Hotlines are excellent resources for organizations to promote safe and ethical behavior in the workplace, but they are not always used to their fullest potential. When an organization’s hotline goes unused, it is not always because there are no concerns to report. Oftentimes, people are hesitant to use a hotline due to a lack of trust. They may believe that their concerns won’t adequately be addressed, or worse, that they will be punished or ostracized for making a report. In the following, we will discuss best practices for getting employees to trust and use their hotline.
What Holds People Back from Using a Hotline?
There are a variety of factors that deter employees from using hotlines. As mentioned above, trust plays a big role in whether someone will make a report. According to the Harvard Business Review article, “How to Create a Worker Safety Hotline That Really Works,” by Katheryn Babuneau and Maya Stephens, “Many worker hotlines sit quiet because workers fear retaliation for speaking out. Vulnerable workers often worry that their hours could be docked, their wages reduced, or their position eliminated.” Additionally, many people are reluctant to make reports because they believe that doing so will result in a lengthy investigation process with little to no change being implemented. The article states, “Many employers simply do nothing to address the concerns that are raised, often because they fear that making changes will be too difficult or costly to implement.” Clearly, if employers fail to address reported concerns, employees will find filing a report to be a waste of time.
A lack of reporting options is another factor that prevents individuals from using a hotline. The Forbes article, “Why It’s Time to Modernize Your Ethics Hotline,” by Claire Schmidt explains that many hotlines started out as a phone number for employers to call and report fraud or financial issues. While this was a great starting place, we now understand the importance of reporting all kinds of safety and ethical concerns, and technology has provided many channels for making reports in addition to phone calls. Failure to provide adequate reporting options discourages employees from sharing their concerns.
How to Build Trust and Encourage the Use of a Hotline:
Thankfully, there are many ways to address the above deterring factors and to encourage the use of an ethics hotline. These strategies should be embedded into a hotline’s design, implementation, and ongoing use.
Design Strategies: Reporting mechanisms should be designed in a way that provides access and options to all members of an organization. The aforementioned Harvard Business Review article explains, “Hotlines need to be accessible, at the times, in the languages, and through the mediums that workers prefer.” Individuals should be able to report a variety of concerns (both big and small) using their organization’s hotline. Hotlines should provide individuals with multiple channels for reporting concerns such as online forms and phone numbers, and these channels should be available in multiple languages to meet the needs of all employees.
Implementation Strategies: Organizations must make their hotline and its use known and understood by all stakeholders. The Linkedin article, “How to Introduce an Ethics Hotline,” by Rod Lacey states, “When announcing your hotline, begin by sharing the very simple nature of the tool. This is a tool to empower employees to identify wrongdoing and to protect the integrity of the company.” Furthermore, it is important to inform individuals of their rights to confidentiality and no retaliation. Finally, when implementing the use of a hotline, it is important that those in leadership positions take part in promoting its use. The article states, “Don’t just include the senior leadership team in the decision-making process, have them visibly pledge their commitment to the integrity of the organization and the use of this tool.”
Strategies for Ongoing Use: An organization’s hotline should be promoted on an ongoing basis. In addition to information being provided during the onboarding process, regular training should encourage and teach individuals to use the reporting mechanisms available to them. Employees should understand the importance and benefits of using their hotline to report concerns. In addition to regular training, organizations must routinely demonstrate the trustworthiness and effectiveness of their hotline by investigating reports quickly and taking the necessary steps to reach a resolution.
To summarize, organizations must take thoughtful steps to promote the use of their ethics hotline. Providing an accessible hotline that is designed to address a variety of concerns, teaching employees how and why they should use the hotline, and quickly investigating and resolving concerns are all best practices for encouraging employees to report unethical practices. Remember that an unused hotline is not a sign of a healthy organization. Instead, an engaged team dedicated to addressing concerns and doing what is right will promote organizational wellbeing in the long run.