The ROI of Creating A Speak Up Culture

(0:12) It’s times like these you learn to love again It’s times like these, time and time again (0:36) Welcome, welcome everyone to our phenomenal session about the ROI on Speaking Up. I am incredibly excited to have Shannon Walker, founder and VP at Case IQ. Thank you so much for joining us.

We are so excited. (0:54) And in the chat, we’ve asked you all to share your vitamin song, that one song that gets you uplifted, excited, and in this case, ready to speak up. We were listening to one of Shannon’s many vitamin songs.

So tell us a little about that song, Shannon, why you love it, and a little bit about yourself. (1:14) Well, thanks, Leesa. I’m super excited to be here with M Trade and yourself today.

And I’m really excited about the discussion we’re about to have. And that song, that song came out during COVID. And it was a bunch of artists singing a Foo Fighters song, and they’re from their various houses and places.

And it was, that was my COVID song. So it’s just, it’s amazing. (1:38) It is incredible.

(1:38) Yeah, it’s a really cool tune. (1:40) And I think the power of music, the power of things to shift your, just your energy, right? And I think when we talk about a Speak Up culture, it’s empowering, right? You should feel powerful to be able to make that difference within your organization. And speaking of Speak Up culture, tell us a little bit about your background and why this became such a passion for you.

(2:02) Well, I, you know, years ago, I worked with my family’s business. And at the time, it was, Sarbanes-Oxley was coming into play, which is a regulations down in the US. I’m up here in Canada, we actually have similar regulations as well now.

But Sarbanes-Oxley put into place the mandate that you had to probably train, you had to have a system to confidentially receive review. (2:31) And respond to confidential reports. And that came out of the Enron scandal and multiple others back then.

And it was just like, it really, it was a great opportunity. And we’d also gone through a couple of very unfortunate experiences with long term employees who were fraudulently stealing from the company. (2:58) And it was one of those kind of shocking kind of betrayal, really, right? Like you work with these people every day.

And so for me, Whistleblower became a passion project. It became something I felt was really necessary. If people knew what was going on, they didn’t have a confidential way to speak up.

This resonated with me. And it was kind of funny, because I really, at the time, didn’t realize the legs of this kind of a service would have. (3:26) Every year, there’s another scandal and another shock.

And how does this keep happening? How are ethics so bad in business? And so I think it’s interesting, too. There’s been a paradigm shift from when I started 20 years ago. Whistleblowing was a little bit like, oh, it’s a, it’s a snitch line.

It’s like that. (3:46) They just get stitches. And I think the paradigm shift just happened where I think these people have to be celebrated.

They’re doing the right thing. They are putting themselves at risk. They’re saying this is wrong.

And so we’re here to support them. That’s that is like our mandate is one to our clients who are, you know, putting these systems into place. And we’re going to get them the best information we possibly can through our reporting hotlines.

But two, our mandate is to (4:16) protect protect those whistleblowers, protect the reporters, encourage them, empower them, give them safe places to speak up. So that’s, that’s kind of our story. (4:27) You know, I love your background and your story.

Thank you for sharing. And one of the things that really stood out is when you said opportunity. And I think that people, opportunity is so encompassing, right? And you saw the opportunity.

And then even with this speak up culture, the opportunity to empower people to protect both sides. (4:46) I absolutely love it. And I know that we have a lot of people still joining.

So just again, we are with Shannon Walker. She is one of the founders of Whistleblower Security. And she’s with Case IQ, just gave us her background.

And we’re here to talk about the ROI of the speak up culture. (5:06) We have lots of great things to share in the chat. Please feel free to tell us where you’re from.

And if you have a favorite vitamin song, we did start out with one of Shannon’s vitamin songs, In Times Like These, the one that was recorded during COVID, which I’m going to add that to my vitamin playlist now, Shannon, I love it. It was so powerful. (5:25) So let’s get right into it.

How much does creating a speak up culture help discover the misconduct and the ethical lapses? I know you brought up the SAR things, but it’s like a tongue twister. (5:37) Yes, when I was in, I worked in, I’m a rehabilitated news producer myself. And then I worked in the financial industry.

And I worked for a large financial company when they were acquiring another financial company. And there was a lots of unethical things that were, and that’s when all these regulations started to come. So how does that really, does it really reveal a lot of misconduct and ethical lapses? Or are people just so oblivious to it? (6:07) No, I think people aren’t oblivious.

