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In this short series, I’m examining how investors assess governance and risk when commonly relied-upon disclosures don’t tell the full story. Formal commitments and workforce data can be technically accurate and still fail to reflect how issues are handled in practice — from the use of NDAs to the limits of employee engagement metrics. Investors are often aware that obtaining reliable, decision-useful information about workplace culture is difficult — but less clear on how to

Management teams often point to engagement scores and formal policies as evidence of a strong workplace culture. But how can an investor know if that is actually true? Employee engagement survey results are frequently cited. But what were the questions? What was the breakdown by function, geography, or manager? And how safe did employees actually feel answering honestly? The meme of “Helen, you’re the last one who hasn’t completed the anonymous survey”  exists for a reason. T

Speak your truth. Unless you’ve signed one of our standard non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). That sentence captures the fundamental contradiction undermining many corporate DEI and “people-first” commitments. People do not respond to statements. They respond to actions. A company can say it has zero tolerance for discrimination while requiring employees to sign NDAs that restrict the disclosure of concerns. It can call employees “family” while requiring them to sign one-sided