The fact is, you want to know about potential problems in your organisation fast, before they spiral out of control, make headlines and impact your bottom line.

Confidential Hotlines are a critical component of any effective ethics and compliance programme, whether they are mandated by law, or are impacted by data protection rules and other international regulations. 

Global Compliance established the first compliance reporting hotline in 1981 and now supports over 25 million of our clients’ employees around the globe.  After nearly 30 years and handling millions of allegations handled, we have identified a number of hotline best practices:

• All calls are good calls: Employees may not be able to articulate an allegation in a way that fits within specific categories.  For example, a high level of Human Resource-related calls could ultimately indicate underlying financial issues.  Do not turn down any calls since their investigation could help lead to secondary reports of a much more serious nature.
  
  
• Speak your employees’ language– literally: Companies need to ensure that all employees can easily report in their language of choice.  Live interpretation services and in-language web reporting sites drive higher reporting rates and improve accuracy.  It is less likely for incorrect word choices or miscommunication when a reporter is speaking in their native language.
  
  
• Keep up to date:  There is an increasing technology gap in the workforce between those who text and tweet, and those who do not.  Phone-only hotlines ignore critical workplace trends.  Web-based reporting and now mobile-based reporting for Blackberry^® smartphones or iPhone^® devices means anytime, anywhere reporting for all your employees.  
  
  
• Always on is always better: Ethics and compliance is not a “nine-to-five” programme .  Time zones, global demands – and an “always-on” workforce means your employees need a 24/7/365 ability to make contact when it is most appropriate for them.

• Don’t know, can’t report: Awareness campaigns provide the “air cover” for your Hotline programme – and reinforce the importance of ethics and compliance in your organisation’s culture.  If employees don’t know when, where and how to report, they will not. 
  
  
• Leverage line leadership:  Most companies talk about “tone at the top”.  But research shows that the primary influence on an employee’s behavior is their direct manager.  Engage your middle managers to build awareness and trust in your hotline, and focus on your “mood in the middle”.   

• Consider the source: Employees are the most common source of tips regarding business misconduct. However, reports from outside the organisation, from customers, suppliers and other business partners are increasingly critical. Expand your hotline to include non-employee calls as recent headlines show the blurring of lines between companies and their business partners.
  
  
• Trust but verify: Hotlines should be continually tested and audited.  Ensure consistency, test for timely answers, appropriate interview style and report quality.  Make certain that your hotline is a source for insight and that those responsible are performing as expected.

A confidential hotline is one element of a comprehensive ethics and compliance programme for building integrity, trust and transparency within an organisation.  Partner with an ethics and compliance expert with the experience to help manage your risk.  It’s Good for Business^SM.

Nick Ciancio
Chief Compliance Officer, Global Compliance
nick.ciancio@globalcompliance.com
0845-272-5220 (in the UK)
+44 20 8977 9377 (from outside the UK)
www.globalcompliance.com