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12th May 2022
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THE HOT STORY
BBC faces backlash as staff handed largest salary rise in a decade
Employees across the BBC will enjoy the largest salary boost in 10 years, with the majority of staff set to receive a 4.24% pay rise in August. This will then be supplemented by a further 1% increase. The broadcaster said the pay rise was made possible by cutting its staff numbers by 1,200 last year. But critics have said the corporation could have passed on some of the savings through licence fee concessions for those in need. Andrew Bridgen, the Tory MP, said the pay rise "shows there is clearly no cost of living crisis at the BBC".
PEOPLE SUCCESS
4 Ways that Performance Management & Employee Engagement will drive business success

Employees are the heart of any thriving business. But it’s increasingly challenging to build cultures that attract, retain, engage and motivate people.

As far as perfect pairings go, few are as impactful as employee engagement and performance management. Understanding and nurturing this relationship is key to building a workforce of engaged, high performing employees who are deeply invested in your business.

In this article, we walk through 4 ways that performance management and employee engagement linked together will drive business success.

Learn more in our ‘Performance and Engagement: Better Together’ eBook

 
REMUNERATION
P&O rival backs UK plans to force ferries to pay minimum wage
Danish ferry operator DFDS has expressed its support for UK plans to force ferry operators to pay workers the minimum wage; CEO Torben Carlsen argues the economics of running cross-Channel services was becoming unsustainable.
KPMG partners risk losing share of £300m pot over ethical standards
Partners at KPMG UK are to have their “special capital” payouts more closely linked to their conduct following a string of fines and investigations into the firm’s work. Senior partners risk forfeiting their share of the £300m proceeds retained from the sales of two arms of its business as part of a wider effort to improve the culture at the firm following a review by KPMG's chair, Bina Mehta, and chief executive Jon Holt.
CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Greggs facing shareholder revolt over high pay
Shareholder advisory services Pirc and Glass Lewis have urged investors to vote against Greggs’ remuneration report arguing that payouts for outgoing chief executive, Roger Whiteside, were excessive and that there was no rationale for issuing a higher than usual bonus for finance chief, Richard Hutton.
Blanc: Sexist comments in a public AGM a new development
Amanda Blanc has revealed that sexism and "unacceptable behaviour" has got worse and more "overt" as her career has progressed. The CEO of Aviva made the comments after she suffered sexist abuse at the company's AGM earlier this week. She wrote in a LinkedIn post: "I would like to tell you that things have got better in recent years but it’s fair to say that it has actually increased - the more senior the role I have taken, the more overt the unacceptable behaviour.” Sexist comments are now becoming more public, she continued, expressing fears that gender equality remains a "long way off".
Blackrock performs volte face on fossil fuels
The world’s largest asset manager has made a spectacular U-turn on climate risk by stating that it will vote against most shareholder green activism this year for being too extreme. Blackrock said it was concerned about proposals to stop financing fossil fuel companies. It explained that the war in Ukraine had impacted the transition to net-zero, and therefore short-term investment in traditional energy sources is now required to boost security. In a stewardship report, Blackrock said: “Many of the climate-related shareholder proposals coming to a vote in 2022 are more prescriptive or constraining on companies [than last year] and may not promote long-term shareholder value.” The move comes just days after US entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy launched his anti-woke” investment fund, Strive Asset Management, and described BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street as an “ideological cartel”. With BlackRock also saying in its report that it will not support proposals that could lead to companies being “micromanaged”, perhaps a sea-change away from politically motivated activism is underway. The New York Times also reports on the shift, noting also that the Securities and Exchange Commission this week extended the public comment period on proposed new climate disclosure rules after being accused of overreach and pushing a “scorched earth rule-making agenda.”
Lloyd’s of London attempts to shift AGM online to avoid climate protesters
Lloyd’s of London is urging members to watch its annual general meeting from home next week, amid fears it will be the latest City event disrupted by climate protests. Bruce Carnegie-Brown, the chairman of Lloyd’s, warned about the potential for disruption at the 19 May AGM back in April, but said in an updated memo that the risk of disruption had significantly increased.
Moderna's finance chief earns $700,000 in one day after abruptly quitting
