5 BENEFITS OF A

WHISTLEBLOWER HOTLINE
Encouraging a speak-up culture
If there is wrongdoing happening inside the
organization, there's at least one person who
knows it's happening. There are those of us
who may feel just fine reporting misconduct
face to face, but most don't. There is still fear
of retaliation by either management or
colleagues. Given the chance, most
employees would report wrongdoing
anonymously. And by reporting sooner, you
catch that fraud sooner, thereby saving time,
money and legal inquiries.
Knowing about misconduct sooner, lessening duration

Knowing about misconduct sooner enables

organization to put a stop to it earlier. The
median duration of fraud until detection is
about 18 months. For smaller
organizations, that could mean the
difference between staying in business or
going out of business, as smaller business
don't have the resources to cover these
types of issues. The sooner you know
about it, the less revenue loss.
Understanding a deeper issue
It's one thing to know that a certain type of
wrongdoing is taking place. But why is it
happening in the first place. Don't just treat
the symptoms - dig deeper to get to the root
of the issue. This is the chance to take what
is learned and apply it to existing policies and
procedures making them even stronger. If it
wasn't reported in the first place, how long
before things really had the potential to blow
out of control?
Better communication with the anonymous reporter

Using a third party hotline is the best method of

receiving a comprehensive report. Agents that
are trained in sympathetic communication and
who are able to customize the communication
with each anonymous caller are much more
likely to glean important information about a
certain incident in order to provide it to the
organization. At the same time, a
representative at the organization can ask
similar questions anonymously to the reporter,
enabling them to work together to get the most
information, and solve an issue quicker.
Avoid violations and legal battles

Many organizations that face regulatory

violations didn't have a mechanism in place for
employees to report misconduct. Employees
may inform management about an issue, but
they feel nothing gets done, or the concern isn't
taken seriously. These employees may go
outside the organization as a means of having
their voices heard. Regulators have been known
to lessen penalties, or drop them altogether if an
organization has done its due diligence and
taken appropriate steps to address and
investigate issues.