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Courageous? Disloyal? To put it bluntly, whistleblowers are people who "snitch" on other individuals or organizations. For these people, it is usually important that existing regulations and laws are upheld and that misconduct causing harm to organizations and society is brought to an end. In this way, their reports open up many opportunities: if critical information about misconduct within a company is directed to internal reporting channels rather than the public, management can deal with it proactively.
This allows financial losses to be averted, misconduct to be detected early, and company areas to be optimized. A positive reporting culture, which signals that critical knowledge is welcome and will not fall on deaf ears, increases employee satisfaction and improves the company's image. In this respect, the whistleblower system, which the EU Whistleblower Directive mandates for all companies with more than 50 employees, is a great way to make your own company more transparent.
According to the Whistleblowing Report 2021, 43.7% of SMEs in Germany already have a reporting office for whistleblowers, which is organized via email, for example. Reporting channels can also be set up via mailboxes, telephone hotlines, or neutral contact persons. Given the new legal and organizational requirements, we recommend a digital solution.
How, who, when? Organizing the whistleblower system effectively and in compliance with regulations
The EU Whistleblower Directive aims to provide better protection for whistleblowers. The whistleblower system should therefore offer internal or external whistleblowers the opportunity to submit reports about misconduct within the company anonymously so that they do not have to fear reprisals. Even though the transposition into the national law of individual EU states will only take place later this year, preparations can be made now.
The objective sounds logical, but there are several aspects to clarify regarding the organization. When you introduce a whistleblower system in your company, the first question is how all legal and individual requirements can be implemented in terms of personnel and technology. Which reporting channel is suitable, and should several channels be combined? A digital system, for example, can be very well supplemented by an impartial person inside or outside the company. It must be determined how reports are documented and organized in a legally compliant manner. For example, how is it ensured that the person receiving and processing the critical information can correctly assess the reported matter? The range of incoming reports can be broad: it can extend from sexual harassment to theft and price-fixing, all the way to environmental pollution. So, what processes do I, as a company, build into the whistleblower system to organize responsibilities in such a way that the right results are achieved in the end? THE MAK`ED TEAM supports medium-sized companies in developing a suitable whistleblower system.
Transparent, sophisticated, seamless: Selecting a whistleblower system
The whistleblower system should communicate transparently to potential internal and external whistleblowers throughout the entire ecosystem how it operates and functions. There are various providers of whistleblower software on the market. It is crucial that the software meets all legal and company-specific requirements in both the frontend and the backend.
- Frontend: How can the internal or external whistleblower enter their information anonymously? Can external persons also access the system? Is the system intuitive to use? Can the system cover all required languages? Backend: How is the correct assessment of the reported matter ensured and reliably forwarded to the right place? How is the process-oriented handling of all reports guaranteed and ensured that deadlines are met? How do you organize the process so that particularly urgent cases are immediately recognized as such and prioritized? What do I need to consider regarding the whistleblower system if the company is internationally positioned?
And beyond that, there are of course many things a company can do to prevent misconduct and wrongdoing from happening in the first place. THE MAK`ED TEAM is an experienced partner for compliance management and supports medium-sized companies in the planning and organization of whistleblower systems. We will show you the possibilities and challenges and accompany you from the decision-making process to the implementation of the whistleblower system in your company.
1 Source: University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons & EGS Group: Whistleblowing Report 2021, www.whistleblowingreport.org
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