This blog post is a guest post from Elizabeth Ticehurst, a Principal Lawyer at Activate Workplace Law, and Scott McLintock, a partner at CurbyPartners.
Organisations are slowly coming to grips with the ‘new normal’ workplace as we emerge from the stringent lockdowns of the past. However, the employment landscape has changed markedly and quickly. The pandemic and the subsequent response have resulted in:
- Significant job losses;
- Uncertainty around health and safety; and
- Quickly evolving laws and regulations.
These changes mean that organisations are facing a range of new risks. An important way that organisations can keep their finger on the pulse with emerging risks in their business is to ensure they have an interactive communication platform with staff and suppliers. A well-run whistleblowing program encourages staff to speak up when they have a question or a concern so that the organisation can respond in a timely manner.
During our live webinar, we explored the key risks in the current work environment and how organisations can adapt their whistleblowing program to ensure that staff feel comfortable making a report. If you missed this session, you can access the recording below:
Identified Key Risks in the Modern Workplace
While some of these risks are not necessarily new, the shift in how we work has made it vital for organisations to ensure their risk strategies are current and relevant.
1. Essential Workers and Safety Uncertainty
Essential workers and those who have not been able to work from home have experienced a highly stressful environment with significant uncertainty around health and safety risks. This trend has been reflected in whistleblowing disclosures, with many recent reports relating specifically to safety standards and protocols in the workplace.
2. The Shift to Home-Based Working
For people working from home, the opportunities for physical or face-to-face conflict have reduced, resulting in fewer disclosures about traditional workplace bullying. However, working from home involves different stresses. A lack of clarity around rules and guidelines has meant that people are unsure what is reasonable and how much flexibility is permitted. An accessible reporting channel is critical here, as the opportunity for face-to-face disclosure is almost non-existent.
3. Elevated Risks in a Decentralized Environment
- Weakening of Controls: Business workflows have been recast, often resulting in less supervision and increased motivation for staff to act unethically due to job uncertainty.
- The Fraud Triangle: Risk has increased as the three elements (opportunity, motivation, and rationalisation) have all been impacted.
- Cybercrime Risk: Home networks often lack the appropriate security protocols established in corporate offices.
- Covert Cultural Erosion: It is more difficult to identify modified behaviours that are detrimental to culture. Bullying may become less overt, moving to social media or private chat messages.
- Investigation Hurdles: Completing audit and investigation activities is more difficult with staff working remotely.
- Retaliation Concerns: Disclosers may feel more exposed as they are not in the office with their usual support network, making them less inclined to speak up.
Key Considerations for Your Program
Areas of a whistleblower program that organisations should re-evaluate include:
- Dual-Purpose Channels: Enabling the reporting of health-related incidents alongside traditional misconduct.
- Accessibility: Ensuring communication channels are open and easy to use for remote workers.
- Support Systems: Recognising that staff may use the whistleblowing mechanism in parallel with Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs).
- Continuous Training: Delivering regular training for staff on how to report and for case managers on how to investigate. This is not a "set and forget" proposition.
- Remote Investigation Planning: Adapting how you gather evidence and conduct witness interviews to accommodate remote settings.
- Building Trust: Using the platform for confidential staff surveys to familiarise employees with the system and build confidence.
- Control Re-assessment: Ensuring complaint handling procedures are fit for purpose in a decentralised or hybrid environment.
How Whispli Facilitates the "New Normal"
Whispli provides the essential infrastructure to manage these decentralized risks. By offering a secure, mobile-first, and anonymous 2-way chat, we bridge the gap between remote employees and compliance teams. Our platform ensures that health and safety concerns or covert bullying are captured early, providing the visibility management needs when they can no longer rely on office-based supervision.
With Whispli, you don't just maintain a policy; you maintain a connected and protected culture, no matter where your team is logged in.
If you are interested in discussing these risks in more detail, please reach out:
- Elizabeth Ticehurst, Principal – Activate Workplace Law [email protected]
- Scott McLintock, Partner – CurbyPartners [email protected]
%201.avif)
%201%20(2).avif)
%201%20(1).avif)
