Mr. McBride acknowledged that he couldn't be sure if more allegations of misconduct would come up in the future. Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP
The head of the Confederation of British Industry refused to rule out the closure of the lobbying group after it was found in an independent report to harbor 'poisonous' sexual predators following allegations of rape.
Brian McBride, president of the controversial group The Organization (CBI), said multiple allegations of sexual harassment had caused irreversible damage and suggested it might not be possible to salvage the situation.
This came just hours after the chancellor Jeremy Hunt said there was «no point» in engaging with CBI because companies left the group en masse.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Mr McBride admitted he couldn't be sure if more allegations of misconduct surfaced.
When asked if the CBI could be dissolved after a 60-day review period, the former head of Amazon UK said, «I don't think there's anything to rule out here. Of course, we are not going to dissolve it. Over the next 60 days, we will have to do the hard work of recovery. And this is the most important thing at the moment.
Mr. McBride said the rush of companies to relinquish their membership would cause financial problems and limit the CBI's influence in the future.
He also suggested that CBI's survival would require job cuts, which he called too complex, with too many layers and too many managers.
He said the CBI would be forced to cut the budget due to last week's exodus of members. Nearly 50 companies withdrew from or suspended engagement with the lobbying group after it received its second rape allegation in two months, including majors such as John Lewis, Natwest and Aviva.
G Mr. McBride said: «I think it will most likely be less because we will have less revenue and we will have to cut it accordingly.»
«There is no doubt that in In the future, we will have a smaller budget because these members are not going to come back overnight. It is still too early to talk about the size and shape of the organization [would].”
How the CBI crisis unfolded
Despite a string of allegations of misconduct, Mr. McBride insisted that the CBI is a safe place for women to work today. When asked twice if he could guarantee the safety of female staff, he said, «We absolutely believe this is a safe place to work… We have an absolute responsibility to make this a safe place for women and women leaders around the world.» organization, I believe we have done it.”
Mr. McBride acknowledged that the CBI may have lost the credibility of big business after the revelation of a second allegation of rape within the organization last week triggered a mass exodus led by John Lewis, Aviva and NatWest.
Board CBI. felt “a collective sense of shame… and bewilderment” over a series of missteps that allowed some high-profile individuals to prey on younger colleagues, Mr. McBride wrote in a separate open letter to members.
“We failed to filter out culturally toxic people during the hiring process,” the post reads, adding that some managers “were promoted too quickly without the necessary prior and ongoing training to protect our cultural values and respond appropriately when those values are violated.” «. .
The business group could also be renamed under the leadership of Rein Newton-Smith, its former chief economist, who will return to the organization on Wednesday as CEO.
It introduces a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment and bullying with immediate effect in line with the 35 recommendations of the Fox Williams law firm, which has been independently reviewed.
CBI will also introduce mandatory training to detect bullying and harassment, and a new the HR director was hired from outside to enforce the new standards.
Former CBI members have suggested that his battered reputation is beyond repair.
One CFO said: «The new CEO has possibly the hardest job in history to try to fix this situation … if there is anything that can be salvaged.»
The lobbying group that represented 190,000 UK companies, suspended all of its key operations until June amid two separate allegations of rape and the separate sacking of its former CEO Tony Dunker on unrelated allegations of harassment.
The allegations, first reported by the Guardian, forced the government and the Labor Party to withdraw most contact with the CBI, which once called itself the «voice of business.»
Mr Hunt called the allegations very serious. Speaking on the sidelines of a government business forum, he said: «Their own members have deserted them en masse.»
Police investigations into rape allegations are ongoing, as well as an audit of the CBI's «culture, management and processes,» overseen by board member Jill Ader.
CBI faces existential crisis after damning report
Matt Oliver and Szu Ping Chan
Jeremy Hunt is widely regarded as one of Westminster's most meek politicians, so when the chancellor addressed British leaders on Monday, his sacking was gripped The scandals of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) were uncharacteristically violent.
«There is no point in engaging with the CBI when their own members have deserted them,» he said when asked about the fate of the lobbying group.
“We want to interact with a body that speaks on behalf of business. But we don't stop. That's why 60% of the top executives are here today.
«We're not going to wait for the reincarnation of the CBI, or the CBI itself, to get back on our feet and go into business.»
Some found these remarks fatal . After all, what's the use of a lobbying group that has lost the chancellor's attention?
In an interview with The Telegraph, CBI President Brian McBridge acknowledged that the organization is in an existential crisis.
«We need to restore trust and confidence among our members, as well as among government and politicians.» he says.
"We know we've lost that trust — we had a churn on Friday and it was very, very disappointing, but understandable.»
