Corporate Culture Can Give Workers the Courage to Speak Out against Wrongdoing: Report
Feb 2nd, 2009 • Posted in: NewsExperts say organizations can benefit from encouraging workers to come forward when things don’t seem right
BOSTON
Experts studying the concept of courageous behavior in the workplace are finding that the biggest motivating factor isn’t hiring heroes — it’s encouraging workers to raise objections when things don’t seem right, according to a report from the Christian Science Monitor.
The Monitor’s G. Geoffrey MacDonald writes: “In research published last year, for instance, scholar Janet Near found federal workers privy to wrongdoing were more apt to become “whistle-blowers” (reporters of wrongful practices) when they knew exactly where to go with allegations. They also came forward when they believed colleagues would support them and when they didn’t have to confront a supervisor face to face.”
Near, a management professor at Indiana University and co-author of a book on whistle-blowing, says that workers’ willingness to come forward is motivated also by the belief that what they have observed is a serious transgression and that something will be done about it.
Other experts interviewed for the piece cited other motivators for workplace courage: belief in the overall mission of the organization, an organizational ethic stressing values over short-term profits, and management that appears willing to entertain complaints.
Still, MacDonald reports, there are plenty of examples of entrenched cultures of secrecy. He cites the German engineering firm Siemens, which recently paid $1.6 billion — the largest bribery fine in corporate history — after investigators uncovered a corporate culture that encouraged kickbacks and cover-ups.
Source: Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 29.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Oct. 14, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 25, 2008 — Related Newsline story, June 23, 2008 — Related Newsline story, May 19, 2008 — Related Newsline story, Mar. 17, 2008.
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