Discreet reporting programs are long-term initiatives for organisations requiring ongoing attention.

Thankfully gone are the days of the traditional stuffy “whistleblower hotline”, one-way communication and individuals left wondering if management received (or accurately reviewed) their report of wrongdoing.

Despite how far we have come, there is still no shortage of media articles outing organisations/leaders misbehaving or mishandling employee disclosures. The spotlight on corporate behaviour has never been stronger.

We had enough of watching a ‘tick-box’ approach to whistleblowing – so we created Your Call to help leaders be real and take a continuous improvement approach to discreet reporting.

Organisations can no longer ignore the importance of a modern, best-practice and robust discreet reporting program and its role in cultivating a speak-up culture.

Establishing a new program can be overwhelming so it is important for leaders to start by seeking commitment at the top of the organisation. The program’s framework should be designed to stand up to scrutiny, be truly safe for individuals to use and allow for 360 degree reporting (against any individual in the organisation, even the CEO or Board).

Discreet external reporting needs to be humanistic, impartial and tailored to the stakeholder demographic at an organisation. Leaders should take care around the type of language used to promote the program, the covert/overt actions of management and the nuanced micro-cultures which exist across regions or (retail) stores.

Most importantly, to ensure a well-functioning program, it is crucial for individuals to feel safe to speak-up pre/during/post the disclosure journey. Individuals must have confidence the appropriate action will be taken. This is why Your Call avoids the traditional, one-way, model of whistleblowing and introduced its unique three-way approach.

Your Call’s team of experts play an intermediary role throughout the disclosure journey. We are the conduit between the individual and their organisation from start to finish. As our philosophy states, our role is to listen, respect and protect.

Our three-way model ensures leaders can offer their people a genuinely independent, 360-degree discreet reporting service. One that is sensible and defensible for leaders to demonstrate they “walk the talk”.

Your Call’s Officers review our anonymous messaging apps (the first in Australia) for each piece of communication received by an organisation or individual with the goal to ensure the organisation is acting ethically, and the individual is protected.

To fully-integrate an external reporting service, organisations should collaborate with experts. If you are unsure if your current external reporting program will stand up to scrutiny, we suggest a first step is to include attitude/adoption questions in your next employee culture survey. You can audit your program using our starter-checklist here.

Many leaders have proactively taken steps to prevent similar scenarios playing out at their organisations (like our clients!), and Team Your Call welcomes the pending changes to Legislation, ASX Governance Principles and ASIC’s continued focus on culture. We look forward to the eventual delivery of a new Australian Standard for Whistleblowing Programs, too.