Within hours of Hunt's speeches, the true scope of the tasks before him became clear. On Monday, the CBI finally released its response to an independent investigation that examined a series of sexual harassment allegations made against managers by female employees, including allegations of rape, sexual harassment and harassment.
In a 1,600-word indictment of my fault — the latest and longest of many prepared by the CBI in recent weeks — McBride accused the leadership of the lobbying group of complacency for allowing sexual predators to terrorize female staff with little, if any, repercussions. .
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said there was «no point» in engaging with a controversial lobbying group. Credit: DANIEL LEAL/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
The CBI hired «culturally toxic» men and didn't fire them, even when they were found to have harassed female colleagues, he said.
His letter was accompanied by a list of reforms to restore confidence, including a new «zero tolerance» approach to bullying and harassment, a whistleblower hotline, improved staff training, and the hiring of a chief HR officer to oversee tougher workplace standards.
However, Alison Loveday, an employment lawyer at Lockett Loveday McMahon, says an organization like the CBI should already have many of these policies.
She also notes that the new CBI HR director will only report to the board and not sit at the table — raising questions about how powerful the position will actually be.
Joanne Moseley, another Employment Lawyer at Irwin Mitchell, said: «I expected an organization that calls itself 'the UK's leading business organization' to lead by example in terms of having robust procedures in place to deal with allegations in sexual harassment. and bullying.
«One of his recent campaigns called on companies to 'doubling down on their commitment to advancing diversity and inclusion' and it's surprising that the company didn't seem to be practicing what it preached.»
The lack of awareness at the board level has certainly been a key factor in the deplorable state of affairs of the CBI.
While the full report is being kept under wraps, one clear conclusion from the 300-word summary of the independent investigation by law firm Fox Williams is that CBI management was completely unaware of almost all of the misconduct allegations prior to being reported by the Guardian. .
McBride says the allegations came as a huge shock.
«We all thought we had a good culture here — the staff seemed happy,» he says.
But there was a fatal problem: «People didn't feel comfortable with the processes we had to complain about.»
That's why many instead, he argues, have turned to the media with statements that expose a pervasive culture of misogyny that puts women at risk.
One woman claimed she was raped by a manager in a toilet stall at a staff party in 2019. When she complained, her boss allegedly told her to seek advice, but apparently no effort was made to escalate the matter, and she was not even encouraged to go to the police, according to The Guardian.
A second woman working in one of the CBI's international offices claimed that in 2018 she woke up after a night of drinking with two male co-workers with physical signs of rape.
She claimed that she was later shown a sexy photograph of her, apparently unconscious, which she said was taken that same night. One of her alleged rapists felt confident enough to wave the photo around the office.
Other women complained of sexual assault, inappropriate touching and explicit images sent to them by senior executives, while others said they were offered or forced to drink alcohol.
CBI said it fired some employees after his own investigation, but refused to say how much. Three managers were previously suspended.
Lobbying group referred charges to City of London Police investigators.
Former CBI CEO Tony Dunker was fired earlier this month amid separate allegations of misconduct. the golden standards of business were hopelessly lost.
On Friday, dozens of companies led by John Lewis, Aviva and Natwest finally left.
Many have already signaled they are on edge after Tony Dunker, former CBI CEO, was fired earlier this month for isolated misconduct involving his use of social media and unsolicited contact with an employee female.
He apologized for making the staff uncomfortable, but insists he was made the «front guy» in the whole scandal. The CBI said he was not involved in any of the most serious allegations.
Dunker will be replaced on Wednesday by Rain Newton-Smith, a former CBI chief economist who is returning from a high-ranking job at Barclays to try to stabilize the ship . However, many doubt that this will be possible.
“Everything is as serious as it can be,” said one of the leaders of the CBI member. «The new CEO has possibly the hardest job in history to try to fix this situation — if there is anything that can be salvaged.»
Even McBride admits this could be the end of the CBI. From now until the extraordinary general meeting due in June, when the companies will decide their fate by voting, he has about 60 days to save the lobbying group.
“We deeply regret what happened and what the victims had to go through,” says McBride.
However, he is convinced that the CBI still plays an important role in protecting the voice of business in negotiations with the government.
“Hopefully we have a future. There is every reason we should have a future if we do the right thing,” he says.
«Business needs one voice to present itself to politicians, and we hope to become that [vote] in the future.»
But even if the CBI breaks through, the mass exodus of members has left it diminished and faced with the imminent prospect of layoffs and budget cuts.
When asked about the chancellor's remarks, McBride reaches for comfort.
«I think it's reassuring that the chancellor has said that the government needs someone who can speak for the British business, he says.
The need for a unified corporate voice is obvious. But it's becoming increasingly doubtful that the CBI will be the one to provide it.
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