Case 1: Return

Contents

1. 2 RETURN'S background
2. Box 1 A worker's view
3. 3 Mission and activities
4. Box 2 The views of some members of the public before and after visiting RETURN
5. 4 Current issues
6. 5 Discussion question

Section: Customers, Markets, and Marketing

1 Introduction
John was getting increasingly cross with Peter. Yet again the shop was almost out of stock of
doll's houses-the most popular product they sold. Several customers had expressed considerable
disappointment at finding that there were no doll's houses in stock and at being told that there
was no likelihood of any more being available before Christmas. Furthermore, some other
customers, who had previously purchased doll's houses, were surprised to find that the stock of
furniture items (designed to fit into the doll's houses) was very limited. John's main responsibility
was managing the shop in which RETURN sold the items its workers produced, and he was very
aware that it was the wooden items that were the major draw for customers. Although a few did
simply purchase cards or flowers, the majority came to the shop to buy items like the doll's
houses that were made by the woodworkers and listed in the RETURN catalogue. Then, while
there, such people would also usually buy some other items.

Peter's explanation for the lack of supplies was that an increasing proportion of his workers' time
was being taken up manufacturing items designed to meet the requirements of specific
customers. These covered a wide range of products and had recently included a set of display
stands for a local shop; some storage boxes for a playgroup; and some garden furniture designed
to fit into a gap between a house and a garage. Peter stated that manufacturing these items was
of benefit to everybody. He claimed, first, that he was able to make a higher profit on these items
than on those listed in the catalogue; secondly, that the work was more stimulating for his
workers than the repetitive activities involved in manufacturing items for the catalogue, and,
thirdly, that, as well as being more stimulating, it was providing the workers with the opportunity
to extend their range of woodworking skills.

John decided that he had to raise this issue with RETURN marketing committee (which was
comprised of the Chairman, the Director, and John). He therefore prepared a note setting out the
situation in which he warned that selling RETURN'S produce was becoming increasingly difficult
and that he believed the lack of a stock of wooden items would exacerbate the situation and
result in a serious loss of customers. When the Chairman received his copy of this note, he was
busy preparing a document to present to a special meeting of RETURN'S Trustees at which the
sole topic of discussion was to be what activities RETURN should undertake in the future.

2 RETURN'S background
RETURN was established in 1976 in Barchester to meet the needs of people with mental-health
problems by providing a different service from that offered by the hospital based occupational
therapy and sheltered workshop units. From its founding RETURN had strong links with the
National Heath Service and Barchestershire's Social Services Department, but is still run
independently as a registered charity. It has two sites, eleven full-time equivalent staff members
(i.e. their total working hours are equivalent to those of eleven full-time staff), and fifty full-time
equivalent places for ‘workers’. The term ‘worker’ is applied to the people for whom RETURN'S
service is created. They are not employees of RETURN but the avoidance of terms such as
‘patient’ or ‘client’ is aimed at contributing to the process of rebuilding the workers' sense of self
esteem. Box 1 gives a worker's viewpoint.

RETURN has five work groups offering training in the following skills:
 • Woodwork. This group produces toys and gifts. Special order items can be produced to the
customer's own specifications. All items conform to European safety standards and are decorated
with non-toxic paints. All items are made from sustainable forested wood.
• Screen and hand-press printing. This group creates high-quality hand-screen printed cards,
stationery, business cards, and special-order work. Only recycled paper is used.
• Sales, marketing, and computing. This group is responsible for the shop on the main site
and provides training opportunities in retailing, publicity, and customer care, as well as keyboard
skills and basic computing.
• Horticulture. Chemical-free vegetables and flowers are grown and sold in the
neighbourhood.
• Town garden. A range of ornamental shrubs, herbs, and bedding plants suitable for the
small domestic gardens typical of the neighbourhood are grown. A range of basketry items is also
produced.

In addition to the staff members, there are about twenty people who act as unpaid helpers who
are called ‘volunteers’. Some of these people have specific skills that they are prepared to use—
for example, helping with the accounts. Others are simply an additional pair of hands ready to
help the staff in any way they can.

Funding comes mainly from statutory bodies and particularly the Health Authority (38 per cent)
and the Barchestershire Social Services Department (29 per cent). Other sources include the
European Social Fund; donations from charitable trusts and individuals; and the sale of products
produced by the workers in the work units (see Table 1 for the accounts for 1996/7).

