Pay offer eats culture for breakfast

You can spend quite a bit of money at the BBC on 'culture', making it a wunnerful place to work, etc, and then see it all go down the drain with a 'slap in the face' 1% pay offer. 

There was a big HR conference at the ritzy Evolution in Battersea some weeks ago, called Engage Employee. Keynote speaker was Fearne Cotton, and there were a number of BBC speakers.  I offer their speaker notes, whilst you consider their skill set in dealing with the forthcoming and inevitable industrial inaction... 

Sarah Gregory, Deputy Chief People Officer

"She is a leader who advocates for people-centric and purpose-led cultures with a belief that empowered and engaged colleagues are the key to an organisations success.  Sarah is a leadership coach, a Non-Executive Director and a curious learner; currently working towards her PhD, exploring social mobility and how identity shapes our attitude to work and careers."

Ed Cook, People Experience (PX) Partner

"Ed Cook is a People Experience (PX) Partner at the BBC, where he focuses on building a workplace where every colleague feels valued, productive, and able to thrive. He leads the organisation’s Listening Strategy, turning colleague insight into practical improvements and measurable impact."

Kirsty Lee, Global HR Director, BBC News

"Sitting on both the News Divisional Board and the BBC HR Leadership Team, she provides strategic leadership that enhances organisational effectiveness while ensuring people and culture remain central to decision‑making. A qualified leadership coach, Kirsty recently completed a Professional Certificate in Executive Coaching at Henley Business School and brings a people‑centred, insight‑driven approach to transforming workplace culture."

Emily Kirwan, Senior Head of Internal Communications and Engagement, BBC News

"Emily is an accomplished corporate affairs leader known for delivering strategic communications and engagement at high profile media and technology companies. She has extensive experience in reputation management, transformation, crisis and employee comms. Emily focuses on embedding communications at the heart of an organisation to build trust, create a positive culture and boost performance." .

The 1% Club

In a move clearly designed to drive more people to consider voluntary redundancy, the BBC is proposing a 1% pay rise this year, or £500 if that's bigger than 1%. The NUJ has rejected the proposal, and the next stop is ACAS. 

The BBC says there'll be no rises for members of the BBC Executive Committee.  That's not quite right; the Board's Remuneration Committee meeting in May sanctioned new deals for the Deputy Director General and any incoming Director of News and Current Affairs... 

Deputy Director-General

5.1 The Committee considered a salary recommendation for the new position of Deputy Director-General.

5.2 The Committee approved the proposed pay mandate, noting that it reflected the external market benchmarking, recognised the scope of the new role and maintained appropriate internal relativities within the Executive Committee cohort. It was also noted that the Chief Operating Officer role was being closed.

CEO News and Current Affairs

5.3 The News leadership role had been reviewed in the context of wider changes at the Executive Committee level, ahead of initiating the search for a permanent replacement to lead News and Current Affairs.

5.4 The Committee approved the proposed pay mandate noting that this reflected the external market benchmarking, recognised the scope of the new role and maintained appropriate internal relativities within the Executive Committee cohort.

 

Sorted

You know the Buffini gap ?   It's been sorted by a temporary Soldi. 

From the minutes of the BBC Boards' Nominations and Governance sub-committee meeting in April.  

1. Arrangements for Chairing of Commercial Board

1.1 The Committee discussed a paper proposing interim arrangements for the Chairing of the Commercial Board. Damon Buffini would stand down from the role on 30 June. To enable a smooth transition to a new full time Chair, the Committee agreed that Marinella Soldi, as a current BBC Board non-exec member of the Commercial Board, should be recommended as the Interim Chair for a period to the end of 2026. To facilitate this it was also agreed that Marinella’s term as a main Board member should be extended for a further 6 months, to conclude on 10 March 2027. The possibility of a further term for Marinella would be kept under review in the meantime. The Board would be asked to approve these recommendations.

1.2 The Committee also discussed the need to launch a process to recruit a successor to Damon Buffini on the main Board. It was agreed that the process should be undertaken following a piece of work to update the assessment of skills across Board members. The Company Secretary would undertake an updated skills audit for Board members and return to the next meeting with the results of this, along with a proposal for the role description and recruitment process.

