Is it ever morally or legally right for employees to blow
the whistle on their employer? How can a company stop employees from washing
corporate dirty linen in public?Is
there any value in having loyal dissent or “friendly critics” within
the organization?
On the last point, former General Motors president Alfred
P. Sloan would say “yes.”When
his executives all agreed to a proposal of his, he told them they obviously
hadn’t given it enough thought and thus they couldn’t fully understand the
problem.He deferred his decision
until he got some opposing views.
To be sure, employees owe their employers a duty of
loyalty – and that includes a measure of discretion in public.But if employees witness employer acts that are illegal or endanger
others AND speaking out doesn’t affect the employee’s ability to do their
job, courts have held that the employee’s duty to speak out overrules their
duty of loyalty to the employer. Managers beware!
Invoking this principle requires specifics: employers shouldn’t have to
defend against frivolous charges or the mere opinions of staff.But serious concerns by staff (or their union) should not be dismissed.A due diligence management response is needed: at very least, an
objective verification of the purported facts.
Speaking out alone can be terrifying and costly for
employees and embarrassing, if not damaging, for the employer.The CEO’s job is to make sure it happens inside the organization, not
outside!
Loyal employees, like the two rocket engineers who
vigorously opposed the fatal Challenger launch, often act on sound knowledge and unselfish
motives. Their voices may pierce the blanketing management layers that too often muffle
important messages in organizations. In NASA's case, the message was rejected and the rest is
history.
So, what's a
manager to do?First, listen to your
staff.It’s much cheaper than suffering the reputational, legal
and financial consequences that might otherwise follow.Don’t force them to go outside the organization to voice
their concerns.Second, encourage
debate. Promote honest and informed opinions.Establish
a forum.Ask for and entertain
dissenting views.Share them.Seek a devil’s advocate.Let
staff express their concerns in writing, if need be, without fear of
recrimination. Third, if necessary, challenge them, always respectfully, asking
for proof of their claims.Fourth,
never, ever shoot the messenger – or you will get no more honest messages.
Bottom line: don’t
stifle loyal dissent - it is the lifeblood of a healthy organization.If you aren’t seen vigorously encouraging and rewarding internal
feedback, you will lose your best employees - and with them, your future.Listening politely isn’t enough. If they’re right, you have to take
action. This is risk management where and when it counts.Let there be no ambiguity with your staff on where you stand on the need
for loyal
dissent in your organization.
Recommended Reading for Risk
Managers
Exit,
Voice and Loyalty by Albert O. Hirschman. This concise gem, written
by an economist, outlines the three options facing frustrated or dissatisfied
employees or customers and what organizations can do about the repairable
lapses in each. This classic is in its own field.
One page, once a month. Also available by fax or e-mail.
Want to subscribe?Just
drop us an e-mail, fax or call.
Evaluations
- arms-length, no-nonsense reviews of your operations
Facilitation
- sound, sensible, synergistic solutions to organization and public
issues
Your first consultation & briefing is free.
Mike
Murphy has been a risk management consultant for the last four years. Prior
to that, he spent 17 years (78-96) with Transport Canada, his last five as Regional
Director General, Aviation
in Winnipeg, where he never shot any of his messengers. A number of
them came into his office with some pretty wild tales, and all left secure
in their jobs and that what they said would be taken seriously. This
is just the boardroom application of techniques that airline pilots have
been using for years - known as Crew Resource Management (CRM). Originally trained as a professional pilot, he is the
author of an internationally acclaimed 500-page report entitled "An
Evaluation of Emergency Response Services at Airports in Canada."
He is also the
Chairman of the Air Passenger Safety Group (APSG) www.transport2000.ca/APSG
, a Director of Transport
2000 Canada www.transport2000.ca,
a Director of the Ottawa Chapter of Christian Businessmen's
Committee (CBMC) www.cbmc.net and the Secretary General of the Peugeot Club of North
America (PCNA). www.peugeotclub.org
Managing
Your Public Risk, now in its second year, enjoys a better than 99.7% acceptance
rate. If you have any comments, suggestions or criticisms, please let
us know.
Murphy thanks
esteemed colleague Ken Heard, CHRP of benchmrx.com for his peer review and suggestions on this
edition.
Managing Your Public Risk