The Director is a full-time member of staff responsible for detailed running of the operation and
reports to a Management Committee that is made up of elected Trustees (none of whom are
employees of RETURN though some are also ‘volunteers’). The Management Committee is legally
responsible for all major policy decisions; approving contracts with any funding body; overseeing
the financial soundness of the organization; dealing with any substantive staff issues such as
decisions to recruit additional staff; and so on. Its meetings are attended (except for discussions
of sensitive matters such as salary decisions) by representatives of the staff, the volunteers, and
the workers. The Management Committee has a series of subcommittees, the members of which
include representatives of those involved in RETURN'S daily routine.

Box 1 A worker's view

‘RETURN is an organization where people who have come straight from psychiatric hospitals or
mental health day care centers are busy, friendly, sharing experiences and being tolerant of each
other. There is a great sense of shared purpose and also one of striving. In the gardens people
are digging, weeding, potting up, cutting bunches of flowers, and pricing plants. In the woodwork
department they are making doll's houses, children's toys, and special order furniture. In the
print room they are designing and printing greetings cards, printing business cards, invitations
and letter heads. In the computer room people are being trained in the use of computers, typing,
and administration. In the shop they are selling the goods produced by the woodworkers, the
printers, and the gardeners and learning to stock take and much more.

This does not mean that there are not pockets of tranquility as well. Sometimes people have
difficulty in concentrating and need short breaks from work, other times people are visibly upset
and some people need to work on their own for part of the time. At coffee and lunch breaks there
is a hum of conversation and people read newspapers, and play cards or chess.

RETURN has a fundamentally democratic rather than autocratic basis and it believes in worker
involvement providing for this in its structure. For example, the workers' monthly meeting is a
process for change in RETURN. It is a place where information is shared and where issues are
raised and discussed. The topics can range from the cleanliness of the building to fundraising
plans to what types of activity the workers feel they need. Individual workers meet regularly with
their staff supervisor and community psychiatric nurse to discuss their progress. At these
meetings they set themselves short- and long-term goals and they monitor how well they achieve
them. Workers make decisions about themselves and about the workplace -and why not? They
are, after all, just adults recovering from bad times. Most of all workers are asking when they
come to RETURN for their confidence to the restored.’

3 Mission and activities

RETURN'S mission statement is as follows:

RETURN aims to help people with mental health problems, through creative work rehabilitation
and training, to enter open employment or to receive long-term support within the community. In
pursuit of this mission RETURN is committed to continue to develop an excellent service for its
workers, quality products for its customers, and a challenging but supportive environment for its
employees and volunteers.

Its three main activities are:

• Vocational rehabilitation for people who hope to get back to paid employment and/or
achieve greater independence in their daily lives; and sheltered work for people with long-term
mental-health needs.
• The provision of products and services including craft goods and horticulture to the local
community through direct sales and to the wider community by sales through retailers.
• Fund-raising to maintain and develop RETURN'S existing service.

The number of people in RETURN'S catchment area diag nosed as having a depressive disorder is
between, 10,000 and 14,000. The number believed to be suffering from a lifetime schizophrenic
illness is 3,500. Only a minority of these people would benefit from attending RETURN-some
would be too ill, while at the other extreme others can, with medication and the support of
families and friends, already cope in the community. Nevertheless, as it is currently the only
provider of this service in the area, there is always a waiting list of people wishing to take up
places as workers when such places become vacant.

RETURN'S ‘production’ activities require the maintenance of a structured but supportive

environment in which the workers, without being stressed, can learn to work with others and
respond to the expectations of other members of a team. In addition to the revenue it produces,
the sale of RETURN'S products has a number of benefits. The shop and the stall (which is set up
at local community events such as school fetes), which are run by the workers, with a staff
member or a volunteer on hand, provide a public face for RETURN and help to educate the public
on the capabilities of people with mental-health problems (see Box 2 for some comments from
members of the public). The creation of products for sale also gives the workers considerable
pride and confidence in their ability to contribute to RETURN and society. In addition, the shop
meets the needs of those members of the local community who like to buy locally grown
chemical-free vegetables and locally handmade items.

Box 2 The views of some members of the public before and after
visiting RETURN

BEFORE

Visitor 1. ‘The fact that RETURN was a rehabilitation center for the mentally ill made me feel
rather uncomfortable and nervous. I pictured RETURN as a kind of hospital but maybe more
asylum-like.’

