Stones and Glass Houses….

The media whirlwind surrounding the unwholesome revelations of Glenda Stone’s treatment of her employees has raised important issues. It highlights the issues of the way we work today, equality at all levels and the checks and balances we have in place to ensure employee rights are respected.

As a highly successful woman entrepreneur, Glenda Stone was cherry-picked to sit on the Women Enterprise Task Force. A group that, over a period of three years, provided evidence to argue for government support initiatives - to increase the contribution made by women led businesses in the UK. Due to her ambassador work, through Aurora, promoting women entrepreneurs and equality, the recent news has hit home hard.

The ironic twist in this case is one of the main reasons why the story has received such prolific coverage, which is no bad thing, as long as we ensure the reputation of other women entrepreneurs’ is not tarnished and that it doesn’t degenerate into a ‘gender-attack’ on women bosses.

Issues of this nature must be raised; employers, both men and women, have the same responsibility to protect and respect the rights of their employees. It’s so important to have checks and balances in place within a business to avoid unpleasant situations occurring. And if this framework is absent, it is an example of bad leadership and management which is potentially damaging to the individuals involved and to the business as a whole.

However, the most profound issues laid bare in this story are not ones of gender or governmental error (no matter how entertaining they may be!). Instead, they revolve around mitigating against the type of unethical and counterproductive management practices the story highlights, whether it be through education, legislation, or good old fashioned awareness building.

In effect, through her actions, Glenda Stone has hurt herself more than anyone in this case, and her lack of people and management skills have now sadly surpassed the positive work she contributed to women’s entrepreneurism.