Are you a Brent or a Branson?

Trust, camaraderie and team work can be as vital to a company's success as its products and services

If contestants on The Weakest Link were asked whether David Brent or Sir Richard Branson coined the phrase 'If you look after your staff, your customers will look after your customers,' I'm sure the vast majority would plump for the Brentmeister Central rather than the billionaire bearded balloonist.

The problem is that, while Branson knows how to get the best out of staff, has a relaxed management style and is probably an entertainer first and a boss second, there are sadly far more Brents in UK business.

And, although the Brents of this world may talk the same talk as the Bransons, they seldom walk the same walk.

But this doesn't mean that the work environment needs to be like a library, managed in a civil service-type structure by people more interested in personal power than the good of the company, or that work in the 21st century has to be a miserable, thankless task.

Of course, work should not be play, but it can be fun, challenging and rewarding. In certain instances it can even be managed in the same fashion as a company such as Virgin, especially in the IT sector.

In many ways the growth of IT broke down conventions and challenged the stuffy, bureaucratic corporations that went before it.

As chronicled in books such as The HP Way, David Packard and others proved that things like trust, a relaxed dress code, camaraderie and team work can be as vital to a company's success as its products and services.

Many resellers have adopted unique ways to recognise team effort. Bells are rung to celebrate new customers; some resellers even have police sirens. Success is shared by all and everyone is made to feel part of a team.

Cynical observers may call you a Brent, but 'kick-off' days with internal staff are just as important as days with clients.

However, managers do not have to dress up in Bernie Clifton chicken suits.