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The benefits of co-operation

17 Jan 2020 | Company

In the fast-paced and quickly evolving world we now live in, there is an ever-increasing competition driver behind every business to outperform its perceived rivals and the methods employed can sometimes be ruthless and destructive. A sense of a victory in turnover, revenues or output is easily gauged over a measured amount of time say, or beating the targets set by analysing sales plus 5% from head office for the previous year, however, I believe that this approach is somewhat short-sighted over a larger amount of time and does nothing to encourage the investment in people in areas where there is a definite need.

What is it that I’m trying to say? Well when things go pear-shaped as is often the case in your personal life, you turn to family and friends to help dig you out of the hole that you find yourself in, this takes various forms, it could be financial help or a hand in looking after children, even just providing some of your free time to move a project along. in all these cases this help comes on the understanding that it is a free service and in future the favour could be reciprocated, “the common good” is a phrase that is regularly used, this behaviour gives a great satisfying feeling, puts a smile on the face of all those involved and increases the positive mood around those people for a prolonged period of time. The emotional upturn of being valued enough for someone to give something to you is infectious and encourages this behaviour in those that not only have experienced the situation directly but also of others who hear the story second and third hand. How many times have you heard of a situation where a person or organisation has gone out of their way to assist someone else and thought to yourself “I didn’t expect that” or “how wonderful is that”?

Why are we surprised by this behaviour? At a base level, most people are sociable and enjoy interactions at all levels, after all this most human trait has seen us prosper for thousands of years and is very much a tried and tested method of trade and development the world over. It would seem however that we expect the businesses and companies to behave in a totally counter-intuitive way, a way that we wouldn’t expect from friends and family, a way that promotes greed, a way that shuts the door on new thinking or challenges the status quo, a way that doesn’t please the shareholders. I believe that this is fundamentally flawed, wrong in fact and something that we must all strive to change in whichever way we can, small or large.

This requires some outside the box thinking and maybe a sea change for some, however, moves in this way, helping and assisting others in their endeavours is the only way that our fragile society can come together, find the things that unite us, build on those similarities and prosper in a way that is beneficial to all and not just the few.


So back to my first point about continually beating the opposition. So you have a business, say a restaurant, and you stay open later, cut your prices and staff to a minimum in order to attract customers from other places, if this proves “successful” for you then other companies close, people lose their jobs, the supply chain is diminished, the people in the local area have less income to spend as they are not earning, thus at some point soon, your own revenues fall. You have in this simple example become a victim of your own success. If however there was some co-operation, sharing of experience and help, you could end up coexisting with many restaurants, offering differing menus, opening at different times, a change in style and a choice to customers that would attract more people to the area, a hub for trainee chefs and education, business development and more work opportunities for local people, the list goes on and on, grows and grows. Yes, it takes longer, profits start small and slowly grow, but this is by far more sustainable for the long term.

Whilst I fully understand that this example is simple and there are many other factors involved, I know that I for one would prefer to spend my money and time in a place or business that supports people, gives its time and experience for the enhancement of others, promoting togetherness and inclusivity as a fundamental part of its core directive. I don’t believe that I am on my own. Imagine a world where everything doesn’t have to come at a cost, where mutual help can move both companies and people in their own respective directions, improving everyone’s greater good.

This brings me to the point of my blog this month. Anyone that works in the security sector understands the pressures that accompany the yearly festive period, and as we have just discussed, the ever-increasing drive for profit sometimes means there is a compromise made when it comes to the number of Door supervisors that are requested for venues. It was therefore brilliant to see such cooperation in action at Revolution Bar in Blackpool. There are a good number of pubs and clubs in the near vicinity (not wishing to mention names for fear of missing one out), these have a varying range of Door Supervisors from all walks of life, a full mix of nationalities, religions, races, sexes and cultures, all joined together, communicating at every possible time, sharing information on potential risks that help mitigate future incidents, pointing the partygoers in the direction of services and the type of night they may be after, even if that means not attending their particular venue, assisting the police helping vulnerable people into transport, ensuring a safe night out/journey home and when the call to assist was obvious, they overcome their differing companies and help each other to maintain the professional order in the streets that makes their own working night safer for all the Supervisors and general public. Not just the few.

We must all as an industry start to celebrate this unity and togetherness, at a time when media sources seek to point out our differences and why we should stay separated, we have in our companies the absolute example of multiculturalism, we show each and every week that it can and does work very well, our shared experiences and languages enrich the understanding of how people behave on their respective nights out, proactively enabling a night-time economy to be a safer and more enjoyable place for the ever-increasing population. All of this through simple cooperation!

Let’s make Radius and other security providers a beacon in 2020, promoting the diversity and all the wonderful character it brings together.