No one wants to see their charity in the press for the wrong reasons. All charity leaders need to be aware of risks to their finances, their staff and to their reputations. When wrongdoing occurs, it can undermine confidence in a charity which impacts staff, donors and beneficiaries. The “sex for aid” scandal that beset the sector a few years ago was a clear example of the failure to listen to warnings raised by staff, both by the charities themselves, and by the Charity Commission. So how do charity leaders best manage risk and what role can whistleblowing play?
At Protect, the UK’s whistleblowing charity, we speak to thousands of whistleblowers every year and have advised more than 50,000 on our free, confidential legal advice line over the past 30 years. Almost a quarter of our calls come from people working in charities. We hear from staff and trustees about financial mismanagement, fraud, poor governance, bullying and safeguarding risks. Whistleblowers are the cheapest and best form of risk assessment – it is your staff who will most likely be the first to know when something is going wrong. They provide a vital early warning system – giving you the opportunity to address potential harm early.
Our experience is that people are willing to speak up, particularly in the charity sector where many choose to work in a place that aligns with their values. Yet they still find it difficult to navigate the process of raising a whistleblowing concern, and sadly many suffer victimisation when they do.
We’ve also conducted research with large charities about the structures they have in place for whistleblowing, and their effectiveness. We found that many have policies, but few train managers in what to do when their staff come to them with a concern. No one likes to hear there is a problem in their team, or that a colleague is breaking the rules. But it is the job of managers to be good recipients of bad news.
If you want to hear from staff, you need to create the right climate and culture for speaking up. Easy to say but harder to do. At Protect we can help you – with training, consultancy and with our Whistleblowing Benchmark tool – an independent audit of your whistleblowing arrangements – to find out where you are on the journey to good whistleblowing practice.
To get you started, here are a few top tips from our 30 years of experience:
Leadership matters
– the Board and the senior managers need to consider workplace culture as a strategic risk. If you don’t have a safe culture for speaking up, you may not have whistleblowers willing to come forward, and this hampers your ability to manage risks early.
Training is a must
– not just for all staff on where to find the policy or who to speak to if they have concerns, but separately for managers so that they know how to respond. Despite the myths, most whistleblowers are not persistent, so there is a small window of opportunity to thank the whistleblower for the information, assure them of confidentiality and confirm that their concerns will be taken seriously and investigated if necessary.
Feedback makes a difference.
It can take courage to speak up, even to a line manager. People may fear they will be victimised for raising concerns or believe that nothing will happen if they do. If a whistleblower thinks nothing has happened, they’ll tell their colleagues there’s no point telling anyone, or they’ll escalate their concerns to the Trustees or to the Charity Commission. You have a duty not to treat a whistleblower badly, but you also have a responsibility to deal with serious concerns.
Our website has a directory of information and advice for whistleblowers and anyone looking to get whistleblowing right in their organisation. If you’d like to learn more about whistleblowing, attend our training or complete our benchmark, please get in touch: Whistleblowing Support for Employers - Protect - Speak up stop harm (protect-advice.org.uk)
