Mohamed Al Fayed sold Harrods for £1.5bn almost 15 years ago. It has just emerged in a new BBC documentary that when he owned the business he allegedly raped at least five female members of staff, with many more now lining up to share their horrific experiences.
Bruce J. H. Drummond, a Barrister on the legal team representing those women, said "The spider’s web of corruption and abuse in this company was unbelievable and very dark.".
A former employee recalled that “Mohamed Al Fayed was a monster, a sexual predator with no moral compass whatsoever,” ... the staff at Harrods were his “playthings”. “We were all so scared. He actively cultivated fear. If he said ‘jump’ employees would ask ‘how high’.”
When there is a malign cultural force so deeply embedded in a company that even a change of ownership will struggle to rectify it - because when the very top is that rank, it quickly spreads down - the new leadership team absolutely must prioritise #values-led #cultural transformation. But the truth is that they might not know the scale of the problem, even when something has been an open secret.
Take as example an Employee Engagement consultancy report from three years after the sale, which includes this humdinger: "Despite perceptions outside of Harrods, Mr Al-Fayed was very popular with staff and was well known for his compassion. The new owners share his views and firmly believe that the way employees are treated is as important as financial performance."
People like Al Fayed build myths around themselves that make people who see the other side of the story find it very hard to speak up. Loyalty is an odd thing that doesn't always go in the direction you would expect.
Like any rot which has been allowed to spread in dark corners, it's hard work to get rid of, and the more you dig the more you find. It's also work with a ticking time bomb attached because without a clear and consistent demonstration of intent people can easily lapse into old habits.
Harrods is not the only cherished national institution that has allowed this moral degeneracy to take hold. Think of what happened at the Post Office Ltd with the Horizon scandal. Think of the double standards of some people in highest office.
I was curious to see where things have got to. Here's Harrods's values, developed in 2019. They call them 'employee values' and position them as a promise: "As you live our values, we will too, for everyone who joins us here at Harrods. These are our promises to you."
Since that open secret is now firmly uncovered, let's hope the values of 'trust' and 'we are one' can fully take hold.
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