Imagine a case where an employee of your company is convinced that the company is purchasing unnecessarily overpriced goods or services, a relative of the manager or his long-time friend - a supplier, is being favoured at the expense of the company by supplying overpriced goods or "just" misuse of a company vehicle for unauthorised purposes. You may be telling yourself that these things don't happen in your company.. MHowever, you can count on the fact that once a quality You will learn many interesting and important things about the whistleblowing system that will convince you of the usefulness of this measure. In addition, a new Whistleblower Protection Bill is in the legislative process which will make this system mandatory in the near future.
I'm sure you've heard names like Edward Snowden, Julian Assange, Libor Michálek or Ondřej Závodský. All these people have one thing in common - whistleblowing. For this English term we could use the term "whistleblower protection system" in our environment. Just whistleblowing can also help your company not only to reduce potential losses caused by unfair practices of your employees and business partners, but also to increase your people's confidence that their complaints will not be "swept under the carpet". It means strengthening their accountability and their sense of belonging to your company. And that's the best prevention.
What can you expect if you decide to implement this system?
If you go for it, expect a wave of interest. First you will hear criticism, in the eyes of many employees it will be a waste, "wasted" money or even a promotion snitching. After the system is implemented, the first notifications will come, most of which will not really be substantial (various complaints about unpaid overtime, benefits, smoking in the workplace, laziness of colleagues, etc.). After a while, however, your employees will realise that these are a system where they can safely (even anonymously) report serious suspicions without fear of retaliation or reprisal concerning violations of internal regulations, corrupt behaviour, theft, embezzlement, conflict of interest, rigged tenders, sexual harassment and other disadvantages.
What will happen if the system is implemented in the right way? As soon as your employee writes from his/her e-mail or calls from his/her mobile phone to the published contact on your website, an immediate evaluation of the notification will take place, which will be distributed to your HR department, legal department, OSH, etc. Aim is not to establish the identity of the whistleblower, but to verify the information sent. Suspicions that him will be reviewed by an internal investigator, who will prepare an investigation report with conclusions and recommendations for your further decision. Of course, the whistleblower will be informed of the results of the investigation and the measures taken. Unless, of course, it is an anonymous report.
There is no need to discover the discovered. Introducing a system based on experience and adapting it to your business doesn't have to be complicated. The important thing is that it is accepted by people and actually works. That's the reason to reach for a quality, proven system and a professional way to implement it in your team.
