HR managers and directors are being encouraged to review their whistleblowing processes in the light of new research revealing a low awareness and trust among employees.
A new survey highlights that a majority of HR professionals (57%) in private and public sector believe their employees are actively encouraged to speak up about wrongdoing. With an additional 36% who state that employees are ‘aware’ they can report wrongdoing.
However, a good proportion of employees are not aware of what to do if they witness or discover wrongdoing in the workplace.
The findings reveal there seems to be low investment in the training and promotion of whistleblowing processes and policies even among those organisations that have such things.
The whistleblowing survey, conducted by an independent third party, was commissioned by UK-based Safecall – an independent, specialist whistleblowing and compliance services provider.
The majority of respondents – some 83% – have a whistleblowing policy in place, although 17% do not. While there is no legal requirement for an organisation to have a whistleblowing policy, under the Corporate Governance Code, if a listed company does not have one in place, then senior management must be able to explain why they don’t have one.
On a positive note, HR managers are overwhelmingly aware of the EU Whistleblowing Directive, although a minority – just over 20% – said they were not aware of the Directive and therefore the possible impact on their business.
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