A culture of fear at Mission Bean England’s fastest growing canned artisanal coffee manufacturer, Mission Bean, has para
Posted: Mon May 02, 2022 6:59 am
A culture of fear at Mission Bean
England’s fastest growing canned artisanal coffee manufacturer,
Mission Bean, has parachuted in a woman to become the first ever
chair of its board as it tries to draw a line under allegations of
a 'culture of fear' at the firm. The firm appointed Jacqui O’Neill,
managing director of MMS Consumer Capital, which has a stake in the
business, and a board director since 2018.
In an internal email to staff addressing allegations of 'sexism,
harassment, bullying, and even physical violence', Mission Bean
co-founder Matthew Yates said: 'We have appointed Jacqui O’Neill as
our first ever chairperson to lead our board. We are delighted that
Jacqui will lead our business at board level. This is effective
immediately.' In the same email, Yates apologised to former
employees who accused the company and its co-founders of fostering
an organisational culture in which workers were ‘treated like
objects’.
In an open letter circulated on Twitter, 58 former workers alleged
that the company’s rapid growth had involved cutting corners on
health and safety, espousing values it did not live by,
controversial and provocative media stunts, and creating a macho
culture that left staff suffering from stress and resulting in
increased absence.
‘Growth, at all costs, has always been perceived as the number one
focus for the company,’ the letter alleges. ‘Being treated like a
human being was sadly not always a given for those working at
Mission Bean.’
The co-founders, Matthew Yates and Dan Apsley, were school friends,
who prided themselves on challenging traditional societal beliefs.
They built the business from personal savings and part time work
while at university. There had been a team of just seven people for
the first five years, until Mission Bean secured their first supply
contract with a national supermarket chain. The last five years had
seen rapid growth, with a global corporate customer base, a UK-wide
footprint of six speciality cafes, and an E-commerce business. The
staff team expanded to nearly 210 people, with more than 150 at the
factory’s main site in Manchester.
In Jacqui’s first month, she brought in Fatima Patel – a mediation
coach and psychologist – to assist in undertaking 1:1 conversations
with senior managers and to plan for several group consultations,
with the intention to involve all staff and even former
employees.
Fatima’s first task was to read through some of the notes taken
from exit interviews and staff grievances conducted by the head of
HR, Joyce Omfo-Parry, who had recently resigned after taking three
months absence due to stress. There were rumours of a possible
constructive dismissal case that Joyce might bring against Matthew
and Dan – Dan in particular. Joyce had been careful to
anonymise the notes, but some of the incidents were so specific
that it was hard not to deduce who might have been involved in
these situations.
There were several incidents about ‘induction practices’ and pranks
targeted at new hires, circulating inappropriate or embarrassing
photos or videos via WhatsApp. There were reports about ‘cloakroom
banter’ style comments about some of the women who worked at the
company, and other comments about the lifestyles, appearance,
family, or cultures of minority ethnic British staff, and ‘Brexit
banter’ towards staff from Poland, Ireland, and Hungary.
Jacqui and Fatima planned to conduct 1:1 conversations with six
members of the management team, whom they also hoped would
participate in a mediated dialogue session:
Matthew ‘Matty’ Yates – Mission Bean Co-founder
Dan Apsley – Mission Bean Co-founder
Perminder Singh – acting Chief Financial Officer
Finbar O’Dwyer – Health & Safety Manager
Joyce Omfo-Parry – former Head of HR
Karmen Nagy – Marketing Manager
The first meeting was with Joyce. A veteran of the beverages
industry, and with nearly 15 years in senior HR roles, Joyce had
been headhunted by Matty, and offered an attractive salary package.
But within six months Joyce had left, and it was assumed she would
not be replaced.
In the first few days, a conflict had arisen between Joyce and Dan
when two members of the warehouse team told Joyce that Dan and
Matty would give staff ‘on the spot’ pay rises of £1,000 during the
peak shipping periods to those who could load the pallets of canned
coffee onto distribution trucks the quickest. What began as
harmless fun and some motivation to work quickly had become
dangerously competitive. An example was warehouse operative pushed
a colleague out of the forklift truck they were manoeuvring. On
another occasion, three warehouse staff were locked in a storeroom
so that they could not loads the trucks. The two female staff
members in the warehouse were told they were excluded from playing
at all because they’d ‘just end up crying’. One operative was now
on a salary 25% higher than the rest of their colleagues.
