Walkin' blues

The BBC's Reward Director, Robert Johnston, is leaving.  Rather swiftly, it seems.  Robert got into the headlines when it became known he'd made a suggestion that might blur disclosure of the number of BBC staff on  six-figure salaries. Mr Johnston, 53, issued an apology after his e-mail was published in April.

Now, HR Director Lucy Adams has announced that Robert “has decided it is time to move to a less high-profile and demanding role. He will leave at the end of this week.”  Hardly time to organise Lambrini and crisps, is it ?   Robert joined in 2007, from Accenture. He started in HR in the NHS, at Charing Cross Hospital and Great Ormond Street. Then it was Cable & Wireless, followed by some interim work, and HR Director at Oncue Telecomms.

As BBC reward director, his salary was £183,750, and total package £196,750. In February this year, HR Magazine put him at number 9 in a league table of public sector HR staff.  Lucy Adams was top, earning £320k for looking after, say, 23,000 staff.  Clare Chapman, Director of Workforce for the NHS came second, earning £267k - with responsibility for an estimated 1.25 million employees.

Lucy and Robert were not alone in the table. Whilst HR magazine admit that the figures are incomplete, in all,  10 BBC HR staff were in the top 20 wage-earners in their field at the start of this year.