Episode 399
QUIZ - Drinking At Lunch - Business or Bullsh*t?
EP 399 - July's guests - Lucy Parker, Mark Field, Victoria Dunford, and Luis Gosalbez - discuss and debate the legitimacy our BOB quiz cards - drinking at lunch, corporate away days, in-office fitness classes, and universal basic income to equal paternity leave and corporate gifting all make the shortlist!
Chapters:
00:00 Business or Bullshit QUIZ
00:55 Debate: Drinking at Lunch
04:49 Corporate Away Days: Business or BB?
06:38 In-Office Fitness Classes
08:54 Universal Basic Income Discussion
12:16 Equal Paternity Leave
14:01 Corporate Gifting: Business or BS?
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker A:Welcome to another edition of Bob Business.
Speaker A:Or we've been playing this a little while.
Speaker A:We have this stack of cards with various terms in them, vaguely business related, you know, this and that, R D tax credits, for instance.
Speaker A:And we have these paddles and you have to say whether you think these things are business or we have a bit of a debate, you know, a bit of a chat.
Speaker A:It's brilliant.
Speaker A:And this month's stellar lineup.
Speaker A:We have the fabulous Brunswick Group senior advisor Lucy Parker.
Speaker A:We have the incredible global food industry expert Mark Field.
Speaker A:We have also the humanitarian and founder of Mad Aid, Victoria Dunford.
Speaker A:And last but not least, our Spanish firm friend and managing partner at Metricason law firm, Luis Gosalbez.
Speaker A:Check them all out.
Speaker A:Oh, important one for me.
Speaker A:Don't let me down.
Speaker A:Spain.
Speaker A:Drinking at lunch.
Speaker A:Drinking alcohol.
Speaker A:Drinks at lunch in Spain, it's popular.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:You're good lads.
Speaker B:I don't do that.
Speaker B:Okay, in the week, within the week, just for dinner, but not for lunch.
Speaker B:If I have to work in the afternoon.
Speaker B:I don't drink alcohol, I drink water.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Drinking at lunch.
Speaker A:Do you drink at lunch?
Speaker C:Probably used to when I was in journalism.
Speaker C:But today I would say no.
Speaker A:Drinking at lunch.
Speaker A:In big companies.
Speaker C:I can't function if I'm drinking at lunchtime.
Speaker C:Let's be serious.
Speaker A:Well, I mean, yeah, I guess it depends on the person.
Speaker A:My old man's amazing at it.
Speaker A:But yeah, I guess that's also international we've become in you.
Speaker A:If you deal with big business, you get quite an international culture.
Speaker A:Drinking at lunch, is that business or is that glass of wine at lunch?
Speaker A:Two glasses of wine.
Speaker A:Two bottles has happened to me at lunch today.
Speaker D:Do you know that?
Speaker D:That's really hard.
Speaker D:So I won't do it.
Speaker A:You won't?
Speaker D:No, I come on with food and drink.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:I won't drink if I'm with a client or if I'm working.
Speaker A:Why not?
Speaker D:Because I think for me, partly, and we talked about vice earlier, so I go, bullshit.
Speaker D:But partly for me earlier was you got.
Speaker D:You've got to have a cutoff point where you say you're going to stop working so that you start to relax and prepare yourself for the next day.
Speaker D:And I will have a point that says, you know, if I've had a glass of wine tonight, then that's a cutoff point.
Speaker D:Otherwise you end up working all the time.
Speaker D:But I think if I'm paying you to do a particular job, I want you to give me 100% while you're there and doing three bottles of wine with a client.
Speaker D:Unless you're socializing and it's not a.
Speaker A:Work, you know, you're not here doing the podcast now.
Speaker A:I just did two meetings before this.
Speaker A:I think there's a myth to say that you can't have a drink.
Speaker A:And before.
Speaker D:No, I think, I think there's a balance.
Speaker D:I think.
Speaker A:No, I'm.
