Bullying and the Bogus Helpline

Poor Gordon Brown. He endures 60 minutes of torture with the self-inflated Piers Morgan and emerges almost likeable. But no sooner is the paint dry on his cuddly new image than tales of a fire-snorting, chair stabbing bully are splashed all over the Sundays. Then to cap it all, the CEO of the National Bullying Helpline no less reveals that several Downing Street civil servants have become her regular customers.

Fascinating as it is, the psychological profile of our Prime Minister is not the issue here. Mad as a box of frogs he may be, but some might argue that’s a pre-requisite in his job. Think of a word that captures either Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher or Edward Heath and chances are it won’t be ‘sane’.

No, what concerns us is the appalling breach of confidentiality by Christine Pratt and her National Bullying Helpline. Whether politically motivated or not – and that is a matter of ongoing dispute – it was unethical and a clear abuse of trust. And although it’s reassuring to see one its patrons, Professor Cary Cooper, resign in disgust, the noxious whiff around this registered charity refuses to go away.

The National Bullying Helpline isn’t what it seems. Their name implies a national or government endorsed status which they don’t have. We know from experience that they use their brand and charitable status as dubious leverage. They invite executives to launches of anti-bullying awareness days and then attempt to flog them the services of an HR Consultancy conveniently run by Christine Pratt’s husband. More disturbing, their pitch to companies whose employees have bullying complaints is: pay us to investigate and the chances are we’ll sort things in your favour. Making a big noise about complaints from Number 10 is just another example of their shameless commercial opportunism. So much for championing the underdog.

Although we’re confident that the media spotlight will expose this bogus helpline for what it is, the very real and sensitive issue of workplace bullying remains. Bullying takes many forms. It can be disturbingly personal and go way beyond any professional boundaries. But these cases tend to be rare. More often, accusations of bullying arise when management has allowed poor performance to continue unchecked and then suddenly tries to address it. In the public sector in particular, there’s a culture of crying ‘bully’ whenever an employee is called to account.

Our approach is never to let things go that far. We focus on developing an atmosphere of trust where both staff and management know what’s expected of them and how long they have to deliver. Regular checkpoints monitor progress and performance issues are addressed as and when necessary. This way, a surprise rollicking from the boss – the trigger for many bullying complaints - becomes a thing of the past.

If you see Gordon, maybe ask him to give us a call….

For further information please contact Paula Morris. T: 029 2047 4401 E: p.morris@capitallaw.co.uk

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