Is Your Complaints Procedure Effective?

Risk management is an important aspect of running a successful business: Whether this takes the form of ensuring compliance with corporate governance programs, reducing instances of workplace fraud or financial misconduct, or eliminating bullying or other forms of harassment.

Having a strong and coherent whistleblower program in place can help protect your organisation’s interests in all of these situations.

An ineffective complaints system could in fact be preventing your employees from raising any complaints.

So what are the hallmarks of an effective whistleblower program?

Provide confidentiality and support

An effective complaints system should enable your business to identify hotspots, respond to critical incidents and communicate confidentially with reporters. It should also provide employees with a safe and secure environment to report misconduct, enable insightful management and the ability to bring about real cultural change, and reduce corporate risk.

Perhaps the most crucial component of a successful complaints system is that complainants are guaranteed confidentiality and employer support throughout the whole process. This is particularly important as those who are considering blowing the whistle on co-workers or supervisors may be concerned about reprisals or the potential impact on their employment.

This is especially likely to be the case in circumstances where the reported conduct involves sexual harassment, workplace bullying or criminal behaviour, such as fraud or theft. Employees considering making a complaint should be offered the opportunity to make anonymous complaints to reduce the fear of retaliation.

The following statistic are particularly insightful:

• A third  of all reports made through whistleblower programs relate to bullying and harassment
• 67% of people experiencing bullying or harassment do not report it
• 42% do not report it for fear of negative consequences
• 49% of misconduct is reported by employees.

ESTABLISH CLEAR PROCEDURES AND GUIDELINES

It is crucial that reporting systems in your workplace are clearly identified and communicated to all staff. This includes making it clear to all employees how a complaint should be made (including an anonymous complaint), to whom, and what the follow-up process will be once a complaint has been lodged.

This information should be readily available and easily accessible.

DON’T MAKE EMPTY PROMISES

Once a whistleblower program is in place in your business, it is important for those utilising the service to feel that their complaints are being taken seriously and will be dealt with and responded to in an appropriate fashion.

Privacy concerns and operational strategies may mean that complainants are not privy to all aspects of any ultimate disciplinary or punitive processes imposed on those against whom complaints are sustained. It is nonetheless important to confirm with the complainant that it has been duly and independently investigated, and that it has been resolved to the business’ satisfaction.

CRACK DOWN ON REPRISALS

It is equally important for your organisation to have a strong and transparent policy to deal with reprisals or victimisation of whistleblowers. In some circumstances, even if confidentially is offered, only a little bit of logic may be required to deduce who made a complaint against another staff member. This maybe particularly relevant if your business is small or if the circumstances surrounding an allegation involve only a few people with detailed knowledge of the facts.

If anyone involved seeks to retaliate either physically, verbally or by affecting the whistleblower’s employment, it is crucial for your organisation to demonstrate a swift and clear zero-tolerance response.

IMPLEMENTING A PROGRAM CAN BE CHALLENGING

Ensuring easy communication and the ability for staff to raise complaints where necessary, benefits all employees by improving an organisation’s ability to deal with risks and increasing employee satisfaction.

However, implementing an effective whistleblower program can be difficult, particularly in a smaller business with limited resources. It can also be a complicated task to provide a program that responds quickly and is impartial.

At WISE Workplace, we offer an independent whistleblower hotline program that is ready to take complaints 24/7, provide assessments on the urgency of complaints, and offer expert advice on the dealing with complaints. Contact us to find out more.