Three department officials alleged Badenoch subjected staff to sustained humiliation and bullying, the Guardian reported on 31 July, which drove staff to tears and at least three staff members to leave the department altogether.
Badenoch, who is in the running to become the next Conservative Party leader, has denied the allegations and no formal complaints were found to have been made.
Sources claimed, however, that morale in the department was so low that officials addressed concerns about the working culture in a town hall meeting in December 2023.
“It is disappointing to read the recent allegations against Kemi Badenoch, a frontrunner for the Conservative Party leadership,” commented Aggie Yemurai Mutuma, CEO of DEI consultancy Mahogany Inclusion Partners.
Speaking to HR magazine, she said: “These allegations are a powerful reminder of the critical need for intentionally creating cultures of psychological safety and respect where employees feel valued and safe.”
Read more: Does the Raab affair clear up the definition of “bullying”?
HR should tackle bullying in their organisation on a cultural, rather than individual, level, explained Liz Sebag-Montefiore, founder of consultancy 10Eighty.
She told HR magazine: “This is an organisational issue and dealing with it effectively should centre on preventing bullying and harassment, rather than simply responding to it.
“If an employer concentrates on individual acts of bullying by blaming individuals, the underlying cause, which is often a management culture of bullying, will not be addressed.”
Managers could easily defend allegations of bullying made against them, Sebag-Montefiore warned.
"Allegations against leaders are difficult since the senior person is likely to counter that they are being a ‘strong’ leader or ‘uncompromising’," she said.
A spokesperson for Badenoch told the Guardian that the allegations were “completely false and a flagrant smear”. They suggested she had “high standards and expectations”.
Simon Jones, director of consultancy Ariadne Associates, told HR magazine that training could encourage managers to change their behaviour.
He said: “While HR should have clear and open processes that allow employees to raise concerns and have them properly investigated, this is only part of the solution. There also needs to be training for managers and leaders to make them aware that this style of leadership is not only inappropriate but also ineffective.
“HR are often the people who need to have difficult conversations with employees. In cases like this it can be about having a difficult conversation with senior people. It's not a simple solution but the onus on HR, once aware, is to try to tackle it.”
While half (50%) of 1,026 UK employees surveyed by law firm Wright Hassall (July 2024) reported that they had either experienced bullying or witnessed it at work, 26% claimed they did not know what to do if they were bullied at work.
HR should encourage employees to report incidents of bullying, Sebag-Montefiore added.
Read more: Off-the-record complaints and how to handle them
“Many employees don’t feel they will be believed, they don’t think HR or management will take allegations seriously or that the perpetrator will be held accountable and they are afraid of retaliation,” she continued.
“Part of the role of HR is to create a robust workplace culture and an important element of that lies in safeguarding, so employees feel comfortable to raise concerns at the earliest possible stage, confident that they will be addressed fairly.”
The Guardian revealed that, while no formal complaints were made against Badenoch, other ministers in the department checked in on the wellbeing of staff. Meanwhile, one informal complaint was made to a former aide of Rishi Sunak.
Employees’ allegations against senior leaders should also be scrutinised for bias, Mutuma noted.
She commented: “While these allegations raise significant concerns about workplace culture and the treatment of colleagues, it is also important to recognise that as the first Black female candidate for the Conservative Party leadership, Badenoch may indeed face heightened scrutiny.
“As we hold all leaders accountable, it is equally essential to ensure that such scrutiny is unbiased and not influenced by her identity. This context urges caution in rushing to conclusions about Badenoch without a thorough and fair investigation.”
