John Angus of Disclose writes on outsourced whistleblowing services. ‘I have been an end user and know that understanding a business and what information they require is key to success,’ he writes. ‘An effective whistleblowing programme requires an organisation to enlist the support of its most important and powerful allies: its workforce. A whistleblowing line provides an early warning system applicable to all categories of wrongdoing. It fosters positive employee relations and avoids crisis management.’
I want organisations to look at their current providers and research how effective they actually are. I have experienced success rates of less than 10 per cent simply as a result of poor service and as a result of a bank of operators taking calls from nervous and anxious callers. I have tested these systems and was surprised at the lack of empathy and understanding given to the caller with an expectation that the caller knew what type of information to reveal.
It can be so easy to get trapped into the same old box of features and benefits and not demand more from this type of service. I want businesses to be able to differentiate and look at the problems they face with fresh eyes and fresh data, using real detailed research from their calls, as opposed to automated computer-generated print outs, which mean little or nothing, but look impressive as a service provision. Many businesses use a whistle-blowing line themselves but then do not demand that their outsourced partners and colleagues have the same level of security provision, creating a significant exposure to unnecessary risk.
There are many industries and services which do not have any kind of whistle-blowing provider but then sell themselves as leaders within the security workplace, eg security guarding providers.
Disclose is a new business which is all about establishing open and interactive communication policies within the workplace and one which will use its extensive experiences as an end user to get customers excited by delivering real benefits.
I want to:
Remove prohibitive and unnecessary start up costs for this type of service.
Shake up the competitive landscape by rethinking the customer experience in new terms, i.e. what’s important to customers changes as a function of time and market conditions, so I want to use that for mutual benefit.
Make ‘quality’ the new ‘performance’ and create a low stress and more respectful experience. This will provide benefits for customers.
1. Reduced Loss and Increased Profit. Provides an ‘enlightened self-interest approach’ which sees employees, employers and the organisation as a whole benefit through reduced loss and increased profitability. Research indicates that losses can be reduced by almost 60 per cent where a hotline is present.
2. Business Driven Intelligence-led Information Gathering. The provision of a business driven, real time, intelligence-led information gathering model which provides an effective early warning system applicable to all categories of wrongdoing.
3. Positive Employee Relations. Enables positive employee relations, avoids crisis management, minimises damaging incidents and unpleasant publicity.
4. A Positive Ethical Culture. The positive encouragement for whistleblowing line usage demonstrates commitment to ethical behaviour at the highest level.
5. Business Efficiency. Contributes to the efficient running of your business.
6. Business Reputation. Strong corporate governance provides accountability and helps maintain business reputation.
7. Compliance. Supports delivery of health and safety compliance and efficiency whilst also reducing incidents of criminality. Key benefits include a reduction in accidents and occupational ill health, employee stress and in the likelihood of paying legal costs and compensation and potentially an improvement in underwriting risk.
8. Low Cost, High Impact. Provides a best practice which is a low cost to implement
9. Trade Union Recognition. Supports the trade unions in recognising the valuable role employees can play in alerting you to problems and making the working environment safer, more efficient and free from corruption.
10. Effective Risk Management. Avoids the price of silence. The price of silence and missed opportunities can be significant, ie. reduced profits, lost jobs, lost customers, fines, compensation, higher insurance premiums and regulatory investigations.
For most businesses fraud, corrupt or immoral practices represent a significant threat to profitability. Any malpractice, which can impact on profitability, is not an invisible phenomenon. It can threaten jobs whilst also having a negative impact on inward investment and recruitment.
A well-structured whistleblowing policy is essential in the fight against fraud, corrupt or immoral practices in the workplace. The power of such a policy lies in its ability to open the lines of communication with employees creating an interactive communication policy, more especially with an outsourced and anonymous third party supplier.
According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) losses can be reduced by nearly 60% where a confidential hotline is present. In fact fraud is discovered via these tips 40 per cent of the time making it the number one method of detection versus internal and routine audit procedures.
Confidential whistleblowing hotlines are not restricted to the fight against crime, corruption or immoral practices. In a climate of increasing health and safety legislation and liabilities, they can be used as part of a management systems framework for improving health and safety performance. Choosing to implement a confidential hotline within this framework ensures you stay on the right side of the law, protecting the business’s reputation, and maintaining the confidence of investors and clients. We provide a unique confidential reporting hotline service with the expertise required to deliver a vital, impartial and confidential communication link for those employees wishing to provide confidential information anonymously and securely, and without fear of reprisal.
We provide:
A freephone number 24/7, 365 days a year
Personal unique service per customer
Complete client confidentiality
Caller reward of charity based systems
Anonymity and confidentiality for callers
Compliance with all the latest regulations
Meaningful report based feedback
We are committed to not only delivering a communication and reporting provision, which handles information with care and discretion, but we will maximise the return on investment by implementing a system which will focus on both quality and simplicity.
Businesses sit at the heart of communities providing jobs and opportunities. Any malpractice in the workplace impacts on profitability is a threat to local jobs and the local community.
The purpose of an outsourced whistle-blowing line is not the pursuit of a private vendetta but that of a risk, which can be assessed, reduced or removed. Lines are applicable to businesses, industries, security organisations and public bodies of any size. This is because every business and public body faces the risk of one or more of:
Criminality
The breach of a legal obligation
A miscarriage of justice
A danger to the health and safety of any individual
Damage to the environment.
Using an outsourced whistleblowing line provides your employees with a greater sense of security than an internal line. It removes the fear of any consequences of reporting misconduct internally, and therefore removes the potential for many issues to go undetected. It also means that you are less likely to be exposed to claims under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (PIDA 1998). In terms of culture you will be fostering positive internal communication and recognising the accountability of management as well as the responsibility of employees.
Without fostering a culture that declares and demonstrates that it is safe and acceptable to raise a genuine concern about misconduct at work, employees will assume that they face victimisation, losing their jobs or damaging their careers. The consequence of not having an outsourced whistleblowing line means you deny yourself a low cost and fail-safe opportunity to deal with a serious problem and most employees will stay silent where there is a threat – even a grave one.
Choosing to use Disclose as your outsourced independent confidential hotline service provider will ensure you stay on the right side of the law, protect the businesses reputation, and maintain the confidence in investors and clients.
Disclose has now also become a member of the Cardinal Security Group of businesses. It has an ethos which matches that of Disclose which is about identifying and working in close partnership with a concentrated group of clients to create a worthwhile and lasting relationship. The Cardinal Security Group were quick to recognise that most organisations including security guarding providers could use a whistle-blowing line as a model of strong corporate governance which provides accountability and helps maintain business reputation whilst demonstrating commitment to ethical behaviour at the highest level.
To find out more:
T 0844 8845113
W disclose.web.officelive.com
