OT: Straw poll

[Grumps]

This is really OT, and there is absolutely no way that I can stretch it to being on topic, but I have a little question.

Scenario: You are a customer visiting a new supplier. You have never bought anything from this supplier, but you are developing a relationship (a potential order which is equivalent to 25% of this supplier's turnover). When you arrive, one of the employees has brought their young child to work, and another has his pet dog. What do you think about this company? a) Seems like a bunch of 'normal' people. b) Not as professional as the other company down the road. c) It's of no consequence.

Again, I appolgise for the OT nature.

[Sparks]

I would say, it would depend on the nature of the business.

Were the both under control when you saw them, or were they causing havoc around the office/warehouse/factory? Were they in any danger? (For example, is there machinary there, or is it just an office?

Sparks...

[Al Reynolds]

I would make a judgement strictly on the basis of whether I thought it would make a difference to their ability to fulfil the order. It might be that they are happier employees because they can bring in their children/pets, and as such are prepared to work harder. Or the reverse might be true. I certainly don't think that seeing a group of people standing around in uniforms is necessarily a good sign (eg Kw*kf*t).

I had an experience where the owner of a small shop who were repairing something for me left me alone in the shop for about 5 minutes while he went off searching for a spanner in his car. You might think he was incompetent for not having the spanner to hand, or stupid for leaving his shop in the care of a complete stranger, but he did the job for a reasonable price and within a reasonable time, so it made no difference to me in the long run.

Al

[Andrew Gabriel]

It may depend on the industry sector, but in all the sectors where I've had supplier relationship dealings, I would say c).

I recall being somewhat surprised the first time I visited a US building of a former employer of mine. At lunchtime, all these dogs appeared in the corridors with their owners. They had been sitting quietly in their offices all morning and I had never noticed them. At lunchtime, their owners were taking them out for a walk. Just once in a while, something would set them all off barking across the whole building, but that was rare enough that it was rather more of an amusement than a problem. They were all very well behaved whenever I was there. There were a significant number of strange breeds I'd never seen before too, but I suppose you might say this would not be unexpected amongst the dogs belonging to software engineers;-)

[johnty]

Is this another Supplychain thread?

[Grumps]

:-) No! It's an office environment, and I'd go with c) too. [Dog is very well behaved. Young child screams a bit]

Similar question: Scenario: You are a customer visiting a new supplier. You have never bought anything from this supplier, but you are developing a relationship (a potential order which is equivalent to 25% of this supplier's turnover). When you arrive, several of the employees are French. What do you think about this company? a) What, I don't want to buy cheese. b) Ah yes, that reminds me. I need to get some bread. c) It's of no consequence, we love the French.

Sorry. I really am bored now.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

A child will demand attention throughout the day, so unless it was just a one off through some emergency, I'd question the ability of that person to be able to concentrate on the job in hand.

An dog, however, might simply sleep under the desk and be taken for a walk at lunchtime - for the benefit of both it and the owner.

[Andy Dingley]

Not if you keep it busy sewing footballs and trainers.

[Ian Stirling]

d) great, child labour, gotta be cheap!

[Mary Fisher]

Don't they have chimneys there?

Mary

[Dave Plowman (News)]

;-) They must be very clever if they can do is while below school age?

[Rob Morley]

Sounds like a good environment to me - they're probably happier working like that, so they're more likely to do a good job. Unless everything is chaotic and stressful, of course. They certainly sound like the sort of people who would be less likely to bullshit you than some of the more "professional" firms.

[Rob Morley]

Maybe the child's supervisor was effectively doing a part-time job and taking all day to do it. Not all work demands concentration, and mothers are often very good at multitasking anyway.

[Tricky Dicky]

Depends on the industry sector. Where I work now (when I am there - but that is another story), it would definitely mean a non-starter - but I once sold £30,000 of concrete & quarrying equipment to a bloke who turned up in a beat-up old Capri with a dog in a back - gave me a cash deposit there and then and paid the balance by bank transfer. So you can never tell.

Tricky

[Tricky Dicky]

Depends on the age of the French people - generally any French person under the age of thirty is okay - it's the old cantakerous bastards who voted for De Gaulle that are the problem

Tricky

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Eh?

On things that require little thought like ironing or sewing, possibly.

But in an office where they might be answering phones etc?

I'm already plagued by people answering phones who do their best to stop you getting to a person who can actually answer my query. So don't want them even more distracted by looking after a kid.

[Colum Mylod]

As others have said, the dog is not likely to interfere much with the work unlike the kid. But if the kid is around only because it's half term/"teacher training day" it's not going to matter much. OTOH if it's always there..

[Mary Fisher]

You mean the things you can do ...

Oh no! Not answering a phone as WELL as ironing and sewing???

>

[Alan]

In message , Andy Dingley wrote

The child may be the fresh food for the dog.

[Dave]

I like cildren, but I couldn't manage to eat a full one ;-)

Dave