Here’s a question that doesn’t get enough attention in the corporate ethics and compliance world: What makes an employee decide to call the hotline, or fill out the web form to submit an internal report?
I know, I know; plenty of readers are already muttering, “Are you serious? We talk about that question all the time” – but actually, we don’t.
Compliance officers talk all the time about the deep theoretical motivations employees might have to submit a report, typically using fuzzy phrases such as “a desire to see the company succeed” or “because they want to do the right thing.” We also talk all the time about why employees don’t submit an internal report, with equally vague terms like “fear of retaliation” or “because the company won’t do anything.”
But what specific, concrete moments drive an employee to pick up the hotline?
After all, evidence shows that employees typically know about an issue for at least a week, and often for several weeks, before they submit a report. So, what tips the scales of their moral compass toward reporting?
And to what extent should compliance officers support those moments so you can gather more internal reports; or be wary of what those moments might unleash?
First, let’s consider what the data says about when employees first witness an incident and when they actually submit a report about it, per the NAVEX Whistleblowing & Incident...
New York Packaging II LLC, operating as Redi-Bag USA, and its CEO Jeffrey Rabiea have agreed to pay $7.3 million to resolve False Claims Act allegations brought by the U.S. Department of Justice a...