Seven in eight BBC staff say managers fail to listen to them

The polarising effect of the BBC director general Mark Thompson's modernising programme was yesterday laid bare by internal survey results that revealed seven out of eight staff felt senior management no longer listened to them.

After a year in which Mr Thompson pressed ahead with plans to cut almost 6,000 jobs from the payroll in an effort to save £355m a year to plough back into programming, the annual survey suggested he had a long way to go to regain the trust of staff. Since 2003, when Greg Dyke was director general, the proportion of staff who felt Mr Thompson and his colleagues on the senior management board listened to their views has dropped from 54% to 13%. Some BBC staff fear a return to the widespread disillusionment with management felt under Mr Dyke's predecessor, John Birt.

Mr Thompson's cost-cutting programme, which was criticised by unions and led to a one-day strike last year, was designed to secure the BBC's licence fee-funded status by releasing more money for programmes and new technology. The overhaul also involves moving key departments to Manchester.

Since Mr Thompson's arrival in May 2004 after the Hutton report, there has also been an almost complete turnover of executives in senior roles, adding further to the sense of flux.

Whereas Mr Dyke concentrated on boosting the feelgood factor among staff with schemes including his Make it Happen initiative, Mr Thompson has had to put fiscal concerns first. But he promised to make communicating with staff a priority for the next year.

In an internal email he admitted the survey results were "not good enough and the executive team must take responsibility to drive serious improvements this year". In reply to the main complaint of a failure to listen, he added: "I hear you loud and clear."

"Managing redundancies, outsourcing, Acas agreements and charter renewal have taken up a lot of management time and slowed the pace of change, creating uncertainty and frustration for everyone. It's disappointing, but not surprising, that senior management may appear to be out of touch with people at the frontline," he said. Mr Thompson admitted senior managers "have had their heads down wrestling with the challenges of change and charter renewal" and promised to "get out and start listening to all of you".