CAA to write to Holocaust centre after it launches training course inviting managers to “curb their inner Hitler”
A training course provided by a Holocaust centre is inviting managers to “curb their inner Hitler” in the workplace.
The Holocaust Centre North, in Huddersfield, launched a programme earlier this month which is designed to teach “modern leaders” how to learn from twentieth-century dictators about office culture and inclusion.
In a press release, the charity said of the course: “Exploring the leadership traits of Hitler, Stalin and others, as well as the dangers of being a bystander, the half-day course highlights the dangers of ignoring inclusion. It offers a challenging look at equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) at a time when cases of toxic workplace culture are rarely out of the headlines.”
Hannah Randall, Head of Learning at the organisation, is quoted in the press release as saying: “Participants are shocked to see that some of their leadership traits are similar to dictators. Stalin was an extreme micro-manager and this style is familiar to a lot of people. So too is Hitler’s hands-off and unaccountable approach that relies on his force of personality to get things done. It’s very much the blueprint of populism.
“We are using extreme scenarios but it serves a dual purpose. It makes people question their leadership style and it makes them confront relatable experiences that some would rather forget. So, for example, most people have seen discrimination in their organisation, which is stage three on the ten stages of genocide. A good number of people have seen colleagues not allowed to share their ideas or be valued because they’re a woman and some have seen colleagues wearing a hijab openly mocked and singled out for abuse.”
The organisation’s Director, Alessandro Bucci, said: “It’s now widely accepted that modern leaders must embrace EDI [Equality, Diversity, Inclusion], and organisations cannot afford to pay lip service to it. By exploring the grey areas of the Holocaust – and recognising that it’s too simple to reduce it to just good and bad guys – we are having real success in getting people to think about how they can create more inclusive workplaces. In the last year alone, allegations of bullying in employment tribunals have risen by 44 per cent to a record high – so there’s clearly a need for a more forceful approach to make people think about what they can do differently.”
The Holocaust Centre North was founded in 2018 by the Holocaust Survivors’ Friendship Association, a group of refugees and survivors who have delivered education about the Holocaust since 1996. Its permanent exhibition and learning centre is based on the University of Huddersfield’s campus, and receives funding from the Association of Jewish Refugees, the Pears Foundation, and the Department for Levelling Up.
The course was discovered by Labour Against Antisemitism.
Mr Bucci further said: “Our equality and training course uses case studies of various 20th century dictatorships to help attendees learn how individuals have historically and unknowingly contributed to racism, violence and extremism. It considers how different dictatorships thrived in contexts of populism, violence and lack of accountability before looking at contemporary times, current EDI practice in the workplace and how everyone has a responsibility to promote equality.
“The programme explores how we all have responsibility to become active allies rather than bystanders. We have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from people who have attended the course. They said they valued the opportunity to learn about the Holocaust alongside considering how they could make their organisations more inclusive, accountable and transparent.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism is writing to the Centre.
A spokesperson from Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “This is one of those initiatives where you wonder how on earth anyone could have thought it was a good idea. To compare management approaches to the leadership style of Adolf Hitler is utterly ludicrous. That a ‘Holocaust Centre’, of all places, thinks it is appropriate to use the Shoah as a metric for conduct in the workplace, is astounding.
“The promotional material, which urges participants to ‘recognise it’s too simple to reduce the Holocaust to just good and bad guys’ is breathtakingly insulting and historically ignorant, and the notion that such an appalling insight ‘can create more inclusive workplaces’ exemplifies how contemporary inclusivity programmes too often leave Jews behind. This training needs an urgent rethink, and we shall be writing to the centre.”
Image credit: Holocaust Centre North
