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The loyal goose

henry tapper

Listening to two football managers this morning, the Red one who’s in control, the blue one who’s not, it wasn’t hard to see why Ferguson is the titan he is. He got his job the hard way and kept it in the early years by hard work. He’s enjoying the fruits of that hard work in his later years and I don’t begrudge him it – I don’t like him but that’s not the point. The young whippersnapper from Chelsea has it all to prove, I hope he is given time but nothing about Roman Abramovitch suggests he will get it. He is reaping the harvest of too much too soon, he has a belly of undigested suggest, he needs to do a Monty Panesar and go back to his roots, go off and manage in the lower leagues for a few years Andre.

Talk loyalty, talk Terry Skiverton, Yeovil‘s boss who stood down earlier this season to be come #2 boss , preferring to learn under “Sir” Gary Johnson than walk away in a huff. He will become a better manager for the patience he is showing and Yeovil will I hope reward him over time for the loyalty he has and is showing us.

Career loyalty is a scarce commodity. Pensions were set up to reward it and still do, though the high water mark of that reward is past, it’s the loyal few who joined a company 30 or 40 years ago and are retiring from it now who are the big winners.

Few of us have the good fortune of that continuity of employment as employers like employees are quick to throw the platitudes surrounding the phrase “our people are our greatest asset” out of the window, when a strategic target is at stake.

But we all know – inuitively – that the continuity of service exemplified by Ferguson at United but present in every mature company, is what keeps that company on the straight and narrow.

I met a man last night who has served his company 32 years and hopes to serve it another 8. He is a role model for the many who have worked for him over they years and though I haven’t , he is an inspiration for me.

Companies have a nasty habit of judging people by measurables and blaming those who look the easiest target. The measurables in football amount to the last 450 minutes on the pitch, in business to the specific performance targets in place at any one time. Pensions too are judged by snapshots , accounted for on an annual basis, assessed strategically every three years.

I would suggest that football managers, business people and pensions are all tend to be assessed with short-term measures which ignore the soft values of experience and the measure of loyalty.

It would be good if we would allow loyalty to lay its golden eggs not just at Old Trafford but in our businesses and in our pensions. Less meddling with short-term fixes, more strategic planning and patience please.

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