A damning report which said Ridgehill Housing Association suffered from a "culture of intimidation and fear" has been leaked to the Borehamwood & Elstree Times.

Greg Campbell Management Consultancy wrote the report about the Borehamwood-based association in January.

Managers were fuming after the leak. Newly-appointed chief executive Lily Smith said staff conditions at Ridgehill, which manages around 4,500 homes in Hertsmere and employs more than 160 people, had improved since January.

The aim of the report was to find out about any problems staff had at Ridgehill, and how the organisation could become more productive and effective.

According to the report, Ridgehill's staff were split into two groups. Some said it was "a very pleasant place to work with no animosity", but others complained of "a culture of blame and favouritism, where friendships are frowned upon and in some cases staff have been terrified."

Some staff complained of being bullied, and the report quoted one person as saying: "You have to be careful about what you say, otherwise you get reprimanded."

Some middle-managers complained that the few decisions they were allowed to make were overturned, and that senior managers did not keep their promises, while others were happy.

Several departments said that they had performed well in spite of the senior management team, rather than because of it. Some staff had low morale, and others felt senior managers were castigating entire departments.

The report said there was too much secrecy, although there had been recent improvements.

It added that some managers had been sent on sponsored MBA higher education courses, which were expensive and of little use to the organisation, while few lower-grade staff had been given any training at all, and newly-recruited middle managers were often left to "sink or swim".

In a statement, Ridgehill said it had commissioned the report because it had been aware of staff concerns, and had been determined to improve matters with the help of the recently-recognised union UNISON.

"There have been extensive discussions with staff and union about how to tackle the issues raised. There is now much more openness within the organisation and this has greatly improved the atmosphere. There are regular all-staff meetings so all staff know what is going on.

"We are satisfied that if the consultants carried out a progress review, they would hear a much happier story from a very supportive staff team."

Union representative Paul Jessett agreed: "This report is history. Ridgehill has moved on from this period."

July 4, 2002 10:00