Would you like unlimited holidays?

Imagine being told by your boss that you can take as much holiday you like. What would you do with all that time – would you be off travelling the world rather than going to work?

Whilst this might sound too good to be true, or even a recipe for anarchy, it is exactly what employees at Richard Branson’s Virgin Group Headquarters have been told. In a move that might seem, at first glance, to go against conventional wisdom, Branson’s employees have been told that they can take holidays whenever they like… providing they have got their work done. As Branson puts it in his new blog “It is left to the employee alone to decide if and when he or she feels like taking a few hours a day, a week or a month off” (Branson 2014).

So why would he want to do such a thing? Continue reading →

Sir Alex Ferguson: The retirement of a ‘great’ leader?

Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United F.C.The word ‘great’ has been used frequently over the last 24 hours following the announcement of the retirement of one of the most successful managers in English and arguably world football, Sir Alex Ferguson. Other managers, former players and fans from Manchester United and other clubs have been queuing up to pay their respects to the manager that has brought so much success to the ‘red half of Manchester’.

The statistics speak for themselves. 13 league titles, 5 FA Cups, 4 League Cups and 2 Champions Leagues in 27 seasons (Fordyce, 2013) is a record that may never be passed again. The level of his success has led to considerable reflection over what made him a great manager. Continue reading →