Don’t end up in a pickle: 7 lessons your business can take away from the report into Nine’s workplace culture

All hell breaks out at Nine

Last week, Nine Entertainment released the independent report into its workplace culture.

All hell broke loose.

It wasn’t just the contents of the report, which found that Nine has a culture of bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment, that set tongues wagging.

It was also widely reported that staff were upset that the report did not name and shame perpetrators. According to a report in The Guardian, several Nine staff have now engaged lawyers to sue for compensation. Nine has assured staff that bullies and alleged abusers will be held accountable. Apparently, there are a number of active investigations.

While the Nine Board and senior leaders scramble to get control of the situation, other businesses can learn from the findings so they don’t end up in a similar pickle.

Here are 7 lessons you can take away from the report.

Lesson 1: Reduce power imbalances

One of key causes of Nine’s high rates of bullying, discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment is the extreme power imbalances within the organisation.

Entertainment is a small industry and one that is also highly desirable as a career option. Senior leaders hold all the power. They can make and break careers. If an employee expresses dissatisfaction, they are often told that there are thousands keen to take their place.

As a result, there are plenty of opportunities for leaders and managers to abuse their power.

Other examples of industries that suffer extreme power imbalances are law, medicine and finance, as well as accounting, architecture and management consulting.

So, every business should review its structure and systems to ensure that, if there are power imbalances, you have mechanisms in place to counter those imbalances. For example, you should:

• have a culture that encourages clear and open communication without fear of retaliation
• offer alternative reporting pathways for cases of misconduct, including an external process for complaints against Board members or senior leaders.
• hold leaders accountable for their actions.

Lesson 2: Work towards achieving gender equality

The report explains that culture at Nine subconsciously segregates the workforce by gender resulting in double stands for men and women.

Specific examples include:

• women are promoted into specific rales based on their appearance not skills.
• men are given preference for high-profile stories
• women experience pregnancy discrimination
• women carers are exploited due to their fear about job security.

Obviously, these are characteristics specifically associated with the entertainment industry.

Nevertheless, every industry needs to review their workplace practices through the lens of gender inequality.

You need to ask the following questions about your business:

• Do men dominate the leadership positions in your business?
• Do men dominate decision-making in your business?
• What does your gender-pay gap data look like?
• Is your workplace segregated by gender?
• Do have high rates of gender-based violence?
• Do you have a culture of sexist, misogynist, misandrist and/or transphobic jokes?
• Are you haemorrhaging talented young women?

Lesson 3: Ensure your workplace becomes more diverse

The report also found that Nine is a workplace that lacks diversity.

This means that it is dominated by individuals with the same or similar characteristics such as racial background, gender, sexual orientation and linguistic background.

In the case of Nine, it was described by one interviewee as a ‘white/cis/male workplace’. In other words, it is workplace dominated by white blokes from Anglo-Celtic backgrounds.

Every business needs to work towards building a diverse workplace.

You need to ensure that all workers, irrespective of their ethnicity, cultural background, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, intersex status feel they are valued and can contribute meaningfully to your workplace.

This isn’t just the right thing to do. Research shows that diverse and inclusive workplaces perform better financially and are more profitable because they:

• make better decisions
• are more innovative
• are more productive
• are more competitive
• are able to win top talent and improve employee satisfaction.

Lesson 4: Update your policies, processes and procedures

While the majority of employees at Nine know that bullying, discrimination and harassment polices exist and where to find those policies, there are still incredibly high levels of inappropriate workplace behaviour.

You can’t draft policies and let them sit in the electronic equivalent of a dusty old filing cabinet.

You need to update your policies, process and procedures to ensure that they comply with best practice.

This includes ensuring they:

• cover all forms of conduct covered under the Positive duty including:
  • sex discrimination
  • sexual harassment
  • sex-based harassment
  • a hostile work environment on the basis of sex
  • victimisation
• are clear and easy to understand
• are widely distributed and discussed
• provide a trauma-informed, person-centred and confidential processes for reporting incidents that are communicated regularly.

Lesson 5: Make it easy for your people to report inappropriate workplace behaviour

Nine employees do not feel safe and supported to speak up for themselves or others about inappropriate workplace behaviour.

In other words, Nine's employees do not trust the reporting pathways.

Employees don't report bullying, discrimination and harassment because they fear:

• negative consequences as a result of making a report
• people would think they were over-reacting
• people would not think it was serious enough. 

In your business, you need to set up a safe-to-speak culture.

You also need to set up a best-practice approach to preventing and reporting inappropriate workplace behaviours should be psychologically safe trauma-informed and promote a positive reporting culture.

Your employees need to have choices about how they report sex discrimination or sexual harassment, including:

• verbally
• in writing
• an informal report
• a formal report
• anonymously (digital reporting).

They need to have a choice about to whom they report incidents of sex discrimination or sexual harassment, including:

• people and culture/human resources
• work health & safety representatives
• contact officers
• Mental Health First Aid Officers
• leaders (immediate leaders and senior leaders)
• digital platforms (including anonymous whistle blowing platforms)
• external avenues

Lesson 6: Improve your education and training

As in many workplaces, employees at Nine receive online training on bullying, discrimination and harassment that is not fit for purpose.

It was described as a ‘tick-a-box’ exercise that was not tailed to Nine’s workplace culture.

It was also described as far from engaging.

Sound familiar? You know the online module you have to do once a year that is incredibly boring as part of some annoying compliance requirement. Everyone completes it while doing something else at the same time.

You need to run live education sessions that are tailored to your organisation and are fit for purpose.

Ideally, you should ensure they are led by an external expert.

Lesson 7: Train your leaders

The report found that there is a lack of leadership capability and accountability at Nine. This was found to be a key driver of inappropriate workplace behaviour.

‘In media, and at Nine, the people in management are not managers’ one interviewee told the investigators. 

‘They are journos who’ve been put in management roles, and they’ve never been given management training.’

You often see this in law, medicine and finance. People are promoted into senior roles because they are good lawyers, doctors or stockbrokers not because they are good leaders

The idea that leaders are born rather than made is incorrect.

You need to give your leaders access to high-quality training not only so they can prevent and respond to inappropriate workplace behaviours but become inclusive and inspiring leaders.

Do you need help eliminating sex discrimination and sexual harassment from your organisation?

Do you need help complying with the Positive Duty?

Dr Genevieve Burnett specialises in helping businesses and organisations build better workplaces. Find out here how she can help you build a workplace where everyone feels safe, respected and included.