Four strategies for whistleblower support

By Apeksha Kaushik, TimesJobs.com
Whistleblower policy in companies provides many benefits, including an opportunity for the management to reinforce relevant policies and make changes to current procedures where applicable, says Vinay Jaswal, vice-president-HR, Interglobe Hotels.

There is a symbiotic relation between whistle-blowing and an organisation's culture, adds Jaswal.

A key question for internal audit, when providing assurance to the board that whistleblowing arrangements are effective, is therefore whether the organisation's culture allows people to speak out without fear of recrimination and encourages them to report concerns.

Jaswal shares four strategies for effective whistleblower support:

1. Creating multiple channels of communication: These days organisations give multiple channels such as in-person reporting, electronic reporting and third party ( ombudsman) reporting to employees.

2. Promote and encourage a culture of transparency: A culture of zero tolerance and transparency towards code of conduct violation should be encouraged in the organisation. Leaders must actively reach out to employees to explain the do's and don'ts of doing fair business. We also make it a point to reinforce our commitment towards code of conduct by publicly promoting positive behaviour around the same and also publicly snubbing contrary behaviour.

3. Ensuring privacy and confidentiality: Management must ensure utmost privacy and confidentiality support to the whistleblower, irrespective of the nature of reporting and also the likely ramifications related to the same. Organisations should be committed to operate with integrity, working to the highest ethical standards. A company's reputation is built on the trust and confidence of its employees.

4. Integrated feedback system: Make feedback mechanism an integral way of working in the organisation. This is the best strategy to ensure that an inadvertent breach gets rectified at the inception itself.