A mandatory anonymous channel with the CHEQ internal communication system

A mandatory anonymous channel for reporting corporate corruption cases — will this be GDPR panic, part two?

Everyone still remembers the wave of panic triggered by the 2018 European GDPR regulation, when companies desperately scrambled to comply with the new rules within a few weeks. Yet the regulation was not new at that point: it had been adopted two years earlier, and everyone had had two years to prepare for it — but, naturally, everyone left it to the last minute.

And now another panic attack stemming from a similar European regulation is on the doorstep, as on 17 December this year the EU directive comes into force under which every company with more than 250 employees will be obliged to establish an internal system for anonymous reports. In other words, setting up an anonymous channel is no longer optional for large companies — it is a requirement. Through it, employees can inform management anonymously if they encounter wrongdoing.

If it is up to us, the anonymous-channel panic will not happen this time

The CHEQ internal communication platform already provides a solution as a core service for implementing the EU directive taking effect on 17 December 2021. The anonymous reporting module of the CHEQ internal communication system, which fully protects the whistleblower, is available even in the system's base package.

Regulation aside, internal wrongdoing can pose a genuinely serious risk to a company's reputation and operations. In many cases, the wrongdoing could be nipped in the bud. However, employees fear that if they report wrongdoing to management, it will affect them negatively (too). Because if it comes out that they reported a potential case of wrongdoing, then regardless of whether it was substantiated or not, their colleagues will look at them differently. They will avoid their company and may even ostracise them, seeing them as a traitor who spies and tells tales for management. Moreover, if they flagged potential wrongdoing involving their direct supervisor, their day-to-day work can become impossible in an instant. This is exactly why an anonymous channel is needed!

At the same time, it is not enough to create the possibility of anonymous reporting; it must also be made clear to employees that it truly is anonymous and can be used safely. Whichever way we look at it, it is worth preparing in time for the change brought by the EU directive with an internal communication system that includes an anonymous channel.