‘I recommend FaceUp to other companies whenever whistleblowing comes up’, says Rohia Hakim from CTP Invest

CTP Invest is the largest owner, developer and manager of logistics and industrial property in Europe. In 25 years they have become the largest publicly traded I&L developer in Europe and currently has around 900 employees and external workers.

CTP Invest introduced a whistleblowing system in 2022 for several reasons. Besides getting themselves prepared for the new whistleblower protection law, the company’s leadership wanted to increase their credibility, accessibility, and also to provide the option for anonymous reporting. Compliance Officer Rohia Hakim, who has more than 10 years of experience in the compliance field, was in charge of the implementation of the whistleblowing system. Mrs. Hakim describes what was important in implementing the whistleblowing system:

I consider the choice of whistleblowing tool to be key. Unfortunately, many contradictions still persist, such as a trust box next to the manager’s door, sitting under a CCTV camera. And as always, clear communication is important. Employees must be assured that their reports will be properly investigated and that they won’t face any kind of backlash if their report was made in good faith.
 

Why did you choose FaceUp?

For me, an important factor was security and clear report management. FaceUp is also available in all the languages and jurisdictions in which we operate. Another plus was their compliance with ISO standards and GDPR requirements. I like the simplicity, accessibility and affordability of the platform. Moreover, I was intrigued by the story behind FaceUp’s founding and the fact that by using their platform, we are contributing towards a good thing – combating bullying in schools. FaceUp has absolutely fulfilled my expectations.”

Mrs. Hakim explains that when introducing a whistleblowing platform in her organization, she had to start by explaining exactly what one was and what its benefits were: “It’s important right at the beginning to create a positive view of the tool’s effectiveness in tackling fraud and corruption. Any negativity, e.g. from management, can completely derail your efforts to set up effective whistleblowing. It’s also important to choose the right assignee, someone with experience in the area, but who most importantly has the confidence of employees.”

CTP Invest first notified their employees about FaceUp via email, then through the company intranet and compliance training. They also included information about whistleblowing on their website, in their code of ethics and in other guidelines and company documents. So how did the employees react to its implementation?

Our employees reacted positively to the FaceUp whistleblowing system. Almost immediately we received several suggestions on how to improve our working environment through the application. In total, we have received 45 reports through FaceUp since its introduction, compared to 0 before. Every report was relevant. The benefits are clear. Employees have been given a signal that we take their reports seriously, which is why we have enabled an external solution to give whistleblowers the chance to send reports securely and truly anonymously.
 

CTP Invest have largely received suggestions to improve their company culture through FaceUp, or matters concerning their working environment - more specifically, conflict in the workplace. “I recommend FaceUp to other companies whenever whistleblowing comes up,” concludes Rohia Hakim.