You might have witnessed a partner or a coworker being discriminated against because of their age, gender, race, sexual identity, physical attributes or even position in the company. Would you feel comfortable reporting this occurrence to a supervisor or be interviewed about what you heard or saw? Would your answer differ if you were at the receiving end of such discriminatory treatment? The chances are that your two answers are exactly the same. You should consider yourself lucky because you are working in a whistleblowing conducive environment.

However, if you quail at the thought of reporting such behavior to a person within the organization who will make this behavior stop, the very opposite might be true, your work environment is not the ideal place to report organizational wrongdoing. An organization that has employees who believe they are not protected and are exposed to harassment and discrimination will create the perfect breeding ground for low workplace morale, low work morale and employee civil action.

The Effects of Whistleblowing
There are a number of repercussions that corporate whistle blowers may find themselves in. This can range from co-worker alienation, job position loss and status loss, being the catalyst that for the downfall of the organization. When the organization responds inefficiently, negatively of ineffectively to reports of organizational wrongdoing, these responses, sever the relationships of trust that exists between the whistle blower and the organization. These create a loyalty of conflict that will result in future whistle blowers remaining silent or seeking recourse outside the workplace for a more acceptable course of action.

The Right Whistleblower Environment
The ideal whistle blower environment is that where the employees will feel encouraged and supported to report any kind of organizational wrongdoing. If there are ineffective and poorly managed reports then it will bring negative consequences to the overall reputation of the company and those who work in the company.

If you lose the trust of your employees it can set you back in more than workplace productivity. Employees who think that the organization has failed miserably to protect them or even acknowledged reported real or perceived bad treatment have a deep sense of betrayal. This can lead to diminished work productivity, conflicts in work and home relationships, absenteeism along with increased irritability and work related health problems.

Here is how you can create an ideal environment as far as whistle blowing goes;

• Provide a specialized reporting source which has the power to investigate and disseminate trends, mediate in conflicts with or without disciplinary measures, and which can guide and oversee effective resolution options.
• Make sure that all supervisors have the knowledge, skill and abilities to mediate in employee conflicts.
• Disseminate anonymous information periodically to all the employees about successful whistle blowing.
• Create a code of conduct that every employee, no matter their designation has to follow.
• The work performances of supervisors should reflect how instances of whistle blowing under their command were resolved.
• Creation of a misconduct reporting process where the reporting employee can get immediate assistance with adequate follow up from the management.

If you or your company needs to know more about whistleblower management and setup, you can get in touch with Netrika.in