3 Areas to Consider When Someone Speaks Up To You
1. Recognition and validation of the courage to speak up:
- It is a big step for individuals to come to you raising a concern. It takes both courage from the individual and demonstrates their trust in you. You could thank them for choosing to share and for trusting you with this, reassure them that you know they must have thought long and hard before coming forward and that you are here to listen and agree what happens next with them.
- In most cases, individuals who raise a concern believe there are grounds for their concern. It has taken a lot of courage for them to raise the concern/s and it is important not to dismiss this, even if your view may differ.
- Validation of someone’s concerns does not mean that you necessarily agree with them; it simply means you understand the impact their view and experience has had on them.
2. Non-judgmentally and actively listening the concerns raised:
- Active listening means demonstrating you are hearing and understanding what you are being told. This can be achieved by using skills such as reflecting and summarising; and being present – a private space without interruptions and distractions would be beneficial. You can find out more about active listening here (link to be inserted here).
- Be open to the concerns. Whilst concerns can sometimes feel personal or suggest that you are being criticised, it is often the case that it is organisational elements which need to be considered.
- Take it as an opportunity to learn and develop your team/service; even if it was not the service’s or team’s or an individual’s intention to cause concern, it is important to recognise the impact on individuals.
- Be aware that you may have a different perspective and different lived experiences from the individual raising the concern, but don’t dismiss them because you don’t agree with their perspective. Think about how to see it from their point of view.
- Be aware of your own positions of power and privilege in the conversation, and how can you ensure these power and privilege dynamics are minimised to enable the person to feel comfortable speaking up you.
3. Action taken as a result of speaking up:
- Once someone has spoken up, it is important to ensure both they and anyone impacted by the concern are aware of, and have access to, support. (Insert each organisation’s support processes here.)
- The concern may be highly emotional or challenging, so it’s important to recognise that we often benefit from taking a pause before acting unless there is immediate risk.
- As a manager, you may not have all the answers. Nor do you always have the power to make the changes that the person who raises the concerns wishes to see.
- Agree how often and by what means you will keep the person informed of the process and of the steps taken from the point of them discussing their concerns with you.
- It is important that you implement what elements you can and, as a minimum, implement everything that you say you will do. This is vital in maintaining trust.
- For those elements on which you cannot have an impact, it is suggested these are escalated through appropriate channels.
- Whatever happens, it is hugely important this is fed back to the individual who has spoken up. It is important that individuals don’t feel that they haven’t been heard or their concerns haven’t been taken seriously; this is just as vital for our services, so that others can feel confident to speak up, as it is for the individual who has done so to you.
Remember most people in public service do so as they have a shared goal - to ensure the experiences of patients and staff are improved and are the best they can be. Starting conversations from this shared perspective will always be helpful.
The Process
The above outlines how you should approach conversation, but there are important steps you must take as a manager. These are outlined in the attached line manager process. Managers must:
- Listen to the concern that is being raised. If the concern is related to the abuse of children or adults with vulnerabilities, the Safeguarding Wales Processes should be followed.
- Once the concern has been raised, consider how the person want it dealt with. If you need to involve anybody else in the process, do so at this point. Or deal with it yourself if possible.
- Once it has been raised, it is important you communicate regularly with the individual to inform them of the outcome or action you have taken as a result of the concern being raised. You should also consider how you will share any learning about the concern more widely.
- If the issue is not within your ability to be managed, this should be clearly communicated with the individual.
- Once the outcome of the concern has been discussed with the individual, they should be informed of the other ways available to them to raise the concern if they are not satisfied with the outcome, as per the Line Managers Process.
- If the concern raised results in a conversation with an individual about performance/conduct or other procedures such as disciplinaries, the outcome of these won’t routinely be disclosed to the person who raised the concern. However, as much information as possible should be disclosed to the individual who raised the concern.
Other ways to raise concerns:
- Informal intervention (NHS Wales, Respect and Resolution Policy)
- Raise with relevant individual in the organisation (e.g., independent member, non-executive lead/ speaking up safely lead): The Independent Member / Non-Executive Director Champion for Speaking Up Safely is a senior, independent lead role specific to organisations with boards. They should be accessible to staff to provide support and guidance on how to and where to go to for advice and representation in Speaking Up Safely issues (with a clear delineation of roles). Independent members will not advocate, advise or represent employees in speaking up safely concerns. They should also hold the Board and the Executive Team to account in the delivery of a Speaking Up Safely culture and ensure investigations are conducted with rigour and can help to escalate issues when needed.
- Trade Union Rep: Trade Union reps play a vital role in helping staff Speak Up Safely. They will advocate, advise, support and represent staff members where needed. Staff members should contact local representative for advice and guidance on speaking up.
- Human Resources: Human resources will be able to guide an individual in how to raise a concern and guide managers on how to deal with concerns raised. If approached by a member of staff their role and their intended actions, which may include speaking directly with the manager, should be made clear to the individual.
- If all avenues have been explored, the staff member can use the NHS Wales Procedure for staff to Raise Concerns and can If an individual needs further advice on Protected Disclosures or Whistleblowing they can contact the charity Protect on 02031172520 or by email at whistle@protect-advice.org.uk
Speaking Up Safely Process: Line Managers Process
Click on the highlighted parts of the diagram for more information.
Accessible version of the process 
The aim is to foster a culture where concerns are openly raised, are dealt with promptly and appropriately and escalated appropriately if required. There are specific legal requirements on organisations should the concerns be considered as Whistleblowing or a Protected Disclosure. More information on whistleblowing is available in the FAQ’s in toolkit 2 and you can find more information in the All Wales Procedure for NHS Staff to Raise Concerns .
A protected disclosure is defined in law by the Employment Rights Act (ERA) 1996. For a concern to be classed as a protected disclosure it needs to meet certain requirements under the ERA (1996) and tends to show one or more of the following:
- That a criminal offence has been committed, is being committed or is likely to be committed
- That a person has failed, is failing or is likely to fail to comply with any legal obligation to which they are subject
- That a miscarriage of justice has occurred, is occurring or is likely to occur
- That the health or safety of any individual has been, is being or is likely to be endangered
- That the environment has been, is being or is likely to be damaged, or
- That information tending to show any matter falling within any one of the above has been, is being or is likely to be deliberately concealed
If you suspect the concern the member has raised potentially meets these requirements, you should discuss with the local Workforce and OD department for further advice and guidance.
