Rumblings at AFL House

Mar 18, 2013
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:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

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westy1

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Aug 26, 2006
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Reading that it just seems to me that AFL house is a toxic workplace
Unfortunately in my experience too many workplaces with that many employees are

What is it about work that makes so many people act like tools?

Gillons employment selection policy surely needs to be looked at though, certainly raised my eyebrows
 

tombomb

Norm Smith Medallist
Sep 8, 2007
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Reading that it just seems to me that AFL house is a toxic workplace
Unfortunately in my experience too many workplaces with that many employees are

What is it about work that makes so many people act like tools?

Gillons employment selection policy surely needs to be looked at though, certainly raised my eyebrows

I think its about ambition greatly outweighing ability.

There is a certain type of person who will compromise anything to climb a ladder. Invariably large organisations have a culture where the people who get promoted are loudest and most obnoxious. Those who sit quietly and 'get on with it' are frowned upon by those who have climbed the ladder and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy/culture of self-obsessed people surrounding themselves with like-minded individuals.
 

tombomb

Norm Smith Medallist
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It was a more upbeat McLachlan than the AFL chief executive who stood before them six months earlier and threatened to hunt down whistleblowers who had leaked to the media about the office romances of top executives Simon Lethlean and Richard Simkiss.

But amid the pre-season hype of AFLW and AFLX, industry insiders insist morale among the 350-plus staff at AFL House has never been lower.

A recent survey of AFL staff revealed an alarming number held a poor opinion of the performance of McLachlan’s 12-person executive.
Just days before Christmas, multiple staff members were left reeling after receiving worse than expected performance reviews.

One rank-and-file worker, banking on a modest end-of-year bonus to fund his family vacation, cancelled the trip.

A memo sent by AFL executive Travis Auld on Tuesday revealed popular broadcasting staff member Thea Salter “felt the timing was right to finish up with us on Friday afternoon” after 11 years.

Salter, the latest disheartened woman to leave the organisation, signed a confidentiality agreement before abruptly departing.

Auld’s memo named Marcus King as the league’s new head of broadcasting and scheduling.
“Marcus’ appointment is another example this week of developing and promoting key talent from within our organisation,” Auld told staff.

It followed the surprise appointment of his brother, Rob Auld, as head of game development and the instalment of McLachlan’s old Uni Blues coach Grant Williams as head of umpiring.

Williams is respected, but club bosses this week expressed concern that the job handed to Auld’s brother — who was chief executive of AFL Tasmania — was not advertised.

“Surely if you are going to appoint a bloke’s brother you’ve got to run a process,” one club chief said.

A front-page story in Wednesday’s Hobart Mercury screamed that Auld was leaving behind a football state in crisis.

Most concerning to some staff has been the return to league headquarters of dumped AFL executive Andrew Catterall.

Catterall was forced out in 2012 amid allegations of repeated bullying.

One of his alleged victims pocketed a $200,000 AFL settlement, plus medical expenses.

Catterall denies any wrongdoing and says he was never notified of any complaints.

He has since been installed as chief executive of Racing.com, which recently leased prominent office space on the ground floor of AFL House.

Catterall is seen regularly in the coffee shop in the foyer of AFL House.

A person close to one of his alleged victims told the Herald Sun: “It’s extraordinary to think that an individual who has had allegations of bullying made against him — who left the workplace amid those allegations — is then allowed to return and rent an office at that workplace.

“How must (the victims) feel?”

Another senior industry figure questioned how many of McLachlan’s executive thought the deal to let Racing.com set up shop at AFL House would pass the sniff test or how many members of Richard Goyder’s AFL commission even know the back story?

AFL spin doctor Elizabeth Lukin declined to discuss the Catterall arrangement this week.

It was Lukin’s lieutenant, Patrick Keane, an AFL spinner for close to two decades, who was first contacted by a Sydney journalist in March last year about Lethlean’s affair with a young staffer from the league’s NSW office.

Neither Keane nor Lethlean responded to Danny Weidler’s questions and it wasn’t until four months later, when the Herald Sun broke the story, that Lethlean and Simkiss were forced to resign.
The league refuses to say what action, if any, was taken by Keane at the time or at what point McLachlan was made aware of the allegations.

One football figure said it was an example of how McLachlan’s administration “picks and chooses when it comes to integrity and accountability”.

The league also refuses to discuss a fresh sexual harassment investigation into a senior AFL club figure or suggestions a financial settlement has been reached to quietly resolve the matter.

A number across the industry are pinning their hopes for change on Lethlean’s replacement, the highly-respected and straight-talking Steve Hocking from Geelong, a man who did arrive through a transparent recruitment process.
 

Cmarsh

Norm Smith Medallist
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Andrew Demetriou was Joffrey, nuts, psychotic but mostly got his way (with everyone fearing what he would do) while Gil McLachlin is like Tommen, generally a good person, but very easily manipulated and with no backbone at all.
Thought he showed a pretty good backbone with the Lethlean and Simkiss scandal. Much more than what the Prime Minister did with his sidekick Joyce over a similar incident.
 

Cmarsh

Norm Smith Medallist
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Did you read the article? As if they would have been sacked if it was kept behind closed doors. Come on. "Integrity" in the AFL is a joke.
At least he actually did sack them, unlike Turnball with Joyce. Joyce keeps his job. Not only that, you now have senior ministers rejecting calls for parliamentary rules to be brought in to ban parliamentarians from sexual relations with their own staff, despite the obvious power imbalance.
 
Aug 13, 2006
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I can't get my head around Gil. Some days I think he's very clever and a reasonably decent man and sometimes I think he's a bumbling fool.

That said, I'd suggest most of the issues at AFL house stem from there being over 350 staff! They can justify that because they get first cut at the TV rights so they have huge revenues to manage. But outside the rights deals and the day to day operations to run the league they've got huge staffs in areas like game development, community and media. To me that means large chunks of the organisation tripping over each other to achieve things, lots of egos and probably plenty of playing favourites. I bet that's where the cultural issues come from.

The AFL Commission and new chairman probably need to give Gil some objectives to meet and get his staff working towards some definitive outcomes.
 
Feb 21, 2006
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How can they expect the clubs and players to take them seriously, head office is a circus. The Absolute Farce League given the goose that lays the golden eggs and thinking they actually have something to do with it being a money spinner. If these guys had to run a real business and have real accountability they'd be out on their arses quick smart.
 

Franc de Borges

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At least he actually did sack them, unlike Turnball with Joyce. Joyce keeps his job. Not only that, you now have senior ministers rejecting calls for parliamentary rules to be brought in to ban parliamentarians from sexual relations with their own staff, despite the obvious power imbalance.

It's not really being sacked when they find you another highly-paid industry job.
 
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