Jorge Gomez quit as Moderna CFO after just one day after his former employer launched an investigation into financial reporting. Dentsply Sirona disclosed that it had been made aware of “allegations regarding certain financial reporting matters” by current and former employees but Mr Gomez was not referred to in the filing. Following his resignation, Mr Gomez will be entitled to take home one year’s salary, equal to around $700,000 (£570,000). However, Moderna said he had forfeited his signing bonus, bonus eligibility and eligibility for new hire equity awards. David Meline, who had just retired as Moderna’s finance chief after a two-year stint, will retake the post while the company reopens its search for a successor, the company said.
REGULATION
UK competition watchdog to end 2-year search for new chair
The Government is expected to appoint Clive Bannister as chair of the Competition and Markets Authority, ending a two-year search to find a replacement for Andrew Tyrie. Installing Bannister will allow the focus to switch to finding a successor for the CMA’s CEO Andrea Coscelli, who announced at the start of the year that he would step down in July. Sarah Cardell, the CMA’s general counsel, has been appointed interim chief executive in the meantime and according to insiders is the leading candidate for the top spot.
WORKFORCE
FCA considers docking disruptive workers’ pay
A document seen by Bloomberg indicates the Financial Conduct Authority will consider docking the pay of workers who cause disruption or harm, or only carry out some of their contractual duties in protest at reforms to compensation at the regulator. The move follows a two-day strike earlier in the week which saw some FCA staff begin to “work to rule” as the dispute over pay and conditions rumbles on. Unite has said staff are facing a pay cut after the abolition of what they describe as routine discretionary payments, worth an average of 10-12% of salary. Steve O'Donnell, regional officer at the union, said the intention appeared to be “to frighten people and deter them from taking action. This is unacceptable and only serves to make industrial relations worse and damages trust still further.”
WORKPLACE
SAP shaken by bullying claims and female exits
Bloomberg reports on German tech giant SAP's struggle to elevate and retain women in some of its most senior roles. Some women at the company have complained about mistreatment, such as bullying or offensive sexual advances, and found HR to be unhelpful or hostile, several people said. “SAP has a zero-tolerance policy for harassment and unlawful discrimination of all kinds,” Joellen Perry, a SAP spokeswoman, said. “We have a robust process for investigating 100% of reported allegations, and consequences for those found to be in violation of our policies can and have included termination of employment.” SAP is Europe's largest technology company, and it also employs more than 31,000 people in the U.S. Bloomberg notes that companies across the technology industry have struggled to promote women to the highest levels.
CORPORATE
CD&R hires CVC's top Mideast dealmaker
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has appointed Amr Nosseir as senior advisor to the firm. Nosseir previously served as managing director, chairman and head of Middle East Business Development at CVC Capital Partners.
LEGAL
SRA asks when solicitors' misconduct details should be erased
The SRA has opened consultations on whether it should publish details of solicitors being investigated for misconduct, as well as how long details of those found guilty should be kept on file. The regulator started new discussions yesterday on the so-called right to be forgotten, asking whether it should amend the current policy to remove most decisions from its website after three years. Other questions focus on how much information to provide with decision notices, what circumstances (if any) would prevent publication, and what further details could be published about SRA decisions. The consultation also asks what details the SRA should publish about ongoing investigations. These are not routinely made public until the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal has certified there is a case to answer. This is because it is deemed unfair to the solicitor or firm under investigation to be named when allegations have not yet been fully tested, but there is a suggestion that it might be better to publicise details of investigations earlier to provide greater transparency.
INTERNATIONAL
First black woman appointed to Fed board
The US Senate has voted to confirm Lisa Cook to the Federal Reserve, making her the first black woman to sit on the central bank's board. Ms Cook was approved on a partyline vote with Vice President, Kamala Harris, breaking a tie.

 
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China's Didi faces SEC probe into IPO
Didi says it is facing a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation into its $4.4bn IPO in New York last year. The Chinese ride-hailing firm launched the offering on June 30th; however, shortly afterwards, the Chinese government banned Didi from app stores in the country and launched an investigation into its handling of customer data. Authorities from the powerful Cyberspace Administration of China accused Didi of breaking privacy laws and posing cybersecurity risks. Their actions were also widely seen as punishment for the company's decision to go public overseas instead of in China. Under pressure from Chinese regulators, Didi announced in December that it would start the process of delisting from the New York Stock Exchange and pivot to Hong Kong.

 
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