When Joyce raised this issue with Dan and Matty, they blamed her
for the dissatisfaction, saying that she had encouraged the
warehouse staff to claim that the ‘game’ they had all signed up for
was unfair. Undeterred by this conflict, Joyce asked to have a
conversation with Dan and Matty about organisational structure,
performance, and rewards systems. Mission Bean had grown from 10
staff to more than 200 in less than five years, but the structure
was out of date and no longer fit for purpose. While the firm had
distinct functions, these had not been formalised into an
appropriate organisational structure. Some managers were not sure
if they had line management responsibility for their staff, and
Matty and Dan would frequently involve themselves in workforce
issues. Joyce had wanted to use her expertise to advise on
appropriate performance and reward systems rather than the ad hoc
and inconsistent practices that no longer worked. Unable to make
any difference at a structural or personal level, and feeling
undermined by the denied access to information, consultation, or
resources, she went off sick before resigning.The next meeting was
with Finbar O’Dwyer. Another industry veteran, Finbar had worked in
coffee roasting for 20 years and had been with Mission Bean for the
last three years. In that time, Matty and Dan had not provided any
funding or support for health and safety training or compliance.
Two serious incidents that happened before Finbar arrived were not
reported to the Health and Safety Executive, despite a legal
obligation to do so. Finbar had taken on the training
responsibility despite not being qualified to do so. Things are
worse now than they’ve ever been, he told Fatima. There were not
enough health and safety skills and qualifications to go around,
with a culture of the blind leading the blind.
“I’ve seen loads of small operations started up by artisan roasters
and young guys making a business out of their hobby, just like
Matty and Dan. Competition is fierce, and health and safety is the
last thing on their minds – they just plough on, thinking they’ll
get away with it. I'm all for their enthusiasm but the bottom line
is, you have to produce your product safely.”
When Fatima met Perminder, her first question was why he was still
‘acting’ CFO after nearly 18 months in the post. Perminder replied
that despite being in post and successfully performing the role,
Matty did not think Perminder was suitably qualified or experienced
to be formally appointed. Nor did Matty think this an issue,
despite Joyce and Perminder suggesting otherwise. This was one of
several ways that Perminder was made to feel ‘not quite’ part of
the management team. He had experienced gossip and inuendo because
he refused to go to nightclubs for ‘team building’, despite being
one of a sizeable number of male and female colleagues across all
age groups within Mission Bean to decline. Dan repeatedly reminded
Perminder of what he thought were past errors or mistakes, such as
when Perminder had challenged financial information being leaked to
the press intended to boost investor interest. He also cited an
incident at a managers’ meeting on inclusion and psychological
safety that Joyce had organised. Dan said that they needed to stop
making excuses and ‘integrate better’. Perminder claimed the
co-founders showed no interest in addressing the issues and their
part in it.
The final person Fatima met was Karmen. Originally from Hungary,
she had joined Mission Bean as a marketing intern two years ago.
When the previous marketing manager had left, Karmen was appointed
to the role, which had caused upset with older, more experienced,
and more senior staff in the marketing team. Despite this, Karmen
had invested heavily in building strong relationships with her
team, asking one colleague to mentor her in the role. Her
management style was different to others at the firm – she took a
more facilitative and collaborative approach, acknowledging the
contributions of the whole team. Fatima heard that Karmen was
becoming more respected by her marketing colleagues, she worked
hard, with long hours, and was not afraid to admit to being out of
her depth. Where Karmen lacked confidence and effectiveness was in
managing the expectations and demands from Dan and Matty. They
frequently established unrealistic timelines for marketing
campaigns and stunts, frequently shortening deadlines and extending
the scope of campaigns and fixed budgets. Much of the creative work
was done by external agencies, but Karmen discovered that Matty
would often call the account directors himself, overruling Karmen’s
instructions, or changing plans, without involving Karmen or anyone
else in the marketing team in the process. She was constantly
playing catch up each morning as to what Matty had agreed the night
before. She was exhausted, confused, and becoming short
tempered.
1. Using your understanding of OB concepts and theories, what
are the four or five key people issues affecting Mission
Bean?
(1350 maximum word limit)
2. What immediate and short-term recommendations should Fatima
Patel make to Jacqui O’Neill in response to the issues identified
above? Discuss your proposals with reference to relevant
Organizational Behaviour theories and concepts.
