Elaine’s blog

It’s a long time now since the Stephen Lawrence enquiry, but race discrimination in the police seems to be a hurdle that is not beaten. We have in today’s news a high profile allegation of racist victimisation and religious discrimination against the Commissioner, Sir Ian Blair, by a very senior officer who is Asian.

Less favourable treatment constituting race discrimination at work is evident if it relates to the way in which a recruitment exercise is conducted, the terms of the employee’s employment, the opportunities given for promotion, transfer or training, or the access given to any benefits, facilities or services. I haven’t yet heard the details are of the current allegations lodged in the employment tribunal, but the allegations are around how the officer was managed under the direction of the top man, amongst others.

For the purposes of illumination, another case was recently reported of a black African PC of Nigerian origin who brought a claim against Derbyshire Constabulary.

In 2005, PC Bayode brought a claim of discrimination based on the way in which his performance development review had been conducted and alleged “harsh monitoring and over-close supervision by superiors and colleagues”, amounting to race discrimination and/or victimisation. This allegation related to a number of incidents when PC Bayode’s conduct was questioned, and reports were made by colleagues at the request of senior officers. The reports related to a perceived failure to support a colleague during the arrest of a drug dealer and a delay in responding to a bomb threat. No formal disciplinary action resulted.

Some of those colleagues had in fact been careful to jot down contemporaneous notes in their own notebooks, precisely because they feared that PC Bayode might later allege race discrimination. One female PC had recorded sexist remarks made by PC Boyode to her. No formal action was taken against him although he was counselled about his remarks.

In the end, PC Bayode lost his claim in the tribunal and on appeal. It seems that the tribunals assumed that what was written in the notebooks was true, even if this practice of making notes on a colleague is unusual. Even if no action resulted from the entries, they had been read by senior officers who could have been influenced by them. I for one would probably take exception to being singled out for such treatment by my colleagues. Having said that, it seems the WPC did not pursue any complaint of sex discrimination, and I might not have let that go either!

I am indebted to Chris Watkins (People Management, 24 July 2008) for bringing to my attention the latest report of the Hay Group which identifies 6 leadership styles by reference to the Finance sector:

1. Visionary – “Let me tell you where we are going as a team”
2. Affiliative – “People first, task second”
3. Participative – “Let’s decide together”
4. Coaching – “What did you learn? What would you do differently? What can we improve on?”
5. Pace-setting – “If you can’t do it right, I’ll do it myself”
6. Directive – “Just do it the way I tell you”

Thanks also go to my 17 year old son, who persuaded me to read a through the blood and gore of “Centurion” by Simon Scarrow, and led me to hone my own thoughts on what leadership looks like:

• Remember that those we influence watch everything that we do – and copy our habits!
• Subordinates talk about managers when they are not around and corroborate their opinions
• Leadership is not a process, but a set of behaviours and values
• Being clear with others, rather than clever, especially when delivering difficult messages, sets the context of respect
• Receiving calmly immediate responses to bad news or disappointment affirms the validity of such reactions whilst preparing the way for managing them later
• Stay brave in the face of criticism or failure, remaining focussed on finding a solutions
• Seeking out the opinions of others to demonstrate respect, provide reassurance and manage expectations, and being decisive about the right course of action in the context of those opinions.