John,
I was watching France 24 the other day and they did a comparison of work situations and productivity comparing the UK, France, Italy and Germany. Obviously assuming they had an Agenda (French channel) plus trusting that stage beyond lies - statistics, it was nonetheless interesting. I THINK the figures were produced through the OECD, but I could be mistaken there.
I can't remember the details, but it covered Official of days Annual holidays (not sickies), Number of hours worked, Cost per hour of a worker, and Productive Cost of a worker. In not one case was France in the Lead (or worst whichever way you want to read it).
As I say with the above Caveats, it showed a variance that would be expected. The French worker is not more expensive than the others, was middle placed in official holidays - I think UK was highest here from memory, and was actually near the top in productive cost.
However I agree that appearances would appear to contradict a lot of this, and was prepared with an agenda in mind - responding to the 'Grizz' I suppose. And we all know that Perceptions are Truths to most people who hold them.
I am certain of one thing though - there was definitely nothing to identify these figures with the Public Service. However, as is the case with Law generally we have to recognise that this is what Government's do - create new laws, not the civil servants, although that is not the case in the EU, where the Commission is the tail wagging the dog.
If we consider all the States and the EC, and the PC mentality all creating Laws, Statutes and Regulations on a daily basis, there has to be some sympathy for the civil servant. They are not employed to show initiative but to 'follow the rules'. When you take a look at the 'Code Civile' books, it is stunning that these are renewed each year and run into many thousands of pages. As far as I can see, there is little time spent weeding out old or redundant laws, so there is a whole mess out there, and open through confusion to misinterpretation by individuals.
Dealing with the French in particular is like battling through an old garden that hasn't been weeded for a hundred years. If I am correct, the Napoleonic code does not operate on a 'precedent judgement' in Criminal Law, but on an 'actual Law' that covers the specific situation. If such a Law does not exist and a sitaution identified a Law (statute, call it what you will) is then placed on the books to cover that SPECIFIC case, which may or may not be applicable ever again. I am not a Lawyer, so this is offered as my understanding and not from any level of expertise.
However it did form part of my Lecture series 'Going International', in which I suggested there were Four main areas, called 'environments' to consider before committing to another country 1) Economic, 2) Political, 3) Legal and 4) Cultural.
I would suggest that Companies are not bad at going through these areas, whereas we as individuals are often led by dreams, and hopes where it would probably make more sense to consider our fears a little more. Neither Companies nor individuals will ever get everything right, but it's a start.
In which order would you put the 4? Personally, I think you need to start with the Cultural, then the Political, Economic and Legal, but that's a personal position only. I am sure others would (and did) disagree.
I DO genuinely believe that the Culture of seemingly aggressive street marches, and the trashing of factories does not provide an attractive perception to foreign companies - despite the assurances of Mountebank et al. PLUS the images of the Government politicians often in the front rows is almost bizarre.