Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+

Latest NewsHR practice

Delay over Ross and Brand radio fiasco damages BBC reputation

by Personnel Today 31 Oct 2008
by Personnel Today 31 Oct 2008

The BBC failed to act quickly enough to avoid reputational and organisational damage during this week’s media storm over the controversial radio broadcast by comedian Russell Brand and presenter Jonathan Ross, according to an employment legal expert.


Beth McPherson, associate at law firm Stephenson Harwood, said the BBC should have acted swiftly through its existing processes and management structure to deal with the incident.


Ross and Brand dominated the headlines this week after the BBC aired a radio show in which they left a series of phone messages for former Faulty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.


In an improvised and expletive-laden message, Ross claimed Brand had slept with Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie – a member of burlesque group the Satanic Sluts – and said that Sachs might kill himself as a result of the news.


Although the BBC broadcast the programme on 18 October, Brand, Ross and the BBC did not make any apologies until this week. The corporation gave employers a good lesson in how not to deal with wayward employees, McPherson said.


“It took a long time to respond, and when they did, it was not very firmly, and did not involve the people responsible,” she said.


Although Ross and Brand made the prank calls, the decision to broadcast them was made by BBC managers, McPherson added. Responding to public outcry, the BBC has now lost popular comic Brand and well-respected Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas, both of whom resigned this week.


Businesses caught up in public controversy should not hesitate in evoking predetermined management processes, McPherson insisted. “Act swiftly and strongly within a proper management structure that gives you an easy and quick way of establishing whose fault it is,” she said.


“The risk if you do not is losing people that you wanted to keep. The BBC has lost the head of Radio 2, a valuable employee who was highly regarded and far removed from the incident. It has also lost Russell Brand, and whatever you think about him, he brought in a lot of listeners.”


The incident also caused huge reputational damage to the BBC through a lack of management control, McPherson said. “The BBC employs Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross partly to shock people, but when they do exactly that, the organisation does not have the processes in place to keep them in check.”

Avatar
Personnel Today

previous post
Personnel Today Awards 2008: Award for Innovation in Recruitment and Retention
next post
Friday podcast: Abbey’s record race discrimination case and what should HR focus on in a recession?

You may also like

Kristie Higgs succeeds in bid to remove LGBT...

5 Jul 2022

‘Low flight risk’ designer wins £100k age discrimination...

5 Jul 2022

Rail signaller discriminated against by staff who watched...

5 Jul 2022

The ultimate guide to payroll for small businesses

5 Jul 2022

More government support to help over 50s back...

5 Jul 2022

NHS to end full pay for Covid-19 sick...

4 Jul 2022

Government childcare plans aim to reduce cost of...

4 Jul 2022

Whistleblowing lawyer awarded £423k by Foreign Office

4 Jul 2022

Diversity and inclusion: where does the buck stop?

4 Jul 2022

Quarter of workers feel unsupported after bereavement

1 Jul 2022
  • The ultimate guide to payroll for small businesses PROMOTED | You’ve started a business that has expanded to the point of requiring more staff to meet demand. Congratulations!...Read more
  • NSPCC revamps its learning strategy with child wellbeing at its heart PROMOTED | The NSPCC’s mission is to prevent abuse and neglect...Read more
  • Diversity versus inclusion: Why the difference matters PROMOTED | It’s possible for an environment to be diverse, but not inclusive...Read more
  • Five steps for organisations across the globe to become more skills-driven PROMOTED | The shift in the world of work has been felt across the globe...Read more
  • The future of workforce development PROMOTED | Northumbria University and partners share insight...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2022

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2022 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
    • Advertise
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Equality, diversity and inclusion
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • XpertHR
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Pricing
    • Free trial
    • Subscribe
    • XpertHR USA
  • Webinars
  • OHW+