Piers Morgan for Clarkson - really?

On returning home from a great day at work yesterday, I found myself talking back at the radio - Piers Morgan was talking about his campaign to replace Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear.

Whilst I'm sure this in itself will provoke a number of different responses and opinions, it was the update on progress with the "Clarkson case" that really got me talking out loud.

I'm amazed to learn that the independent inquiry held into the complaint against Jeremy Clarkson is nearing completion and the report will land with the Director-General of the BBC next week.

Whilst I'm pleased that it might get resolved quickly and the true facts of the incident may become disclosed so that we can all stop speculating on what happened and what the outcome should be, it did trigger me somewhat!

Why did it trigger me? Well, in the last year, I have seen and personally supported some senior organisational leaders who have had complaints made against them, mainly on grounds of their own behaviour and style in asking people to be more accountable for their performance as they attempt to change organisational culture more positively. This has often been labelled as bullying behaviour but no one has alleged to being physically assaulted!

Whilst everyone has the right to challenge, complain and be heard, in all of these instances to date, no cases have been upheld and the time taken to get to these outcomes, has typically been several months. During this time, these very well- intentioned leaders have suffered at the hands of poor investigations, are restricted in their contact with staff and have had limited support whilst suffering personal high-impact consequences on their health and well-being. In most cases, the complaints are anonymous or have been raised through a whistleblowing policy. Some have also been the subject of media interest.

By contrast, Jeremy Clarkson has been reported to have attended the home of the producer who has lodged the complaint and he will know the outcome of his investigation in a relatively short timescale. Whilst I'm pleased for all Top Gear fans so that we can get our programme back (with or without its current presenters), I'm left wondering whether it seems fair that we have such a wide-ranging and inconsistent approach to such incidents?

And then 25 years to get the truth of Hillsborough...............

Steve Benfield, Managing Partner, The Beech Centre for People, Performance and Organisational Development