Unpredictable ?

I think if I were BBC chairman Sir David Clementi, I'd be pretty unhappy with the risk antennae of senior management at the BBC.

This blog, and other places, have noted plenty of executive salary adjustments in the past 10 months. Yet, with the knowledge that publication of talent salaries was inevitable from last September, not enough was done. And a promise to sort it by 2020 hasn't helped.  

The big problems are in News and Radio, with some smaller issues in Sport. Presenters can have careers there - and expect that somebody in charge occasionally scans across contracts to see fair play. (In Content, careers can be short or shorter, and people get less upset about big earners when they are reminded of Simon Dee, Tom O'Connor, Little and Large, Dick and Dom etc, etc)

So a conference call looks to be high on Monday's management agenda. Participants:Valerie Hughes D'Aeth (this won't look good on the cv of an HR thought-leader and founder member of the Guild of HR Professionals), James Harding of News, James Purnell, of Radio & Education; Bob Shennan, who tells James how radio works; Gwyneth Williams, Controller of R4, manager of Jane Garvey and Jenni Murray; Barbara Slater, Sport; and Jonathan Wall, Controller of Radio 5Live.

Formulating a response to the letter from 40 Grumpy Women could be a test-paper for years to come at business colleges around the globe. All solutions are inflationary and a hostage-to-fortune. Lord Hall's usual response - to play for time - has been pre-empted. I can't wait.