While firmly established at many international enterprises, companies operating within national borders often do not see the need for whistleblowers to report violations of the law, breaches of compliance regulations or possible business risks. It should be made absolutely clear: whistleblowers are acting in the interest of your company.
A culture of constructive and a functional whistleblowing system lets you constructively deal with problems or hazards before they attract the attention of newspapers, television or social media. This allows you to tackle them at the earliest possible stage, reducing reputational damage to your company.
Whistleblowing depends on trust.
The central role of an ombudsman is to act as an external partner to employees of your company seeking to report violations of the law, breaches of compliance regulations or possible business risks in an anonymous manner.
A lawyer’s right to refuse to testify and obligation to confidentiality provides the legal basis for this assistance. These benefits can even come into play when an electronic system is in use to make anonymous reports.
The ombudsman takes the whistleblower’s complaint, assesses whether the charges are plausible, and can act as a conduit should any questions arise as to the information shared.
If necessary, the ombudsman can carry out an independent investigation and quickly shed light on any malfeasance.
This, the ombudsman is a vital component of any compliance system and of structures intended to identify risks at an early stage.