I think people just need to know how to speak up and feel that they’re empowered to speak up. That’s the first thing. And, you know, having hotlines in place, there’s a couple of stats from the ACFE that talk about, if you have a hotline in place, fraud will be detected up to 18 months earlier than it would without a hotline.

(6:30) And so when you talk about financial risk mitigation and reputational risk mitigation, it’s really important to have a hotline in place. And people see things, right, but they don’t speak up all the time. And so I think part of the process is educating and providing that type of safety.

It’s a safety net, really. (6:53) And so the more that you can do as an organization with your corporate culture, with that kind of felt leadership saying, we want to hear from you, we expect to hear from you either. That would be, that’s very, very important.

(7:08) No, that is a powerful thing. I know we have some slides that we’re going to pull up as well. And then it seems like there are increasingly, increasingly large amount of new regulations that require companies to have hotlines.

Is that really true? Or is that kind of just buzz through the media and making people feel like they need the services? (7:29) No, I think that people need the services. And so I don’t know if I missed the first part of your question. (7:38) There’s a lot of, it seems like there’s a lot of new regulations that are out there.

(7:44) Companies are required to have these. So I don’t, you know, sometimes I feel like people think, oh, it’s not a big deal. And we, you know, we talk to all types of companies and a lot of them don’t have whistleblower hotlines.

(7:56) So it’s like, just knowing is that the regulations are really something that people are aware of? Or are they just not paying attention to what’s required? (8:07) Well, I think it’s, it’s, it changes with, you know, depending on what kind of company you are. So if you’re a publicly traded company in North America, you have to have a whistleblower hotline in place, or a third party. That’s not even fair.

You have to have a review process in place that makes it accessible for confidential reports. (8:27) If you’re in the EU, you have to have a whistleblower hotline in place. If you have employee, I think over 50 employees.

If you’re a financial institution, and you have less than 50 employees, you have to have a hotline in place. In California, there’s regulations now that you have to have a workplace violence hotline in place. In Australia, they have a psychosocial regulation where you have to have a hotline in place.

(8:53) So the rules are very fluid. And again, if you’re, if you’re a nonprofit, say in Canada, and I’m sure it’s the same in the US. But if you’re a nonprofit in Canada, with over $20 million in assets, and you want an accreditation from a regulatory organization up here, you have to have a whistleblower process in place.

So it’s becoming commonplace. It’s definitely a best practice, even private companies are doing it. (9:23) Because again, you want to ensure that you know what’s going on in your organization.

And especially if you’ve got locations across the country or across the globe, you don’t have the oversight that you need to have. And having that hotline, so you’ve got frontline staff available to reach you is really, really important nowadays. There’s just too many moving targets.

(9:45) There’s also DOJ regulations right now where they’re like doing evaluations of corporate compliance programs. There’s the British Bribery Act that has regulations as well. So there’s a lot of components, depending on where and how you do business, that you have to have those types of reporting mechanisms in place.

(10:06) Fantastic, and thank you for sharing. I feel like a lot of people just don’t realize how foundational this is to all businesses across the globe, right? Which gets us right into, I know you mentioned this stat a little bit ago about just kind of the benefits of creating a speak up culture, and how the ACFE, you know, has all these different stats about it. (10:32) So if you want to speak a little bit to this, and then we have some great information.

And just to remind everyone, all the resources will be available throughout the session. So please feel free to take notes, or we’ll make sure you get everything you need. (10:45) So okay, so this stat right here is an important one.

Whistleblowers reveal the problems in corporate fraud cases around 42% of the time, not compliance, not audit the employees. And so this goes back to you need to train the employees to see red flags. You need to empower them to say, yeah, if you see a red flag, speak up.

(11:04) And even if, if you see a red flag, you don’t have evidence, but you kind of think something is amiss, then speak up. Because more often than not, your intuition probably has some validity to it. And it’s important to in order to protect the organization and to protect your fellow colleagues.

(11:25) Absolutely, right. You definitely are on the front lines and definitely have more insight than a lot of leaderships. So what are some of the things to help create and prompt a speak up culture? (11:38) Well, as you see here on this slide, certainly the first prompt is regulatory.

If they’re required, that’s one thing. And then again, I submit that it is becoming a best practice. And I think that again, the corporate vernacular around whistleblowing is changing, and it is becoming more about doing the right thing.

