Sony's Workplace Culture Crisis: Where To From Here?

As the fallout from Sony Music Entertainment Australia's seemingly sudden workplace crisis deepens, the stance from the company amid investigations by Sony's head office in New York has continually been a mixture of "business as usual" and/or deafening silence, depending where you sit on the Sony totem pole.

The sudden exit of CEO and chairman Denis Handlin "effective immediately" as well as the revelation of high level executives Pat Handlin and Mark Stebnicki being placed on indefinite leave has sent further ripples of uncertainty into the embattled record label's identity, while also prompting a giant call for self-reflection in the industry.

While the ongoing discussion and revelations coming to light just over a week after Handlin Sr's departure have kickstarted a deeper realisation of the Sony situation and its accompanying workplace culture crisis; what this series of events has also significantly and powerfully signalled is the fact that the situation itself isn't an isolated incident; or, in this specific case, incidents. 

Given the high profile nature of the names and stakeholders linked to the Sony story, the revelation of the purported toxicity recently highlighted by The Guardian paints a shocking and upsetting work environment in and amongst a very powerful and influential global brand. And while these situations are certainly not isolated to the music industry, there are many lessons to be gained for any workplace, alongside the opportunity to pause for thought with regards to how a company or business can recover and forge ahead when faced with a significant issue or crisis in the workplace. 

"They need to change the story somehow and the best way to do that, typically, is to acknowledge where you’ve gone wrong and then say what you’re going to do about it."

According to Dr Deborah Wise, a senior lecturer in public relations at RMIT and a crisis management expert, there are many aspects that factor into how a business or corporation should or would deal with a situation akin to Sony's predicament: "From a PR perspective, we actually make a distinction between issues and crises," Dr Wise explained to The Music.

"A crisis is something that happens often when you haven't correctly managed an issue. So, when it blows up, then it can become a crisis.

"I think that Sony hasn't managed an ongoing issue, clearly, and it's actually become much more of a crisis for them...the horse has already bolted a little bit when you've gotten to that stage."

In any workplace, from a publicity and crisis management standpoint, there are some key factors outlined by Dr Wise that indicate whether a company has just sought a cosmetic fix to save face, or truly gotten to the root of the problem; and the recent ousting of Denis Handlin runs concurrently with the textbook "what do you do in these situations" adopted by corporations; and the music industry is not alone in this mode of attack.

"We see this, for example, with the issue around the caves, the mining company that blew up the caves in Western Australia," Dr Wise continued. "There was huge public outcry about that, and it actually took them a while. But then it was the CEO who took the fall, and then later, the board. So, we don’t actually know if this is as far as it will go: will it go further? And will they begin looking at the board as well as the CEO?"

"I think the issue here is not whether or not musicians have suffered, it’s the employees at Sony. Cleary it’s systematic. It’s entrenched in the culture. They’re going to have to come in with a clean broom.”

With the news tentatively continuing to seep out via bands, artists and staff willing to share stories, the Sony Music saga has also inadvertently illustrated the key moment a workplace situation shifts from internal to external focus; and the inevitable fallout that follows:

"It's bringing people out who didn't feel free to speak before, " said Dr Wise. "And companies: they need to be more proactive about this type of thing. 

"It's really interesting because I think it’s kind of a case where an HR issue becomes a PR issue, because this should have been handled internally - so long [as] it’s not getting to the point where it is actually a legal issue...be a little bit proactive, and more than just putting people's heads on the line. 

"To actually be going ‘OK, this is not one person's problem, this is a cultural problem. We need to bring in someone with the authority to look into this.''"

Echoing Dr Wise's sentiments on Sony's unusual handling of the developing crisis is UNSW Sydney HR Professor Karin Sanders, who elaborated on the standard practices that would occur from a human resources standpoint:

"This is not usual," Professor Sanders told The Music. "Because most of the time, senior leaders and managers want to try to solve the problem by themselves. This is not in [Sony's] favour, and this is not looking good for Australia.

"And, of course, multi-nationals have these kind of situations where it is escalated to the headquarters; but in general, the subsidiaries really try hard not to let it escalate to the headquarters, or to HR."

"In a way, it’s always a combination of: what actually is the problem, and what do you want to improve?"

Looking beyond Sony's current predicament and into the general day-to-day for a standard company or business, Professor Sanders highlighted the significance and importance of involving human resources from the ground up to potentially safeguard against fallouts down the line.

"In general, it would be good that HR gets involved at all stages," Professor Sanders said. "Even if there’s not really a problem, that way they have an idea about what's going on within the company, and within different departments. Because, most of the time the departments are still completely different to each other.

