No organization in the 21st century can credibly claim to be the voice of business if it doesn’t listen to the voice of women, says RUTH SUNDERLAND
- CBI sounds like a throwback to the sixties
- When doing business largely meant manufacturing was dominated by white men
- We now have a diverse business landscape
The sex and drug scandal at the CBI has raised so many questions.
The organization claims to be ‘the voice of business’, but what exactly does that mean – and what would that sound like?
Are the orotic statements of FTSE 100 grandees the voice of business? The social media musings of Elon Musk or Matt Molding? Is the voice of women in business being heard at all?
When female Footsie CEOs fall victim to sexist shareholder bickering at their shareholder meeting, you should ask.
The CBI sounds like a throwback to the 1960s, when business was largely British-owned and dominated by white men. We now have a diverse business landscape with a growing number of female and ethnic minority entrepreneurs.
Is it moving in the right direction?: The CBI sounds like a throwback to the 1960s, when business was largely British-owned and dominated by white men
Even before recent events, it seemed challenging to claim that the CBI could speak for the kaleidoscope of UK businesses in 2023.
The immediate question is whether members will leave. Perhaps a more pertinent question is whether someone would pay to join the CBI as a new member after this.
Why subscribe if, say, you’re the 35-year-old female founder of a tech unicorn? For the contacts? Not when you have a choice of networking events in posh venues and don’t want to be seen dead on the CBI rubber chicken circuit?
Another important question is why sexual harassment and assault of women is so pervasive in the workplace in this era of wakeism? The alleged behavior at the CBI is disgusting, but not a one-off. Harassment and mistreatment of women and gay men is prevalent in many places, including parliament – remember ‘Pestminster’?
Unions have had their share. The Labor colleague Lady [Helena] Kennedy recently published a gruesome report about alleged harassment and harassment at the transportation union TSSA.
She found that women had been victims of sexual violence, inappropriate and sexual touching, and coercive and manipulative behavior for many years.
McDonald’s, the fast food chain, was forced to sign a legal commitment in February with Britain’s equality watchdog to protect its female staff from sexual harassment after receiving more than 1,000 complaints.
This widespread oppression and mistreatment of women in the workplace is appalling.
As for CBI members, their reluctance to cut ties or speak out is likely due to fears of similar things happening in their own organization. But their silence risks being interpreted as a refusal to stand up for women’s right to be safe at work.
Victims of sexual harassment or assault are often afraid to report it to their employer, and there may be a good reason for this. The fear is that they will face willful blindness, attempts to exonerate the perpetrator or even blame.
The appointment of a female boss, as the CBI has now done, is a positive move, but does not solve the problem in itself. Tony Danker, who was sacked last week for conduct that fell short of expectations, was preceded as director general by Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, a highly respected businesswoman.
But a small handful of women at the top cannot hope to overthrow an entrenched and widespread toxic culture.
The hardest questions for the CBI are these: Why didn’t it seem to hear the women on its own staff describing such horrible experiences? Why did it fail to protect them to the extent that they felt compelled to come forward?
No organization in the 21st century can credibly claim to be the voice of business if it does not listen to the voice of women.