If you see something, say something. (12:03) And as more regulations come into play, as governance becomes a more important factor, right? And even when you look at ISO certifications and what have you, the level of scrutiny and the level of deliverables, the level of data protection that you have to provide, data and privacy protection you have to provide to your employees, all of that comes into play into creating this speak up culture. (12:31) So it’s a changing landscape, but one that I think is really encouraging, not only for organizations, but for employees, because I think it levels the playing field a little bit.

(12:43) No, absolutely. I totally agree with you. And get to the next slide.

And then some of the benefits and what drives accountability in speak up culture. (12:56) Again, peer pressure and expectations. So I think that expectations, again, is something that can get delivered between policies and procedures and codes, right? Codes of conduct.

(13:09) And I would say the one important thing, too, when people are developing their codes of conduct and their policies and procedures to that extent, it’s really important that they are developed in layman’s terms, right? (13:23) So often code of conducts are written by a lawyer in legalese, which really doesn’t translate for the rest of us. (13:31) So I would say that’s a really important thing for driving accountability is ensuring that your employees know what you’re expecting of them. (13:39) When we talk about cultural norms, again, if you’re a multinational organization, you need to take into consideration the cultural nuances of perhaps some of your overseas offices.

(13:51) So we found within our client base that our Latin American clients, they are very much about speak up and they use the hotline a lot, whereby our Japanese clients are much more confidential and quiet. (14:07) And it’s harder for them to speak up, but it’s a cultural nuance that’s just different. (14:14) And we also find, again, through the demographics, there’s differences.

Older employees tend to like to use the hotline. Younger employees may use the web portal. (14:24) So all of those things kind of drive behavior and accountability.

(14:29) Certainly with manager expectations, as we talk a lot about with felt leadership. (14:35) So ensuring that your managers are trained on the corporate values, on the corporate expectations, and really try and bridge the barrier that can sometimes be between us and them. (14:50) And so it’s about managers getting out, walking on the floor, visiting the front lines, having quarterly check-ins, doing lunch and learn, talking about what your corporate values are, talking about the expectation and accessibility of the hotline or other reporting mechanisms.

(15:08) And then, again, with clients and HR staff and policies, I think one of the interesting points to that one is ensuring that if you’re large enough that you have an ethics and compliance department plus HR, is that everyone’s aligned and you’re comprehensively and holistically looking at whatever system you’ve got into place for speak up. (15:29) Because I think it’s unfortunate sometimes if HR is not talking to E&C and you have reports and allegations being managed just in one silo. (15:41) There could be other things going on in other departments that you really need to kind of have a cross-spectrum analysis of.

(15:48) So that’s a really important component in creating speak up. (15:53) I love that. (15:54) And I love that you mentioned about the code of conduct and how having it in more layman’s terms to have your vision, mission, and values is so important.

(16:03) And to celebrate people speaking up and not making it look like you’re, quote unquote, as we said earlier, snitching, right? (16:10) But actually, if you’re thinking like an owner, you want to protect your business. (16:15) So having that type of language in your code of conduct is so important to encourage that speak up culture. (16:23) I totally agree with that.

(16:25) And we also know that shareholders, partners, and employees are increasingly expecting an ethical business culture, right? (16:34) I mean, that’s why people leave companies if they feel it’s unethical. (16:39) I mentioned earlier that I’m a reformed news producer. (16:44) And I will tell you, when I started in the media, it was a very toxic environment.

(16:51) And I’m not saying that for every media outlet, but that was the standard, right? (16:55) So certain, I know you talked about cultural norms, but there’s also certain businesses where there’s that air of, oh, if you don’t want to do it, someone else will. (17:03) Oh, you have a problem? (17:04) You’re going to HR? (17:06) Okay, next. (17:07) That is so true.

(17:09) And I do. (17:10) I hope it’s changing. (17:11) I don’t know that, you know, there’s some industries that are still a little bit stuck in the 70s, I suppose, to that extent.

(17:17) But I do think it’s important as this becomes a best practice and is as something that’s just expected, that you will provide your employees. (17:27) Because to your point, if you’re in a toxic work environment and you decide, I can’t deal with this, but I don’t have any outlet to report or I don’t have anybody to engage, then you’re just going to leave. (17:38) And so what kind of brain trust are these organizations losing when they’re just not really addressing what their employees actually need? (17:48) Yes, which leads us right to the data that shows the company who outperformed their competitors, right? (17:53) Making sure you have that speak up culture.

