Sharp & Carter executive’s messy affair inspired CEO Stephen Carter’s Xmas party rules

The plot thickens on the now infamous Christmas party pep talk at Melbourne recruiting firm Sharp & Carter, as insiders reveal the sordid workplace drama that inspired the speech. 

The plot thickens on the now infamous CEO Christmas party pep talk at Melbourne recruiting firm Sharp & Carter.

Stephen Carter, founder of one of Australia’s largest recruiting firms, laid down the law to his employees all over Australia via Zoom this week. And it went viral thanks to his unhinged “don’t do drugs or cheat on your partner” advice for navigating the office festivities.

The chief executive led his speech from the firm’s Melbourne HQ with the immortal words “I take drugs myself, I just don’t do it at work events” – a clear highlight of his address, an edited version of which was eagerly uploaded online by an enterprising staffer who recorded it.

An alleged office affair — which did not involve CEO Stephen Carter or his partner — reportedly inspired his lively pep talk. Picture: Facebook

But it turns out his reference to affairs in the workplace was very close to home.

“If you want to cheat on your partner, I would recommend 2024 has been a stark reminder it is probably not wise to cheat on your partner with someone at work,” Carter said.

The remark drew some chuckles from his 203 employees tuned in nationwide.

He added: “If you are going to cheat on your partner and if you have to do it – just don’t do it with someone at work; it really becomes problematic, as we have seen.”

“Problematic” might be an understatement given the upheaval at the firm over the past 12 months thanks to a long-running affair between two of his executives finally being exposed.

The fallout has been significant given that one (he) was a married part-owner with young children, and the other (she) a head of department who’d previously been married to a senior manager at the firm. Messy.

The popular part-owner is being paid out to depart the business, while the department manager was quickly given her marching orders when the affair came to light in June.

CEO Stephen Carter from Melbourne recruiting firm Sharp and Carter gave the spirited pep talk last week. Picture: Facebook

Acrimonious is putting it mildly.

How the whole sordid episode was handled by Sharp & Carter has left many employees disgruntled and disappointed. It appears the dalliance was an open secret for some while others were obviously kept in the dark, including the part-owner’s wife.

And it goes further – some corporate clients have been pushing back on the recruiter, asking why they should hire a firm tasked with finding good people when its own people can’t behave themselves. So it’s fair to say Carter had good reason to dish out a morals lecture.

He says he tries to model his leadership style on Richard Branson, whose motto is that if you look after your staff well, they will look after your customers.

Unfortunately, a couple of his most senior executives took “looking after each other” a bit too literally.