Instead of casting it off as an aberration or keeping it to oneself, unusual happenings at work are being reported with more regularity than they have in the recent past by employees, based on the results of a new study.
According to the survey, which was performed by the HR compliance firm Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics, workers are more likely to bring up a concern with their employer by reporting it directly to management or superiors.
Roy Snell, CEO of the Health Care Compliance Association, which helped fund the analysis, noted that this is positive news for business owners.
"The data here is very good for the compliance profession and business as a whole," said Snell. "It shows that more employees are willing to come forward when they see something wrong at work, and more are willing to trust that they will be listened to objectively."
He added that in the vast majority of instances, employees are willing to give their employer the benefit of the doubt. In other words, when they report something, they're trusting that the company will get to the bottom of whatever the issue happens to be.
As for the way in which employees made their employer aware of potential problems, workers were the most comfortable with face-to-face communication, though there was an increase in all means of incident reporting.
Workers being more at ease with their employers may have something to do with improved communication strategies implemented by companies. In order to improve workplace productivity, many organizations implement wellness programs that enable people to stay in good shape both physically and mentally. For example, workers often receive training or guidance on how to effectively maintain a good work-life balance.
