At the end of this year all remaining grade 10 staff with job titles of Principal Lecturer or Reader will take a big pay cut. According to the Senate minutes late last year, there are only 7 left (5 others had “planned exits” at the end of the last “transition” — a management euphemism for forced retirement or redundancy). Of all the unspeakable behaviour of Management towards its staff, the several years’ pressure to meet the new shifting standard is surely the worst example of abuse perpetrated on the staff. It’s no wonder that the same minutes note the proportion of grade 10 staff is falling as they’ve headed for the exits. Back in the early days of this pogrom, one of Dissenter’s contacts at another university remarked on how many job applicants they were getting from Kingston people.
With typical arrogance, the SMT claims that the 70% transition rate to AP is a “remarkable achievement”. What is remarkable is that the University can still function in the face of such monstrous management practice. Good management would never have put staff through such a stressful and sapping waste of goodwill and effort. An automatic transferral to the new job title would have been proper and sensible. The architect, Julius ‘the Rat’ Weinberg has long gone, leaving behind a tottering university, but what of Essex boy, the HR Director who had his dirty fingers all over the grade 10 debacle? Does the recent job ad for the post mean he’s off, or is this just a sham to put him there permanently. Given the standard of the management recruits at Kingston, one might fear the latter.
Any PL or Readers left please do let the Blog know the situation.
Simon Stone – or Simon Stome as you call yourself,
Under your mantle HR abused BAME, female, disabled, junior and vulnerable staff. Your HR did NOT go through the proper procedure and you have covered up for abusive managers. Look at the cases that are being taken to employment tribunal and the ones that you have to pay to settle out of court. If HR did things properly this would not be happening. Kingston HR does not properly deal with bullying at all!
You even personally get made fun of on LinkedIn!! If you were a good HR Director this would not be happening to you. You cannot even tell the difference between empty sychophantic gestures, and genuine distress by staff.
Let’s be clear – you care about yourself and that is it. If you cared about students you would care about the academic staff that guide them. But you do not care about staff, you threaten, bully, harass and discriminate against them.
Who cares about your background? Do you care about the working class that managed to be the first Dr in their family? Do you care about the disabled that managed against everyone’s discrimination to become qualified? Do you care about black and brown people who get treated like scum everyday from white managers, and they still get qualified? Do you care about women who deal with sexism every day? No, you don’t! You do not know what it is like to be an academic from a disadvantaged background.
So, get back in your box, and get lost with David Walsh and the rest of you useless turds that have negatively affected our lives. We don’t want you and we are glad you are leaving! Take comfort in the empty gestures people have given you – no one cares you are going.
Look at your behaviour: “I’m Simon Stone, poor me!” Wah, wah, wah. You do not care about the people you ALLOWED to be bullied into leaving their jobs and putting their mental health in jeopardy, along with robbing them of a livelihood, and causing distress to their families. You don’t care as long as YOU get a high salary.
You are not caring at all, you try and masquerade as if you are, and then you play the victim. Get lost Simon. Good riddance to you and your abusive little gang of prostitutes.
Your strapline! “A blog that highlights aggressive management at Kingston and other UK universities.” If that was true I would be on your side but sadly your lies start right there. That is not what you do. Rather- you are in the persecution, kangaroo court, spineless attacks on those who can’t answer game.
A blog that is written by unethical, bullying, racists.
Satire is good. Trolling is evil.
I am happy you picked on me. Otherwise, some other poor bugger would have been traduced by your lies. Working class. never went to uni- father German Jew from Berlin in 1930s. HR. Consultant. Fair game.
But the consistent personalised, cruel, lies to colleagues of all grades who cannot defend themselves- I hope you are all proud.
We have been trying to create a university where everyone matters, everyone has a voice. We make mistakes for sure. But there is something nasty in dissenters blog people who go out of their way to hurt colleagues and damage the reputation of the university.
It is not us who you are hurting but the university-you are doing harm and it is you who are putting jobs at risk!!
I know I am opening myself up to further vitriolic abuse. Picking on me is fine. But please leave our colleagues alone and start doing something positive for a change. You might then deserve your academic standing.
My last day today. I have received so many positive messages from colleagues from across the university. I look forward to you redressing the balance.
