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Notwithstanding corporate attention and commitment to compliance, there are levels ofmanagement who do not pay proper attention to the proper handling of concerns orissues raised by their reporting personnel. In many instances this stems from a lack ofsensitivity or training about the risks associated with improperly handled compliancereports. In many more instances there is a failure by managers and others tocommunicate reported concerns to other appropriate company officials for furtherevaluation and response. The company management team looking to successfullyreduce risk in this field is devoting more attention to ensuring that potentialwhistleblowers are effectively encouraged to bring forward concerns and ensure thatthose matters, reported at any level within a company, are appropriately received andaddressed. A major emphasis in this effort is ensuring that the reporting employee issatisfied that their concern has been heard and taken seriously, regardless of whetherthe report reflects a valid problem requiring corrective action or further response. Afurther emphasis is on ensuring that employees are not dissuaded or fearful of reportingto their immediate superiors, a recurring problem that is aggravated by many caseswhere the superiors themselves are the subject of the employee concern.Again, identifying the principal problem that propels employees to resort to becomewhistleblowing is far easier than offering practical and effective solutions. That said, weoffer the following additional thoughts on managing the risk of the whistleblowerdynamic.15