Want to solve the Whistleblower issue?

Pat Harned ,president of the ERC talked about the recent Retaliation study and said that whistleblowers ask themselves five key questions:

1. Will anybody do anything?

2. Will I be retaliated against?

3. Will it make a difference?

4. Do I feel comfortable?

5. Will I be supported?

Now given all of this and how expensive these answers could be with lawsuits, etc., here’s another view.

1. We need to promote whistle blowing by rewarding them, not retaliating or punishing.

Why? It’s financially better, builds a positive work environment, builds morale, develops employee engagement.

2. Ethically, why “punish” someone for doing the right thing? The questions above reflect people that are fearful, conflicted, and still wanting to do the “right thing.” So how does the organization treat them? They are retaliated against in any number of ways.

3. All of this puts into serious question the quality and commitment of an organization’s compliance and ethics training program. How an organization treats whistleblowers , for me , is a direct reflection into how comprehensive one’s ethics training is designed and implemented.

So here’s the bottom line for me:

Train your people to “be whistleblowers when necessary, for their own good, the good of customers, the good of company and for the good of each other. Take the fear out of this decision.

Reward people publicly, for bringing forward serious issues for resolution and make them part of the team that resolves these issues. This creates a positive environment and raises morale.

Be financially responsible. It is much cheaper to fix a problem than it is to ignore it, deny it, and “punish the messenger.”

This would be a great start to re-evaluate your own stance on whistleblowing.

fbucaro

Like you, business ethics and ethical leadership expert, Frank Bucaro has seen the challenges and problems of corporate leadership, particularly over the past few years in regards to poor decision-making, SEC violations, and record breaking financial settlements in a number of different industries. With over two decades of executive training, speaking, writing and with real life experiences, his view and approach to ethics in the workplace is uniquely different. He emphasizes that ethics is a moment-to-moment choice and has little to do with position, titles, personalities or education. Ethics is everybody’s responsibility from the top down. His goal is to help organizations to: a. Strengthen their ethics training initiatives in order to significantly decrease the odds of an ethical/compliance violation. b. Energize, train and motivate employees to understand the value of consistent “high road” behavior as a business advantage. c. Support individuals and thereby the organization by contributing to its success by quality, ongoing values based leadership development. Frank is known for his very practical, slightly irreverent, yet somewhat humorous approach to ethics and leadership development. His conversational style and real life stories connect with his audience in a personal, intense and practical level. Companies such as Bayer Healthcare, BP, ReMax International, EnMax Energy, Danone, etc. have partnered with Frank when they want to proactively stress the message, tools, insights and practical applications that good ethics IS good for business!