Nick Bacon, professor of HR management at the Cass Business School in London, made the comments following the publication of the pension provider’s annual reports yesterday that carried the warning.
The details were also issued in a statement to Standard Life’s 9,000 employees by chief executive David Nish. He said management had begun “work to establish additional registered companies to operate outside Scotland, into which we could transfer parts of our operations if it was necessary to do so”.
Stressing that the company was “non-political” and did not “seek to influence the outcome of the independence referendum,” Nish outlined concerns over how the potential constitutional change could damage “the interests of our customers, shareholders and other stakeholders in our business”.
These included the currency an independent Scotland would use, whether Scotland would remain a European Union member, and the shape and role of the monetary system.
“We will continue to seek clarity on these matters, but uncertainty is likely to remain. However, there are steps we can – and should – take, based on our own detailed analysis of the information that’s currently available,” Nish said.
“This is a purely precautionary measure to protect the interests of our stakeholders and ensure continuity of our competitive position and has no immediate impact on our people or operations.
“I want to make it quite clear that we have made no decisions to move any part of our business from Scotland at the current time as a consequence of the constitutional debate,” he added.
Bacon said Standard Life was right to have communicated to employees, but that the company’s potential move was “very high risk”.
He suggested employees would be reluctant to relocate from Standard Life’s head offices in Edinburgh, which offered a good quality of life.
He said that following the announcement, some employees would “sit tight” and wait for more information, while others would begin looking for other jobs.
“Then there will be people who don’t want to relocate and that could mean losing some very good people who might also be looking at alternative jobs now,” Bacon said. “They need to hedge their bets if they want to stay in Edinburgh.”
“It’s very important to communicate clearly with your employees what you’re plans are, so certainly if Standard Life was making contingency plans in the background, it is something they should publically discuss with their employees.
“In the context of the policy and the independence vote, I don’t think that could be remaining secret. They’re quite right to be open about it and communicate what it might involve to their employees,” he continued.
“Obviously they’re making a calculation on employee morale and engagement and the loss of staff compared to the financial costs of their business, if they feel they have to stay in an independent Scotland.
“I’m sure the board makes that evaluation. As ever, people are very important, but they’re not the only thing that matters,” Bacon added.
Standard Life is the first significant Scottish business to warn that it might leave Scotland in the event of a vote for independence.
A referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent country is set to take place on 18 September 2014.
