One Direction

A familiar tool of 'employee engagement' beloved of HR over the past twenty years has been the creation of a programme of 'choices', where the staff apparently can influence the direction of their business - whilst, in reality, the routemap is being forced on them with the ease of a kids party magician.

So James Harding, Director of BBC News, has today turned to his 7,355 employees, seeking 'answers' on four fronts, in a quest to make savings.

"First, output. Where do we think people are going to watch, listen to, and get their news, and what do we want to do about it? 

Second, content. What can we do to tell the story better? 

Third, how do we ensure BBC News serves all audiences in the UK, regardless of age, identity, income, gender or geography? Young people are consuming less and less traditional media – how do we cater for them? 

And fourth, the way we work. How do we invest in people, reduce costs, increase opportunity and improve the working culture? 

Today, we have questions, not decisions. This is not an announcement of job cuts. It’s not even a statement on a savings target. It’s about setting our priorities."

James has been in the job some 28 months.