Just over a third of HR teams receive whistleblowing training, despite being central to handling misconduct and wrongdoing in the workplace, according to new research from Safecall.
The study found that fewer than one in three or 31% line managers are trained even though they are often the first point of contact for employees raising concerns.
It found that training levels are similarly low across other groups, with 31% of customer-facing staff and 30% of leadership teams receiving any form of instruction. Across the wider workforce, 23% of all staff are trained, along with 21% of C-suite executives. Around 6% of organisations train only new hires while 1% either lack a formal whistleblowing process or have one but offer no training.
Meanwhile, online learning dominates how organisations deliver training, with 53% using compulsory online courses and 52% running in-person or virtual workshops. Four in ten or 40% offer voluntary online learning, highlighting a gap in face-to-face or ongoing support. Just 37% include whistleblowing training in onboarding, 35% offer specific sessions for line managers, and only 18% provide annual refreshers while 2% of employers offer no training at all.
Furthermore, responsibility for delivering training most often lies with HR and learning and development teams or 45%, followed by third-party virtual providers (36%) and in-person trainers (33%). A third (33%) use in-house online materials, while 30% of line managers deliver sessions themselves.
But most employers are monitoring how well their programmes work with almost all (97%) measuring training effectiveness in some way, with 48% use online quizzes or employee surveys, 47 per cent run practical scenarios and 45% carry out verbal check-ins. Only 3% do not evaluate their training outcomes.
Safecall managing director Joanna Lewis says: “Having whistleblowing policies in place is only part of the puzzle; successful reporting and support relies on having a workforce who are adequately trained and comfortable dealing with incidents and knowing the correct course of action.
“Training is a vital part of combating wrongdoing and malpractice which should not be overlooked by any business. Having colleagues who have the right training in place instills a sense of confidence across an organisation, and contributes to a more inclusive, safer working environment where employees feel empowered to speak up.”
