• Hmmm. I agree with what Andy is driving towards, but I'm not too sure about his starting point. To answer a couple of points...

    The last time the business asked about my satisfaction was at my last quarterly review. It's written into the process, and actively monitored to the extent that managers are frequently challenged about neutral or negative responses from their team members.

    Loyalty is always far more likely to be for immediate colleagues first, team second and business third. However, that's only down to proximity. It doesn't follow that "the business" and "the department" are likely to become entrenched in polarised attitudes. Perhaps some companies do run on a "them and us" model, but I've not worked for one. I do admit I may just have been incredibly lucky and led a sheltered life, but it's certainly not my experience.

    What we do manage, however, is to deliver what people want rather than what they ask for. By simply keeping a weather eye on opportunities to streamline (can I get this input automatically from somewhere else? Can I link in with an existing process? Is anyone else in the business trying to do the same thing?), we are constantly educating the business as to what can be achieved by sensible use of IT, and the business constantly responds by treating us well and fairly. And this is where Andy got to; work in partnership and everyone wins.

    Semper in excretia, suus solum profundum variat