The Baroness Casey Review into the Metropolitan Police has resulted in a number of learning points for HR professionals charged with the daunting task of investigating organisational culture. Fieldfisher employment lawyer Hannah Disselbeck looks at what HR should consider
Baroness Louise Casey was commissioned to “undertake a review into the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police service and make recommendations”. In publishing her review, she branded the Met as institutionally racist, homophobic and misogynistic.
The review presents a compelling view of what should trigger a review of culture. It is self-evident that this will be called for where HR sees patterns of issues. More interesting are Baroness Casey’s views on the impact of individual incidents.
It is important to be alive to ‘initiativitis’ – a tick-box response to recommendations and proliferation of short-term initiatives that fail to drive change
The position that the Met has taken repeatedly is to argue that issues are confined to a few “bad apples” (the corollary point of a rotting barrel is generally lost). Baroness Casey rejects the bad apple theory, deploying a powerful analogy: “If a plane fell out of the sky tomorrow, a whole industry would stop and ask itself why. It would be a catalyst for self-examination, and then root and branch reform.”
Most HR professionals, thankfully, will never be faced with a Wayne Couzens or a David Carrick. However, any (apparently) one-off grievance that engages the organisation’s core values should be cause for an investigation to ask itself whether anything in its culture or systems has allowed an issue to arise, or to go unnoticed. HR professionals will be at the front line, and should be watchful for issues that may call for a wider review.
Culture change
Police reform: Will the Casey inquiry lead to cultural change?
Where HR professionals need to investigate an organisation’s culture, Casey’s review provides valuable learning points around methodology:
• Prior investigations: the Met has attracted multiple inquiries over the years, and the review builds on these. It highlights that it is always worth beginning an inquiry by looking at what has gone before, including to consider the organisation’s response to past issues or recommendations. It is important to be alive to (and prepared to see through) what Baroness Casey calls “initiativitis” – a “tick-box” response to recommendations and proliferation of short-term initiatives that fail to drive change.
• Data and records: the review carried out extensive data analysis, which is impressive in its depth, as well as an in-depth review of grievance and misconduct records and tribunal claims. Private sector organisations in particular are unlikely to hold large, granular datasets, but any investigator should think carefully about what data and records may be available, and about how to interrogate them (looking beyond the surface). Examples include staff turnover figures, engagement surveys, pay gap data, records of internal grievances (including allegations and, where known, the identity of the complainer or complainant) and tribunal and settlement records. Careful analysis of this data can help an investigator identify patterns, which can identify cultural issues and pinpoint where these lie and what groups are particularly impacted.
• Engagement: the review engaged with Met officers and staff in a number of ways, including face-to-face meetings and through a survey. Meeting with employees will be essential to any investigation. One (very practical) point to draw out is that findings could be skewed if an investigation relies on volunteers. A better approach is to speak to a selected representative sample, who are required to participate. In the case of the Met, witnesses testified to suffering overt and unambiguous racism, sexism or homophobia (examples are cited throughout). In many organisations, issues are likely to be less overt, so skilful questioning and listening will be needed to elicit and identify patterns and undercurrents where issues may not be obvious. Surveys are used less commonly but are worth considering, as the review demonstrates the value of information gathered in this targeted way throughout. The feasibility of carrying out a staff survey (with support from a specialist provider, as necessary) should be considered at the outset and budget allocated where appropriate.
• Organisational structure: looking at organisational structure, and at what importance is ascribed to HR and compliance functions (for example, in terms of budget and representation in senior leadership), can give an indication both of the priorities of an organisation, and its capacity to respond to cultural issues. The review highlighted, for example, that the Met relied on outsourced HR support.
• Systems: most investigations will include a review of policies and procedures. The review highlights the importance of looking “beyond the handbook”, to how they operate in practice. The best procedure is of little use if employees are not aware of it, or do not trust the process, so staff engagement on these points is essential to an investigation.
• Management: management is often reviewed in relation to specific decisions, or assessed in terms of its training to spot and resolve issues. It is less usual for an investigation to look at how effectively line management operates generally, and how managers are trained simply to be managers. The review highlights that this can be essential because, if competent management is absent, individuals are left to copy behaviour they see around them, and the “how we do things around here” becomes paramount, inhibiting leadership’s ability to project values throughout the organisation.
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In conclusion, the review does not reinvent the wheel, or revolutionise the practice of investigating cultural issues. It does, however, provide a rare public example of an investigation focused entirely on culture and behavioural standards, and therefore a rare learning opportunity for professionals practising in this space.
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