In November, chancellor Rachel Reeves was accused of lying about her employment history; a survey revealed employees engaged in ‘productivity theatre’ and GMG employees raised concerns about institutional sexism at the union.
Reeves faces CV accusations
Chancellor Rachel Reeves was accused of embellishing her employment history by lying about her tenure at the Bank of England.
Reeves initially claimed on LinkedIn that she worked as an economist at the Bank of England between September 2000 and December 2006, and then acted as economist at the Bank of Scotland until December 2009.
In an interview with Stylist magazine in October 2021, however, Reeves claimed she worked for a decade at the Bank of England. The inconsistency in her employment history was flagged by right-wing politics blog Guido Fawkes on 24 October 2024.
Several news outlets have since reported that Reeves edited her LinkedIn employment history listing to remove the claim that she worked as an "economist at the Bank of Scotland", instead stating that she held a "retail banking job" at Halifax, part of Bank of Scotland.
“LinkedIn profiles can provide useful context, but shouldn't be treated as primary evidence of employment history,” Natasha Johnson, director of HR consultancy Organic P&O Solutions, commented on the evidence.
Productivity theatre rife
More than two thirds (67%) of workers reported having engaged in ‘productivity theatre’, or performing tasks to appear busy without doing meaningful work, according to a survey by work management software developer Asana.
Productivity theatre places a burden on a smaller group of people, the research suggested, with 40% of workers noticing high-performing colleagues stressed due to over-reliance on their work at least once a week.
Nearly three quarters (72%) of the 2,500 workers surveyed said their workload was so unmanageable that they have felt the need to take a day off at least once in the last six months.
“When responsibilities are unclear and accountability is lacking, it’s no surprise that people focus on appearances rather than outcomes,” Rebecca Hinds, head of Asana’s internal think tank the Work Innovation Lab, said.
Institutional sexism claims at GMB
A dozen former and current GMB staff and members plan to complain to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) about institutional sexism.
According to an article in the Guardian the group claims that the GMB has failed to adequately investigate sexual harassment and bullying claims. This followed an independent report by barrister Karon Monaghan four years ago that described the union as “institutionally sexist”.
One former GMB staff member described the union’s efforts at investigation since the report as “piecemeal, selective and narrow”.
Employers should “respond appropriately” to claims of institutional sexism, David Liddle, founder and chief consultant of transformational culture consultancy The TCM Group, said.
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