Courtenay HR

Crocodile Tears In The City?

The recent media coverage of bullying and harassment in the City, particularly the BBC documentary and subsequent coverage in the Financial Times raises some interesting questions and pointed out some of the unpleasant details of working in the square mile. But let’s be honest for a moment, don’t we know this already?

I mean, it’s not as though the City is a new employment concept. Come on, it's tough out there. Some environments and jobs are tough and shitty and the City is one of them. It’s hardly a new phenomenon is it?

'Men are men and new kids and softies beware.' Cynics would say that narcissism is the top requirement on the person spec for anyone looking to work there anyway. And aren’t we just perpetuating the stress ‘myth’ and fuelling the compensation culture by giving a voice to, and acting on, complaints by those that currently work there?

Isn’t it entirely possible that those that are complaining this week, are the same ones that were last week ‘behaving like louts’, no doubt urinating and puking in the doorways surrounding Liverpool St station? Some would say it’s foolish to enjoy the highs if you cant take the lows.

And of course, the City is apparently trying to clean up its image somewhat, so all round, shouldn’t we be getting on with life, confident that the City HR profession has a clean up plan all under control?

I’m not so sure. Firstly, the article’s attempts to re assure us left me feeling a little less than convinced, citing the fact that Icap stopped paying for lap dancing on expenses two years ago. I nearly fell off my chair when I read that one. Since when has paying for the sexual services of a woman been an ‘acceptable expense? Very noble of you, Icap.

I also can’t get away from the feeling that, what appears on the surface is just a small slice of what goes on underneath. Perhaps all the testosterone hides something more sinister that, despite efforts by our trusty profession, is proving harder to eradicate that anyone would like to admit.

It is also clear, that some of the activities which take place go way beyond even what many would consider acceptable for a ‘tough’ or ‘hard’ environment. The story of Mark Moore is a case in point. (Financial Times, Thursday 24th November 2003 – ‘Trader Told To Ignore Taunts And Physical Abuse As Colleagues Attempt To Destroy Him.’

For me it goes beyond the term bullying, and into the realms of the sick and tortured. This is the kind of behaviour we often blame on the ‘feral’ community that seems to be developing in our society. I would not be surprised if at weekends and during dinner parties many of the perpetrators of this kind of activity berate the local youth and others who behave in a similar fashion, blaming the parents and the ‘underclass’.

One other thing that strikes me, apart from the darkness of all this rather stupid and frankly childish behaviour is the amount of time someone who earns over £¼ million per year plus bonus’s can devote to it. From time to time in the past, I too would have liked to wage a campaign of hate against some deserving case (Usually a boss, I must admit) but I never had the time! How come these people do? If you add the time they spend plotting fiendish mind games to destroy their co workers and the time taken to administer the actual physical abuse to the many wasted hours surfing on the web for porn it’s a wonder they get anything done at all.

So what next? What hope do we have for a redress? Are we likely to see a rebalancing of gender and attitudes in the city, even with the efforts of those who are leading the call for a more diverse approach to employment and issues such as bullying and discrimination?

I think not. My vote is we will all turn to drugs. Not the nose candy variety you understand, but the hormonal ones. With women taking testosterone by the fistful (In some cases ignoring clinicians advice on safe limits) to help them square up to their male counterparts, how long before we start slipping the worst offenders in boxershorts a tab or two of oestrogen to ensure they stay in touch with their feminine side?