{"id":2418,"date":"2021-05-05T23:05:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T23:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reportitnow-global.com\/?p=2418"},"modified":"2021-05-05T23:05:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-05T23:05:02","slug":"no-news-is-good-news-external-ethics-hotlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reportitnow-global.com\/uk\/no-news-is-good-news-external-ethics-hotlines\/","title":{"rendered":"When \u2018no news\u2019 isn’t \u2018good news\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How many employee complaints should I be receiving from an external ethics hotline or case management software? <\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As a business, Report It Now\u2122\ufe0f Limited regularly goes through an annual review and renewal process with our clients. Whilst a vast majority of these clients simply \u201croll the service over\u201d (and ask how they can improve things in that review), we always have a number of clients that ask about the number of submissions that they have received during the past twelve months from their external ethics hotline <\/em>or case management software<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, when they hear that they have had zero or very few submissions, they ask \u201cis that a good thing or not?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some even make statements along the lines of \u201cno submissions means things are going well, right? Do we even need your service?\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading between the lines, we can see the assumption here: no reports is a sign that, culturally, things are very good in the business<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, it simply isn\u2019t so. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

International research suggests that, as a guideline, the ideal number of submissions that any company should receive per annum is 2.3% of your workplace team number.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, if you have 2,500 team members, you might expect to receive in the vicinity of 57 submissions per annum. If you have 50 team members, that number is likely closer to one submission every 365 days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another international source suggests that you might expect four submissions per 100 employees \u2013 a little more than the 2.3% metric \u2013 but either way, there\u2019s no research suggesting that zero submissions is a desirable metric.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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More often than not, claims of \u2018zero submissions\u2019 are not actually zero!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

No workplace is perfect<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Firstly (and bluntly): no workplace is perfect. Accepting this fact is a good starting point! According to the Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics<\/a>, Santa Clara University, somewhere in the vicinity of 20% of your team are more than likely to be \u201coutliers\/suspected or actual ethics violators\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Secondly, it all depends on what information you capture and why \u2013 so, data is crucial.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a perfect world, that will mean using a single externally managed repository\/case management system that can capture all conversations that relate to any allegations of wrongdoing via an external ethics hotline – including bullying, fraud, health and safety issues or whatever. That system will ensure that all \u2018dots\u2019 can be joined easily and seamlessly at any one time, making investigating and reporting both easy and transparent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to data collection, the missing link is more often than not, those casual conversations between team member and manager – or just team members – that are typically not captured by reporting systems.  Commonly, these conversations are deemed \u201cnot important enough\u201d, \u201ctoo minor\u201d or \u201ctoo laborious\u201d to log into a single repository. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This suggests that, more often than not, claims of \u2018zero submissions\u2019 are not actually zero!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better options<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In business today, there is a plethora of different service providers and pieces of software for managing the whole culture\/ethics \u2018umbrella\u2019. That includes employee assistance programs, health and safety software, external lawyer lines, auditors acting as Speak Up lines, internal and external ethics hotlines and services, spreadsheets run by HR\/H&S experts etc.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get the best gauge on how you, as a business, measure up to best-practice ethical standards<\/a>, organisations using a holistic service that integrates all of those parts get the best results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The secret sauce<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Lastly, the \u2018secret sauce\u2019 that brings it all together is a combination of ingredients: a cultural commitment to encouraging an open, trustworthy, transparent environment, free of retaliation; senior executives \u2018walking the talk\u2019 of openness\/honesty; using an external ethics hotline using intuitive easy access\/simple straight forward case management software<\/a>, and training, training, training.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a business we use Jane Arnott<\/a> for all of our Report It Now\u2122\ufe0f training. Jane provides amazing bespoke ethics training solutions<\/a>, customised for your business, really challenging attendees on ethical scenarios.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Report It Now\u2122\ufe0f, we think that an ongoing commitment to ethics training that the real missing link in New Zealand businesses. Kiwi business leaders, HR people and managers are still yet to understand just how much this type of training can improve their business’s culture and ultimately their bottom line.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two key points to remember here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n