Hotlines are heating up

Whistleblower hotlines aren’t new, but the image of a small cadre of phone operators juggling calls and jotting notes has gone the way of the rotary phone, write Gabriel Romero and Angella Davis of The Network, Inc. Today’s hotlines are highly technical fraud prevention tools made available to a host of stakeholders in a multitude of languages and accessible via a variety of intake methods including phone, Web, fax and email. And while an organisation’s hotline represents one of the most critical components of a corporate governance programme, it is just that – a component – and its merits in terms of mitigating risk (and delivering a return on investment) multiplies exponentially when integrated with other hard-working components.

Gabriel Romero (Gabriel.romero@tnwinc.com) and Angella Davis (Angella.davis@tnwinc.com). The Network, Inc (www.tnwinc.com) provides customised reporting for documenting concerns, claims and incidents; service features include high quality assurance, rapid dissemination of data to key stakeholders, centralised, secure case management, advanced reporting analytics and comprehensive communications to engage employees.

Fraud is on the rise

Certainly the current economic climate calls for fresh approaches to old problems. Employers are increasingly challenged to not only dodge the slings and arrows of industry downturns but rally workers who are facing their own personal financial struggles. At last year end the Wall Street Journal confirmed an increase in employee fraud, citing a survey by the Institute for Corporate Productivity Inc., in conjunction with HR.com in which 20% of employers polled said workplace theft had recently become a moderate to very big problem. The authors pointed out that this increase in internal crimes, ranging from fictitious sales transactions and illegal kickbacks to theft of office equipment and retail products, may be a response to financial difficulties at home or the fear of being laid off. [1] The situation isn’t expected to improve in the short term – experts say fraud tends to increase during recessionary times. A survey last year by Deloitte found that two-thirds of 1,280 executives expected accounting fraud perpetrated by both employees and executives to increase during the next two years. [2]