(17:56) Yes, there’s a number of studies that show an alignment between speak up culture and even just the use of hotlines and better productivity and better profitability. (18:10) So there’s like there’s an actual, you know, there’s there’s data to support it. (18:15) So it’s this is where I go.

(18:16) It’s not a need to or it’s not a have to have. (18:19) It’s a need to have. (18:22) It’s just it’s an important component of your overall business management, governance and engagement.

(18:29) Absolutely. And we have some great comments in the chat, too. (18:32) Thank you all for being so active.

(18:35) I love what Katherine said that HR can advocate for culture shifts and change into infinity. (18:41) But this work and support starts with the leadership team. (18:45) Thank you very much.

(18:46) And yes, Jacqueline, the entertainment industry can be super challenging. (18:50) So hopefully things like this and creating a speak up culture is going to help with all industries. (18:56) Right.

Which leads us to the next slide. (18:59) I want to share our five steps to creating a speak up culture feedback loop. (19:05) Right.

So, OK, so a training and communication system, which is bidirectional and not a one way information flow. (19:12) So, again, super important. (19:14) And I think one of the things that we always say is when someone finally reports something and comes forward, (19:21) there needs to be immediate recognition and validation that the company has received the report.

(19:27) You need to say thank you. (19:28) You need to say we’re going to look at this. (19:30) You may not be able to share anything about the investigation with them due to privacy concerns.

(19:35) However, that validation lends credibility to the program and legitimacy. (19:40) And if it goes into a black hole where no one acknowledges that report, (19:47) then you’re doing more damage to the organization as opposed to actually using this as a tool for, again, engagement and productivity. (19:57) I agree with you more, Shannon, as well.

(20:00) And then I think just a little bit more about the whole bidirectional training program, which is so important because people think that everyone thinks like them. (20:07) Right. I mean, that’s our own unconscious biases from whoever.

(20:11) And it’s not right or wrong. That’s just how most of us. (20:13) And if you’ve grown up in a very cloistered community, most people do think like you.

(20:18) But then you go into a workforce where everyone’s bringing their own things. (20:21) So being able to see that bidirectional, that pulsing of questions, I think it’s just a powerful thing. (20:28) I know it really opened my eyes to some of my own biases that I’ve had in the workforce.

(20:33) Yeah, it’s interesting because it until it’s until you learn about it or until it’s called out, you don’t know. (20:40) It’s nothing that’s topical that you see right in front of you. (20:42) So I mean, they’ll have a bit of work to do on that side, I think.

(20:47) I do think the other things that are important on this slide, too, are like sharing employee questions, concerns and data with the workforce, (20:56) sharing sanitized versions of cases that have come in and the outcomes that have happened is very powerful. (21:02) People want to know, especially one person may report, but usually a few people know what’s going on. (21:11) And so if there can be acknowledgment that the report came in and that there was an outcome, someone was coached, a policy change happened, someone was terminated.

(21:23) That is very powerful in sending the message that Speak Up is true and that the leadership team, to Catherine’s point, (21:30) the leadership team is investing in it and is supporting it. (21:35) Because as Catherine’s point about HR can advocate all day long. (21:40) And if the CEO and the executive leadership team are not on board, then it’s going nowhere.

(21:47) Great. I mean, the leaders set the weather, they set the tone and people are going to. (21:52) And I know Simon Sinek says this all the time as leaders, your customers are your employees.

(21:57) Those are the ones that you have to serve and feel psychologically safe so they can have safe spaces to have the Speak Up culture. (22:05) And to your point, Shannon, living that right and making sure that they are exemplifying it. (22:10) Yeah.

Well, you know, someone I was at a conference a couple of weeks ago and someone said something that really resonated with me. (22:16) And it was in the mining business. And he said, you know, resources are not our business.

People are our business. (22:21) And I thought that was brilliant because, yeah, you know what, you’re digging for minerals and what have you. (22:27) But that doesn’t matter.

It’s the people that matter. (22:30) And so a Speak Up culture, I think, really respects the fact that your whole business is based on your employees. (22:37) And without them and without a positive, safe working environment, you don’t have productivity.

You don’t have a business. (22:45) I agree. And I love, you know, one, I know I love that.

I love that. It’s got the resources, the people. (22:51) But when you talk about give people the right terms and language to use for reporting, do you mean like, I guess, share a little bit more about that.

