Editor's blog

BBC and Baby P: what role does HR play?

Sian Harrington — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:14:00 GMT

Two overpaid, over-exposed celebrities play an offensive joke on one of the nation’s favourite old comics. In the furore that follows one resigns, another is suspended with the threat of being fired still hanging over him, and the woman in charge falls on her sword.

Cut to a few days later: news that a toddler has died in unthinkable circumstances. His mother was visited on 60 occasions and nothing was done. Legal evidence to take him into care was apparently too weak, despite police and some in the medical profession arguing his injuries were incompatible with claims that they were the result of accidents. No one resigns. One doctor who examined the toddler is censured. Most tellingly, the woman in charge refuses to take the blame.

I was struck by the similarities between these cases, not least that they are both in the public sector, both have been debated in the House of Commons with the inevitable inquiry resulting, and in both cases the nation’s rage has been vented post event after huge media exposure. But there is of course one major difference: one resulted in offence, the other in death.

This is not the place to go into the whys and wherefores of each of these cases. But it is worth exploring two HR issues that they raise: leadership and ‘the system’. The difference in the reactions of the leaders could not be more marked. BBC Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas resigned, saying she had to take the flak as it happened “on my watch”. Meanwhile, Haringey Council director of children's services, Sharon Shoesmith, has steadfastly refused to take the blame. There’s no question who has emerged with the greatest integrity.

Meanwhile, both bodies recently overhauled their systems: the BBC in light of the Hutton inquiry and Haringey social services after Lord Laming’s inquiry. In the former, it appears that there may indeed still be weakness in the system, as well as a great lack of judgment. In the latter, recent revelations about the timeline up to Baby P’s death seem to show that the system did indeed work. Everyone who should have been alerted was.

Many people are thwarted by their system, in particular I can think of the great work done by employees in the NHS despite poor conditions and pay. The system is just not an excuse.

Instead poor training, selection and communication are at the root of these terrible incidences. These are the areas that HR needs to concentrate on if certain parts of our public sector are to get back on track.

Science is sexy

Sian Harrington — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:23:00 GMT

Who would have thought I would be excitedly counting down the days until millions of atomic particles collide in a 16.5m long tunnel under the Swiss/French border near Geneva. Until last year I had never even heard of the 38,000 tonne Large Hadron Collider, let alone the Higgs boson (or God) particle.

Yet here I am – the dunce who had to do General Science at O’ level as she was useless at physics and chemistry (I like to think it is because I was artistic instead) – holding my breath at what wonders the multi billion pound experiment will reveal when the proton beam is sent through the collider on Wednesday September 10th.

Will we discover the origin of mass and identify dark matter? Will we get a greater understanding of the beginning of the Universe? Will we end up swallowed by a black hole?

I seriously doubt the latter but the fact is, until I started reading about the LHC, I would barely have been able to articulate what a black hole was. And of course, this is precisely the same with so many people – especially children. Blame teaching methods, under-funding of science, the fact French teachers were so much more appealing in my day than those who taught science - whatever the reason, science has not been sexy.

Yet as the LHC shows, it is. Not only that, but this research project shows everything that is great about working today. Scientists, engineers and support staff from 111 nations are working together. Here is an example of talent, project management, innovation, global collaboration, skills, leadership, networking, technology – everything we talk about in HR is summed up in this one project.

Science unsexy? I say bring on the next phase, the International Linear Collider.

A strike too far?

Sian Harrington — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 12:46:00 GMT

So the RMT called off its strike. Hoorah for now, but I hazard a guess that it will not be too long before we hear Bob Crow calling for another one. Industrial strife is back in a big way - and no surprise to see the RMT leading the way.

In case it, and other unions threatening Harrods, Eurostar's third party cleaners OCS and Swissport, have not noticed, there is a recession brewing out in the wider world. Calling a strike that will disrupt millions of people going about their business is not a smart move, but one that can only help to accelerate economic decline. It may be unpalatable, but in difficult times such as these it is imperative that pay restraint is shown – and we all have to bear the brunt of such restraint if we are to keep hold of our jobs and help prevent a deeper and more damaging recession.

I support the right to strike. But people don’t have the right to strike just because they are employees. Striking should be the last resort – not a strategic form of intimidation to be used every time you want to gain something. And a strike is just as much a sign of a union’s failure as it is management’s – ultimately costing both employer and employee alike.

The problem in the RMT's case is that it can – and frequently does – hold London to ransom. This approach is increasingly losing the union any friends it had among the beleaguered commuting public. A pay rise of 4.95% and final salary pension on wages of up to £50,000? Most commuters can only dream of such favourable terms and conditions. A senior manager at one of the big accountants told me only today that he would receive a 1.5% rise this year if he delivers an “exceptional” performance.

Crow’s argument is that the terms of his maintenance worker members are less favourable than those of other tube lines – lines that are now in the hands of the public sector in the form of Transport for London. Crow knows that Tube Lines is a private company and it is up to the company to set its own terms and conditions. We wouldn’t expect Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Asda to sit down together and harmonise their pay and conditions would we? Yet their employees “do the same work”, to quote Crow. Like the rest of us, if Tube Lines’ workers don’t like their terms they should go and get a job elsewhere.

However, the ridiculous situation whereby we have two-thirds of our network’s infrastructure in public hands and one-third in private – thanks to the government’s flawed PPP approach – plays into Crow’s hands. This leads to confusion in the minds of the public and situations where we get Mayor Boris Johnson announcing an increase in the London Living Wage to £7.45 an hour for all GLA staff, including those of TfL, while Tube Lines’ staff do not receive it.

Both the Government and Johnson need to carefully consider the current defective approach, as failure to tackle it will only cause more disruption in the future. As for Johnson’s vote-winning ‘no strike agreement’, if all infrastructure were to come under TfL’s remit he could then try to implement this. Other public sector experience shows that a pragmatic, open-communication approach from management can avert strikes and Johnson should seriously consider the ramifications before removing one of our democratic rights. However, we already have a no strike rule for the Metropolitan Police and I feel the public would welcome the same for other key sectors that serve it, including transport. Crow’s dogmatic approach may yet backfire.

Meanwhile I would suggest that Tube Lines chief Terry Morgan considers introducing the London Living Wage – after all, even private sector companies such as Barclays have introduced it for their contractors’ staff. Offering a living wage in our expensive city is the sign of a good employer – and one that wants to motivate and retain the best staff - be it public or private sector.