DON’T cut back on fraud and corruption reporting mechanisms during tough economic times, says Dale Horne, head of Whistle Blowers, South Africa’s leading independent whistleblowing service provider.
Whistle Blowers provides a 24/7/365 call centre manned by highly trained multi-lingual call centre staff that establish a trust relationship with whistleblowers. Employees of subscribing clients can report not only irregular activities such as theft, fraud and bribery but any unethical behaviour in the workplace, secure in the knowledge that they may remain anonymous and that their identities are protected.
Operations manager, Ntokozo Mngadi, said their interaction with whistleblowers is key, as the whistleblower needs to feel confident in order to make full disclosure of sensitive information. Employees don’t only make use of the toll free facility, but sometimes feel more comfortable using alternative reporting mechanisms which are offered by Whistle Blowers, such as online reporting, fax, email, post and a SMS “callback” facility.
She emphasised that Whistle Blowers had two priorities – protecting a whistleblower’s identity and ensuring that a client received accurate information. Horne said whistleblowing had come of age and was being utilised more and more by employees who do not condone unethical behaviour being regarded as an efficient and effective means of detecting fraud and corruption in the workplace. A 2014 global fraud study entitled the ACFE Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, found that employees accounted for nearly 50 per cent of all tips.
It also showed that organisations with hotlines were not only much more likely to detect fraud through a tip off, but experienced frauds that were 41 per cent less costly and detected them 50 per cent more quickly, resulting in significant savings.
Horne said that companies could expect more theft, fraud and corruption as cash strapped or even heavily indebted employees resorted to dishonesty. An unethical workforce could also undermine productivity and erode competitive advantage while compromising earnings.
“Right now, businesses have to look after what they have. There is no room for lost income and increased costs. Your team needs to be honest to survive. A few bad apples can cost a company dearly. But you can clean up an organisation through your own good people and let an ethical culture take over,” Horne said.
Horne commented it was reassuring to note that most employees within an organisation were hardworking and honest with just a small percentage likely to stray. During tough economic times management should appeal to employees to uphold their ethics and report dishonest practices that could undermine a company’s profitability and hence jeopardise jobs.
However, he stressed that in order to do this effectively, companies needed to implement a structured whistleblowing programme and reiterates the importance of awareness training,