Visitor 2. ‘My biggest worry was how to communicate to the people at RETURN; after all I had no
idea how ill they were. Would they understand what I was trying to say or would they be so ill
that they were “dead to the world?”’
Visitor 3. ‘What I expected was that of a very negative view. This was mainly because of how the
media portrayed people with mental health problems, such as straight jackets and putting people
in confined rooms.’

AFTER

Visitor 1. ‘Alice [a schizophrenic who needs regular medication and even so has to spend some
time each year in hospital], a worker at RETURN, was the person who really made me understand
what these people are like. On the outside Alice looked like a normal person and if she walked
past you in the street you would have no idea about her past and how she has come to terms
with her problem.’

Visitor 2. ‘I learnt that these people were not “thick”. Some of these people were studying for
degrees when they had their breakdowns. One has a Ph.D.’

Visitor 3. ‘I learnt that the people who use RETURN are normal people who have gone through
difficulties in their lives which they are admirably trying to sort out.’

4 Current issues
In common with most charities, RETURN is constantly concerned about its financial situation. The
Management Committee is aware that its staff are all underpaid and only remain at RETURN
through a sense of vocation and commitment. However, attempts to recruit staff—to replace
those who have left—have recently become increasingly difficult, with the low salaries clearly
causing some applicants not to accept jobs offered to them at RETURN. The staff work under
great pressure and, while they seem prepared to accept the stress of dealing with workers whose
demands are often considerable and whose behaviour is sometimes unpredictable, they object
strongly about two issues. First, the increasing amount of time spent on completing records and
other administration. Secondly, the growing pressure, especially from the main funders (see
below), to ‘move workers on’ (i.e. persuade them to leave RETURN), so that politically determined
targets are achieved. This pressure means, in their opinion, that they have either to reduce the
amount of time work ers spend in learning a skill or persuade people to leave who are not fully
prepared for life in the community.

RETURN is currently struggling with a number of issues, including (not in any order of
importance) the following difficulties.

• There are problems in finding employment for those ready to leave. Not only has the
relatively high level of unemployment created a problem, but the nature of the available work has
changed. For example, garden centres are increasingly being supplied with plants already in
containers rather than growing items themselves. This means that the demand for employees with
basic horticultural skills is falling.
• As the employment market changes, the need to provide the workers with training in such
matters as preparing a c.v. and conduct at interviews is increased. Providing this training is an
added cost and reduces the amount of time that workers can spend in their work group. The
current staff were recruited for their skills as woodworkers, printers, etc., and—even if they had
the time—are, therefore, not equipped to provide professional advice on such matters.
• The Christmas and greetings cards designed and printed by RETURN'S workers and sold in
its shop are seen as expensive relative to other charities' cards.
• The demand for RETURN'S simple wooden articles has fallen as other charities—particularly
those with overseas links—have started to import similar items made of more exotic woods from
lesser developed countries.

The main funders have in the last three years changed their relationship from that of providing a
grant to an an nual contract. The significance of this is threefold. First, whereas they previously
asked to be informed only of the numbers of workers entering RETURN, they now set targets for
and require regular reports monitoring the numbers passing through RETURN. Secondly, there is
now no guarantee year on year of their continuing to fund RETURN. Thirdly, in spite of their
support of RETURN over many years, if a competitor was to be established and applied for
funding, they would be obliged to consider the competitor's bid.

5 Discussion question
Would it be appropriate to seek to introduce a marketing orientation to RETURN? If so what would
this involve?

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© Oxford University Press 2000

Table 1 RETURNS'S Income and Expenditure, 1996/7 (£)

Income
Barchestershire Social Services 77,224
National Health Service 87,638
European Social Fund 5,775
Donations from charitable trusts 10,235
Donations from individuals 9,193
Sales 23,582
Events 4,558
Interest 2,082
Miscellaneous 11,725
TOTAL 223,012

Expenditure
Salaries 184,758
Capital purchases 3,400
Raw materials 9,293
Catering 4,197
Administration 4,197
Insurance 2,013
Electricity and water 5,250
Building maintenance 2,678
Utilities 4,801
Miscellaneous 8,589
TOTAL 232,410

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Edited by Keith Blois

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