Chief executive claims culture change needed at Foxtons

One of the biggest estate agents in the country is being tasked with overhauling the culture of its workplaces following reports of discrimination, according to its chief executive.

There have been reports of harassment towards junior employees at the estate agents Foxtons, with these being made during an article in Bloomberg. Now the chief executive of the company, Guy Gittins, is stating that more work needs to be done to make the company culture fit for the modern age.

He added that the firm has introduced a number of policies over the past few years, which are designed to deal with such problems. They include policies for diversity, equity and inclusion, processes for employees to report any issues they are having and training in respect and inclusion.

Gittins then pointed out that this was clearly not enough and reiterated the company’s determination to do better. Alongside the allegations of harassment, the Bloomberg article states that drinking is currently central to the culture of the company.

Changing that could be critical to solving many of the other issues, but this kind of shift is not always easy to implement. That is where culture change consulting services can be very useful to companies.

It is a legal obligation for companies to tackle them. The Worker Protection Act that was passed two years ago holds businesses liable for sexual harassment – and other forms of harassment – that are committed against their employees.

Stephen Cooper from Stop Sexual Misconduct said that a comprehensive change at every level of a company was needed.