The Australian CEO made it clear that she was not happy with her staff. Photo/News.com.au.
The Australian CEO made it clear that she was not happy with her staff. Photo/News.com.au.
A beleaguered Australian CEO has unleashed on her employees online, accusing them of "catty gossip" and "relentless" bullying.
Vicki Batten, the CEO of Queensland community support charity FSG Australia, posted the surprising attack on her public LinkedIn profile over the weekend.
The rant followed last week's announcement that the organisation would enter voluntary administration — even though it had received around $60 million of taxpayers' money annually, news.com.au reports.
It means the future of the Gold Coast company's 900-odd employees is now in doubt.
"The catty gossip. The relentless bully. The slovenly slacker. Toxic employees come in an appalling array of annoying forms. They're destructive, distracting and draining," Batten's post began.
"Like a cancer sapping the energy of those around them, they cripple their co-workers' morale, performance and productivity.
"Worse, they poison your entire business in the process. There is nothing surer though, these employees are waiting for the time, should it ever come, when your organisation is experiencing tough times."
Batten continued, posting: "Everyone running a business knows they are ex-employees and won't give credence to the vitriol that spews from their personal anger-filled heads" and that "when your business is being damaged by people who are there for the wrong reason you need to be brave … they are not happy unless you are unhappy!"
On Saturday, the Bulletin reported that some staff members had resorted to creating fake social media profiles to comment publicly about the company's culture.
The heavy-worded letter from the CEO has left staff uncertain about their future with the company. Image/news.com.au
However, several people claiming to be former FSG employees commented on Batten's LinkedIn post, and one alleged she "ended up with severe anxiety and PTSD due to management staff" at the company.
The woman, whom news.com.au has chosen not to name, reported "bullying by management", "countless unpaid hours and days without seeing my own family due to 48+ hour shifts" and relentless calls from staff, even while she was on booked annual leave.
She also claimed to have been injured on the job, but was allegedly told by a staff member "that is just the job".
Another ex-employee requested the opportunity to "sit down and chat" with Batten, "on behalf of the 900 employees who now have no permanent work" — although Batten denied job losses would be that significant.
"There will NOT be 900 employees without work. In fact there will be very few — we are working very hard to keep all service going and all the same workers working with customers — so sad and hatefulness helps no one," Batten responded.
FSG employees look after people who are elderly or disabled, as well as find children foster homes and helping homeless people find shelter and jobs.
Last week, the company announced it would enter a merge or sale with an existing charity, and that further details would be announced this Friday, according to the Bulletin.
The Services Union, which represents members working at FSG, has filed a dispute with the Fair Work Commission over the "lack of consultation" given by the company to workers and clients regarding the company entering voluntary administration.
Union executive president Jennifer Thomas said workers were now grappling with high levels of stress and uncertainty.
"Over the last few weeks we have tried in vain to garner information from FSG in relation to what was happening; unfortunately, they were completely unwilling to provide any information to our Union or to employees about what they had in store," she said.
"This disgraceful lack of consultation has left employees with not only uncertainty about their working futures but high levels of stress about how they are going to put food on the table and pay their bills."
News.com.au contacted Batten for comment, but a response was not received.
