Focus on the people not the process


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“Everyone in the business has the authority to do the job they want and the people function is there to support them, not to tell them what to do.”


“Everyone in the business has the authority


to do the job they want and the people function is there to support them, not to tell them what to do,” said Timpson, as he hinted at the way he runs Timpson with massively empowered people in the company’s 1,900- plus stores. It is based on an upside-down management


structure where all the focus is on the store employees as they serve the customer. This was not always the case and he says 20 years ago Timpson was “just like everyone else with area managers ordering people around and sticking to the rules”. This was changed and people were given


freedom to make their own decisions and act upon them. The only dissenters were middle management who had to take on a different role “looking after their team and supporting the people who make the money”. And it worked as the business has


successfully continued to profitably grow. “Looking after the customers is good for business and we trust the people who serve them. But this only works if you have the right people,” he said. Part of the role of the people support


function is to ensure that the wrong people are not retained within the business: “We look after the people that are really good. The worst thing is to let the people who are really good working alongside people who are not good.” In order to attract the right individuals the


focus is entirely on personality rather than qualifications. As many as 10% of employees are recruited from prison as Timpson says they often have the right personality. Recruiting in


this way undoubtedly helps engender a sense of loyalty between Timpson and its employees – and this is compounded with the rewards that are offered. In addition to bonuses based on


performance, there is also a hardship fund that helps people who have modest amounts of debt (and will swap their payday loans into less onerous loans), holiday homes are available for employees to use, and everybody is given their birthday off with full pay. Operating in such a way is very much down


to the culture of the business, according to Timpson, who said it took five years for it to be developed and requires constant work to maintain. When it acquires a business it takes three years to fully ingrain the Timpson culture into the new operation. Such an approach also needs full support


from the chief executive who has to believe in this new way of working because a strong culture does not come overnight. He suggests it might not be particularly suited to organisations like Arcadia and Sports Direct. But for other retailers there are certainly elements that can be adopted - even if they are not going for it wholesale. “There are certain bits of what we do that


could be used by other companies such as the rewards like having birthdays off. This would work anywhere. But to get the real dividends you need to change the culture. It’s about the character of the different businesses. Lots can learn from us but a lot of it is not in their character. I’d encourage them to change but then it is good for us if they don’t,” said Timpson.


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