Ready or not, here’s how to find the speak-up data you don’t own

A huge amount of meaningful speak-up data lives outside of the helpline and your team's direct line of sight.

Here’s what I mean:

🕵️‍♀️ Managers often address employee concerns that E&C should hear about, but the issue gets resolved (yay!) or buried (boo!) and never makes it to your team.

📂 Your partners in Employee Relations are sitting on a treasure trove of information that could help you spot cultural patterns and systemic issues.

🧩 Legal and Audit also have their own intake channels, gathering data that could be a crucial piece of the puzzle.

When you combine this scattered information with your own helpline data, you get a much clearer, more holistic picture of your organization's health. The problem is, all these insightful conversations are happening in silos across the org: HR, Legal, Audit, Privacy, IT, Ombuds, and other functions.

That leaves you with a major blocker: “How am I supposed to get my hands on data I don't even own?” It’s a classic compliance Catch-22. You need to prove the value of a centralized system to get your partners to share their data... but you kinda need their data to prove the value in the first place. 

This probably feels a little too familiar. 
Source: Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda via Giphy.com

Start small and build up

Here are 3 steps; feel free to skip ahead depending on your org’s current level of centralization and the reach of your compliance program.

1. Start simple by scheduling quarterly pulse-check meetings. ☕️This is an easy way to get the ball rolling. Sit down with leaders from HR, Legal, and other key teams you identified and ask them:
   • What topics are you getting the most questions about?
   • What are you hearing from managers?
     
     These aren't "audits"—they're coffee chats.  Simply by listening, you gain far more value than any spreadsheet. You’re building the collaborative muscle and laying the groundwork for considerable ROI.
2. Build momentum by setting up quarterly data requests. 📊 Once you have a communication rhythm, this next step keeps things moving by adding some structure.
   
   First, create a simple form or spreadsheet with placeholders for the key speak-up metrics you need. Just remember to keep the number of data points reasonable so that it’s not a huge burden for your partners in other departments, but it’s enough to capture what you need for meaningful analysis, like:
   • What type of issue was it (e.g., bullying/harassment, policy clarifications, confidentiality breaches)?
   • How was it received (directly from an employee, a manager inquiry, referral from another department, routine monitoring, etc.)?
   • Was it substantive? (In other words, was it a potential policy violation with enough detail to investigate, or was it a minor grievance or too vague to act on?)
   • What was the resolution? You can build and refine this over time.
   Pro tip: Include some examples for each data point to help them quickly know what information you need and the format. This is where drop-down menus shine to keep everything consistent and tidy so you can merge all the data later!
   
   Now that the collection tool is ready to rock-n-roll, it’s time to ask your contacts to fill it out each month or quarter. Just remember to make clear what you consider “a substantive employee concern” and that there’s no need to add anything that was handed off to your team.
   
   
3. Work toward your end goal of creating a single source of truth using your case management system. 🏆 This is the gold standard: It’s a holistic view of all reported concerns, not just those that come directly to E&C, but the stuff that’s shared directly with key contacts in other departments. Reaching this goal involves training these folks to log the concerns they receive (and sometimes handle) into your system as "proxy reports." This gives you visibility into what's flowing through the entire organization, even when you’re not the one handling it.
   
   Of course, this is a big ask. It requires getting buy-in from leadership and your partner functions, providing some basic training on how to use the system, and sending routine nudges to make sure the information is being logged consistently. But the payoff—a true, comprehensive view of your speak-up culture—is massive.
   
   My Own Experience With Step 3
   
   When I set up something like this at my previous org, I created a resource page with step-by-step illustrated directions, a printable job aid, a few short videos, and even an FAQ section. I also hosted several live trainings where folks could enter fake reports and get familiar with our case management system, and we could work out any kinks in real time. And lastly, I offered to literally stand behind them and walk them through the process for their first real report.
   
   Because our partners felt totally supported during this rollout phase, we reduced friction immensely. And bonus, once leaders started seeing the results of this effort, we quickly had buy-in and encouragement at every level.

 
You'll want this for the road ahead.
Source: Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda via Giphy.com

Your 6-Month Rollout Plan

Of course, launching an initiative to centralize reporting takes planning. Here’s a sample road map to get you started once you’ve reached step 2:

These steps aren't just about gathering more data, they're about building bridges with your key partners and fundamentally shifting your program from reactive to proactive. It takes time, but creating a single, central, and holistic view of your organization's speak-up culture is one of the most powerful ways to build trust and spot risks before they become headlines. It's the *real* work that matters.