Find a listening ear
26 October 2023
When you’ve got something to say, you want to be heard.
It’s not always easy to find a listening ear. If you’re speaking up and your concerns aren’t getting through, it can be frustrating, and worrying if there could be consequences.
There are many reasons why someone might not listen actively. Not just personality clashes or seeing things differently – although these can mean someone doesn’t want to hear you – but also the situation. Line managers or supervisors could be stressed, overworked, too tired to listen, or even not fully understand the issue you’re raising. It’s not ideal, but could be reality.
That’s why companies offer a range of reporting channels. Many are within the company itself, but CIRAS confidential reporting is not. It is available to you but independent from these.
Because CIRAS is independent, you can either use it to be heard by your employer – or to get your concerns heard by other companies, such as a contractor or client.
We’ll pass your concern to whichever company it’s for. You don’t have to report it internally first. Remember that where there is an immediate risk, company channels must be used to get a timely response.
When you use CIRAS, you’ll speak to one of our reporting analysts. They will take time to listen to what you have to say and then write up a report for the company – without sharing any details about you. Your identity remains confidential.
The company will then make sure the right person investigates and acts on the report, and you can be confident that the focus will stay on the issue itself, not who reported it.
How do we listen? We pay attention.
One of our reporting analysts will arrange a suitable time to call you and discuss your concern fully, so they can write it up accurately in their report. They are professional listeners, and will ask you questions to fully understand your concern. It’s not just to check that we can protect your confidentiality, but also to make sure the report includes all the potential safety or wellbeing consequences if the concern isn’t addressed.
There is a difference between really listening to understand like this (active listening) and listening out for something you want to hear or to work out what you’ll say next (passive listening). If you listen passively, you don’t really hear what’s being said, and you might interpret things in a way that fits what you expect to hear or with an agenda.
Our trained listeners have no agenda. Their only aim is making sure information that could help with safety and wellbeing is shared effectively, so that issues can be resolved.
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Who does our confidentiality protect?
Tags
- Confidential reporting