October is speak up month – every October, the National Guardian’s Office highlights the importance of NHS staff having a voice that counts through its Speak Up Month campaign. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the work of Freedom to Speak Up Guardians and the efforts to make speaking up business as usual for everyone.
Breaking Barriers
The theme for Speak Up Month 2023 is “Breaking Barriers”. Focusing on removing the obstacles which people feel stop them from speaking up. Only by understanding and raising awareness of what these barriers are, can we then start to address them.
Fostering a culture of openness and psychological safety where everyone can feel confident and safe to speak up is business critical. All too often, we hear examples where people stay quiet for fear that speaking up may lead to mistreatment, or where workers feel speaking up is futile – that nothing will be done as a result.
Overcoming these barriers is essential, not just for our culture at work, but for the service users of our organisations.
TIAA’s Whistleblowing and Organisational Culture Campaign
TIAA have an ongoing campaign that is committed to raising awareness of whistleblowing, its importance and how organisations can improve their governance around this important topic.
Whistleblowing protects the integrity of organisations by encouraging employees to speak up about any misconduct, unethical behaviour, or potential risks they witness. It keeps workplaces transparent, accountable, and safe for everyone. TIAA offer a comprehensive Whistleblowing Health Check which can provide your organisation with assurance that its organisational culture is working effectively.
To find out more please visit here – Whistleblowing and Organisational Culture Check Service
We are also hosting a Whistleblowing and Organisational Culture Round Up Webinar on the 18th October, whereby our experts are going to provide an update on the landscape, provide details of our recent survey that TIAA conducted across clients and also details of our hints and tips that all organisations should have as a basic minimum. We are working with colleagues following our roundtable to produce a best practice guide on tackling the difficulties that many organisations face in gaining assurance across this topic.
To register please click here – Whistleblowing and Organisational Culture Round Up Webinar
Please contact us for any further information or questions on this topic.