posted 5th June 2022
Values? In Recruitment? Seriously?
When I first decided to keep a blog I made a list of ideas to write about. First on the list was father's day. It's a time when I think about being a dad, and about my own dad, and how much of an influence he had on me.
My dad, Ted Bates, was an engineer.
When I was a young lad I would love sitting around our kitchen table listening to him taking about his work, the people he worked with, and about politics.
Ted was also the company shop steward, always negotiating the best terms he could for his fellow workers. He did this for years and was always proud of the fact that his follow engineers had voted for him and that he had never resorted to going out on strike. This was in the 1970's when everyone seemed to be on strike. I remember sitting in the dark when the electricity was cut off when the miners went on strike in 1972, and I remember my dad telling me about the The Matchgirls' strike, the Tolpuddle Martyrs and why it was important to negotiate, but to also compromise.
I could have listened to him for hours sitting around that kitchen table because he was my hero.
When I left school, after a brief stint in retail, I got my first a job in engineering at AP Leamington making clutches. However, my foreman wasn't very impressed with me! I'm not sure why, but after a brief stint on the shop floor, I was transferred to the HR Department and got put to work in the Time Office. My dad was not happy! His son working in HR!
Ted was well liked around Leamington. He played snooker, cricket, football, golf, dominoes, crib and he seemed to be good at all of them.
He was very much into values. A promise was a promise. To give someone your word was everything. Everyone should be treated as you wanted to be treated yourself. Never ever cheat.
My dad died in 1979 at the age of 52.
Every time I visit one of my engineering clients the smell of oil brings back memories of him.
I still keep to his values.