Speaker A:I'm sure you're right.
Speaker A:I'm sure I'm wrong on multiple levels, but I, I do think there's a bit of a sort of.
Speaker A:It's very interesting how you say to me, it's a social thing to drink, but, you know, I've been brought up too much by my old man.
Speaker A:You know, it's sort of.
Speaker A:I don't know, there's an ability at which, you know, we can be so nervous as British people that a little, little bit of wine, it can oil the wheels.
Speaker A:You can get a lot of work done.
Speaker A:I mean, let's go back.
Speaker A:Let's.
Speaker A:Let's go back to the military who had, you know, rum every day.
Speaker A:The.
Speaker A:The British, you know, people would drink all day.
Speaker A:And Britain was the most successful nation on the world.
Speaker A:So you can't say, you know, there were nations that were teetotal that weren't doing so well.
Speaker A:So clearly getting absolutely hammered all the time wasn't entire, you know, people were drinking, you know, bit of tonic all day.
Speaker A:So it kind of been that dead.
Speaker D:No, different time, different place.
Speaker D:I think if I had one of my colleagues going in to see a client and they smell of, you know, a beer, I don't think that would be what the client would expect.
Speaker D:And ultimately what I'm trying to do is deliver what the client wants.
Speaker A:Don't let me down with your Russian, Romanian roots.
Speaker A:Drinking at lunch, that means alcohol.
Speaker A:Oh, come on, Victoria.
Speaker A:Do they not do it?
Speaker A:It's not popular in Moldova anymore.
Speaker A:Little vodka.
Speaker A:Little vodka at lunch.
Speaker E:I don't mean I agree with it.
Speaker A:Is it.
Speaker A:Do people still drink a lot?
Speaker A:Yeah, it's vodka, I assume.
Speaker A:Is it with the Russian influence?
Speaker E:Yes, it's homemade vodka.
Speaker E:So a lot is about 60, 70% proof.
Speaker E:And we have a lot of wine.
Speaker E:So everyone in south of Moldova will have 2, 3 tons of wine in their cel.
Speaker E:The people in Norfolk have a lot.
Speaker A:Of homemade but corporate away days.
Speaker B:For me, it's bullshit because.
Speaker B:And after Kabir, no one wants to do that.
Speaker A:I think some people enjoy it and we do it.
Speaker A:You know, we do the firm friends thing.
Speaker A:And, you know, that really works for me as a formula.
Speaker A:You Know, a few drinks, bit of work, few drinks, go home, that's it.
Speaker A:And you need time to sort of go through those cycles.
Speaker A:But we're spending one day a year getting to know each other better, isn't it?
Speaker A:But to take a firm away, that's trickier because people are very different.
Speaker B:I enjoy that.
Speaker B:And if it was for me, I would do that like every week because I think gathering people and having, like, a strong connection is good.
Speaker A:Oh, so your business.
Speaker B:No, no, but I'm both.
Speaker B:Because I know that it's not working anymore.
Speaker B:It's not.
Speaker B:I mean, I'm giving my opinion, I'm saying how it's working today, I think.
Speaker A:Corporate away days, do you get invited on any sort of, you know, endlessly?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker C:And it's easy to be cynical if you don't have them.
Speaker C:You've created a problem.
Speaker A:And do you want.
Speaker A:This would be the senior management going away to Davos.
Speaker C:All kinds of.
Speaker C:All kinds of versions of it.
Speaker C:There's every variety, big and small.
Speaker A:You would encourage businesses to go and do it, would you?
Speaker A:Absolutely.
Speaker C:I remember doing it last year and it was an absolute watershed for the team just to sit, to go, what do we actually think we're trying to do?
Speaker C:Who's doing what's better?
Speaker C:And you're just taking time away from a diary that's doing this to you every day and going, can we just think for a minute, what are we trying to do?
Speaker A:What's working?
Speaker C:What isn't working?
Speaker C:What do we come in for?