I for one, although I am leaving, am proud to have worked with so many wonderful people and sincerely wish Kingston, our students and all our people well for the future. Hopefully, you can at least join me in that?
If any of you want to come out from hiding and have a proper open debate please do. However, I do not expect my offer to be taken up.
Simon Stone
EX HR Director
Thank you for your comment, if rather intemperate. This blog has made no racist remarks, and accusations of bullying from a Kingston manager are ironic. And we do not see how posts on this site, which are not part of an online debate, can be considered trolling. The Blog only criticises individuals who seek to adversely affect other staff, managers mostly. For example, your role in the highly damaging treatment of grade 10 staff who have been forced to reapply for their jobs, creating anxiety for many, could far more fairly be called cruel. You may not have originated the policy, but you contributed to it in the later stages. Your personal origins are irrelevant.
We think this blog fulfills its intention. It is unlikely to impact the reputation of the University, but it does draw management’s attention to its own serious failings, though your comment suggests managers are just digging their heels in further.
As Kingston would no doubt tell the staff it has sacked, we wish you well in your future career.
‘As Kingston would no doubt tell the staff it has sacked, we wish you well in your future career.’
Surely you jest, Dissenter ? Kingston University wishing the staff it has sacked well in their future careers ? Next you’ll be telling me Santa Claus exists.
Perhaps Simon Stone would like to explain why, while he was in charge of HR, the university didn’t wish sacked staff well for the future ? Or send them any message of thanks for their years of service, before kicking them out ? Seeing as he’s now piously asking us to wish the university and its current staff well for the future.
Simon, you are a shameless hypocrite. Does that count as vitriolic abuse, or is it just a statement of plain fact ?
Does the HR woman have the initials SM by any chance?
Dear blog, please post this as an article rather than comment if you are happy to. There’s much more to come.
Kingston School of Art, the now-bloated love child of vice chancellor Steven ‘it wasn’t me’ Spier and Dean Colin ‘Rhodes to nowhere’, is in trouble. Last week at his welcome event Dean Colin told the assembled School that it was ‘not quite in the black’, and to ensure everyone needed to think about ways to be really sustainable. Sounds practical? Why then did he, reportedly in his best quivering voice, ask all present to care about each other, and not just think of themselves? Why did he warble koala-style encouraging staff to teach into each other’s programmes, to share their expertise? So fewer staff can teach more, of course. Why was his hired hand – the HR hit-woman in the front row – smiling and nodding at his every word, meeting his nervous glances with a reassuring smile reserved for him unless his back is turned? Someone needs to tell her she is HR, not PR.
Rhodes to nowhere is most certainly the long arm, the ever so hapless puppet, of invisible Spier. If he didn’t mess up over in Australia, Rhodes surely will at KSA where the staff are tougher than he. Rhodes’ HR heavy will lose patience with his emotional approach if he doesn’t cut staff soon.
After Dean Colin’s heartfelt address, he introduced his newly-recruited sycophants. The team heard a well-pitched and cloying manifesto of nothing in particular from ‘who-on-earth-is-he’ Andrew Teverson, whose earnest kiss blowing to Rhodes from behind a pseudo-intellectual beard came as a cold draught to everyone else. Next, almost sitting on each other’s laps, were two lightweights of research. Jane ‘pumped-up’ Pavitt grimaced through her crimson lipstick at Rhodes, who she is dumping to take a non-advertised, non-competitive job up at the top with Anne ‘big beads’ Boddington. Apparently grumbling to even stand was Simon More than Worthless. Those present last week think his reluctance to get vertical comes from a fear of being recognised by either those he has already mismanaged, or those who will expect him to do something. Don’t worry Simon, you are bland enough to be quickly forgotten. Alongside these chunky cronies, staff were honoured by the brief introduction of Sarah ‘stick’ Bennett, who occupies her time at Knights Park planning her own next art show. Bennett’s neighbour Angela ‘too dull for description’ Partington showed the crowd how much teaching and learning really is beyond banal. Thankfully Dean Colin stopped the roll call there, leaving the remaining protégés of his pointless initiatives to beam glowingly from behind their oversize designer glasses.
So where are we? Kingston is sinking. Don’t let any of those clunkers from KSA into YOUR lifeboat, however enterprising they promise to be.