Northern Staff (of all grades wearing Xmas Jumpers)

[badger1badger]

As a fare paying commuter who uses Northern to get to and from work, I can honestly say if one of their guards approached me for my ticket dressed like that, I would have probably responded with, "Nice jumper, it's good to see a bit of Christmas spirit about".

We wore Christmas jumpers at my workplace, as did many others across the country. I see no problem, unless it's the police. They DO need to show their uniformed presence, but a railway guard once in a while? No problem with me at all.
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Agree with your apparent miserable stance on the subject? Not a chance!

Not miserable at all - take on board that god forgive there was an accident. People need to know who the guard is ...... Everyone else seems to agree with me.

The thread is well populated with agreements that corporate wear should remain corporate.

 

[anti-pacer]

Not miserable at all - take on board that god forgive there was an accident. People need to know who the guard is ...... Everyone else seems to agree with me.

The thread is well populated with agreements that corporate wear should remain corporate.

This thread is full of people who don't agree with you though. Read the comments properly and you'll see that.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

Not miserable at all - take on board that god forgive there was an accident. People need to know who the guard is ...... Everyone else seems to agree with me.

The thread is well populated with agreements that corporate wear should remain corporate.

... And as several people, myself included, have pointed out, it is still blindingly obvious who the guard is! I'm sure in the case of the accident they could make themselves known more than adequately regardless of attire - wearing a jumper doesn't suddenly render them helpless, untrained outsiders...

I'm sure if wearing a Christmas jumper posed any kind of threat to a guard's ability to safely execute their job, never in a million years would the top dogs have allowed it.

 

[badger1badger]

Midnight Flyover -

I can't agree with you on this - corporate wear is as the name suggests, for corporate use.

If we relax rules where will it end . We need to keep rules in place

... And as several people, myself included, have pointed out, it is still blindingly obvious who the guard is! I'm sure in the case of the accident they could make themselves known more than adequately regardless of attire - wearing a jumper doesn't suddenly render them helpless, untrained outsiders...

I'm sure if wearing a Christmas jumper posed any kind of threat to a guard's ability to safely execute their job, never in a million years would the top dogs have allowed it.

 

[anti-pacer]

Midnight Flyover -

I can't agree with you on this - corporate wear is as the name suggests, for corporate use.

If we relax rules where will it end . We need to keep rules in place

Keep it in perspective, it's one or two days around an annual festive period, not the introduction of a once a week "dress down day".

 

[MidnightFlyer]

If we relax rules where will it end . We need to keep rules in place

Well it started and ended on Wednesday. Ten years Northern have had the franchise and this is the first occasion I've heard of it, so by my reckoning that's once every 3,650 days or so that the rules have been relaxed. Hardly the end of the world. As I said before, if such a move came with even a notion of risk, it would never have happened.

 

[Hadders]

I think it's good to be able to dress down occasionally and enter into the spirit of things.

With the number of different uniforms across the network it's often hard to work out who's in chage anyway.

Of course if there was a major incident then surely the guard would put on his hi-viz vest anyway!

 

[Darandio]

Everyone else seems to agree with me.

Are you reading the same thread that I just have? :-?

 

[anti-pacer]

Are you reading the same thread that I just have? :-?

Was wondering the same.

 

[Tomnick]

What about managers working trains? They won't necessarily be wearing the standard uniform. How do you distinguish the guard from, say, a member of booking office staff travelling to work? Neither of the above seem to cause any great issues, yet they don't seem too dissimilar to a guard wearing a Christmas jumper. I've seen one or two photos of guards wearing a Christmas jumper, through the power of social media, and it was still perfectly clear that the wearer was indeed the guard.

Anyway, it'd be far easier to spot the guard than it is to spot these mysterious posters who are agreeing that the jumpers shouldn't have been allowed!

 

[muz379]

What about managers working trains? They won't necessarily be wearing the standard uniform. How do you distinguish the guard from, say, a member of booking office staff travelling to work? Neither of the above seem to cause any great issues, yet they don't seem too dissimilar to a guard wearing a Christmas jumper. I've seen one or two photos of guards wearing a Christmas jumper, through the power of social media, and it was still perfectly clear that the wearer was indeed the guard.

Anyway, it'd be far easier to spot the guard than it is to spot these mysterious posters who are agreeing that the jumpers shouldn't have been allowed!

Exactly , on some occassions I have seen a manager wearing standard corporate wear working a train assessing a trainee who is also wearing standard corporate wear as there have been issues receiving uniform .

