Adrian Beecroft proves that politics and business don't always mix well

I admit that I have been rather slow in getting round to reading the Beecroft report on employment law. This is certainly not because it is a daunting missive.

Indeed, it is shockingly lightweight at only 15 pages. It is more because I have been busy with other things, some of which you can read about by following the link in the footnote below.

This report was commissioned earlier last year and was actually delivered to Vince Cable's Business Department last October. Ministers and civil servants have clearly been trying to find a suitable waste paper bin to file it in ever since then. Mr Cable's statement on the report when it was finally published just over a week ago is about as dismissive as ministerial statements come, diplomatically stopping short of saying it is a load of rubbish that doesn't inform or shape government thinking one iota.

However successful Mr Beecroft may have been in the worlds of venture capital and private equity he is sadly a naive novice when it comes to the world of politics. His report reads like the script of a dinner party bore who decides to lecture his fellow guests on a subject which he thinks reading a few highly selective articles in the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph has made him an expert in. It lacks coherent argument and is full of serious claims about the imagined impact of employment law on businesses that are devoid of any evidential support. I did think initially that I was missing something important - like an appendix or two - when I downloaded the report but you will search in vain for any substance of that nature.

The basic thrust of thrust report is wrong and ignores the changing balance of power between employee and employer over the last 30 years. In the pre-Thatcherite days of enormous union power it really was extremely difficult to sack anyone. Offices and factories were full of people who weren't doing real jobs or doing jibs very poorly because no-one could find a way of getting rid of them. As the power of trade unions diminished so laws designed to protect individuals from unfair treatment by employers took its place. Those are the laws that Mr Beecroft has in his sights but he is very wrong about their impact.

It is perfectly possible to dismiss poor performers, especially if they are within their probationary employment period. Yes, there is a process that has to be gone through that ensures the person affected has an adequate opportunity to put forward their side of the story but if the employer has set clear targets and expectations and managed the process well then they can rid themselves of people not doing their jobs adequately or not contributing to the business as expected. It is actually easier than when the union rep would have marched straight into the managing director's office complaining about the appalling treatment of his member, no matter how lazy or incompetent his member may have been. Usedwell the laws work for both parties.

I think Mr Beecroft should be complaining about poor employers, not inappropriate legislation.

Political storm
The political storm he walked into with the publication of the report was totally predictable. Did he realise what he was doing? Surely not? No-one of his stature and reputation wants to open themselves up to ridicule and insult deliberately, especially with no prospect of having anything to show for it at the end. As Mr Cable pointed out in his statement, what common sense was lurking hidden in the report was already government policy and part of the reforms being worked on by the Business Department.

Mr Beecroft is just another in a long line of business leaders who do not understand politics and, worse, show no inclination to bother to understand it. I have seen many powerful City figures over the years decide they can do something in the political arena, either by invitation like Mr Beecroft or through agitation at some government or Parliamentary initiative. So often they go blundering in with not a thought given as to how best to engage in the political process and talk to politicians - and so often they end up with very burnt fingers.

Otherwise engaged in visiting Tanzania
One of the hats I wear at Incisive Media is to chair the charitable foundation we set up two years ago and it was in that capacity I visited Tanzania earlier this month. You can read all about the trip and the work we have been doing there in conjunction with EdUKaid at http://www.incisivemedia.com/incisive-media/news/2173599/incisve-media-foundation-chair-visits-tanzanian-schools