Research pick: Safeguarding the workplace - "Organisational safeguarding: a new imperative for management?"

Safeguarding should become a core objective in organizational management, representing a paradigm shift in workplace well-being, according to work published in the International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management.

The concept of “safeguarding” has transcended its traditional association with children and vulnerable individuals, and is now reshaping the very fabric of how businesses function. The incidence of workplace bullying, emotional abuse, and harassment of all kinds seems to be on the rise in almost every sector. As such, the new study emphasizes the pressing need for organizations to put safeguarding at the heart of management practices.

Vitumbiko Andrew Ngwira of the University of Zambia and Abubaker Qutieshat of Oman Dental College in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, offer a conceptual paper challenging convention and scrutinizing the various factors surrounding safeguarding. While humanitarian organizations have long embraced safeguarding for beneficiaries, the study highlights that this approach should extend to employees as well. The team draws insights from various sources to address the issues of workplace safety and harassment. They call for the establishment of policies and mechanisms to be put in place that not only prevent abuse but also foster an environment conducive to overall workplace safety.

Critical to making such a paradigm shift is a rebooted definition of organizational management itself. Beyond the established pillars of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling, safeguarding emerges as a crucial fifth element. The team points out that recent high-profile cases and allegations even in the charitable sector, underscore the urgency. The team points out that organizations failing to consider an important issue in the modern business environment risk not only their integrity but also their societal impact and financial stability.

With a safeguarding ethos embedded in the business core, organizations can evolve a workplace that empowers the individual, so that those experience abuse or at risk of abuse can voice their concerns openly or anonymously without compromising their position within the organisation. Without this ethical stance, employees and their health suffer, bullying-induced burnout becomes a significant threat to the organisation, and the potential is there for productivity and profitability to plummet.

A safeguarding ethos can then resonate through the entire organization, from beneficiaries to employees, clients to affiliates so that all stakeholders are safer and more secure. Such an improved state of being for any organisation should then be reflected in greater all-round well-being and potentially improved outcomes for the organisation itself.

Ngwira, V.A. and Qutieshat, A. (2023) ‘Organisational safeguarding: a new imperative for management?’, Int. J. Business Continuity and Risk Management, Vol. 13, No. 3, pp.272–283.