Six Ways To Make Sure Your Whistleblowing Hotline Implementation Goes Smoothly

Six Ways To Make Sure Your Whistleblowing Hotline Implementation Goes Smoothly

More and more companies are seeing the value of a whistleblowing hotline. And that's great, because it means that accountability, and a desire to present transparency to the public, is becoming increasingly desirable.

Some staff may still be wary of whistleblowing as a concept, especially when it comes with what can seem like a lot of new procedures, regulations and measures.

Of course, you want to ensure that your new whistleblowing hotline is implemented without a fuss, and that your employees know how and when it can be used. That's why we've put down six steps that you should follow for the smoothest implementation possible. Here's what you need to do:

Draw up guidelines

A clear and comprehensive set of guidelines will be of great benefit, giving employees information on the types of case scenarios where blowing the whistle is necessary. Equally, these guidelines can help clear up the instances where whistleblowing action is not the way forward, such as isolated disputes with employees over small, personal issues.

Your guidelines can also be an excellent way of reminding everyone of the reasons whistleblowing hotlines exist; to uncover actions or behaviours that put the public, the business, or the employees at some form of risk.

Remember, communication is key

Once you have a whistleblowing process in place, the next step is to make sure that it is clearly communicated to all employees. Staff at every level should be aware of how the whistleblowing procedure works in practice, including the rights held by those making a disclosure.

Staff that know about a whistleblowing hotline, and how to use it, are more likely to report issues internally.

Have a complaints filtering process

Speaking Up is a significant, and positive step so it's important that your organisation has a strong whistleblowing procedure in place. Not only will this help you deal with disclosures effectively, but it will also let you filter and deal with smaller complaints successfully before things escalate.

Of course, some problems reported are so severe that whistleblowing is the only option. To find out more about providing employees with an independent whistleblowing hotline from Safecall, contact us today.

Try to encourage reconciliation

In a number of cases, particularly when it comes to HR issues, reconciliation can be a powerful conflict resolution tool. An unbiased approach to the problem can help both sides to speak their piece and work towards rebuilding trust in the long term.

Keep the board involved

It's important that everyone is up to speed on the whistleblowing procedures, and that includes a company's board of directors. This is especially important if they are to oversee the whistleblowing process at any stage.

Making sure that everything you present to the board is clear, concise and contains all the salient information will allow them to manage the situation more effectively.

Bring experienced people onboard

When it comes to matters that are complex and sensitive, as those involved in whistleblowing so often are, you want to be sure that you have the best people involved in order for any issue to be resolved as quickly and professionally as possible.

Each of Safecall's investigators has years of experience to call on, which is how we can guarantee that our reports are extremely detailed and comprehensive. We don't use automated technology at any stage, so anyone who speaks to our team will always speak to a human who understands their situation.