HR Doctor - A round of applause
HR Doctor Steve Cave looks back on
recent controversial stories relating to equality and diversity in
the workplace and in business.
The day after the deadline for the last article the Gray/Keys
and Sky story broke, followed by a string of other stories that
would all make interesting articles. An interesting article is one
that I can write easily and pretend to know what I am talking
about. I had thought that the next edition of Anecdote was some
time away and everyone would have forgotten about Gray and Keys so
I was delighted when Sarah changed the schedule. My problem now is
that I have too much material!
Before I explore the new material I would like to thank everyone
who sent me stories of bad managers. Some
were amusing, but most worrying and a little sad. The most common
word used by a bad manager based on your comments is the F word and
I do not mean feelings! I often find that the response to people
who use 'industrial language' at work is to appear that it does not
bother people, yet when you speak to people one to one they will
often say how appalled they are. I assume that the people who use
the F word do not go home and swear in front of family members, so
why talk that way at work.
There is a great quote from Mark Twain who said 'when angry
count to ten and when very angry swear. I think this is good advice
but if you are very angry often then you need to seek help.
When training, it is always very useful to have something high
profile happen that most people have heard about and have an
opinion on. The Gray/Keys and Sky issue being too good to ignore,
immediately became an ice breaker on both my equality and
discipline courses. I have asked about 100 people now if they
thought 'it was fair to dismiss Andy Gray'. The results are 70%
thought yes and 30% thought no. Of those who thought it was unfair,
the justification was it was only banter and you would hear such
banter in any workplace. I have no doubt that there is some truth
in that. The problem is that such 'banter' breaks the law and if
anyone, even if not involved in the banter, can complain about such
behaviour. I am sure that we do not know exactly what happened at
Sky but it is clear that the 'banter' was very one sided and
unwelcome; I applaud Sky for taking action. I was surprised at the
70/30 approval rating and although far from scientific, is an
encouraging sign that some workplaces maybe good enough for my
granddaughter to work in!
Shortly after the Gray/Sky story came the news that the courts
had ruled that it was discriminatory for a couple who ran a hotel
to bar a gay couple from their hotel. The subsequent debates on the
radio and press showed just what ignorance still exists; I applaud
the courts who have consistently ruled against this issue.
I find ignorance to be one of the most frightening things that I
come across in the workplace. The belief that being gay is a
lifestyle choice is one example of ignorance. The other that has
occurred recently is the hatred of anything European. The response
to two recent European Court of Human Rights decisions by the press
and some politicians was to demand we rid ourselves of such courts
and regain control of our own destiny. I read one letter in the
local press from a councillor demanding such action, even if it
meant leaving the European Union!
Of course the European Court of Human Rights is nothing to do
with the European Union. It was Britain and Winston Churchill who
led the way in developing the European Convention on Human Rights
and it pre-dates the European Union by several years. The press
reporting on the two cases (voting rights for prisoners and sex
offenders register) was extremely distorted, which is not unusual
for what I believe to be the worst written press anywhere, or at
least anywhere I have ever been.
I am sure the Human Rights Act could be improved but it is a
major part of what stands between the majority of UK citizens who
are decent, caring, respectful people, and the others. I applaud
the European Court of Human Rights.
I recently rang Acas to ask for help in understanding the
transitional arrangements of the removal of the default retirement
age. The woman who helped me was excellent and reminded me what a
great service Acas offers; I applaud them for their service.
Finally, it will shortly be Red Nose Day and in lots of
workplaces all over the country the 'decent' people I spoke about
will be doing strange things to raise money for good causes. I
applaud all of you.
Remember you can contact me on steve@myhrpeople.com