Phil answers your questions

This article will take approximately 1 minute to read
Published 24 Mar 2023 in Phil's blog
An exclusive for colleagues each month, this week Phil is answering your questions!
With questions sent in via colleague council, why not submit a question for next month via your local colleague council representative?
Watch this month's session below with Kelly Mason, Senior Practitioner from Sutton Nursery...
Click below to jump to the chapters in the video:
00:30 - At a time when the Society is struggling for budget(I.E, projects are being completed under-resourced and colleagues are reporting they are feeling overworked, mental health is down, we are stripping back hours in stores, and have less money in the pot to pay colleagues a market-competitive rate vs. Other companies…) Why is the Society investing in a bigger AGM/Festival than ever?
05:38 - The e-moped scheme is a great option for low-cost travel – at the moment, we do not have the option to charge the batteries here at support office or other locations – what is the plan to get something in place so that mopeds are a more viable option for those that can’t or do not wish to use the EV car scheme?
07:22 - I have heard last week’s TV broadcast about the Chancellors' scheme to fund childcare, beginning April 2024...My question that I hope you can answer is the scheme something to be celebrated as it will help to fill the occupancy and drive demand for our service. Or is it a double-edged sword? Will the 60% reduction in cost to the parent be of detriment to the business? Will we be running these places at a loss? I'm really interested to understand what this means to our society and hope that this question is the right high-quality question to ask, and that it is welcomed.
09:53 - Could there be a point where full-time colleagues could choose to do their 39hrs over 4 days rather than 5?
11:20 - When are you going to look at the pay? Due to recruitment, our company is in the bottom pay bracket compared to the job market within Travel! This now needs to be addressed by yourself as you want the figures to look good on paper so we can perform as a business when paying £10.10 who have 5 years travel experience min and then you are offering £9.70 for new recruits how do you justify these figures? and this is why we are not maintaining new colleagues when they can get more money elsewhere you can pack shelves for £11 per hour in an Aldi food store with no experience required, and this is why experienced colleagues are leaving due to the wages not being competitive and in line within the market.
15:22 - Hi Phil, as you know due to cost reasons and COVID, most of our travel branches last year became dual-managed, meaning two branches now have one manager. Now travel is getting back on its feet and things are improving is there a potential in the future for that to be reversed and some dual-managed branches going back to having one full-time Branch Manager?
18:07 - Phil asks a question to the host
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