Whistleblower Well-Being: What Are the Roles and Responsibilities of HR?

While whistleblowing has often been a matter for the compliance and legal teams, the shift toward “softer” issues closely connected to people and culture signals whistleblowing also relates to activities falling under HRM’s remit. The importance of HR in dealing with whistleblowing has been acknowledged by the European Parliament that asserts whistleblowing is related to three dimensions of management (quality, risk, and human resource management). We focus on whistleblowing related to human resource management (HRM) and emphasize the topic of people and culture. Highlighting HRM aspects of whistleblowing, we put the spotlight on whistleblower well-being and the ways in which organizations can support this to ensure reporting of work environmental issues and promote sustainable workplaces. We begin with an overview of the ramifications of whistleblowing for society, organizations, and individuals’ well-being. We then discuss the concept of speaking-up cultures and the role of HRM, and the potential merit inherent in connecting employees’ willingness to blow the whistle to the psychosocial work environment. Finally, we discuss implications for sustainable workplaces relative to the future of work before concluding by providing our recommendations.