Speaker C:And it's all it really means is just carve out some time to think without the pressures of the things we're delivering every day.
Speaker C:So I'm a big fan.
Speaker C:For me, that's definitely business.
Speaker A:Corporate away days.
Speaker A:Do you ever do any of that?
Speaker D:Yeah, so I've done some.
Speaker D:I have done some.
Speaker D:I think they're a good opportunity to network.
Speaker D:You know, you'd go to that with the reason of, who else am I going to meet that I don't know?
Speaker D:So the first question would be, how do I get a better relationship with you?
Speaker D:We're at the tennis as an example.
Speaker D:We're getting to know each other better.
Speaker D:I think that builds a rapport.
Speaker D:You go to an event such as that, you expect to meet people that are in a similar career that you don't know before you go.
Speaker D:And I think that gives you a different benefit if you're attending as opposed.
Speaker A:To hosting corporate away days.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker E:I think it's business.
Speaker A:Business, Yeah.
Speaker E:I think it's building teams and On a corporate away day, you can find so much more about your stuff than about your colleagues and one year in the office.
Speaker A:Well, you certainly can if you put some cameras about the place, follow them around in the hotel.
Speaker A:In office fitness classes.
Speaker A:You ever done that?
Speaker B:We did this.
Speaker A:Oh, did you?
Speaker B:Yeah, a few years ago.
Speaker B:I think it's good if it's, of course, totally voluntary.
Speaker B:Of course that's something.
Speaker B:You take the decision to do that.
Speaker A:So what did you do, have yoga in the office or something?
Speaker B:We did yoga.
Speaker A:Yoga.
Speaker A:Would you come in the morning and get your latex out?
Speaker A:Would you?
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:We had a room, we had the candles.
Speaker B:We have a yoga instructor that came like once or twice per week.
Speaker A:Does it change?
Speaker A:Like all being in latex like that, Someone farting and then having to have meetings later.
Speaker A:In office fitness classes.
Speaker C:It may not be for other people, but you won't see me there.
Speaker A:Okay, good.
Speaker A:I need it.
Speaker A:I need a.
Speaker A:That's excellent.
Speaker A:Yeah, this one makes me smile.
Speaker A:Have you ever seen this in office fitness classes?
Speaker D:Yes.
Speaker A:You done any of that?
Speaker A:Done a bit of yoga at Tesco?
Speaker D:No, at Coles, we had a.
Speaker D:We had a gym that was subsidized and they used to run a great boxing class three days a week.
Speaker A:Did you go there?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:Fantastic.
Speaker A:Fantastic.
Speaker A:And what time of day would it be?
Speaker D:Well, the gym would be lunchtime for boxing.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:But they did the F45 at 5am in the morning, which we did also, you know, and I think that whole 5am yeah.
Speaker A:People came in.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:You know, absolutely super busy.
Speaker D:There's a group of people that will always be there at the beginning, and there's a group of people that would always be there at the end of the day.
Speaker D:Different groups of people.
Speaker D:And I think if you think about how do you get yourself ready for the day, how do you get your blood pumping and so forth, Offering that within the business, I think is a great thing.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's probably one of the things I miss by not being in that corporate environment now.
Speaker D:And I know you can go for a run on your own, but it's not the same as going down there, meeting people that you wouldn't meet unless you're boxing with them and just spending that time and letting that energy go.
Speaker D:It really set you up for the afternoon.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You sort of push yourself more in a group, isn't it?
Speaker A:It's that sort of group behavior that you can get people to do anything in a group, you know, in office fitness classes.
Speaker E:Yes.
Speaker E:I think it's because it will be like the guy, like you mentioned, the guy going and asking for money on the street.
Speaker E:Because you'll make the people feel guilty and they'll feel like they have to go because my colleague is going and you'll make some of them stressful.
Speaker E:I think people, if someone love yoga, then they will be happy.
Speaker E:But if someone doesn't like yoga, but they will feel like I have to go because everyone else is coming.
