When misconduct goes unreported, it doesn’t disappear. It spreads quietly, shaping culture and eroding trust. The real damage isn’t just the incident itself, but what happens when people stop believing that speaking up will make a difference.
Silence is expensive
Every organisation knows that misconduct, whether it’s bullying, harassment, or ethical breaches, carries a cost. But the hidden cost comes from what you don’t see. When employees keep quiet, leaders lose visibility of what’s really happening. Small issues go unchecked until they become legal, reputational, or cultural crises.
Teams that don’t feel safe reporting issues are more likely to disengage, turnover rises, and productivity drops. Over time, silence becomes normalised, and that normalisation is what corrodes culture from the inside out.
Why people don’t speak up
Most employees don’t stay silent because they don’t care. They stay silent because they don’t trust the process. They worry nothing will change, or worse, that they’ll face backlash.
If your people believe reporting is risky or pointless, they’ll opt for self-protection over transparency, and that’s a rational choice in an unsafe system.
What leaders can do differently
Leaders set the tone for whether reporting feels safe or futile. It starts with consistent follow-through. When someone raises an issue, how it’s handled becomes a signal to everyone watching.
To build a culture of reporting:
- Make it safe. Psychological safety isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a leadership responsibility. Ensure people can report without fear of reprisal.
- Make it clear. Be transparent about what happens after a report is made. Uncertainty breeds mistrust.
- Make it visible. Share examples (confidentially) of how reports led to change. It shows the system works.
- Make it consistent. Apply standards evenly, regardless of rank or relationships. Integrity isn’t situational.
Reporting is culture in action
An organisation’s reporting culture reflects its leadership culture. When people see that speaking up leads to action, not punishment, they’re more likely to do it. And when issues are surfaced early, they can be fixed before they fester.
Under-reporting isn’t a compliance problem, it’s a trust problem.
And trust, once lost, costs far more than any investigation ever will.