Speak Up Week 2025

From 29 September to 3 October 2025, organisations across the UK will mark Speak Up Week 2025, a national campaign led by the National Guardian’s Office (NGO) in England. The NGO oversees the Freedom to Speak Up network, supporting more than 1,000 Freedom to Speak Up Guardians who help workers raise concerns in a safe and supported way.

The official theme for this year is “Speak Up - Listen - Act”. It highlights the full cycle of creating a genuine culture of openness: encouraging people to speak up, ensuring those voices are heard, and taking meaningful action in response.

In this blog, Anna Nova Galeon will explore what Speak Up Week 2025 means for highly regulated organisations, including healthcare, finance, education, energy, and public services and why this campaign is more than symbolic. It is a call to strengthen systems, culture, and governance so that speaking up becomes the norm, not the exception.

Defining the key elements of the 2025 theme

To truly understand the importance of Speak Up Week 2025, it is essential to look closely at the meaning behind this year’s theme. Each element: Speak Up, Listen, Act, plays a vital role in shaping a culture where openness leads to meaningful change. Together, they create a cycle that not only supports staff but also strengthens compliance and governance in highly regulated organisations:

• Speak up - Encouraging staff, contractors, and stakeholders to raise concerns, whether about safety, compliance, or ethical behaviour

• Listen - Demonstrating that concerns are taken seriously, processed respectfully, and acknowledged transparently

• Act - Turning words into results by investigating issues, addressing risks, and providing feedback and visible outcomes.

This cycle reinforces trust, closes the so-called “Trust Gap” (the space between willingness and action), and aligns directly with regulatory expectations.

Why speak up week matters for regulated organisations

For organisations operating under strict oversight, a strong Speak Up culture is far more than a compliance exercise; it is a safeguard for people, processes, and reputation. The benefits of embedding the “Speak Up - Listen - Act” approach can be seen in five key areas:

1. Regulatory and legal compliance - Regulators now assess not just whether a whistleblowing or Speak Up policy exists, but how effectively it works in practice
2. Early detection of risks - Concerns raised at the frontline can prevent crises, safeguarding both people and the organisational reputation
3. Whistleblower protections - Legal protections exist in the UK and EU - but they only work if organisations embed confidentiality, fairness, and non-retaliation measures
4. Cultural resilience - Encouraging openness fosters psychological safety, enhances staff morale, and mitigates the risk of silent failure
5. Stakeholder trust - Demonstrating that you listen and act on concerns enhances public, investor, and regulator confidence.
   

Making the theme real - Practical steps for Speak Up Week 2025

Campaigns only succeed when principles turn into action. To bring the theme to life, organisations should take practical steps to embed openness and accountability into their daily practices. Key actions include:

• Communications campaigns - Use the official theme, “Speak Up - Listen - Act”, across posters, emails, intranets, and staff briefings

• Leadership pledges - Have leaders sign and share public commitments to listening and acting

• Training - Deliver role-specific training to staff on raising concerns, managers on handling them, and leaders on ensuring follow-up

• Listening sessions - Run Q&A forums, open meetings, or “listening booths” where staff can share concerns safely

• Audit your channels - Test whistleblowing lines, anonymous systems, or reporting platforms for accessibility and trustworthiness

• Feedback loops - Share aggregated results and “you said, we did” reports to show action has been taken

• Recognition - Celebrate teams or initiatives that exemplify Speak Up values.

Barriers and how to overcome them

Even with strong intentions, organisations can face obstacles when trying to embed a genuine Speak Up culture. Recognising these challenges and addressing them head-on is essential to ensure the theme leads to lasting change. The most common barriers and their solutions include:

Beyond the week - Embedding a lasting speak up culture

Speak Up Week should be the spark, not the finish line. Regulated organisations must:

• Embed ‘Speak Up ‘in governance frameworks and board oversight

• Track KPIs such as report volumes, closure times, and employee perceptions

• Publish regular, aggregated data to enhance transparency

• Provide support services for whistleblowers, including counselling and advocacy

• Align policies with statutory and regulatory expectations

• Reinforce the theme year-round through performance management and cultural initiatives.

Speak Up Week 2025 - What you can do today

Awareness campaigns are most effective when they translate into clear, practical steps. To prepare for Speak Up Week 2025 and embed the theme “Speak Up - Listen - Act” into your organisation’s culture, consider the following actions:

• Mark 29 Sept – 3 Oct 2025 in your compliance calendar

• Launch internal comms using the official theme “Speak Up - Listen Act.”

• Schedule training refreshers and manager workshops

• Hold listening events or open forums

• Review your reporting mechanisms and audit confidentiality protections

• Plan to publish a “you said, we did” update after the week ends.

Build a strong speak up system with ComplyPlus™

Speak Up Week 2025 is a vital opportunity to check whether your organisation is truly listening and acting on the voices of its people. But sustaining this culture requires systems, training, and governance that go beyond one week in October.

At The MandatoryTraining Group, we provide compliance solutions, role-specific training, and digital platforms designed to strengthen reporting systems and cultural resilience.

Our ComplyPlus™ helps organisations build, monitor, and evidence effective Speak Up frameworks, ensuring that when people speak up, their voices are heard and acted upon.

Let ‘’Speak Up - Listen - Act’’ be more than a theme: make it your organisation’s standard.