BBC News revealed testimonies from 20 former Harrods employees in a documentary that aired on 19 September, “Al Fayed: Predator at Harrods”. The women alleged Fayed subjected them to sexual assault, physical violence and rape while working for the company, on occasions using HR and managers to source and control his victims.
“This is another corporate scandal and a tragedy that reinforces the question, where was HR?”, David Liddle, founder of people and culture consulting, a consultancy for culture transformation, told HR magazine.
Several victims, often young women, detailed that Fayed asked senior assistants and an HR manager, a woman referred to in the documentary as ‘Sarah’, to interview them for a position in his personal office after seeing them on the shop floor.
Before the women were hired they were offered invasive medical tests, including sexual health screenings, which were passed directly onto Fayed. ‘Sarah’ was herself assaulted by Fayed and followed by his personal security guards to ensure she did not tell anyone what had happened to her.
The victims, security guards and Sarah spoke of a "culture of fear" and surveillance at the company, where "everybody knew" about the abuse.
Liddle said that the HR function must evolve to ensure it is not complicit with abuse from senior leaders.
He said: “I think there is a big question that we're seeing more HR departments starting to ask themselves, which is, what is the role?
“Is the role of HR to protect managers from employees, or worse, in this case, to protect the worst behaviour of our executives? Or is the HR function to create and enable a workplace which is driven by a sense of fairness, justice, a sense of common purpose?
“HR needs to really re-establish and undertake some deep reflection of what it means to be a people professional, and recalibrate its role so it acts more as a sort of mediating function within the organisation, protecting the rights and interests of employees and aligning them to the needs and interests of the organisation.”
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HR should build a strong relationship with the board of directors to ensure they are able to raise issue with misuse of power, according to Colin Ellis, culture change consultant and author of Culture Fix: How to create a great place to work.
“Often ethics are reinforced by policies and codes of conduct, however, in the case of Harrods – and many other cases – it’s clear that such policies aren’t enough," he told HR magazine.
“HR needs to have a direct line to the board in ensuring that they can independently raise concerns on issues that they believe compromise policies, ethics or behavioural standards, without fear.”
Ruth Cornish, founder and director of HR consultancy Amelore, emphasised that HR also needs support and external avenues to support them.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “If you are in-house HR you want to keep your employer happy. However, we have to break the cycle. Qualified HR professionals are bound by the excellent CIPD code of conduct which enables them to speak out (with CIPD support) about unethical or poor practices.
“HR as a function can be part of a cycle of entrenched behaviour as they often have no one supporting them. So HR for HR is a key step.”
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James McArthur, CEO of Harrods for 10 months in 2008, when the Metropolitan police investigated claims a 15 year-old-girl was assaulted in the Harrods bathroom, told BBC News he was "not aware of sexual abuse" by Fayed.
Harrods released a statement regarding the allegations saying: “We are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohamed Al Fayed. These were the actions of an individual who was intent on abusing his power wherever he operated and we condemn them in the strongest terms.” The statement also acknowledged that employees were failed by Harrods but said ‘the Harrods of today is a very different organisation’ and that they have been settling claims since 2023.
HR is responsible for ensuring employees are clear on where they can report abuses of power, Ellis added.
“Organisations should establish clear, accessible channels for employees to report misconduct or abuses of power without fear of retaliation. This can take the form of formal grievance procedures or whistleblowing systems,” he said.
“Further, steps should be taken to ensure that all managers are provided with suitable training on how to lead people with integrity, ethics and morals, such that they have no recourse in cases where they are found to have behaved inappropriately.”