(22:59) Are there certain etiquettes or should you have a five point checklist like these things should happen before I call the hotline or what are some best practices around that? (23:09) So I think that goes back to a bit about having very clear policies and codes in place so that it’s very black and white about what’s to report. (23:19) So, again, sometimes you don’t want to muddle a Speak Up hotline with an employee’s relations hotline. (23:26) Because if I’m calling because I can’t find my W-8 or my uniform’s gone missing or I got short shifted last week, that’s not the type of stuff that we really want to take through a Speak Up hotline.

(23:38) So there needs to be education about where you go to report, where you go to ask questions, where you go for support. (23:45) And with the language, I think it’s important to, again, ensure that everything that you present is in layman’s terms and is easily understandable and very clear. (23:58) So let’s not use five syllable words to describe the reporting process.

Let’s be very clean and succinct. (24:05) And then also the nuances, again, around having multiple languages available. And we get down to that.

(24:11) We all work in multicultural environments right now. And especially if you’re upset, it’s much easier if you can default to your native language and report in that. (24:23) And so, again, here in Canada, we make sure that we live answer in English, French, and Spanish.

(24:30) Down in the U.S., we ensure that we live answer in English and Spanish. (24:34) And then we have interpretation partners so that we can handle any kind of foreign language or dialect to support those people when they finally reach out. (24:43) And that’s a powerful thing to make people really feel seen and heard, right? I mean, language, we take that for granted, but it’s so important to feel that.

(24:53) And right here, we just have an example of some of that bi-directional training and communications, the pulsing question, and then having that feedback right embedded with your code of conduct or any of your training. (25:05) That’s that powerful tool, right? Just being able to see how everyone in your organization answered as well as globally how the questions answered. (25:12) Yes.

And I think this is really important because I think that every time you receive a report, every time you work through the investigation and you have the various outcomes, (25:21) that should allow you to reconcile where you’re at with your policies and procedures and ensure that they’re actually getting the information across that you need to get across. (25:30) And that maybe they need to be fine-tuned or pivoted based on the work that’s coming through your reporting system or the types of allegations. (25:39) I think there’s a full life cycle of continuous improvement in this.

(25:44) I love that. I love how you call it a life cycle. We have to keep it because it’s a circle.

It’s ever forming and going. (25:52) Some just great tips for how you can create that speak up culture and unpack the great elements that make it powerful. (26:02) So this speaks specifically into ensuring that you’ve got the hotline set up properly.

(26:07) We always advocate for 24-7, 365 availability. You don’t want to have your hotline going to your lawyer’s desk and they are out for lunch when someone finally picks up the phone and wants to call. (26:20) It needs to be available.

And I think the other point to that is it’s much more helpful to have trained agents on the phone who know how to be empathetic, who know how to create a safe space, (26:30) who know how to ask the questions and calm the individual down as well, but get the information that you need for the investigation. (26:40) So that’s number one. Number two is publicizing the hotline, especially with us working remotely.

(26:47) You’ve got to figure out different ways that your staff at home know that the hotline is available, know where to find the hotline number, know that it’s available at all. (26:57) And I think even when we’re in the office, you know, you’ve got your poster in the lunchroom saying, oh, see something, say something. (27:03) But it becomes white noise, you know, once you’ve seen it once.

(27:07) So you need to take opportunities as much as possible to train, to educate, to share the sanitized spaces. (27:15) That’s always interesting, right? It’s kind of water cooler talk. Oh, did you see the latest report that they shared with us? (27:21) Because they’re always interested to know, oh, what crazy thing happened in the organization or what, you know, what unfortunate thing.

(27:28) But those are moments for education, they’re opportunities for education. (27:32) And then ensuring anonymity, super important. You always want people to identify.

(27:38) But again, you know, they’re putting themselves out there. It’s very scary. (27:42) And so sometimes perhaps they’ll be anonymous on the initial submission, but sometimes organizations can work with the reporters to eventually self-identify.

(27:54) But you’ve got to at least give them that first opportunity to report anonymously. (27:59) And then we always talk about omni-channel. So have a hotline, have an intake form on the web, have an email opportunity, even have text.

(28:07) You know, texting, email, there’s more opportunities from a technology point of view where it’s becoming more sophisticated. (28:15) And even with AI chatbots are coming into play. There’s still to be, you know, there’s work to be done on that side.

(28:22) But the more opportunities that you have for people to speak up with whatever method they’re most comfortable with is very important. (28:31) Agreed, agreed. That omni-channel is powerful.

