It's time to speak up about the benefits of speaking-out at work as a key mechanism for alerting a company to potential internal problems before they get out of hand and cause harm and damage, potentially risking reputation. This is why engendering a speaking out (whistle blowing) culture is in employers' best interests and should not be seen as a threat.
However speaking out continues to be discouraged and even punished as research by the charity Public Concern at Work (PCaW) revealed that 75% of whistleblowers claim that they are ignored. Worryingly the most common action taken against whistleblowers is formal action such as disciplinary or demotion and for many this will be too much of a personal risk. This shows that widespread mistrust still prevails among employees and until doing the right thing results in good outcomes then most are likely to keep quiet.
This is why PCaW set up a code of practice based on the findings of the Whisleblowing Commission and has established its "First 100" campaign, providing public recognition of those organisations striving for best practice. Being one of the 100 (there are now 36 organisations signed up) would seem to make good business sense as studies of US organisations with whistleblower-friendly policies in place decisively show that such an approach eliminates a potential blame culture by shifting focus to understanding the problem and finding solutions, while resulting in fewer external complaints. Now that's got to be something worth speaking out about!.
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