amongst us may think that if she was not prepared for this level of media exposure then why would she enter a national televised talent content in the first place? Only Susan can tell us this.

There is little doubt in my mind however why the 16 contestants due to enter the Big Brother house tonight have signed up for months of media publicity and scrutiny. For their five minutes of fame and a chance to carve a career as a “celebrity” for themselves; to become famous for absolutely nothing; to have their private lives past and present dragged though the gutter of the national press; or, for the ultimate celebrity accolade; an opportunity to admit themselves to The Priory.

As a Psychologist, I am fascinated by the motives and personality types of the housemates and as we embark on what may be the last summer of BB madness, I cannot help but think that Boyle’s emotional exhaustion highlights that instant fame can be extremely stressful and detrimental to a person’s health and any sort of quest for fame and celebrity should not be taken lightly. Big Brother housemates……you have been warned!

I have always been a big fan of The Apprentice. To me, it has a little more substance than most reality television shows (although I have been known to watch the occasional Big Brother!).

What grabbed my attention in last night’s episode was Sir Alan’s comments in the boardroom when he was making his “your fired” decision. Poor Howard ended up getting the boot because he was seen as not enough of a risk taker and was too structured and organised for the current economic climate. The suggestion made in the programme was that in order for businesses to survive these tough times, risk takers may be more appropriately placed to help company’s climb out of the recession than those who tend to adopt a safe and structured approach.

Whilst this is only one person’s view of what it takes to ride out these tough times, Sir Alan’s ramblings in the board room last night have raised in my mind an interesting point about the sort of people who can keep organisations thriving in these tough times. Is it a play it safe person like Howard, who was fired for his play it safe approach, or, is it someone who is more entrepreneurial and risk taking?

My personal views are that Sir Alan probably has a point.  What I mean by that is that some calculated risk taking and willingness to go out on a limb to secure and maintain business is essential in any economic climate. Chances are that in a recession, more of this needs to be happening to keep business coming in. What can be problematic in a recession is, there is more at stake and more to lose so the risks may become higher. When the risks do become too high this is when the Howard’s of this world are needed to keep things in line. It is just a shame that Sir Alan only has the one vacancy!