Rest assured if there was an incident the guard would have been more than able to identify themselves , many of the people i saw wearing them still had their northern rail overcoats with them anyway because of the weather .

Midnight Flyover -

I can't agree with you on this - corporate wear is as the name suggests, for corporate use.

If we relax rules where will it end . We need to keep rules in place

This is a professional working environment not a school . It was pretty clear to me from the announcement I received via my company email that the wearing of Christmas jumpers for all grades was for a specific day , Prior to that I have been aware that booking office staff have wore Christmas jumpers a few times in december .
I was fully aware that on my return to work after christmas eve I would be required to wear proper uniform or it would be dealt with in line with the grooming and appearance policy .

Its the same in summer when staff are allowed to take off their tie due to the temperatures .In december when its cold its rare to see someone walking about without a tie on .

I think there is a need to lighten up ,
if management wish to allow staff to wear something different for charity then I full support that . Its all a bit of fun for a good cause .

 

[ANorthernGuard]

Exactly , on some occassions I have seen a manager wearing standard corporate wear working a train assessing a trainee who is also wearing standard corporate wear as there have been issues receiving uniform .

Rest assured if there was an incident the guard would have been more than able to identify themselves , many of the people i saw wearing them still had their northern rail overcoats with them anyway because of the weather .



This is a professional working environment not a school . It was pretty clear to me from the announcement I received via my company email that the wearing of Christmas jumpers for all grades was for a specific day , Prior to that I have been aware that booking office staff have wore Christmas jumpers a few times in december .
I was fully aware that on my return to work after christmas eve I would be required to wear proper uniform or it would be dealt with in line with the grooming and appearance policy .

Its the same in summer when staff are allowed to take off their tie due to the temperatures .In december when its cold its rare to see someone walking about without a tie on .

I think there is a need to lighten up ,
if management wish to allow staff to wear something different for charity then I full support that . Its all a bit of fun for a good cause .

That says it all really.

Top Post and saves me writing almost the same

 

[driver_m]

If we relax rules where will it end . We need to keep rules in place

How the hell are you going to cope if Branson turns up in another wedding dress at Leeds when virgin take over east coast?

 

[455driver]

It's a good job b1b wasn't at Bristol Parkway, he would have had a fit, one of the dispatchers was dressed in full Santa gear complete with beard and hivis vest.

 

[hairyhandedfool]

....Prior to that I have been aware that booking office staff have wore Christmas jumpers a few times in december....

I should note that the only previous day I know of (which is not a definitive point of view) was 'Christmas Jumper Day' where each employee wearing a Christmas jumper donated £2 to charity. It was the success of this day that lead to upper management (read 'The MD') allowing staff to wear Christmas jumpers on Christmas Eve.

 

[Flamingo]

It's a good job b1b wasn't at Bristol Parkway, he would have had a fit, one of the dispatchers was dressed in full Santa gear complete with beard and hivis vest.

No, she always looks like that

 

[jon91]

But what about the rules?!! *faints*

Don't worry b1b, society isn't going to break down because certain TOCs allowed their staff to wear festive jumpers for a couple of days.

 

[muz379]

I should note that the only previous day I know of (which is not a definitive point of view) was 'Christmas Jumper Day' where each employee wearing a Christmas jumper donated £2 to charity. It was the success of this day that lead to upper management (read 'The MD') allowing staff to wear Christmas jumpers on Christmas Eve.

Ahh , I remember christmas jumper day , I seem to remember seeing booking office staff in x mas jumpers on another day as well but maybe I was mistaken

 

[badger1badger]

Just say all the best for 2015

The views are my own and not that of the TOC I work for.

 

[455driver]

No, she always looks like that

Twas a he not a she!
He told he that his manager was quite happy for him to do it as long as he had a hivi on,but another manager passing through had told him to remove the beard and put the hood down as they were effecting his ability to work.
Tea and biscuits to follow.

I thought he looked quite good, the kids thought it was brilliant seeing Santa doing his other 'day' job.

 

[dakta]

Jumped on a northern service from leeds to carlisle on the 12th to show a member of family some of the scenic delights - got lucky as we got a full doseage of snow.

Noticed the staff were wearing jumpers, A lot of staff were wearing uniform though so I wasn't sure if there was 'something on' in terms of a charity event or just some christmas cheer.

Needless to say I was completely disgusted. How dare they?

