CEO and founder of AllVoices, the platform empowering anyone to report workplace wrongdoing 100% anonymously.
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Traditional whistleblower hotlines are going to be a thing of the past.
They certainly served a purpose and pioneered a way for employees to report wrongdoing at their companies confidentially. But the reasons are stacking up against them as to why they’re no longer serving companies and employees in 2021. And if companies continue to use them, they need to realize that issues or concerns may go unreported because employees don’t want to use that channel to report.
After all, the function of a whistleblower hotline is to encourage employees to report any wrongdoing they see in the workplace through a confidential channel, which means that the channels for reporting should get an upgrade.
But there are deeper reasons why issues remain unreported — and it goes beyond just offering a hotline to use. Today, companies need to give their employees better ways to report wrongdoing, as well as tell them the value of why they should do so. Otherwise, companies won’t hear about the full extent of wrongdoing happening in the workplace, whatever channel they provide.
The Evolution Of Workplace Reporting Channels
Whistleblower or ethics hotlines were initially that: a phone number — because that was the technology at the time — that employees could anonymously call to report wrongdoings at a company. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 mandated that companies set up a method for “the confidential, anonymous submission by employees of the issuer of concerns regarding questionable accounting or auditing matters.”
The implementation of whistleblower hotlines might have been fine at the time. However, hotlines were designed to encourage the anonymous reporting of fraud or financial issues and haven’t caught up with the scope needed for today’s reporting, which includes harassment, bullying, bias and workplace safety, in addition to fraud.
Or rather, the same issues are there that have always been there. But companies, held to higher standards in today’s social climate, no longer want to ignore greater issues of harassment and discrimination. They want to be aware of any and all issues going on in their companies so that they can proactively stop wrongdoing or quickly address it when it happens.
“Whistleblowing” also connotes a much bigger issue than some employees want to submit, which may discourage the smaller, yet still relevant, issues from surfacing.
Technology has also surpassed the use of hotlines, and many would rather text or use an app than pick up a phone. Companies should provide channels that their employees will actually use. The whole process can also be quite procedural, intimidating and not user-friendly.
My company’s new report on the State of Workplace Wrongdoing examines what wrongdoing employees see and their experience with reporting and asks about their usage of these types of hotlines. Only 44% of employees say their workplace has a hotline, and 20% actually don’t know if their employer has a hotline. Still, only 32% of employees have used the hotline to report wrongdoing.
Those who hadn’t used the hotline said they didn’t because they believed they would still be recognized — and they’re looking for something that's truly anonymous where they can report wrongdoing. In other words, hotlines just aren’t providing the scope, ease of use and anonymity that employees really want in order to make them feel comfortable reporting wrongdoing.
But simply having a reporting channel available doesn’t mean the issue is solved.
The Ultimate Goal Of Ethics Hotline Reporting
Today, companies need to focus on proactively stopping wrongdoing before it happens — or addressing issues swiftly when they arise. This is because companies are being held to higher standards by customers and the media. It’s no longer enough to have a good product or service — companies are expected to uphold their values, too.
Companies aren’t just making sure employees are productive, but making sure that they have a safe place to work and grow in their careers. This means being aware of harassment, bullying, bias and discrimination that’s happening in the workplace, as well as concerns around workplace safety, or even just general feedback.
Yet when it comes to reporting, employees are hesitant to do so because of fear of retaliation or job loss — according to the EEOC, upwards of 75% of those who reported harassment were retaliated against — fear of not being believed, or thinking it a waste of time because nothing will be done about it. This means that companies are missing out on crucial issues happening within their ranks and are only getting an incomplete picture of what’s really going on.
Hotlines were one way to try to do this. But companies need to think about different ways to capture feedback and implement better methods to encourage feedback and demonstrate that they do value knowing what’s going on in the workplace. This is why a system with the end goal of what the hotline represented needs to be in place. Make sure it’s truly anonymous so that employees feel safe reporting. Also, make sure it's easy to use and that employees know it’s available.
Above all, encourage employees to use it. Creating a safe work environment means employees knowing they’re being cared for, which means that leadership needs to be vocal about valuing feedback and reporting issues. When only 63% of employees, according to our report, believe their workplace wants them to report wrongdoing, this kind of communication is more important than ever.
While whistleblower hotlines will become a thing of the past, what they stood for — the ability to give employees a safe way to report wrongdoing — is being taken as seriously as ever. There are newer and more comprehensive tools that are taking its place to provide employees with the safety of speaking up, and that will provide leadership with more data and feedback they can use to create real change.
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