- +91 9910687775
- contact@whistlefirst.com
Tips to improve the communication in a whistleblower program
21 Nov 2022
You have built and reflected your whistleblowing policies at each stage of your whistleblowing process. Now after the whistleblowing program is set up, anonymous reports can be received. Additionally, you learn how to receive anonymous information, communicate with a whistleblower, and investigate what has been flagged. All is in order, and you are ready to inform your staff about the whistleblowing scheme.
If there is one point at which whistleblowing systems usually fail, it is this one. You may create the best whistleblowing policy in the country, but employees will never use it if it is not communicated effectively. The communication process is where you introduce the programme and educate staff on the benefits they can get.
We will include six suggestions in this article to assist you in successfully communicating your whistleblowing scheme. We'll discuss the issues you can consider when implementing your policy and carrying out the overall whistleblowing program.
Understanding the audience
Be sure you consider the audience before sharing your whistleblowing scheme. Following the creation of the program, you might also be considered a whistleblower professional. However, for the majority of employees, this would be their initial exposure to something related to whistleblowing. It's essential that you know who your target audience is, what messages they react to, and the suitable medium for communicating your program.
Here are several important questions to consider:
- How well-informed is your audience of the existing business standards or codes of ethics (so you can link your program to other systems they're familiar with)?
- Is the audience more office-based, or are they always on the move (or a combination of the two)?
- Which organizational networks (email, intranet, face-to-face meetings, or social networking accounts) do they use to obtain information?
- Which communication approaches have been influential in the past for similar initiatives?
- Additionally, on the flip side of this issue, have any programs been inappropriately communicated, and if so, why?
- Do you think the traditional employee wants clear, straightforward communication, or do you think they want more information and details, or both? How do you organize the communication so that the message is extremely straightforward and the extra detail becomes easily accessible?
Going out and talking to the audience is a great practice. Answer the questions above to generate any initial ideas, which you will then evaluate with actual employees. What you learn might confuse you, but it will help you formulate a message that will help them appreciate your whistleblowing program better.
Clearly state what the employee stands to gain
When you've figured out who the target audience is and how to design a message to communicate with them, think of what's in it for the employee. Often organizational messages are top-down and instruct employees what to do, but most employees ignore it.
You'll be able to promote the whistleblowing policy more effectively if you understand who your audience is. The manner in which you promote it would be entirely exclusive to the organization. You may opt for a variety of methods, such as:
Altruistic - "It's the right thing to disclose wrongdoing, and we want to allow this for our employees."
Growth - "We're expanding rapidly, and we need the appropriate processes to assist us in managing this expansion. Particularly with so many new workers entering our organization. Giving you the right to expose wrongdoing anonymously is a critical component to allowing our workforce to contribute to upholding our values."
Improvement - "In the past, we've had several problems of misconduct, and we're aware that we need to do better. Allowing employees to disclose wrongdoing anonymously is a vital aspect of this improvement, and we want everyone to be able to report freely."
Corporate values -"Our corporate ideals are important to us, and we want to know whether we, as individuals or as a company, are able to live up to them or not. Allowing employees to file anonymous reports allows us to get a greater understanding of the situation and take steps to protect our values."
Change in ownership or management - "As part of our management analysis of the organization, we recognized a need for anonymous reporting of misconduct by the employees. It's important for us to handle this wrongdoing immediately and include an anonymous reporting channel for our employees."
Keep the messages straightforward
If the whistleblowing scheme is difficult to grasp, employees may not pay attention to it. They get plenty of messages about new initiatives, and if the message isn't straightforward, they'll ignore it. Your whistleblowing scheme is valuable to you, but to employees, it's just another initiative for which they're getting updates.
Use the information you know about your audience and promote your main messages to them. Your objective is to inform them about the existence of the whistleblowing programme and where they can obtain further information. Keep the message simple enough that employees can understand it easily. Often, a catchphrase associated with your message will help it stick out and be recognized. Regardless of the feelings towards Donald Trump, he is a master of the catchphrase. We've all heard the phrases "Build That Wall" and "Lock Her Up." Although you may not agree with what he does, you will almost certainly connect each of these three-word catchphrases to the more significant issue he is communicating.
While keeping your message short, you need to connect it with additional details. Providing additional information encourages employees who desire to learn more about the whistleblowing program. It's often advantageous when someone wishes to write a report; they can explore further and comprehend how and where to do so. It's a delicate balance - keep the messaging simple while also allowing for quick access to additional detail.
Communicating the anonymity of the whistleblower program
Regardless of the organizational culture or ideals upheld, a whistleblower is always needed considering the worst-case scenario. Maintaining anonymity is critical for protecting oneself and avoiding retaliation. Your message regarding anonymity should start long before an employee becomes a whistleblower.
If an employee is unsure that they can file a complaint while remaining anonymous, they will not even take the initial step. You want to reassure them that their identity will be protected at every step. When employees see misconduct, you want them to consider how to report it immediately. Concentrate on emphasizing the anonymity of your program and how you would protect their identity. Exhibit how you will do this via your procedures, whistleblowing policy, or the characteristics of the whistleblowing platform you are employing.
Your concern for anonymity will seem second nature to you, but many employees will be skeptical about it. Approach your communication with the mindset that you need to persuade them that your program is genuinely anonymous rather than assuming they already believe this. One message about anonymity isn't enough; you need to keep hammering it into employees' heads until they start believing in it.
Reinforce your message across channels
As humans, we have poor brain memory, and hearing anything just once is never enough. As a result, you'll need to remind employees about your whistleblowing program.
This reinforcement might take time. After your first communication campaign, develop a communication cadence to remind employees of your initiative. Communication can be brief messages that correlate to your program's core ideas. Reinforcement is critical since businesses constantly bombard employees with various messages. If employees hear about your whistleblowing program once, they will forget about it as soon as they receive new messages. Communicate multiple times throughout the year and incorporate your message into other communications. Your updates do not have to be tailored specifically to your whistleblowing program. They might be included in other company messages highlighting your program. An example might be a corporate values update that consists of a mention of your whistleblowing program.
It is also critical that you collaborate across several communication channels. You would have discovered which channels work best to understand your audience. Use this information and these channels to remind employees about your whistleblower program. You can enhance memory by combining the senses. Combinations can comprise of seeing (posters), hearing (business meetings), and reading (email, intranet) about your program, all of which may assist employees in recalling your essential message.
Make sure your message is remembered
Be sure your communication does not cease when you launch your whistleblowing programme. While your initial launch may be successful, but organizations inevitably evolve. New employees will be hired, acquisitions will take place, and change will be continual. You must make sure that everyone who enters your company is aware of your whistleblowing program and gets training on it.
Communicating with workers is simple when you launch. The next step is to consider how new hires will be taught to submit anonymous reports. If they are not briefed about your whistleblowing program during their onboarding and initial training, it is a reasonably safe bet that they'll never learn about it on their own. Make sure you take advantage of your hard work and include it in your new employee training. You want to ensure that everyone who joins the organization understands what to report and where to report it, as well as how your organization handles whistleblowing.
Conclusion
As previously said, your whistleblowing program's success depends on your employees' understanding of it and ability to utilize it. From our experience, many organizations suffer throughout the communication stage. They have progressed from just focusing only on their team's work to incorporating the whole organization. Employees are less likely to make reports if there is a lack of communication. Also, ineffective communication breeds misunderstanding and creates the possibility of programme misuse.
However, when you get the communication right, everything else in your whistleblowing programme will fall into place. Additionally, this is when you see benefits - employees who believe the organization adheres to its values, as well as reports that assist you in identifying hidden risk and taking appropriate action.