I'm kidding of course, in fact it was a completely pleasant run and the guard even come around to show us the photos he'd managed to snap from the back cab as it snowed. With plenty of coffee on tap and everyone being quite sociable I never even paid much thought to the jumper or lack of.

Not even worth debate imo, made no difference to the service, made no difference to identifying staff - but I suppose...we live in a world of unique people and I'm sure some will find genuine problem with christmas jumpers. The important thing is to realise an opinion doesn't shape the world and it will just have to be put by the wayside as the world operates.

 

[ECML180]

I've spent the past few weeks driving buses and coaches with (at minimum) a Christmas jumper and have had no comments, although I do concede that the santa hat distracted me from my duties as it was itchy, hence it was removed! Safety threat of non-uniform clothing solved.

I also 'worked the interchange' a few times co-ordinating transfers of passengers and luggage between numerous coaches and drivers but no-one had trouble working out I was in charge despite my purple penguin jumper. The problem with 'being identifiable' is who do you have to identify to? The average person could easily tell that the bloke with a ticket machine operating the doors is the guard, but could a blind person? No, so should Northern Rail corporate uniform include a flashing police car style beacon to be worn on a hat at all times with a loudspeaker saying "I am the guard"? This may possible be too much. As for each tie being precisely placed at the collar and no non-standard pens visible in the front pockets etc, to me it seems to be too much. I suspect most people are ok with staff wearing a few different items, with the line drawn at pretty much the frontline emergency services and maybe security workers.

 

[45669]

I'm all for this kind of thing, but if it bothers certain people, maybe the solution is to wear jumpers based on your grade. Drivers wear a christmas pudding, gateline staff have a reindeer, snowmen for the guards ??

Ho-Ho (Ho)!

 

[badger1badger]

And the point of this rather long post is ?

QUOTE=ECML180;2020179]I've spent the past few weeks driving buses and coaches with (at minimum) a Christmas jumper and have had no comments, although I do concede that the santa hat distracted me from my duties as it was itchy, hence it was removed! Safety threat of non-uniform clothing solved.

I also 'worked the interchange' a few times co-ordinating transfers of passengers and luggage between numerous coaches and drivers but no-one had trouble working out I was in charge despite my purple penguin jumper. The problem with 'being identifiable' is who do you have to identify to? The average person could easily tell that the bloke with a ticket machine operating the doors is the guard, but could a blind person? No, so should Northern Rail corporate uniform include a flashing police car style beacon to be worn on a hat at all times with a loudspeaker saying "I am the guard"? This may possible be too much. As for each tie being precisely placed at the collar and no non-standard pens visible in the front pockets etc, to me it seems to be too much. I suspect most people are ok with staff wearing a few different items, with the line drawn at pretty much the frontline emergency services and maybe security workers.[/QUOTE]

 

[ECML180]

And the point of this rather long post is ?

1) Christmas related clothing does not reduce someone's ability to do their job.
2) Nor does it significantly reduce people's ability to identify someone as an employee of a particular company.

From the comments I received, all it seems to have done is 'humanise' us all, which doesn't seem to be a bad thing!

Oh and if you think that post is long, never try reading a book, they're a little bit longer.

 

[rdeez]

This thread made me laugh

Reminds me of a guy who commented a photo of 'The Traindeer' on Facebook who said something along the lines of "What a disgrace, when I worked on the railways they had dignity and didn't dress up their trains in such ridiculous ways..."

I see his philosophy lives on in at least one person! :roll:

It's a bit of once a year fun! It doesn't endanger staff, passengers, equipment, it doesn't make it harder to identify staff (unless you're completely oblivious to obvious clues like carrying a dispatch baton, wearing a name badge, emerging from the cab, sat in the ticket office etc..) and it generates a jovial atmosphere.

Just a thought, did you once lose a "Best Christmas jumper" competition and never quite got over it...?

 

[dakta]

oh and if you think that post is long, never try reading a book

I also lack a sense of humour most of the time (we'll have no warm jumpers in this household, in fact we won't have the heating on have a bit of that), but this cracked a smile.

It is a shame some people can be so far removed from the little positive things that make a big difference.

 

[DelayRepay]

badger1badger it is a good job you do not work at my workplace, as I was fined £5 and forced to make the tea all day as punishment for forgetting to wear my Christmas Jumper on Christmas Jumper day.

 

[SPADTrap]

badger1badger it is a good job you do not work at my workplace, as I was fined £5 and forced to make the tea all day as punishment for forgetting to wear my Christmas Jumper on Christmas Jumper day.

Good on your work lot!