British Cycling and the Great Britain Cycling Team have implemented an action plan “focused on leadership, development, feedback and wellbeing” after a rider and staff survey revealed that some thought parts had a “toxic” culture.
According to a report in The Times on Wednesday, an independent survey, funded by UK Sport and conducted by a company called the Happiness Index, uncovered a fall in morale among its elite riders, and an alleged lack of accountability in the GBCT’s senior leadership.
A spokesperson for British Cycling said that the wellbeing of its staff was “fundamental to everything we do”, and said that an action plan was being implemented to address concerns.
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This is not the first time that the culture at BC has been criticised, with a 2017 report into the GBCT saying that a “culture of fear” existed.
Separately, this week, British track sprinter Matthew Richardson was withdrawn last-minute from this week’s UCI Track World Championships amid reports of serious misconduct, also revealed in The Times.
As part of the survey conducted most recently, athletes and staff were asked for three words to describe the culture of their World Class Programme; “driven” was most-used by athletes, but that was quickly followed by “toxic”. Other words included “cold”, “unconcerned”, “distant”, “unclear” and “restrictive”.
According to The Times, the Happiness Index calculated saw a satisfaction score of -42 for male riders and -31 for female riders, the scale running from -100 to +100. The male and female staff scores were -4 and -5, respectively, all of which was a dramatic drop from the last time it was taken.
“The wellbeing of our staff and riders is fundamental to everything we do at British Cycling,” a BC spokesperson said.
“The Culture Feedback Survey, which has been the subject of recent reports, is independently run to provide a valuable tool to help us learn and improve. The majority of team members say they love their jobs and overall favourability has increased, ranking ‘very good’ in the latest study.
“However, it is important to recognise others want to see improvements, and we are committed to listening and acting on this.
“As a result, the Great Britain Cycling Team has developed an action plan that is being implemented alongside wider work across British Cycling, focused on leadership, development, feedback and wellbeing. UK Sport is aware and supportive of the action we are taking.”
The action plan is also focusing on “psychological safety, empowerment, and colleague experience”, The Times reported.
A spokesman for UK Sport said: “It is critical to us that the sports we invest in have a safe, healthy and high-performing culture where athlete voice is included in decision-making. That is why the sports we work with undertake periodic, independent surveys of their athletes and staff within performance programmes to form one part of the assessment of the culture within those environments.
“We have engaged with British Cycling on the findings of their most recent culture survey and are aware of the action plan that they are already implementing to address some of the themes it raised.
“We will continue to work with British Cycling as they embed this plan and ensure their performance culture is of the highest possible standard.”