(28:33) Yeah. And then again, you know, determining who receives the report. (28:37) So having a model whereby you know when a report comes in, how it gets triaged, who takes the lead on the investigation and what other investigators may be there to support them.

(28:51) It’s very important for consistency and for outcomes. (28:55) Again, it just allows everyone to know what’s going to happen once a report comes through. (29:02) And then again, we talked about the emerging laws.

That is very fluid. (29:07) Laws are always changing and you’ve got to kind of keep your eye on what the mandate is and what you’re required to do. (29:13) And then again, continuous improvement.

That’s the life cycle. You just have to keep improving, keep refining and keep reviewing, keep reconciling. (29:22) No, absolutely.

And I think, too, with the whole anonymity piece of it, when you have a third party handling your hotline, I think that creates more trust within employees, right? (29:35) Companies like Case IQ or any of the ones that offer it, I feel like because I personally have been in larger organizations where people are like, I’m not even going to call the hotline. (29:47) I’m going to go straight to my manager’s desk and I’m going to be fired. Right.

(29:52) So I do think which leads us to that careful appearance of retaliation. Right. And even with leadership.

(29:59) So let’s talk a little bit about that and how intimidating that is. Right. (30:03) Yes.

And I think it deters a lot of people from coming forward. (30:06) And it could be, you know, it could be a sense that I might get demoted. I might get fired.

I might get ostracized at work. (30:14) And all of that’s happened. And, you know, when you look at the most famous whistleblowers, I always use Sharon Watkins as one.

(30:21) You know, she was the original. She was the OG whistleblower. (30:25) She didn’t care about stitches.

She had to speak her speech. (30:29) You know, and she was fired and she was doing the right thing. I mean, it was just terrible.

(30:36) But the interesting stat, too, is that retaliation is supposedly the number one form of discrimination reported in the U.S. right now. (30:44) And so it’s a real thing. And it’s something, again, when we talk about tone at the top, when we talk about creating policies and procedures, (30:53) this type of language, anti-retaliation language has to be embedded in everything.

(30:59) And it’s just so foundational to having a productive, collaborative, speak up culture. (31:09) If you have any sense of retaliation or ostracism, it’s going to deter that culture. (31:16) Yes, no, that is powerful.

And we actually have a great question in the chat from Catherine. (31:21) And she asks, what do you recommend if an employee has already flagged retaliation for voicing a complaint? (31:27) And even if the offender is no longer with the company, but just that cultural norm. (31:33) What are some of your recommendations? (31:34) Well, I mean, I think, I mean, I guess it’s a little bit hard to conduct an investigation if the offender is no longer with the company.

(31:41) But I would say I would ensure that you acknowledge the employee’s report and work with them to ensure that they feel safe and there’s no further retaliation against them. (31:55) And I would, I would flag perhaps if there’s opportunities for anti-retaliation training, (32:02) or if there’s opportunities to refine your codes and your policies around that and demonstrate to this particular employee that you hear them (32:12) and that there is work being done around expanding on anti-retaliation protocols within the organization. (32:19) It’s a good place to start.

(32:21) Yes, no, that’s great. And Catherine, thanks for that question. (32:26) And as we wrap up this session and continue to put your questions on the chat, (32:32) we also want to know just what is the true ROI, return on investment of creating that speak up culture? (32:39) What would you say are the strongest things? (32:42) This, I mean, this is a case study from one of our clients that was shared publicly, (32:46) so which is why we can share it because a lot of times organizations won’t share the results of their speak up lines publicly.

(32:52) But the municipality in particular implemented a hotline and received 107 complaints in the first year. (32:58) And they ranged from petty theft, incompetence, waste, conflicts of interest and significant fraud. (33:05) And I think the reason they implemented the hotline in the first place is because they hadn’t covered fraud already.

(33:11) And thought, OK, well, what is the breadth of this situation? (33:18) And you can see here that the complaints resulted in, I believe that first year there’s eight terminations, (33:24) early resignations, retirements and continuous improvement to the process. (33:29) But the city auditor also confirmed that there was $700,000 for that year alone in losses. (33:35) That’s a pretty significant amount.

(33:38) It’s taxpayers money. (33:40) So, you know, their ROI was immediately seen. (33:46) And I think they’re in year five of this program right now and continue to have a highly active hotline (33:53) and continue to recover funds and eliminate fraud and waste within their organization.

(33:58) So it’s a great, great, great. It’s a great case study. (34:03) And then finally, the other company, this was a great one, and it was a very, very fast.