Minder needed

Today is officially the last day for Sir Damon Buffini as a BBC non-executive director and deputy chair of the Board.  Unless we get an announcement of a replacement by the end of the day, there's a gap in providing a 'minder' on the BBC Commercial Board, to keep an eye on the activities, principally, of BBC Studios. 

During his term, Sir Damon has allowed Studios CEO Tom Fussell to bet much of the bank on employing staff in the United States, either to make versions of BBC formats, to set up Britbox and fast-streaming channels, and to produce something called 'commercial news'.  The financial reporting level is broad-brush and booster-ish, so it's hard to judge the real return on investment. Are the staffing levels in Washington and New York paying for themselves, and should they be by now directly funding, say, The World Tonight on Radio 4 ?

Up a level

The BBC's lawyer Charles Tobin has got further under the skin of the Trump team in matters Panorama. The Trump side is now attempting to deploy officials from the Attorney General's office at the Florida Court, after Mr Tobin peppered Government departments with requests for discovery of documents relating to the events of January 6th September 2021.  

Over 40 subpoenas have been issued to various branches of the Executive and Congress, as Tobin probes the possibility that the infamous edit actually reflected a broader truth, and was not a misleading take on the general Trump position the day rioters stormed the White House. 

Trump's lawyers have asked the Florida court to simply absolve these Government departments from any need to answer the call, and the Attorney General's office wants to be represented at the July 21st hearing set to resolve the matter.  

Dot com still booming

More Yankee tail wagging the BBC UK dog.  An advert for someone to drive digital news stuff from New York. Will Matt Brittin notice that this is a mess ?

"The Head of Multimedia and Social leads the development, production and distribution of digital video and social output for BBC.com, the international BBC app and associated platforms... The position will report to senior leadership within BBC Commercial News, and will collaborate with other stakeholders across BBC Studios, BBC News and throughout the BBC group to deliver editorial content that serves audiences, supports growth and upholds BBC values."

$180k, two days a week in the office. Lovely. 

Turf wars

The BBC's quest for prominence on multi-media devices, so that UK-constructed 'news', that engine of democracy, doesn't get buried under a pile of influencers and AI twaddle, has won the support of the Government in this week's Green Paper. But our newspapers (or perhaps their owners) are beginning to wake up and complain.  The Times this week asked why the Government should have any role at all in decided which were and were not 'trusted sources'. 

Does one get a whiff of newsprint when reading the weekend offerings of BBC News online ? Today's stories include: "I'm in therapy for my 14-hour-a-day phone addiction and I'm determined to beat it"; "These women said no to having kids - here's why"; "I'm overwhelmed now - so how do I plan for motherhood when I've got ADHD?", and, in the Top Ten most read: "Sort Your Life Out: The four most common cluttering mistakes and how to fix them". 

Award winners

 Well, well.  All four (yes, four) of Lisa Nandy's special advisers got a trip to the Brits in Manchester, courtesy of various sponsors. Griffin Mosson, Harjeet Sahota, Jane Eagles and Owen Alun John. 

Busy Lisa

An outsider might think that Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy was man-marking BBC Chairman Samir Shah, from the number of official meetings held over the first three months of this year.  No less than five recorded, with Lisa also stepping into staff way below the Chairman; meetings with both Laura Kuenssberg and Chris Mason will inflame the conspiracy theorists.  

Amusingly, Lisa met new DG Matt Brittin in mid-January "to discuss AI and copyright" a full month before his candidacy for the job was revealed. Less transparently, Lisa held a meeting "to discuss the Charter Review with long-serving BBC staff". She also introduced herself to Rhodri Talfan-Davies and had a goodbye session with Tim Davie. 

To round off the three months, a cerebral session with former DG Mark Thompson, now CEO and Chairman, CNN Worldwide.

Timely ?

Never mind Charlie's tax. What about BBC expenses ?

"The BBC publishes quarterly expenses, gifts and hospitality for all Senior Leaders who earn £178,000 or more per year as well as for all members of the BBC Board, as part of our commitment to transparency."

Last publication covers Quarter 4, 2024/25, i.e. ending in March 31st 2025 - 452 days ago.