Encouraging a Speak-Up culture during a global pandemic

During Risk Advisory’s recent Women in Compliance webinar, which you can listen to here, we discussed how companies can continue to encourage a Speak-Up culture during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As recent events around the world have shown, there has never been a more pressing need for companies to respond to the concerns and fears of their staff.

“… your reputation for Listening Up is everything!”

We were lucky enough to hear from Mary Eastwood Jones, Head of Investigations and Speak Up at Oxford University Press (OUP), who shared her experiences with us.

During the pandemic, Mary has seen increased risks to confidential information, allegations of new types of wrong-doing, and changes in the way issues like bullying manifest themselves. The changing landscape spurred OUP to review their programme and Mary took us through some of the enhancements to their programme they have made.

Prevention

“Get to people early.”

The many components of OUP’s prevention programme are well-established. But early on, OUP looked at how they engage with people.

They organised a virtual Covid-19 briefing to engage staff on the frontlines early, acknowledging the impact of the pandemic, reiterating that there are “lines we cannot cross” and sharing practical advice on how staff could continue to uphold OUP’s values as they navigate through changes, new pressures and opportunities.  To encourage participation, they ensured that attendance at the briefings counted towards employees’ mandatory training requirement.

Detection

OUP has increased and broadened their use of technology to make sure that they replace the face-to-face contact that had been an important part of their programme. They now host virtual drop-ins, use Yammer and other messaging applications and run virtual Q&A sessions to encourage reporting.

“Make it easy for everyone to hear your messages.”

Although it is easy to rely on technology, Mary was keen to remind everyone that not all staff sit in an office. It is important therefore to make sure you think about everyone who works for you, including contractors and beneficiaries if you are in the humanitarian sector. Phone apps and having phone lines in all working languages are one way to do this.

Response

Staff are facing additional challenges in lockdown and without the face-to-face contact it can be more difficult for them to raise their concerns. So responding well when they do is even more important than it was before. The first responder may not be a member of the Speak Up or investigations team: they need to know how to deal with the complaint. OUP include ethical leadership training for line managers to equip them to respond appropriately.

“We need to share more of our humanity than we used to.”

During the pandemic, the role of investigators has changed too. It’s still important to maintain professionalism and impartiality, but equally it is important to be a bit more open to less formal communications or check-ins to put people at ease and develop trust.

Organisational justice

Dealing with unsupportive management remotely can be difficult. Nonetheless, it is important for organisations to maintain belief in the Speak Up programme by challenging comments such as “this is just another disgruntled employee”. Similarly, when staff hear that investigations have consequences, sanctions are applied consistently, and that decisions are made fairly it reinforces that you mean what you say. It’s how they judge the fairness of the system and the integrity of the organisation. 

Reputation of the Speak Up team

Ultimately, a good speak up culture is encouraged by a good listen up culture, so it is critical to have a highly skilled team who will build a reputation for responding appropriately and conducting robust investigations. Ensuring that the Speak Up channels are visible and accessible is also key.

“Historically, I’ve seen the best results from visiting people being present. But I’m learning that being visible is the most important thing ... A word of mouth endorsement can be replaced by a ‘like’ or ‘I heard that these people [the investigations team] are the real deal!’”

To find out more about implementing and embedding a Speak Up culture, contact Mary Eastwood Jones on LinkedIn or at [email protected] 

If you would like to join the Women in Compliance networking group to discuss this or other compliance issues, contact us at [email protected].