What is an integrity line and how can it help your company?

An integrity line is a secure, anonymous medium through which employees or other stakeholders within an organization can report suspicions or instances of wrongdoing, usually anonymously. An integrity line can also be known as an ‘ethics line’, a ‘hotline’, and an ‘honesty line’. While traditionally this was a physical phone line that people could actually call up, these days most of this kind of whistleblowing is done via an online whistleblowing platform.

An open and transparent workplace

As the name implies, an integrity line is a clear way for an organization to show that they are committed to creating a workplace that is open and honest, where integrity is valued. By providing a clear communication channel for their employees to alert them to any kind of misconduct, as well as offering their own suggestions for how the company could improve, they are demonstrating their commitment to these principles.

The benefits of introducing an integrity line

An integrity line has a range of benefits for both the organization that chooses to implement it and the employees that ultimately end up using it.

For the organization

Demonstrate your values

As mentioned above, an integrity line shows your employees you want them to feel empowered to speak up when something isn’t right.

Compliance with whistleblowing legislation

In the EU, it is now the law that any organization with more than 50 employees must have a whistleblowing channel such as an integrity line. It is a similar story in other countries and regions around the world. 

Save money lost to fraud and theft

On average, 5% of a company’s annual revenue is lost to fraud, yet 3 times as many instances of fraud are unearthed via an integrity line than through traditional, expensive audits.

Reduce staff turnover and the associated costs

Did you know that 18% of employees leave their job due to a negative atmosphere in the workplace? On average, it costs the equivalent of 6 months’ salary to replace a disillusioned employee. An integrity line can help reduce the number of employees who leave your company.

Improve productivity

You might not believe it, but an integrity line can even lead to an increase in productivity in your organization by removing bad actors and boosting morale. This is what happened with one of FaceUp’s clients, the Brno Municipal Office.

Discover potentially lucrative ideas

As hinted at above, an integrity line is not just a tool for receiving reports of malpractice, but can also be a fertile source of new product ideas or other suggestions for improvements.

Avoid unwanted media attention

Allowing for issues to be reported and resolved through an integrity line means that you can keep the matter inside your organization and sidestep a situation where the person affected feels compelled to speak out in the media.

For the employee

Have the chance to speak up something’s not right

Knowing that your employer has an established whistleblowing channel provides peace of mind to employees who know they have the means to speak up if they witness something untoward.

Protect themselves from retaliation

Since most integrity lines are anonymous (like FaceUp), whistleblowers know that they won’t face a backlash or have their career prospects harmed by sending a report.

How to ensure your employees use your integrity line

Once you have decided to introduce an integrity line, you need to ensure people use it.

Here at FaceUp we wrote a whole blog post on this subject, but the key takeaways are the following:

• A clear communication plan so your staff know the line exists
• Training and guidance on how to use it
• Assigning personnel to investigate the reports you receive

Guaranteeing confidentiality through an anonymous reporting feature is also crucial to the uptake of the system.

Which integrity line to choose?

There are a whole host of integrity lines and other whistleblowing systems on the market today, making it tricky to decide which one is right for your business. Again, FaceUp is here to help! We compiled a comprehensive list of the current best options in terms of integrity lines, to make your life a little easier.

FaceUp

FaceUp is a secure, intuitive and easy to use integrity line with a rich set of features including a customizable suggestion form and advanced suggestion management, both available in 113 languages. 

It provides the highest level of data protection and anonymity - it is GDPR compliant, ISO 27001 certified and offers E2E encryption and 2FA. FaceUp can easily be integrated with your company intranet, website, or app through API.

For a reasonably priced, feature-rich system with the highest level of security and usability, why not give FaceUp a try? Book a consultation with our specialist today.