MANCHESTER — British Cycling and the Great Britain Cycling Team have implemented an action plan focused on leadership, development, feedback and wellbeing after an independent survey revealed parts of the World Class Programme were described as "toxic". According to a report in The Times on Wednesday, the UK Sport-funded survey conducted by the Happiness Index uncovered a fall in morale among elite riders and an alleged lack of accountability in the GBCT's senior leadership.
Athletes and staff were asked for three words to describe the culture of the programme. "Driven" was the most-used term among athletes, followed immediately by "toxic", with other responses including "cold", "unconcerned", "distant", "unclear" and "restrictive". The Happiness Index calculated satisfaction scores of -42 for male riders and -31 for female riders on a scale running from -100 to +100, with male staff at -4 and female staff at -5, all representing a dramatic drop from the previous survey.
"The wellbeing of our staff and riders is fundamental to everything we do at British Cycling," a British Cycling 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. This is not the first time the culture at British Cycling has been criticised, with a 2017 report into the GBCT saying a "culture of fear" existed. Separately this week, British track sprinter Matthew Richardson was withdrawn at the last minute from this week's UCI Track World Championships amid reports of serious misconduct, also revealed in The Times.
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."