The average member of the RICS – the institution that regulates standards, values, and protocols across the profession – must be holding their heads in their hands right now. Has the leadership just shot itself in the foot again, or is it going to prove a lot more serious than last time? I fear it is.
The announcement by President Ann Gray last week that the whole of the Standards and Regulation Board (SRB) has apparently resigned en-masse in support of their Chair – who might have a case for constructive dismissal – is extraordinary. It lays bare for us all how fractured things currently are at RICS headquarters.
Ms. Gray, an American architect by training, should be commended for having taken the mantle of President at such a tricky time, following the Levitt and Bichard reviews. To her credit, she upped-sticks from her Californian base and plans to stay in the UK until her term is up; the Presidential flat in Great George Street would probably have helped that decision, but it is still highly commendable in my view.
Many will have now seen the President’s letter summoning Dame Janet Paraskeva to a meeting with the intention to remove her as Chair of the SRB. Said letter is far from commendable, and unacceptable on at least three counts:
The first is simply what it says and how it says it, which is unbecoming of a national leader in the modern world. I would expect many Human Resources professionals to be squirming at its contents. Perhaps things are done differently in America, but we are not American; I would have expected UK protocols to be followed. I am amazed that it got through the RICS HR review at all. If, of course, it did…
Secondly, it finds the accused guilty without any apparent trial, then goes on to pass judgement with a draconian sentence. Even if Ms. Gray firmly believed that the accused would have been found guilty, it shows remarkably poor judgement in my book. We may never know the outcome, as a trial will not happen… Except, it still might!
If it does, it will make for essential, if not macabre, viewing. It might be quite a spectacle having the overseas-based President go up against an English Dame with a formidable reputation and who is no stranger to Regulation and the Law; neither are shrinking violets, and it is important to note that Dame Janet has vehemently denied the accusations made in her resignation letter.
Thirdly – worst of all in my book – the letter appears to illustrate that the culture that Levitt laid bare less than two years ago remains intact; the culture that led to the rightful resignation of the top five jobs at RICS at the time. Surely the institution should have learned from such recent and grave mistakes. There really does appears to be a pattern of removing people without due process and the revelation of such a poor, retained, and apparently ongoing culture will likely prove a disaster, though for different reasons, as the CBI will affirm.
It is important that we all get to know whether the full Governing Council – whom Ms. Gray is also Chair of – authorized issuance of that letter. If they did, Gray has at least some defence until December. However, frankly, we would need a new Governing Council, and I believe the President should stand down now for the crisis that her actions are likely to cause.
