Why Policies Are Key to Effective Whistleblowing

Has your organization reviewed and updated its policies on whistleblowing? Whistleblowing on any potential wrongdoing and misconduct can be critical for your organization and you need to make sure that the process can be trusted and that all employees understand it.

Employees and individuals can often be hesitant to bring forward reports of any malpractice out of fear of repercussions, making it critical for your organization to create an open, transparent, and safe environment where employees feel able to speak up. Organizations need to ensure that:

• A speak up culture is encouraged. Employees need to be encouraged to report to management when necessary, but also have to be given to ability to report anonymously when needed as well.
• Whistleblowing policies are easily available on the corporate policy portal, with clear instructions on how to report issues.
• Whistleblowing policies are communicated to employees so that they understand your organizations position on whistleblowing and know where and how to report on issues.

Everyone in the organization needs to fully understand and be trained on the organization’s whistleblowing policies and procedures. This is where effective policy management becomes critical. Effective policy management will help your organization and employees better understand appropriate behavior and channels of reporting in a given situation and helps embed a culture of ethics deep within your organization’s culture.