Whistleblowing: trick or treat?

In the past week the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)?has published results of its survey to understand how their sector handles non-financial misconduct, such as bullying, sexual harassment, and discrimination.??

Their findings gathered from just under a thousand firms found there were 2,347 incidents of?non-financial misconduct recorded last year, up from 1,670 in 2022 and 1,363 in 2021.?

This is a significant jump and is compounded by a recent report on Ethics at Work by?the?Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) – which shockingly found that a quarter of the 12,000 employees who completed their survey said they had been aware of misconduct or illegal activity at work in the past year, up from 18 per cent in 2021. And of those reporting misconduct,?1 in 5 said they were aware of sexual harassment in the workplace?and?1 in 10 aware of bribery or corruption.?

When asked about Speaking Up and Whistleblowing a third of those who did not speak up said they feared nothing would be done?(34%) or that their job would be put at risk?(34%), with no change in these two figures since 2021.??

Responding to the FCA report, UK Finance, the trade association representing the banking and finance industry, said “firms will review and, as required, enhance the approach being taken to dealing with misconduct” and the Association of British Insurers said the survey highlighted “ the need to strengthen governance related to culture”.?

There is obvious scope for improvement here for organisations to address their workplace cultures and get a better understanding of the barriers that are stopping their staff from speaking up or addressing wrongdoing when they see it.?

With the spooky season now in full force we thought we’d get some inspiration from the world of scary movies to think about the implications of these latest reports and what organisations could be doing…?

• Whistleblowing law is complicated, on first glance it looks like a bunch of “Hocus Pocus”, but you don’t need a magic wand or leaky cauldron to fix your policy and processes. Training, regular reviews and benchmarking your set up against your competitors is the best way to build solid foundations.?

• A whistleblower is no “Hellraiser”, their intention is not to give you “Goosebumps”, quite the opposite. When they speak up, it’s your job to listen up.?

• Whistleblowers can come to you years after the events took place. So if a member of staff comes to you and says “I Know What you Did Last Summer”, you will take action and respond to their concerns. ?

• One whistleblowing report could be an “Omen” with more to come. If you’re getting a “Sixth Sense” that something is not right don’t ignore your intuition. Whistleblowers are under no obligation to investigate issues – it's enough for them to come to you with suspicions – and for you to check them out.?

• Despite the perpetrators attempts to bury their wrongdoing – and using NDAs to silence their victims – “What We Do In The Shadows” will always come to light. Don’t neglect transparency, embrace it. Make sure action is taken, investigate where it’s needed and ensure the NDA does not prevent approaches to police, regulators or even the press.?

• Too often employees are told to ‘Get Out’ when they raise concerns, which only results in “Misery”. Dismissing staff should not be the “Final Destination” of your whistleblowing procedure. Ensure you have well trained managers who don’t see whistleblowers as a threat, build in proactive processes and policies on retaliation. The best employers regularly carry out risk assessments to limit the potential of whistleblower victimisation.?

• If the thought of reviewing your whistleblowing set-up makes you want to “Scream” – don’t panic, Protect is here to help and can guide you through every step of the way.?

If you need help setting up or updating your whistleblowing policies and procedures – please get in touch. Our experts are on hand to help.?