Whistleblowers should be celebrated not discouraged in corporate culture

If it’s clear that a manager turned a blind eye to something that she or he had the opportunity to call out, that should be considered misconduct in itself

Data published this week by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer reveals that nearly two-thirds of UK business managers would avoid whistleblowing at work (PA)

The concept of whistleblowing in the workplace is theoretically a brilliant one. Implemented perfectly, it gives employees the power and responsibility to take misconduct of any nature into their own hands, while knowing that their identity will be protected and that they are acting in the interest of the greater good.

But then there are cases when it all goes wrong and that’s what ruins it for everyone.

Earlier this year, the UK’s financial watchdog launched an in-depth investigation into Jes Staley, the chief executive of Barclays, after he admitted that he had attempted to unveil the identity of one of his underlings who had anonymously sent letters to the board of the bank, raising concerns over a newly recruited senior employee and Staley’s role in hiring that individual.

Imagine being that person. Concerned about the ethics of hiring, you think you’re doing the right thing by scrutinising leadership, in a way that your consciousness teaches you to be right. The next thing you know, you have the top dog trying to root you out. That’s probably the last time you ever consider piping up – moral compass or not.

Data published this week by law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer reveals that nearly two-thirds of UK business managers would avoid whistleblowing at work, for fear of damaging their career prospects. And high-profile incidents like the one surrounding Staley mean that those findings don’t surprise me at all.

Why would you risk raising your voice if you weren’t sure that it wouldn’t backfire badly and possibly even leave you out of a job? After all, you wouldn’t do a bungee jump if you weren’t absolutely convinced that the rope was secure, would you?

At a time when allegations of sexual harassment, abuse, bullying and other forms of misconduct in the workplace have perhaps never been more abundant, it’s never been more pressing for us to become a nation of whistleblowers – even if we’re scared.

Alleged episodes in Hollywood and Westminster have taught us that the traditional measures put in place to identify incidents of wrongdoing – HR departments, for example – cannot be relied upon. So we all have to become the eyes and ears of the workforce.

The Freshfields research reveals that managers in the UK and those involved in the arts and culture sector were the least likely to be involved in whistleblowing – at 35 per cent and 19 per cent respectively.

But figures compiled by the charity Business in the Community and PwC in 2014 – the most recent year for which data is available – show that it was actually in those sectors where women reported the highest number of bullying and harassment cases.

Encouragingly, the Freshfields research shows that the number of those who are blowing the whistle is rising, and only 13 per cent of the 2,500 business managers questioned said that their employers actively discouraged the practice of calling out bad behaviour. But in this day and age that number should be zero.

Whistleblowing should be part of the DNA of every manager’s corporate responsibility. It should be stipulated in contracts and spoken about in management training sessions. In fact, if it’s clear that a manager turned a blind eye to something that she or he had the opportunity to call out, that should be considered misconduct in itself.

The workplace is a tough environment. Allies can help and no one likes a tattletale. But let’s get over that. The alternative is far bleaker.