Sports banter at work can 'exclude women' and lead to 'laddish behaviour'
27 January 2020, 10:34
Businesses should crackdown on sports banter over fears it can exclude women and lead to more "laddish behaviour."
Ann Francke, head of the Chartered Management Institute made the claims while speaking to the LBC's Nick Ferrari.
She said it wasn't about being a sports fan but it was about "being a good manager and leader."
She told Nick people can be left feeling "excluded" if they have to listen to "sports banter" at the start of meetings.
She told LBC that women were "twice as likely" to be "negatively affected by banter than men."
The manager's organisation boss branded sports banter a "gateway to more laddish behaviour and - if it just goes unchecked - it's a signal of a more laddish culture,"
She said it was "very easy for it to escalate from VAR talk and chat to slapping each other on the back and talking about their conquests at the weekend."
Speaking to the BBC she said women, in particular, can feel left out.
"A lot of women, in particular, feel left out.
"They don't follow those sports and they don't like either being forced to talk about them or not being included," she said.
"I have nothing against sports enthusiasts or cricket fans - that's great," she said, but pointed out that some people are not cricket fans.