Speaker A:Universal Basic income.
Speaker B:I'm totally for this.
Speaker B:I'm going to tell you why.
Speaker B:I'm going to tell you why.
Speaker B:I have a blog.
Speaker A:What's the address?
Speaker A:How do I find it?
Speaker B:Gosalbez.
Speaker B:Yes, it's my surname.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And I wrote an article post like 10 years ago that was called the New Economy of Time, saying that with AI and all these innovations, at the end we're not going to be able to provide a work for everyone and we need to survive.
Speaker B:And you know, machines, robots, software, they can make a lot of things to be totally disattended.
Speaker B:I mean, we won't need people behind for them to work.
Speaker B:So in that case we need to provide all those people who are not going to work anymore with certain support.
Speaker B:I mean, probably if you talked about this to three different people that agree, they won't agree on the solution.
Speaker A:Oh, I was about to say it seems to be very different versions of this.
Speaker B:Extremely difficult.
Speaker B:And for me it is very difficult to understand or to, you know, to assume that someone who is getting paid by the, by the state and someone who is generating the taxes and the money to get to pay to the state, for the state to pay that person have the same rights and the same status within the, you know, but this is going to come.
Speaker B:Sooner or later, this is going to come.
Speaker A:Universal Basic Income, you heard of that as a concept?
Speaker A:Concept.
Speaker A:Everyone gets a bit of money.
Speaker C:I think I would say it's worth a shot.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Business.
Speaker C:I think we've got to have some answers.
Speaker C:And that's a go at an answer.
Speaker A:Okay, that's worth sort of.
Speaker A:Everyone gets a thousand pounds or something.
Speaker C:And whether that's the right solution, going back to sustainable aviation fuel, whether that's the right solution, I don't know, but it's a very good question and it's a shot at an answer.
Speaker C:So let's call it business.
Speaker A:What about Universal basic income?
Speaker A:You understand that as a concept?
Speaker D:Let's not go without you.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Do you think it'll work?
Speaker A:Everyone getting a bit of money?
Speaker A:Why not?
Speaker D:Well, I think it's all about Markets are different, countries are different.
Speaker D:You know, the economies are different.
Speaker D:I think it's about people being able to survive and earn enough in their particular country.
Speaker D:But I don't think you have a universal rate that's, you know, set across the world or anything like that.
Speaker A:Universal basic income.
Speaker A:Do you know this concept?
Speaker E:Yes, I think it's.
Speaker A:Sorry, bullshit, really.
Speaker A:Do you have any experience with it?
Speaker E:I don't, but I think people should get universal benefits.
Speaker E:Either ill or genuinely cannot work.
Speaker E:But I think people should be encouraged to work because there's plenty of jobs around.
Speaker E:And if someone tells me it's not work around, I wouldn't believe them because when I needed, I had three jobs.
Speaker A:Yes, that's a really good point.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, and, you know, some of the theory is that if you give people money, they'll go and do good things like run charities or help people or something.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker A:I mean, maybe they will, maybe they won't.
Speaker A:You know, I don't know.
Speaker A:It's.
Speaker A:Again, back to cynicism of humans.
Speaker E:From day one, when I started the charity, I always wanted to give people the road.
Speaker E:And even in Moldova, with projects we're doing, we have delivered aid to the poor family, one who is really needed.
Speaker E:But we try to give the road, we try to encourage people to go to work.
Speaker E:We encourage to create infrastructure, sustainability.
Speaker E:And I think this will give people back the dignity and the power.
Speaker E:They can actually make the difference in their own lives.
Speaker A:Equal paternity leave.
Speaker A:So men getting equal leave after babies, totally for this.
Speaker B:And I didn't do that when I had my daughter.
Speaker B:I only took like a couple of weeks of free time.
Speaker B:I changed all my routines to be more time at home with my daughter.
Speaker B:I came every day back to give her a bath and all that.