(34:09) They had an employee who was leaking confidential information about their largest client. (34:16) And the client was very upset. (34:20) So the CEO called us and we set up the hotline and the case management over the course of a weekend.

(34:25) And he brought in employer employment lawyers. (34:29) And there was a town hall on the Monday whereby he had screens of everybody in North America up in their little remote offices and said, (34:39) we need to we need to know what’s going on. (34:41) We put whistleblower into place.

We need to speak up. (34:44) And within 48 hours, the hotline received multiple reports. (34:47) People knew who the perpetrator was.

(34:49) I thanked the CEO through our system to say, thank you for putting this in. (34:55) Now we know you really wanted to hear what was going on. (34:57) So it was a very powerful moment.

(35:00) Yes, it gave me goosebumps. (35:02) Yeah, no, it was it was powerful. (35:04) And it’s just the fact that the resolution came so quickly.

(35:08) Yes. And people respect that. (35:10) And I think it goes back to what you said.

(35:12) It’s not about resources. It’s about people. (35:14) And that bottoms up mentality is so powerful.

(35:18) And really and truly the long the long game is, to your point, the ROI, right? (35:25) Yes, the money part is important, but ROI is not just financial. (35:30) It’s well, I guess financial because attrition. (35:32) If you’re really making them psychologically safe, they’re going to stay.

(35:35) You’ll have longevity with your employees. (35:37) And then the best referral sources for recruitment are internal employees. (35:42) And if I love working here and I feel like I am seeing her perspective psychologically safe, (35:48) I’m hanging on with my friends, family.

(35:50) And then it just is your solid, right? (35:52) So, yes, exactly. (35:54) It is that full it is that full life cycle. (35:57) And it just continues to get better.

(35:59) So the more that you can empower your employees, the more powerful you are. (36:03) Absolutely. Now, we’ve had some great interaction in the chat.

(36:07) Thank you all. I know we have 80 plus people on here. (36:10) If you have any questions, this is your time.

(36:13) Shannon is truly, truly phenomenal in this space. (36:16) You are such a disruptor and just your story is so inspirational. (36:21) Well, you said you saw that opportunity.

(36:23) And from that opportunity has grown this incredible industry that empowers and truly gives a service. (36:30) While we’re giving people a moment to put some questions in the chat, (36:33) tell us a little bit about what you see in the near future of how this culture is going to be shifting. (36:41) Are there things with technology that are changing things? (36:44) Any future notes for everyone? (36:46) Well, I do think, you know, modes of intake are expanding.

(36:50) So as technology, you know, keeps coming into play. (36:54) And with artificial intelligence, that’ll be interesting to see how it supports speak up. (36:59) And currently we’re investigating a couple of different instances of using AI to support the speak up intake modality.

(37:09) And we’re also looking at other modes of communication to take in reports. (37:14) Because again, it’s changing globally. (37:18) You know, there’s some technologies that are used more in Europe and more in Asia.

(37:22) And so you’ve got to kind of keep abreast of that. (37:25) But I would say that you still see the trend of increasing regulatory requirements around hotlines, (37:31) around reporting, around protection of personal data. (37:35) And so that I think will continue to expand the opportunities for speak up cultures and hotlines to support our employees.

(37:43) Wow. No, that’s, I love that modes of intake and AI. (37:48) I always say if a chat GPT was a person, I would be inviting them to my holiday party.

(37:56) We do have one question in the chat from Sophia. (37:59) Thank you for your question. (38:01) The remediation of the situations that you then share out to the org.

(38:05) What’s the best form to leverage these, the remediations that you share out? (38:10) The remediation? Oh, well, sanitized for sure. (38:15) That’s the first one. (38:16) When you say that, I just think of Purell, Purelling all of that.

(38:21) I read, you know, again, you want to protect people’s confidentiality. (38:25) And I will share a couple of stories. (38:27) So I know one client has a newsletter that goes out monthly.

(38:33) And at the very back on the back page of the newsletter, it used to be a hard copy. (38:37) But now they’re using this technology. (38:39) And now it’s like digital delivery.

(38:41) But on the back page, they have a case report. (38:45) So they will say, here’s the case. (38:47) Here’s what the investigation proved.

(38:49) And here is the outcome. (38:50) So again, complete, no one, no one’s names, no locations, nothing like that. (38:55) But it is a, it becomes kind of a fun fact for people in the organization to go.

