To speak up or not to speak up – that is the question!
Compliance Corner – Issue 1.2
If you’re like most people, chances are you’ve either witnessed – or experienced – something in the workplace that has caused you to question whether it was legal, safe, or ethical. And, again, if you’re like most people, you may have considered telling someone about it.
Did you?
Believe it or not, many of us decide not to say anything because we’re afraid of retaliation.
Retaliation can “look like” many things. It might be termination or a cut in pay; it could be a demotion or lack of promotion; someone could get reassigned or receive a bad review. All of these could be classified as workplace retaliation if they were actions taken by someone above an employee in response to that employee speaking up about something that seemed wrong.
Every other year, the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI) publishes their Global Business Ethics Survey. Based on the survey from 2020, a whopping 79% of U.S. employees reported they had experienced some form of retaliation. (2021 Global Business Ethics Survey, 2022).
Why does this matter?
It matters because when employees believe retaliation exists, they may stop speaking up. This leads to a culture of silence, anger, and avoidance. People may stop stepping out of their comfort zone to innovate and take risks. Even worse, because employees stop reporting issues, those issues may never get resolved; they can grow until they cause serious damage to the organization down the road.
So, how do we fix it?
We fix it by ensuring that all of us, especially those who supervise teams, cultivate a safe environment for speaking up. And here’s why supervisors need to be on-board. When employees DO report concerns, these are the people they talk to, in the following percentages:*
44% their supervisor
27% another higher level manager or other manager
25% the integrity, ethics or compliance office/department
24% the human resources department*
*(respondents could select multiple items)
When employees believe it’s safe to speak up – when they’re not afraid of retaliation – they will. And they’re significantly more likely to report a concern if the culture at work is strong because their supervisor listens to them, does not practice or tolerate retaliation and encourages people to speak up, even when they have “bad news” to share.
So, where do you stand in your current workplace? Will you speak up if you see something that doesn’t seem right? Do you feel safe enough to do it?
If you’re a supervisor, have you created a climate where your employees feel safe enough to voice their concerns?
Have you created a “speak up culture” within your team/department/unit? If you’re not a supervisor, do you contribute to an open culture by listening to others and supporting them in sharing their views?
It bears repeating that the VCU Code of Conduct requires all of us to speak up and it protects us when we do (see pages 10-15). If you have questions about how to speak up and how we are protected, please reach out to the Integrity and Compliance Office’s Helpline at VCUHelpline.com or 1-888-242-6022.
So, to speak up or not to speak up; that IS the question. But remember: retaliation is never the answer.
Want to see where YOU stand on speaking up?
Try this short reflective exercise (5 minutes) to think about what conditions, in your experience, enable speaking up:
A Tale of Two Stories (from Mary Gentile, Giving Voice to Values, 2012)
Self reflection:
Think of a time when you were asked to take an action at work that did not align with your values, and you spoke up to resolve it.
Were you satisfied?
What made it easier?
What made it harder?
What did you do that enabled speaking up?
What did others do?
Now, think of a time when you were asked to take an action at work that did not align with your values, and you did not speak up to resolve it.
Were you satisfied?
What made it easier?
What made it harder?
What did you do that did not enable speaking up?
What did others do that did not enable speaking up?
Characteristics of speak up environments:
- It’s safe to raise concerns
- Appreciation and respect are shown
- Active listening takes place – people feel heard
- Confidentiality is preserved
- Action is taken to address concerns (even though the desired outcome may not always happen)
- A “Learn by making mistakes” philosophy is valued
Final reflection:
Are you helping to promote a speak up culture? What you do matters.
Thank you for reading our second blogpost all the way to the end! The first 10 readers to email us with feedback will receive a small token of appreciation from the Integrity and Compliance Office. Please write to mcquillenka@vcu.edu.
Sources:
Ethics and Compliance Initiative. 2022. 2021 Global Business Ethics Survey. [online] Available at: <https://www.ethics.org/global-business-ethics-survey/#non-member-download> [Accessed 29 April 2022].
Gentile, Mary C. Giving Voice to Values. Yale University Press, 2012.