A growing company and culture

As a startup begins to grow beyond its founding team, culture is something that is built with intention or by default. It all comes down to the foundations that are laid early on.

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If you're a HR team of 1 or a senior leader taking on People responsibilities in a fast-growing startup, you're already juggling a lot. Culture might feel abstract compared to hiring, onboarding, payroll, or setting up policies. But shaping a culture where people feel safe speaking up - about ideas, concerns, or issues - is one of the most powerful investments you can make in long term trust, engagement, and both team and overall company performance.

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This guide offers practical steps to help you:

• Lay the groundwork for a workplace where people feel safe speaking up
• Equip your leadership team to model and reinforce healthy behaviours
• Put the right systems in place early to support open communication

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1. Define what "speaking up" means in your company

Start by clarifying what it looks like to speak up in your workplace. It could mean:

• Raising a new idea or suggesting a new way to do things
• Challenging the status quo
• Flagging an interpersonal conflict or team tension
• Reporting an ethical concern, safety issue, or inappropriate behaviour

Naming these examples helps people understand the range of things they can speak up about. It also signals that your company values more than just performance metrics. It shows that you value a culture of care and accountability.

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Tip: Include "what speaking up looks like" in your onboarding materials, manager training, and employee handbook.

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2. Build trust before it's needed

Psychological safety - the belief that it's safe to take interpersonal risks - doesn't happen by accident. It grows through small, repeated signals that people's voices matter.

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Startups often pride themselves on openness, but as the team grows, transparency and trust require more structure:

• Make check-ins meaningful: Encourage managers to ask open ended questions like "What's getting in the way of your work?" or "Is there anything you're not saying that would be useful to share?"
• Acknowledge feedback visibly: When someone raises something (big or small), thank them, act on it where possible, and close the loop.
• Normalise learning from mistakes: Share examples of failures or missteps from the leadership team that turned into learning moments.

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3. Empower execs and managers to lead the way

People take cues from the top. If your CEO or founders dismiss feedback, speak over others, or avoid conflict, it sends a clear message. But if they respond with curiosity, model vulnerability, and create space for hard conversations, people will follow.

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As the HR or P&C lead, help your leadership team:

• Understand the business case for psychological safety - it boosts innovation, retention, and engagement
• Practise active listening and non-defensive responses
• Make "How are we supporting people to speak up?" a regular agenda item at leadership meetings

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4. Set up systems that support safe speaking up

Even with the best intentions, culture alone isn't enough. People need safe, simple channels to speak up, especially when the stakes feel high or they're not sure who to trust.

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Set up and write down a clear process for raising concerns, ideally with multiple options:

• Directly to a manager or HR
• Via an anonymous form or trusted platform (like Hello Canopy)
• Through regular engagement surveys or pulse checks that include open comments

Make sure people know:

• What happens after they speak up
• Who sees the information
• How their identity will (or won't) be shared

This clarity builds confidence that the company takes concerns seriously and handles them with care.

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5. Keep the conversation going

Creating a culture of speaking up isn’t a one-time initiative. It’s a muscle that needs regular use. Keep it in shape by:

• Sharing stories where somebody spoke up that lead to a new way of doing things or a good outcome for the team or company
• Empowering managers to spot and respond to early signs of issues
• Create a feedback loop when somebody does speak up, with regular updates on how their feedback or concern is being managed

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A quick-start checklist: 5 things to get you started

1. Add "what speaking up looks like" to your onboarding and handbook
2. Create a safe reporting channel (ideally with an anonymous option) and communicate how it works
3. Create a process to respond to serious concerns and have it written down for everyone to access
4. Survey your team with one question: "Do you feel safe speaking up here? Why or why not?"
5. Celebrate somebody who spoke up about something that you can share - like suggesting a new idea or challenging a process

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Don’t let culture be an afterthought

Startups move fast. Culture is often built in the margins of everything else. But when people feel safe to speak up, you build more than just a great place to work - you build a company where challenges surface early, ideas flow freely, and people stick around because they trust each other.

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Need a simple, trustworthy way to help people speak up, anonymously or openly? Book a demo with our team today.

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