Business news Ubisoft admits to having made mistakes in its handling of harassment cases
In an interview with Axios, the Human Resources Director of Ubisoft came back to the studio’s new policy concerning the various cases of toxic culture. And if the company is on the right track, according to her, she also believes that there is still a way to go.
“Some people have lost confidence in the process”
In an exclusive interview with Axios published earlier this week, Ubisoft Human Resources Director Anika Grant reviewed the company’s policy. Statements that serve as a mid-term review following the various surveys carried out recently by Release and Kotaku: published a year apart, they both mention cases of harassment, testimonies reporting discrimination while highlighting the studio’s omerta and inaction to erase these practices. Anika Grant indicates that at the start of the crisis, Ubisoft wanted to ensure that it had the process in place and that it could successfully carry out investigations. A not flawless process, she explains:
Nonetheless, there is something we missed. I don’t think we’ve communicated enough with the individuals who have complained about something. We have not sufficiently shared the conclusions drawn from these investigations, and the decisions and actions taken following these conclusions. And unfortunately, I think some people have lost faith in the process.
An error obviously necessary for Ubisoft and Anika Grant: the director of human resources ensures better follow-up of employees who report bad behavior and indicates that Ubisoft “absolutely wants to solve“.
“We are not yet where we want to be
Nevertheless, it seems that there is still a long way to go. This is evidenced by the complaints highlighted by the Ubisoft teams. Like Blizzard Activision employees, those at Ubisoft shared an open letter in August on Twitter under the account name Better Ubisoft. In this one, they evoke in particular “no longer have confidence in one’s actions to remove the known culprits“. They then indicate wanting”more strong actions, real and fundamental changes“.
Still, Anika Grant believes Ubisoft is on the right track. It indicates that “complaints from Ubisoft employees have decreased since last year” and “the degree of seriousness of these cases has also decreased“. Changes that she considers to be positive, while confessing”not be where we (Ubisoft) want to be“.
Source: Axios
