Fritt Ord director Knut Olav Åmås tells news that Norway has a problem with the culture of expression. He is absolutely right about that. He sees that leaders only take their words out of their mouths after they have left. Åmås finds it “sad”. Sad? Hopefully it just came out wrong. Because the problem Åmås points to does not only apply to managers, and “sad” is far from the right word. When managers refuse, what is it like for an ordinary worker? And it’s not just our own opinions that we keep closer to our chest. We are more and more reluctant to notify as well. And the consequences of that are not sad – they are catastrophic. “Could have been prevented” If you are to be able to report errors and irregularities, you must be heard. “Could have been averted” was the headline on several online newspapers when the report on PST’s handling of the Pride shooting was published. The same was said after the 22 July terror, the attack on al-Noor Mosque and after the Kongsberg murders. “Could have been averted” has also made headlines in connection with the quick clay landslide in Gjerdrum, warnings in hospitals, nursing homes, child protection and when it comes to mental health. In the case of serious incidents, it very often turns out that people have known about critical errors before they have gone wrong. That is why it is so important to have good notification routines, and people who listen and act when notifications are received. We warn less SAYFR maps and develops organizational cultures in companies. The aim is for the companies to improve on interaction and security. Having a culture that makes it easy to speak up if you are harassed, discover mistakes or are concerned about something is the alpha and omega of a good company. But surveys we have carried out of many Norwegian companies unfortunately show the opposite. We are more and more reluctant to notify. Misunderstood loyalty There can be many explanations for the disturbing trend. In Norway, we often have flat hierarchies. It gives easy access to top managers, but also a greater loyalty and understanding of how damaging whistleblowing can be for the reputation of the company and for the management. We have a high level of trust that can actually also prevent people from speaking up, because they think it will work out. Trust and closeness can lead to a loyalty conflict that causes employees not to report. But the worst thing is that many people have experienced that it is no use reporting errors and shortcomings. Nothing happens. It was also revealed in the report to the committee that looked at the notification systems for the Norwegian Health Inspectorate and the Norwegian Commission of Inquiry for the Health and Care Service. Child protection is also struggling with its credibility after we learned earlier this year that thousands of messages from child protection never reached the recipient. There are probably also many people who are reluctant to report for fear of being perceived as a source of trouble, or a source of gossip. Like in youth environments where there is a fine line between speaking up and “snitching”, keeping quiet. The fact that there is uncertainty as to whether one can remain anonymous and that the information is treated confidentially does not help the situation either. It is easy to look the other way, and take comfort in the fact that “this will probably go well”. The consequence is under-reporting When you feel that reporting does not help or poses too great a personal risk, you are likely to keep your concerns to yourself. It is a natural consequence of not being taken seriously, not being listened to, believed in or if one is afraid of reprisals afterwards. #MeToo and sexual assault in general are good examples in this respect. According to Statistics Norway, almost 7,400 sexual offenses were reported in Norway in 2022, but everyone agrees that the dark figures here are huge. And it’s not so strange. Because if rape victims do not feel that they are listened to, believed in or if, in the worst case, they fear incitement or exclusion, it is completely understandable that they do not report, or speak out in some other way. Another lesson from #MeToo is that many managers, both in politics and in the workplace, do not know how to handle such notifications in a good way. Speak up! Or tell them that it is difficult to tell them. Personally, I like the headline “Was averted” much better than “Could have been averted”. It doesn’t happen by itself. It is far too easy to believe that upbringing and self-interest alone should make us feel obliged to report. Not infrequently, it is those who have the most to lose by reporting, who see and know most of the dark side. There may be new employees with an uncertain job future, managers or employees who have friends or acquaintances who are involved. Some may even have been involved in the problems that should be reported. There is no simple solution to this. But simple and good notification routines are a must. The system itself must be stress tested in function and the way sensitive alerts are handled. The problem that more Norwegians are reluctant to report must receive greater attention and managers must create safer spaces in the workplace. We must value and protect those who report and bring out the examples that reporting helps. In other words, we must create a culture that makes it easy to speak up. And there must be people who listen and who can act. We must do this as fellow human beings, colleagues and managers. We don’t need bosses who only manage the company’s position, but leaders who seek change, improvement and embrace those who speak out. Only then can we live and work well together.
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Not sad, but disastrous – Statement
