The Factory in the Garden

Goodness, apparently the Cadbury Brothers understood the importance of work/life balance and an enjoyable working environment way back in 1879! Just found this lovely little post on Cadbury's new blog about their journey to fairtrade certification.

"The Cadbury brothers didn’t want their staff to resign themselves to living in the slums of the city, so instead, they bought a plot of land miles from Birmingham with a canal and good transport and built their Factory in the Garden"

http://cadburydairymilk.typepad.com/fairtrade/2009/03/the-factory-in-the-garden.html

Girl's Guide to Employment

Just come across this brilliant advice on employment for women, written in the 1916 Girl Scouts manual - How Girls Can Help Their Country.

This really made me smile at how things change. The list of possible jobs for a woman are probably all seemed quite progressive at the time, and the advice that one should choose a career and stick to it was sound. Both now are of course happily outdated. Reading a bit further however it occurred to me that though the context has changed, the advice for getting a job is still spot on.

"Luck is like a street car; the only way to get it is to look out for every chance and seize it - run at it and jump on; don't sit down and wait for it to pass".

Absolutely! In this crowded job market, it is only the people who are looking out for opportunities and doing everything in their power to lure them their way who will get the great roles. Employers know that it is these people - positive, inspired, proactive - who are the employee holy grail.