What can we learn from the ‘Horizon’ scandal?

More than 900 sub-postmasters and postmistresses were wrongly prosecuted or convicted of stealing between 1999 and 2015 as a result of glitches in its Horizon computer system, which suggested money was missing from accounts of thousands of sub-postmasters. Many suffered financial ruin as they used their money to cover up shortfalls.

Following the discovery, the question of how such a huge miscarriage of justice could have happened remains.

According to Marion Fellows, SNP MP for Motherwell and Wishaw, a “toxic management culture” was the catalyst for the poor treatment of numerous Post Office workers during the Horizon scandal.

She added: “The Horizon IT scandal resulted from the Post Office’s management culture.”

But what exactly makes a toxic management culture?

Here are some points to consider:

Blame-culture

Rather than looking into potential systems issues, senior management were quick to blame user error when looking at the discrepancies.

Operating a blame culture is unhealthy because it never leads to positive results of organisational progression.

Instead, try a ‘5 whys’ approach, where you are conducting a root cause analysis when things have gone wrong.

Culture of secrecy

Communication at the post office was found to be poor, with information only being shared at and amongst certain levels of the hierarchy. This can lead to a lack of information flow and ultimately organisational bias.

To avoid this, try using working groups for investigations, which include a variety of staff members at different levels of the organisation. Share as much information as you possibly can, without compromising your strategic position.

Suppressed whistleblowing

It has been found that the post office used non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) in an inappropriate way, essentially putting gagging orders on anyone who had left the organisation.

Conducting exit interviews can help you capture feedback from departing employees. Consider engaging an external agency to conduct these and maintain anonymity to achieve the most honest results.

NDAs have come under a lot of fire lately and should be carefully considered. Please ask you HR Advisor for support!

Utilise our HR function – in the right way!

Having a HR representative on the board of the organisation is key in achieving a balanced and fair approach to people management.

The Horizon scandal highlighted that it is absolutely vital to make HR an operationally integrated function, instead of a mystical ivory-tower department that deals in secrets.

Your HR professional(s) must be knowledgeable when it comes to day-to-day workings of the organisation and able to ask simple questions that reach beyond HR process.

If the post office had utilised the function in the right way, someone should have been able to ask more probing questions, instead of simply accepting the investigation outcome.

Source

Manuela Grossmann