Your blogs - Blair McPherson

On Monday morning the executive team discusses recruitment. Too many vacancies. On Tuesday they review retention. Too many good people leaving. On Wednesday they examine absenteeism. Too many people off sick. Three meetings. Three agenda items. Three action plans. The executive team thought they were discussing recruitment, retention and absenteeism. They could just as easily have been... See more

Triffids have a deadly sting. Yet they pose little threat to sighted people because they are slow moving and completely blind. Anyone who can see them can simply avoid them. The danger comes when people lose their sight. In a battle between a Triffid and a blind person, the Triffid wins. Most organisational disasters are not caused by catastrophic threats. They are caused by ordinary problems... See more

Imagine an organisation as a Russian doll. The outer doll is the one everyone recognises. Structures. Policies. Job descriptions. Budgets. Performance targets. Reporting lines. This is the formal organisation. Open it and there is another organisation inside. Not a smaller version of the first, but one built from trust, hope, pride, frustration, resentment and memory. Open that and there are... See more

“McDonald’s claims that one in three of its managers are under 25. So why do we still assume young people can’t manage?” The assumption is familiar: too immature, not enough experience, still too focused on social life, not ready for responsibility. It sounds reasonable—until you look at what is actually happening in the labour market. The average age of a first management role in the UK sits... See more

The first item on the Executive Team agenda was communication. The Chief Executive looked around the table. "I've discovered our communication strategy isn't working." There were a few raised eyebrows. He explained. With HR's help he had started inviting small groups of employees to Friday afternoon birthday tea parties. Five or six people whose only connection was that they were... See more

 Organisations don’t have a culture problem. They have a tolerance problem.”  Behaviour Spreads. You Don’t Manage It. Organisations still believe that if you tell people how to behave, they will. They won’t. Write the policy. Run the training. Send the all-staff email. Somewhere in HR, this is called a strategy. Everywhere else, it quietly doesn’t work. Because behaviour doesn’t... See more

Organisations measure almost everything. Performance. Productivity. Efficiency. Customer satisfaction. Financial performance. What they rarely measure are the emotional by-products generated in the process of achieving them. Every merger, restructuring, cost-saving programme, outsourcing exercise and transformation project leaves something behind. Not in the annual report. Not on the balance... See more

Analytical Assessment Report Prepared by: Special Agent Jack Donovan Distribution: Supervisory Review Classification: Internal Analytical Assessment – Not for External Distribution Subject: Preliminary Assessment – UK Employee Survey Investigation Executive Summary This report provides an interim analytical assessment of evidence emerging from a collaborative investigation with Detective... See more

Organisational Crime Unit Case File 003 Exhibit B Witness Interview Summary Witness 5 – Full-time Trade Union Official Interviewing Officer: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore Interview Status: Completed   Purpose To establish whether concerns raised through trade union channels support or contradict evidence obtained from senior management, Human Resources and employee witnesses.... See more

Organisational Crime Unit Case File 003 Exhibit B Witness Interview Summaries Witness 3 – Front-line Employee (New Starter) Interviewing Officer: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore Interview Status: Completed Purpose To understand why some employees continue to participate in the employee survey despite organisational change and declining confidence among colleagues.   Interview... See more

Organisational Crime Unit Case File 003 Exhibit B Witness Interview Summary Witness 2 – Head of Human Resources Interviewing Officer: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore Location: Human Resources Meeting Room Interview Status: Completed   Purpose To establish whether Human Resources identified patterns within employee concerns that were not captured by the employee survey and... See more

Witness 1 – Senior Executive Interviewing Officer: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore Location: Executive Meeting Room 3 Interview Status: Completed Purpose To establish why the declining employee survey response rate did not trigger a formal investigation and whether senior management recognised the significance of the warning signs.   Interview Summary The witness arrived... See more

Organisational Crime Unit Case File 003 Exhibit A FORENSIC REPORT Reporting Officer: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore Case: 003 – The Autopsy of an Employee Survey Classification: Internal – Investigation Continuing Chain of Custody Document received from Human Resources at 09:17 hrs. Original electronic file examined. No evidence of amendment following receipt.   Crime Scene ... See more

Organisational Crime Unit Case File 003 The Autopsy of an Employee Survey Episode 1: New Case EMAIL From: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore Organisational Crime Unit – United Kingdom To: Special Agent Jack Donovan Federal Bureau of Investigation Subject: Forensic Report: The Autopsy of an Employee Survey Jack, Sorry for the delay. No overtime. Apparently organisational crime has... See more

Case No. OCU/26/041 Joint Intelligence Briefing Victim: The Emotional Organisation Suspected Cause of Death: Death by KPI   From: Detective Inspector Sarah Whitmore, Organisational Crime Unit, United Kingdom To: Special Agent Jack Donovan, Organisational Crime Unit, FBI Subject: Joint Intelligence Briefing: Death by KPI Jack, We  managed to miss each other in three different... See more

Every organisation has an emotional crime scene. Some just don't know it yet. The following correspondence has been released by the Organisational Crime Unit.   From: Special Agent Jack Donovan Federal Bureau of Investigation To: Detective Inspector, Organisational Crime Unit, United Kingdom Subject: Intelligence Sharing Request – Red Ball Investigation Detective, Our Behavioural... See more

The phone rang just after nine. "Organisational Crime Unit." A voice with a thick French accent replied. "Good morning. I am calling from Interpol." The detective laughed. "Very good. Dave's put you up to this, hasn't he? That's the worst French accent I've heard since they stopped showing 'Allo 'Allo!" There was a pause. "Monsieur... I assure you... this is Interpol." The detective... See more

Police today dismissed media speculation that a serial killer is targeting organisations.Senior officers described the claims as "unhelpful speculation." However, sources close to the investigation say detectives reviewing a number of unexplained disappearances have identified similarities they can no longer ignore. Different victims. Different circumstances. The same modus operandi.   ... See more

  Reports and rumours are circulating about a puzzling crime wave. Police admit they are struggling to explain what is happening. However, this reporter has been told by a source close to the investigation that officers from the Drugs and Organised Crime Unit have been drafted in to help. Detectives believe they are dealing with an organised campaign operating across the country. The... See more

Speculation Unhelpful, Police Warn Case Number 004/ED Initial Report The initial report concluded no crime had been committed. It was another sad case of burnout. Tragic but not unusual in today's intense and demanding workplace. The pressure had simply become too much. The case was about to be closed. But one detective was uneasy. Too many details didn't fit. The deceased had not shown... See more