Speaker B:But I think it's good that we share this because it's good for the babies, it's good for us as couples, as people.
Speaker B:I think it's good.
Speaker A:I think so too.
Speaker A:I think in a weird way, it allows us in as men.
Speaker A:That makes some more negative.
Speaker A:I mean, it morning, like, you know, it's, it's.
Speaker A:It feels.
Speaker A:You always sort of slightly end up on the back, back foot in terms of trying to help and, you know, knowing the right thing to do or something.
Speaker A:You know, by sort of forcing a bit more paternity leave, you're sort of there at these early crucial moments and it allows you therefore to be a little more on the journey.
Speaker A:Do you know what I mean?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Because it's not a Matter of, of helping.
Speaker B:It's a matter of sharing the responsibility of a new being.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's.
Speaker B:It's not that.
Speaker B:It's your responsibility and I help you with that.
Speaker B:No, no, it's our responsibility.
Speaker A:I want to be part of this equal paternity leave.
Speaker D:Oh, my kids are growing up now.
Speaker D:But no, it's.
Speaker D:It's important.
Speaker D:It's important.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:Gotta find something for you.
Speaker A:What are you controversial about, Mark?
Speaker A:You know, I get the feeling you're, you're, you're quite sensible.
Speaker A:Equal paternity leave business.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Nice.
Speaker A:Don't know what the policy is in Moldova.
Speaker A:Do they get maternity?
Speaker E:Adopted.
Speaker E:Paternity leave.
Speaker E:It's adopted for two weeks, I think.
Speaker E:Two years ago.
Speaker E:One or two years ago.
Speaker E:It's very recent.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker A:There's not much you don't know about the law there.
Speaker B:Very impressive.
Speaker A:Corporate gifting.
Speaker A:This is sort of gifts.
Speaker B:Corporate gifting.
Speaker B:I would say it's today's bullshit.
Speaker B:Years ago we used to send wines or whatever to our most important clients because they were friends, as I said before.
Speaker B:So they were friends.
Speaker B:And one particular year that we started to get all those win gifts, like returned to the office because they said that they couldn't accept that because it was against, against the, the company's laws.
Speaker A:Ah, that's what's happened now.
Speaker A:Everyone's so sensitive about corruption, but then you send them 50,000 in cash in a brown envelope and that no one's going to complain.
Speaker A:Corporate gifting business or bullshit?
Speaker A:Do you have an opinion on that bullshit?
Speaker A:Do you get any corporate gifts?
Speaker C:Do you like your corporate gifts?
Speaker A:If they happen, I. I find them, you know, an amazingly effective thing.
Speaker A:When someone says, sends me a bottle of, you know, champagne at Christmas and says thanks, you know, I'm amazed that that £50, I'm like, oh, that's very kind of them.
Speaker A:You know, I tell the wife about it when we drink it later.
Speaker A:Do you know what I mean?
Speaker C:I think.
Speaker C:But on the whole, it's pretty peripheral.
Speaker C:Peripheral and unnecessary, I suspect.
Speaker A:If it didn't happen, would it make a difference?
Speaker A:No, maybe not.
Speaker A:Corporate gifting, where are you on that?
Speaker A:As someone who works in these can.
Speaker A:Can big brands, corporate gift, I think.
Speaker D:That'S a really difficult one.
Speaker D:I think that's one I'd be on the fence for.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker D:Because I think if you've got the right team, I don't think it's a bad thing because in many cases some of these businesses will accept them, then put them into a raffle.
Speaker D:Yeah, but I think where you see it get out of hand, where people have historically accepted big gifts and it's led to bad practices, and that makes it difficult for those that are doing the right thing with it.
Speaker A:Corporate gifting, this is really, you know, corporates giving, you know, giving presents to people and, you know, Christmas presents.
Speaker A:And, you know, I think if it's.
Speaker E:Too stuff, it's a business because it's an appreciation.
Speaker E:I think if it's to the partners, I think it's more like corruption.