(1350 maximum word limit)
England’s fastest growing canned artisanal coffee manufacturer,
Mission Bean, has parachuted in a woman to become the first ever
chair of its board as it tries to draw a line under allegations of
a 'culture of fear' at the firm. The firm appointed Jacqui O’Neill,
managing director of MMS Consumer Capital, which has a stake in the
business, and a board director since 2018.
In an internal email to staff addressing allegations of 'sexism,
harassment, bullying, and even physical violence', Mission Bean
co-founder Matthew Yates said: 'We have appointed Jacqui O’Neill as
our first ever chairperson to lead our board. We are delighted that
Jacqui will lead our business at board level. This is effective
immediately.' In the same email, Yates apologised to former
employees who accused the company and its co-founders of fostering
an organisational culture in which workers were ‘treated like
objects’.
In an open letter circulated on Twitter, 58 former workers alleged
that the company’s rapid growth had involved cutting corners on
health and safety, espousing values it did not live by,
controversial and provocative media stunts, and creating a macho
culture that left staff suffering from stress and resulting in
increased absence.
‘Growth, at all costs, has always been perceived as the number one
focus for the company,’ the letter alleges. ‘Being treated like a
human being was sadly not always a given for those working at
Mission Bean.’
The co-founders, Matthew Yates and Dan Apsley, were school friends,
who prided themselves on challenging traditional societal beliefs.
They built the business from personal savings and part time work
while at university. There had been a team of just seven people for
the first five years, until Mission Bean secured their first supply
contract with a national supermarket chain. The last five years had
seen rapid growth, with a global corporate customer base, a UK-wide
footprint of six speciality cafes, and an E-commerce business. The
staff team expanded to nearly 210 people, with more than 150 at the
factory’s main site in Manchester.
In Jacqui’s first month, she brought in Fatima Patel – a mediation
coach and psychologist – to assist in undertaking 1:1 conversations
with senior managers and to plan for several group consultations,
with the intention to involve all staff and even former
employees.
Fatima’s first task was to read through some of the notes taken
from exit interviews and staff grievances conducted by the head of
HR, Joyce Omfo-Parry, who had recently resigned after taking three
months absence due to stress. There were rumours of a possible
constructive dismissal case that Joyce might bring against Matthew
and Dan – Dan in particular. Joyce had been careful to
anonymise the notes, but some of the incidents were so specific
that it was hard not to deduce who might have been involved in
these situations.
There were several incidents about ‘induction practices’ and pranks
targeted at new hires, circulating inappropriate or embarrassing
photos or videos via WhatsApp. There were reports about ‘cloakroom
banter’ style comments about some of the women who worked at the
company, and other comments about the lifestyles, appearance,
family, or cultures of minority ethnic British staff, and ‘Brexit
banter’ towards staff from Poland, Ireland, and Hungary.
Jacqui and Fatima planned to conduct 1:1 conversations with six
members of the management team, whom they also hoped would
participate in a mediated dialogue session:
Matthew ‘Matty’ Yates – Mission Bean Co-founder
Dan Apsley – Mission Bean Co-founder
Perminder Singh – acting Chief Financial Officer
Finbar O’Dwyer – Health & Safety Manager
Joyce Omfo-Parry – former Head of HR
Karmen Nagy – Marketing Manager
The first meeting was with Joyce. A veteran of the beverages
industry, and with nearly 15 years in senior HR roles, Joyce had
been headhunted by Matty, and offered an attractive salary package.
But within six months Joyce had left, and it was assumed she would
not be replaced.
In the first few days, a conflict had arisen between Joyce and Dan
when two members of the warehouse team told Joyce that Dan and
Matty would give staff ‘on the spot’ pay rises of £1,000 during the
peak shipping periods to those who could load the pallets of canned
coffee onto distribution trucks the quickest. What began as
harmless fun and some motivation to work quickly had become
dangerously competitive. An example was warehouse operative pushed
a colleague out of the forklift truck they were manoeuvring. On
another occasion, three warehouse staff were locked in a storeroom
so that they could not loads the trucks. The two female staff
members in the warehouse were told they were excluded from playing
at all because they’d ‘just end up crying’. One operative was now
on a salary 25% higher than the rest of their colleagues.
