GUEST COMMENT: Make your next recruit a supergrass

Whistle-blowing has been high in the headlines recently with the national media disclosure of what really happened in the run up to the Lehman Brothers collapse.

But let's face it, it's not a pretty word, and whilst in some films whistle-blowers are portrayed as almost heroes, I would say they're not people we generally admire.

The very word conjures up images of betrayal, of someone disloyal, willing to grass up the team. Who would recruit anyone like this? Who would be someone like this?

Well, in truth, everyone should, especially those of us recruiting for financial departments or the financial services sector.

Because far from being a snitch, the whistle-blower is in effect a way of managing risk - both operational and human capital risk.

However, it is ingrained in people from a very early age through peer pressure in the school yard and beyond that grassing up people you know is bad.

There is a psychological bystander effect - we're all waiting for someone else to call out the stuff that's wrong, no one wants to stand out from the crowd and say it for themselves.

We still buy into the hierarchy of company structure. Despite our frequent criticism of 'management' there is still a belief that 'the brass' supposedly knows what they are doing, and this undermines our confidence in blowing the whistle against them.

Who would admit in an interview to being willing to say that there is something wrong with their team or organisation? Because whistle-blowing is personal, it's about speaking out against the actions of those who are in charge rather than being altruistic, and speaking out for what is good.

Whistle-blowing seems to be something that should happen in the halls of power, but actually it should be company-wide.

Whilst part of this is about creating the right sort of business culture, a key element is hiring people who hold, and are prepared to uphold, the same values by speaking out when they see something wrong.

This means part of the interview process needs to address the values of the individual and the willingness to speak out if necessary.

Hirers should be asking these questions

Do hirers ever ask questions such as ' Has there ever been a time when you noticed a fellow employee doing something that they should not or that you disagreed with?' And then, if so, 'What did you do about it?'

At the interview process, candidates could be challenged with scenarios. I would suggest they should be asked, "What would you do if you saw...?"

I do not think companies are reluctant to have people willing to challenge their procedures and question behaviour - I just don't think it's something they recruit and it's not built into the interview process.

All companies have governance programs that cover the protection of whistle-blowers. They also all have core values that can be applied to the hiring of the 'whistle-blower mindset.'

But they need to apply company values to recruitment and select candidates based on their values and attitudes as well as based around technical and competency questions that establish someone is capable of doing the job.

Company cultures change from the top down, through leadership, and they can also change through bringing in new people with fresh ideas.

From the top down it needs to be clear that whistle-blowers aren't seen as traitors but as part of risk management, and new hires need to be selected who share those values - and are willing to take the initiative to act on them.