(39:02) Oh, did you read that one? How crazy is that? (39:04) And so that’s one way. (39:06) You can also use cases in Lunch and Learns. (39:11) So you can say, here’s a case that came.

(39:13) Here’s what happened. (39:14) And what would you do differently? (39:16) You know, and when would you have reported? (39:18) You know, so you use them as opportunities to say, you know, (39:21) that someone should have spoke up sooner or what have you. (39:24) And then also at town halls, like in regular town halls, (39:28) it’s really good to even just say, last quarter, we got 30 calls.

(39:31) Five were substantiated, three are under investigation, et cetera. (39:35) So share those stats. (39:37) You want people to know that the system is being used (39:40) and that there are hard outcomes happening based on the reports.

(39:45) Those are fantastic solutions, Shannon. (39:47) I love that. (39:48) Jennifer, thanks for your comment.

(39:50) She just said, hey, it’s harder in small organizations (39:52) where people can kind of figure out. (39:54) Do you have any tips for those smaller organizations, (39:56) how they can navigate those difficulties? (39:58) Yeah, you know, that’s always, that is always the hardest one. (40:02) And I think for smaller organizations, it’s almost, (40:07) it’s almost like you can’t share sanitized cases (40:10) because it’s, you know, if there’s 10 of you in an office, (40:13) it’s very difficult.

(40:15) And even if it was not a termination, but a coaching opportunity, (40:19) perhaps, yes, to Jennifer, the stats is a good place to start. (40:24) And you can say based on a report, you know, (40:26) here’s a policy change that we’ve just done. (40:29) So to help sort of align the reporting (40:33) with the changes in the organization is always good.

(40:36) I love that. I love that. (40:38) Well, Shannon, I tell you, this has been such a powerful talk.

(40:43) And who knew Speak Up is truly a culture, right? (40:46) And I love how we started out, people worry about being a snitch. (40:49) And it’s not that. (40:50) It’s truly an environment of thinking like an owner, (40:53) making sure having that bi-directional type of feedback (40:56) that’s really incredible.

(40:58) For everyone in the chat, thank you so much for being with us. (41:01) Please connect with Shannon on LinkedIn. (41:04) We have all of our speaker bios in our main stage.

(41:09) Next, coming up next. (41:10) And Shannon, did you, oh, before we close, (41:11) do you have any like last minute closing quotes or things? (41:15) We already have that wonderful vitamin song from you. (41:19) So.

(41:21) No, I just said thanks for the opportunity (41:23) to talk with you today, Leesa. (41:25) And again, if anyone has any questions, please reach out. (41:28) We’re happy to assist.

(41:29) So have a great rest of the day (41:32) at the People Leader Conference. (41:34) Yes. And if you missed Shannon’s, one of her vitamin songs, (41:36) it was Times Like These, the BBC version (41:38) where everyone was at COVID and recorded the song at Zoom.

(41:42) So it was phenomenal. (41:43) And coming up next on this main stage, (41:46) come right back, go get a sip of water, maybe a snack (41:48) and join us for an invigorating conversations (41:51) about DEI strategies for 2025. (41:54) And I think this speak up culture, (41:56) it flows right into it, right? (41:58) You should be able to speak up about all types of things.

(42:00) And DEI is one of the most foundational parts (42:04) of any organization, I feel like. (42:06) So definitely join us. (42:07) And also EMTRAIN’s Culture Report is out.

(42:10) Be the first to take it back to your leadership. (42:13) Scan in. (42:14) I learned this for everyone out there.

(42:15) If you’re on your mobile device and you can’t scan, (42:18) you do a screenshot, save it in your photos, (42:21) then click on the barcode and then the link will appear. (42:25) So that’s how you scan. (42:26) If you are on your mobile device.

(42:28) If not, scan it, get the Culture Report, (42:30) be one of the first. (42:31) It’s hot off the press. (42:32) I mean, your phone may melt because it’s that hot.

(42:36) Shannon, thank you again. (42:38) You are phenomenal. (42:39) It’s been such a delight.

(42:41) And check out Case IQ, follow their page as well. (42:44) They have so many great resources. (42:45) I’ve been to a few of your webinars too (42:47) and just helpful, right? (42:49) Especially all of our people leaders that are in the chat.

(42:52) This is how you network and grow your business. (42:55) So again, thank you, everyone. (42:57) We’ll see you in about six minutes in our next session.

(43:02) Thanks, Leesa. (43:03) Bye-bye.