When Joyce raised this issue with Dan and Matty, they blamed her
for the dissatisfaction, saying that she had encouraged the
warehouse staff to claim that the ‘game’ they had all signed up for
was unfair. Undeterred by this conflict, Joyce asked to have a
conversation with Dan and Matty about organisational structure,
performance, and rewards systems. Mission Bean had grown from 10
staff to more than 200 in less than five years, but the structure
was out of date and no longer fit for purpose. While the firm had
distinct functions, these had not been formalised into an
appropriate organisational structure. Some managers were not sure
if they had line management responsibility for their staff, and
Matty and Dan would frequently involve themselves in workforce
issues. Joyce had wanted to use her expertise to advise on
appropriate performance and reward systems rather than the ad hoc
and inconsistent practices that no longer worked. Unable to make
any difference at a structural or personal level, and feeling
undermined by the denied access to information, consultation, or
resources, she went off sick before resigning.The next meeting was
with Finbar O’Dwyer. Another industry veteran, Finbar had worked in
coffee roasting for 20 years and had been with Mission Bean for the
last three years. In that time, Matty and Dan had not provided any
funding or support for health and safety training or compliance.
Two serious incidents that happened before Finbar arrived were not
reported to the Health and Safety Executive, despite a legal
obligation to do so. Finbar had taken on the training
responsibility despite not being qualified to do so. Things are
worse now than they’ve ever been, he told Fatima. There were not
enough health and safety skills and qualifications to go around,
with a culture of the blind leading the blind.
“I’ve seen loads of small operations started up by artisan roasters
and young guys making a business out of their hobby, just like
Matty and Dan. Competition is fierce, and health and safety is the
last thing on their minds – they just plough on, thinking they’ll
get away with it. I'm all for their enthusiasm but the bottom line
is, you have to produce your product safely.”
When Fatima met Perminder, her first question was why he was still
‘acting’ CFO after nearly 18 months in the post. Perminder replied
that despite being in post and successfully performing the role,
Matty did not think Perminder was suitably qualified or experienced
to be formally appointed. Nor did Matty think this an issue,
despite Joyce and Perminder suggesting otherwise. This was one of
several ways that Perminder was made to feel ‘not quite’ part of
the management team. He had experienced gossip and inuendo because
he refused to go to nightclubs for ‘team building’, despite being
one of a sizeable number of male and female colleagues across all
age groups within Mission Bean to decline. Dan repeatedly reminded
Perminder of what he thought were past errors or mistakes, such as
when Perminder had challenged financial information being leaked to
the press intended to boost investor interest. He also cited an
incident at a managers’ meeting on inclusion and psychological
safety that Joyce had organised. Dan said that they needed to stop
making excuses and ‘integrate better’. Perminder claimed the
co-founders showed no interest in addressing the issues and their
part in it.
The final person Fatima met was Karmen. Originally from Hungary,
she had joined Mission Bean as a marketing intern two years ago.
When the previous marketing manager had left, Karmen was appointed
to the role, which had caused upset with older, more experienced,
and more senior staff in the marketing team. Despite this, Karmen
had invested heavily in building strong relationships with her
team, asking one colleague to mentor her in the role. Her
management style was different to others at the firm – she took a
more facilitative and collaborative approach, acknowledging the
contributions of the whole team. Fatima heard that Karmen was
becoming more respected by her marketing colleagues, she worked
hard, with long hours, and was not afraid to admit to being out of
her depth. Where Karmen lacked confidence and effectiveness was in
managing the expectations and demands from Dan and Matty. They
frequently established unrealistic timelines for marketing
campaigns and stunts, frequently shortening deadlines and extending
the scope of campaigns and fixed budgets. Much of the creative work
was done by external agencies, but Karmen discovered that Matty
would often call the account directors himself, overruling Karmen’s
instructions, or changing plans, without involving Karmen or anyone
else in the marketing team in the process. She was constantly
playing catch up each morning as to what Matty had agreed the night
before. She was exhausted, confused, and becoming short
tempered.
1. Using your understanding of OB concepts and theories, what
are the four or five key people issues affecting Mission
Bean?
(1350 maximum word limit)
2. What immediate and short-term recommendations should Fatima
Patel make to Jacqui O’Neill in response to the issues identified
above? Discuss your proposals with reference to relevant
Organizational Behaviour theories and concepts.
(1350 maximum word limit)