The BBC has recognised publicly its problems with celebrity power. In recent years,  household names have been subject to accusations (against professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing), sackings (One Show host Jermaine Jenas) and criminal convictions (news anchor Huw Edwards). The nature of its day-to-day operations, involving so many highly-paid stars — the ‘talent’ — working alongside teams of people in supporting roles, means constant tensions around power and the potential for abuse. In other words, there’s always the danger that the organisation, and licence fee-payers, have only seen the tip of the iceberg. 

The BBC updated guidelines on personal relationships at work earlier this year, calling for employees to report evidence of “abuse of power” to senior members of staff (defined as any situation where someone had used their “celebrity status” to coerce people to do things for them). Advice was given on how to spot the signs of “potential grooming”. “I cannot emphasise enough that I am fully committed to tackling inappropriate or abusive behaviour,” said chair Samir Shah. “Nobody working in the BBC should ever feel fear or worry while working here.”

Now there’s going to be another independent review of the whole workplace culture, a follow-up to the Respect at Work Review in 2013, that will report back in 2025. The focus is due to be on the practical mechanics and impact. The Values and Code of Conduct are there, employees from top to bottom know what the consequences of inappropriate behaviours will be — but does that mean there’s been a genuine change to the culture, and if not, what needs to be done? 

Our experience in organisations like the BBC — and the BBC isn’t so different to other large employers where there is always going to be an imbalance in power, between senior and junior staff, between pockets of critical expertise and their colleagues — is that a blunt ‘crackdown’ on inappropriate behaviours doesn’t work. In simple terms, you raise the stakes and fewer people feel able to speak up. There’s a reliance on whistleblowers, and whistleblowing feels full of risk and danger. A survey of 2,000 employees in the UK this year suggested that 51% wouldn’t whistleblow, even if they knew their employer was breaking the law; only 18% were confident they could whistleblow and not lose their job. 

More important than codes of conduct and pressures to encourage speaking up, there needs to be the right environment for conversations about concerns. A culture of early and informal resolution. 

Nothing is going to change the power imbalance: the BBC isn’t going to be a star-less community of equals. And under the current proposals and direction of policy, people are going to feel even less safe sticking their neck out, because they know the implications for the accused, and the level of scrutiny on them and their accusations is going to be that much more severe. The bullying and inappropriate behaviours go underground, morph into other forms, find other outlets. Everyone grits their teeth and smiles that bit harder for the cameras. 

There are lessons here for all kinds of employers: how you can only expect people to raise issues in a positive and practical atmosphere of Psychological Safety. 

There are key steps that can be taken (depending on what organisational needs are and what’s already in place):

• by creating a behavioural framework which all employees understand and know what is expected of them; 

• ensuring robust and fair HR investigations are in place when allegations of misconduct are reported;

• having a triage process to signpost to informal mediation or other restorative interventions when appropriate;

• using highly skilled mediators, coaches and trainers when needed to restore relationships, develop emotional intelligence, address unconscious bias and early conflict situations;

• building a psychologically safe workplace – assisting to break down any possibility of ‘imposter syndrome’ amongst under-represented groups when they get promoted and more generally enabling teams to thrive;

• and overall, by creating a ‘Clear Air’ culture, one where people working at all levels feel able to speak up, challenge in positive, constructive ways, because they have been equipped with the skills to have better conversations based around Conversational Integrity (based around developing five capacities: situational awareness, curiosity, reflective listening, empathy and self awareness).