Speaking+Up

====Hotlines are all well and good, but research shows that only about 3% of observed misconduct is reported through them. That same research also shows that one-half or more of all observed misconduct is never reported. And the biggest factor keeping folks silent is fear of retaliation – by peers, superiors or third parties. The more fear in the organization’s culture, the theory goes, the more silence and the more misconduct that is not addressed internally. ====

==== Silence hurts the organization in lots of ways. Take a look, for example, at this report about the effects of a "culture of silence" within California's prison system. In addition to covering misconduct silence stifles learning, innovation and improvement. Customer concerns may not get passed on or not get addressed, with the inevitable effect on the bottom line. In healthcare silence about errors may hurt patients. So Compliance and Ethics professionals should find lots of allies within the organization for a focused effort in support of speaking up. ====

====Speaking up isn’t easy for anyone. But generally before an individual will speak up they need to believe in two things: (1) it’s safe to do so and (2) speaking up will be worthwhile. An individual’s beliefs about these will depend on factors unique to them and on clues that they pick up about the organization’s culture and expectations. These “clues” are something that the organization can affect if it consciously and consistently communicates about Speaking Up. ====

// Open Reporting at GE //
====GE has long promoted "Open Reporting" within the company with a network of more than 700 professional ombudspeople and a promise of confidentiality in matters that are raised through them. But an internal compliance survey showed that 80% of concerns were still raised outside that process. So in 2011 GE established a complementary program reporting tool for the use of managers and others in specific fields (Legal, HR, Compliance, Audit) when concerns were raised to them. Since rolling out this tool the company has seen a substantial increase in the number of concerns that are tied to the company's Code of Conduct, a higher substantiation rate and fewer requests for anonymity or confidentiality. It also maintained a website where participants could contribute to a "Word Cloud" by answering the question - "What Does Open Reporting at GE Mean to You?" ====

==== To encourage speaking up it’s important but not sufficient to simply say “It’s your responsibility to speak up”. In addition the organization needs communications that answer certain critical questions that are in the potential speaker’s mind. How well do you think your communications do at answering them? ==== = = = =
 * **Why should I speak up? ** || ====Speakers need to know the organization’s view of this responsibility AND the reason(s) for that expectation. What’s in it for the organization? What’s in it for the speaker - doing the right thing, relieving conscience? ==== ||
 * **How should I speak up? ** || ====It may sound commonsensical, but it’s not. ====

====For example, if the expectation is that some matters should be addressed directly with the person involved that expectation should be set out. (E.g. “Take issues directly to the source, when appropriate.”). Is the expectation that employees go to their manager first - or can they go directly to someone else? Guidance about how to do that may also be helpful (E.g. “ Address disagreements in a respectful manner and away from those not involved.”) ==== ||
 * **Who can I speak to? ** || ====A clear description of expected channels will take some of the anxiety out of accessing them. That clarity also needs to be balanced with permission to choose the route the speaker feels most comfortable with and what to do if the channel fails to produce action. Detailed hierarchy is associated with lower rates of speaking up. Corporate Ombudspeople  may encourage it. ==== ||
 * **What’s the policy on retaliation? ** || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">“Retaliation”, to use a phrase from former president Truman, is a “$40 word” that needs explanation and maybe a few examples to be clear to all in the organization. (“Reprisal” is worse.) Particularly if the organization’s announced policy is “zero tolerance” what’s not acceptable behavior should be spelled out along with what those experiencing retaliation should do to get it addressed.

||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">What happens if I speak up? ** || <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">The more specific the organization is, the more speaking up will be encouraged. Particularly important is setting (and fulfilling) the expectation about whether or not the speaker will be told what happens.

<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Sharing deidentified (“an employee”) examples of past missteps both influences the “worthwhileness” calculation of those who might speak up and educates those who might consider stepping over the line. ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">Can I remain anonymous? ** || ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The communication here needs to distinguish between “anonymity”, which is difficult to promise and may hinder effective investigation, from “confidentiality”, which may also not be possible if a criminal investigation results from the report. ==== ||
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">What if someone speaks up maliciously ? ** || ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Malicious reporting is possible, although not seen as often as organizational attempts to articulate some sort of immunity for those who report in “good faith”, even if their reports turn out to be factually inaccurate. The problem with such attempts is the potential chilling effect of an implied consequence to being found to not have spoken up in “good faith”. A better route may be to describe bad faith actions – intentionally trying to harm someone’s reputation, giving information the speaker knows as false – as prohibited and leave it at that. ====

|| =//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**Lessons from the Field** //=
 * **<span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 14.6667px;">What do I do if someone speaks up to me? ** || ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Managers have different levels of skill and comfort with these types of situations, but middle managers are the most likely recipients of reports of misconduct. They need to know the organization’s expectations just as much as the speakers do. They may also need training in how to encourage speaking up. ==== ||


 * ====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">BP has translated it "Speak Up" policy into 10 languages ====
 * ====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">BP also has a former US District Court Judge, Stanley Sporkin, serving as its US ombudsman ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Missing Voices - why employees are afraid to speak up at work (2009) - describes strategies used by Dell, Google and others to encourage speaking up ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Speaking Up Encouragement Strategy - a 2006 program by Kraft; Article about Kraft's current program ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Northrup Grumman's - "When To Challenge, When to Support" brochure ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Regence - The first topic in its Code of Conduct is speaking up ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">SSE - half of its "Code" book is about is its whistleblowing policy ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Speaking Up policy from Standard Chartered ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Thrivent Financial's Escalation Protocol" ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Walmart Web Page on Speaking Up and Raising Concerns ====

=<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">**//Research, Statistics and Opinion//** =
 * ====<span style="color: #ff0000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Incenting Employees to Speak Up (Egbert 2013) ====
 * ====<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Survey Shows UK Whistleblowing in Need of Review (Kondhia 2013) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Speaking Up Is Hard to Do: Researchers Explain Why (Bernstein 2012) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Ethics and Risk Management: Building a Culture of Integrity(Stokes 2012) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Those Dirty Little Secrets (Chynoweth 2012) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">From Dangerous Silence to an Culture of Trust, a 2011 Stanford law School presentation on the roles of a corporate ombudsman to address silence. Related article. ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Speaking Up For Values in Business (Connor 2010) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Skip Level Leaders Inhibit Employee Voice (Trevino 2010) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">What Do Organizations Need to Consider When Creating a" Culture of Speaking UP" (Vasko 2010) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Fear of Backlash for Reporting Is a Sure Sign of an Ethically Challenged Workplace (ERC 2010) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Who's Telling You What You Need To Know, Who Isn't and What You Can Do About It (ERC 2009) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Retaliation: The Cost to Your Company and Your Employees (ERC 2009) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">2007 Study by Corporate Executive Board showing more than half of observed misconduct is not reported - and biggest influencing factor is discomfort with speaking up / fear of retaliation. ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Encouraging Internal Whistleblowing (2003); Update 2007 ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Do I Dare Say Something? (Gilbert 2006) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Effective Code Standards on Raising Concerns and Retaliation (Heard and Miller 2006) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Organizational Silence and Threats to Patient Safety (Henrikson and Dayton 2006) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Helping Employees Raise Concerns (International Business Ethics Review 2004) ====
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">How Do You Know If Your Open Door Policy Is Actually Working? (Haught Strategies) ====

//<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Shared by Toolbox members: //
<span style="display: block; height: 1px; left: -40px; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 9425px; width: 1px;">Nurse Still Afraid To Speak Up
 * ====<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">< Click "edit" above and start typing here> ====