Respect and Recognition

Posting this January 2021.
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One of Angie's very slightly older cousins died today, very quickly from cancer. It was a huge shock to her husband and young family as well as the entire wider family. Ursula was a lovely girl. I had met her only a few times but a fun and friendly person.

I post this newspaper clipping put out by Ursula's working-life-long employer, the massive KPMG audit, tax & consultancy UK incorporated, Holland HQ'd and worldwide active company. One of the big four that has grown out of an 1818 founded Bristol company. It is nowadays almost a franchise type organisation with huge sums and scandals involved, mainly in the UK & USA. Pretty horrifying reading their history.

I spent most of my working life in internal audit with large international multinationals and had lots of contact with the Big Four auditors & consultants. Not jealous of the money they got paid, I was however very critical of their work, ethics and working relationships with clients.

Rachel Reeves MP head of the House of Commons Business Select Committee said in 2018 during yet another investigation:
"Auditing is a multi-million-pound business for the Big Four. On this morning's evidence from KPMG and Deloitte, these audits appear to be a colossal waste of time and money, fit only to provide false assurance to investors, workers and the public."

Ursula joined the German 'franchise" of KPMG at 16 to do, as is the norm in Germany for non university goers, a 3-year apprenticeship, in her case as a Bürokauffrau, an "Office Clerk". The first stepping stone if you want to get into most areas of office work.

And as with many Germans she was very content, after getting her qualification, with her first job as clerk to the audit department primarily typing up from tape or handwritten records the Auditor's reports. She did it till she became ill.

Angie had followed the same course, actually starting in Sept at 15 before her December 16th birthday. With another Munich company. After she had qualified and moved into a personal secretary role, she was tempted by Ursula to resign and join her at KPMG where the pay was much better. Angie didn't manage to stick out the first two weeks, she hated the work and luckily her former boss heard about it and got her back into her job without any loss of continuous service.

Like so many Ursula was content, working to live, starting a family, building a house and enjoying the security of the job without the hassle of getting in the rat-race of added responsibility etc. Germans aren't generally too good on the 'living to work'  philosophy. This is made easier by the German social security system but also the German business thinking which is about loyalty, looking after staff, organic growth.

And thus with the newspaper condolences announcement it comes as no shock that the Head of the Board of Directors, the Board, Partners, Governing Council and Employees publish it for a "mere" office typist.

Would this have happened in the UK?

Germans judge people by what they do, not from where they come.

RIP Ursula.