Finishing up a seminar in CA the other day, I opened the program up to questions. A young lady raised her hand and asked: “Whistle blowing – is it ethical?”
From my vantage point I could see some stunned faces as people were amazed at her guts in asking such a sensitive question. Snitching. Telling on someone. Being a tattle tale. All these are built into our psyche as no no’s. So the concept of it being ethical to whistle blow naturally creates a tricky issue when it comes to corporate culture, what’s right and ethics.
Organizational Culture creates the ethical Foundation for Whistle-blowing
What motivates someone to whistleblow and is that behavior that is desired in an organization? Perhaps those are two separate questions, but in my opinion they are also intertwined so tightly that they have to be considered together.
A study by the American Association of Fraud Examiners found that over 43% of the frauds discovered in corporate America were the result of someone raising the issue to a person of higher authority or “whistleblowing”. Whistleblowing is the single most effective method of uncovering or discovering in appropriate behavior. Yet as good as that is, it is also true that whistleblowers are not rewarded, rather most are shut out of the organization, lose their jobs and are devalued organizationally.
By it’s very nature whistle-blowing brings into conflict two values – the issue of loyalty and rightness. For example, the federal government naturally promotes loyalty to country as a high value. Failure to be loyal is considered treason. Edward Snowden, however, released hords of top secret government documents exposing the extent that the US government was using data to violate the privacy of its citizens. Snowden valued “rightness” above “loyalty” and is judged harshly by his own country finding asylum in Russia.
My guess is just reading the example above will bring about strong emotions about the rightness or wrongness of Snowden’s actions. I am not passing judgment, just show rather how the conflict between values places whistleblowing in the cross hairs of how to judge such an action ethically.
Corporate culture establishes the foundation for whether whistleblowing is encouraged, tolerated and/or maybe even needed. Good corporate governance, where right for customers (both internal and external) and shareholders is paramount would create an atmosphere where people are all encouraged to do what is right and report when there needs to be a correction. Of course, the challenge is not all companies are motivated by doing what’s “right” just ask the former folks at Enron.
While most would agree with the value of reporting wrongdoing and approve of good organizational governance, external contexts can color acceptance and perception. There are elements of chicken-and-egg, as attitudes that are encouraged in the workplace extend to the street — if businesses promoted good corporate governance for all, whistle-blowing wouldn’t be viewed negatively or as solely the preserve of business or community leaders.
Honest, Transparent and Ethical
While the act of whistleblowing is not inherently bad (although as said above generally judged harshly by others) the motivation behind whistleblowing may help in determining the ethics associated with the act. If one is whistleblowing on another for emotional motivations such as revenge or retaliation – then it might be reasonable to question the ethics behind the actions. Sound motivations founded in the desire to help the organization and/or customers of the organization create a better environment for the stakeholders would be – by nature – ethically motivated.
The challenge for most organizations is how to change the deep seeded belief about the act of whistleblowing. From all my work with companies, both large and small, this is done through the creation of a culture of ethics that starts at the top. It’s nearly impossible to create a supportive environment where one is rewarded for bringing to light problems and challenges if senior leadership doesn’t have a strong ethical foundation.
The question is – are you as an organization leader willing to stand up for honesty, transparency and ethics?
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!