Have you ever been in a heavily attended, consequential meeting where it’s clear that people have questions, but nobody is willing to ask them? 

When the presenter gets to the end, they ask if there are any questions, and an uncomfortable feeling permeates the room.  “Surely,” thinks the presenter, “someone has a question.”  So they continue to wait, and the pregnant pause drags on for what seems like an eternity. 

Finally, with a hint of surprise and disappointment, the presenter says, “OK, well thanks!”  The tension in the room falls – but only slightly – and the presenter leaves, wondering what questions people had that were so pointed that people were afraid to ask them.

Does this describe your internal tip line?

If so, it’s probably not because there aren’t issues that need to be addressed at your company.  We’ve covered the fact that 38% of women experience sexual harassment at work.  Gallup has also pointed out that half of all people who leave a job do so because of their boss.  So why aren’t employees reporting the issues that they’re almost certainly experiencing?

Here are a few possible reasons – and how you can address them.

• Your employees don’t know enough about your complaint hotline, even though you’ve told them four times. That might be because they’re deleting your email or ignoring your poster.  Here’s how to get them to read what you write.
• They don’t trust you to protect them. And for good reason, too – nearly 3/4 of employees who report bad behavior say they experience retaliation for it.  If you suspect this is a problem at your company, here are some things you can do to earn their trust.
• They assume someone else will report the wrongdoing. This is especially true if they saw bad behavior that harmed another employee, and assume that employee can take care of themselves.  In fact, this employee may not react rationally due to the trauma caused by the behavior.  Here’s more information on the Organizational Bystander effect and what you can do to overcome it.

To learn how CMTS:HR can help your company overcome these challenges, call us at 855-636-5361 or email us at Team_CMTSHR@CMTSHR.com.