"And even if there’s not a problem, even if it’s all going fine; then HR should have a good understanding of what is going on within the company.

"It’s not only the HR department who is in charge, but they need to work together with all the line managers and the senior managers."

While, according to Professor Sanders, there isn't one standard HR practice or uniform protocol as to how to solve or address a workplace issue or broader crisis per se, there are basic procedures and strategies that most companies and workplaces would, or should, have in place.

"There’s not really a standard practice, because it always depends on what is occurring, or what it is you want to improve," Professor Sanders explained. "For one place it can be mediation, or coaching is also really a good way to get people talking. 

"For some firms who maybe already have many, many consultants within the company, they will tell you not to bother with mediation and thing: 'we have so many, we should be able to handle and manage this problem by ourselves.'

"In a way, it’s always a combination of: what actually is the problem, and what do you want to improve?"

While no direct news has emerged about the exact HR and PR processes underway for Sony Music Australia, Dr Wise did offer up some scepticism around some of the unusual handling and practices visible from a PR perspective, and the urgent need for change to happen beyond the company:

"You can't actually look into it yourself, I don't think, and retain your legitimacy that way.

"I’ve been to the Sony Australia website and I couldn’t see any statements, any media releases, any comments at all.

"Now, I don’t like to say this, but that is often a strategy that works, because they can just wait for something else to blow up in the news cycle, and hopefully then it’ll be gone."

 "It’s not just Sony, either, it’s throughout organisations. It’s such a broad social issue: this kind of misogyny, this underlying misogyny."

In any company environment, the flow-on effect of waiting for the storm to blow over is, as Dr Wise elaborated on, a double-edged sword; not only does this strategy poison the well for any potential future hires, it can also compromise a company's economic standing and, ultimately, decimate the camaraderie for those left behind, regardless of position.

"I think the issue here is not whether or not musicians have suffered, it’s the employees at Sony, " Dr Wise continued. "Cleary it’s systematic. It’s entrenched in the culture. They’re going to have to come in with a clean broom, and they’ve already put people on leave, but I think they need to bring in a new head of PR, a new HR manager, I think that will be what they’re looking to do."

While it's clearly too late for a company to offer the standard HR-mandated bullying and harassment classes as a means to fix the situation at this point in a situation like Sony's, there is hope that the broader lessons of what the company have and have not done along the way since the news first broke could be ultimately turned to good; namely, by unwittingly educating and informing other businesses and companies for how to do better. And a good starting point, according to Dr Wise, is ultimately raising a hand and owning up to the ongoing situation.

"Of course, it’s bad for Sony. But maybe it’s not that bad for other companies because we can all see it as a wake-up call."

"They need to change the story somehow and the best way to do that, typically, is to acknowledge where you’ve gone wrong and then say what you’re going to do about it".

As for what positives can be potentially taken away from the rubble? 

"What we’re hoping is it might instigate some positive change overall; but it’s a shame that it had to happen in such a dramatic fashion to have people finally sit up and pay attention, " Dr Sanders summarised. "Maybe we can see it as a wake-up call for many companies. That they go back to their procedures and that they have a good look, and that they have it in a meeting and ask: 'Is this really what we want in these kind of situations? Or do we need to have another procedure?'

"Of course, it’s bad for Sony. But maybe it’s not that bad for other companies because we can all see it as a wake-up call."

At the end of the day, Sony Music Australia is just one of the hundreds of thousands of workplaces operating around the country with an established modus operandi that sadly has ignored or mishandled workplace toxicity. But perhaps the notoriety of the names and faces linked to the story could work for some form of greater good, and help instigate a seismic shift on a cultural and communal level.

"[The best possible outcome is] a change in workplace culture," Dr Wise concludes. "It’s not just Sony, either, it’s throughout organisations. It’s such a broad social issue: this kind of misogyny, this underlying misogyny, it comes back to what I was saying earlier that it’s not enough to come in with these workshops on harassment and bullying. It’s deeper than that; it’s getting people to understand sexism and misogyny and those kind of things that they may not see. 

"But perhaps the notoriety of the names and faces linked to the story could work for some form of greater good, and help instigate a seismic shift on a cultural and communal level."

"Going to that deeper level because that’s what underpins it. The manifestation of that is bullying and harassment and sexual assault, but underlying that is sexism and misogyny. And that is a societal issue."

At the time of publication, Sony Music Entertainment in the US, who are overseeing all communications in relation to this matter, has not made a public statement regarding the ongoing situation in Australia.