I'm a chap of a certain age. Experience, I prefer to call it. I've been around companies in the UK, Europe and the USA for more than 30 years. I ran my own small business for two decades and worked as a consultant in the global science, chemicals and food industries more recently. I've had dealings with hundreds of organisations in my time, speaking and working closely with clients from all levels of those businesses, from the factory floor right up to the boardroom.
'That's all very well, there's nothing like blowing your own trumpet. What's your point?' I hear you ask. I certainly wasn't pointing all that out to be boastful. What it does, I think, allow me to do is have a decent grasp of how companies tend to organise themselves and go about running their business. So before we look at how James Timpson has chosen to run his family business since he took over as CEO about 20 years ago, let's look at how most companies run themselves.
Top-Down Management
Discounting micro and small businesses (employing fewer than 10 and 50 people respectively) the majority of companies still have a top-down management style of some kind. This is a traditional style of leadership and management, the norm back in the 20th century, whereby an action plan to achieve an end goal is formulated at one level of management and communicated downwards for lower levels of staff to implement. This could be an overall company goal (perhaps a financial target) set at board level and then project-managed through layers of middle-management into individual departments. The logical conclusion of this is that a junior manager is given a plan to implement and a target to achieve from his/her superior, and that junior manager must get his/her small team of staff to make the plan work.
Can that be successful in the long term? Of course it can. Many huge global businesses have made countless billions of pounds (dollars, euros, yen..) profits over a sustained period of time using that very method of management style. It's the norm throughout the retail and manufacturing industries. Done well, it provides clarity for everyone. It can also be easier to see where and when there are any problems in the process.
However, it's just as easy to see where this method falls down. The lower levels of staff, who are tasked with the day-to-day running of the overall plan, are a long way detached from the people who devised the plan originally. The chances are they had no say in the drawing up of the plan or the setting of any targets from the outset, and any creative ideas they have to improve performance are most likely to be ignored. This can lead to a poorly motivated and disengaged workforce, where morale is low and staff turnover is high.
Bottom-Up Management
You don't need to be a rocket scientist to work out how a bottom-up management style might differ from the more traditional top-down style described above.
Staff and employees at all levels are involved in the process of setting goals and targets, and then through providing feedback during the task are able to play a part in achieving a positive outcome. In general, project managers within a bottom-up organisation tend to have a more 'hands-off' approach with their team. Whilst ultimately the flow of instruction is still downwards, the flow of communication between layers of staff and management is two ways, both downwards and upwards. The idea is to have a much more motivated and engaged staff, especially at the lower levels, and a better company culture overall.
This style of management is most common amongst young, growing businesses, and throughout the computer and software industries.
What Makes Timpson Different?
We've probably all made use of a Timpson shop at some point. Apart from the Timpson shoe repair, key cutting and engraving businesses they also own Max Spielmann, Johnsons The Cleaners, The Watch Lab, Snappy Snaps, Flock Inns, Barber Shop, Jeeves of Belgravia, and a number of other subsidiary companies. None of those brands could be described as flashy. None of the services they provide are particularly glamorous. You won't see them running expensive advertising campaigns. Yet, Timpson are consistently ranked as one of the top UK companies to work for. So what makes them so different?
The first Timpson shop opened in 1865 in the north west of England. There was a brief spell where the company was a publicly listed company, but that aside it has remained in the ownership of the Timpson family. The current Chair is Sir John Timpson CBE, who along with his late wife Alex fostered 90 (yes, ninety) children, some very challenging, whilst running the company. Their story is in equal measures astonishing and awe-inspiring. He handed over the day-to-day running of the business to his son, James Timpson, in 2002.
Since James took over as CEO the Timpson group has grown hugely. It currently employs over 5,000 people (colleagues, as they are known) across over 2,000 stores or pods. It is the UK's biggest retail service provider, and is continuing to grow its portfolio through an expansion into mobile phone repairs.
Upside-Down Management
Timpson have what they call an upside-down management style across the group. The idea is that the CEO is at the bottom of the hierarchy and the customer is at the top. They give almost complete freedom to the colleagues in their shops, trusting that they know their customers best and, given that, are best placed to give those customers what they want. The company have only two rules for those shop staff:
Look the part
Put the money in the till
They have a system of area management teams, each one responsible for supporting a number of stores. The focus of those managers is on how they can support the shop staff, and what could be done to improve the customers' experience. These teams report back to the main support office in Manchester, Timpson House (it is not called a head office). Periodically a survey is sent out to all Timpson colleagues, this consists of just one question, 'On a scale of 1 to 10 how happy are you with the support you get from your team?' There is a box to add any additional comments, anonymously. The results of this survey forms what is known as 'The Happy Index'. Timpson ultimately judge the success of their business by the happiness of their colleagues, rather than by whether they reach or surpass certain financial targets. They also believe that if you get the happiness level right, the profits look after themselves.
When it comes to looking after their employees wellbeing, Timpson are second to none. All colleagues are give an extra paid holiday for their birthday. They are given an extra paid holiday on the day their child starts school for the first time. Colleagues who get married get an extra paid week's holiday after the wedding. Timpson will pay for a wedding car if needed on the day. There are paid days off for pet bereavements. Women are allowed extra days off during the menopause. The company has a £1,000,000 per year fund which can be accessed by colleagues in times of crisis. It has been used to buy cars for families, and even to carry out expensive emergency dental work.
Timpson own about 20 holiday homes around the UK and Europe. They are allocated out to colleagues, free of charge, ensuring some colleagues and families who otherwise might not get to go on holiday can do.
Around 10% of Timpson employees join the company straight from prison. James Timpson believes in finding talented people with personality, and as head of the Prison Reform Trust he believes there are plenty of those in our prisons, and that everyone deserves a second chance. Timpson run many training courses within prisons, teaching offenders skills for when they leave.
This isn't intended to be a propaganda piece for the Timpson group by the way. To be clear I've never met James Timpson, and I'm sure he's not perfect, none of us are. Timpson as a company are run to make a profit like any other business. They will definitely have had difficulties with colleagues at times, and not all 5,000 employees will give them a glowing report I'm sure. James Timpson has appeared on quite a few podcasts and television shows in recent times, talking about his life and his work, I would recommend listening to a couple and making your own mind up.
What I do think this article proves is that it is possible to be a business that puts the welfare and wellbeing of its staff genuinely at the forefront of its priorities (and not just on a meaningless mission statement) and is still able to be financially successful. Indeed, perhaps an upside-down management style brings the best of both worlds, and perhaps we will see more companies following suit in the future.
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