Whistleblowing and Its Benefit

What’s Whistleblowing
Whistleblowing is when a person closely associated with the organization, often an employee, but also sometimes a supplier or a customer, observes behavior or actions that they believe to be misconduct, criminal and not in line with the company’s code of conduct, and reports that suspicion

Whistleblowing is a preventive tool to reduce the risks of malpractice and irregularities. It allows organizations to efficiently monitor their policies and business principles, by obtaining information on irregularities that should be acted upon at an early stage. 

Whistleblowing is seen as a very effective tool to combat fraud. Indeed, in its 2020 ACFE Report to the Nations, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) found that the most common detection method for fraud was tip on 43% . The same report also states that companies with whistleblowing services, that include the possibility of anonymous reporting, suffer smaller losses from fraud.

The Benefit of Whistleblowing
In the private sector, whistleblowing helps company identify cases of active bribery and other corrupt acts committed by companies or its employee, and helps business prevent and detect bribery in commercial transactions. 

It’s ethical. Fundamentally, businesses have an ethical obligation to protect and support the employees working for them. That includes protecting employees who raise concerns about possible misconduct they see at the business.

It protects company. Most employees want to speak up about potential trouble they see at the company, and executives should embrace that impulse. That’s far better than the alternative, where employees couldn’t care less to tell what’s going wrong at the business. 

It minimizes risks and costs. Misconduct that continues for a long time will ultimately be more expensive to resolve. That’s true whether the misconduct is a criminal legal violation (i.e. bribery and corruption), workplace harassment that might lead to civil lawsuits, or innocent errors that leave the business exposed to risk. When whistleblowers feel confident in speaking up, it is helping to protect the company.

It's a benefit for employees, by having the company's interests protected and reducing the risk of losses from misconduct makes the company more sustainable and generates more profits. Therefore, the continuity of employment for employees will be in return.
When employees who want to commit misconduct know that other employees will call them out — and that management will then investigate the allegation — those employees are less likely to try whatever wrongdoing they have in mind.

Whistleblowing in Our Company
Few things are as important to a company as an engaged workforce that actually you know cares about the success and well-being of the business. Which means that a strong speak-up culture and internal reporting from employee is crucial.

Encouraging employees to report wrongdoing, and protecting them when they do, is essential for whistleblowing program. Employees are usually the first to recognize wrongdoing in the workplace, by empowering them to speak up without fear of reprisal can help company both detect and deter violations.

The instinct is to fear whistleblowing, because whistleblower reports mean trouble. Every report is a potential problem that needs attention, and allegations of serious misconduct could cause enormous disruption to the business. 
That view of whistleblowing is deeply flawed, the whistleblower does not mean trouble but ignoring for over the long term can leave an organization in a situation with more dysfunction than whatever the whistleblowers might report earlier.

Sometimes reports come in through the whistleblowing system, about something that is wrong in the organization in the eyes of the whistleblower. But it may not really be a whistleblowing case. However, it is clearly something that is important to the sender of the report, something they are very unhappy about, or uncertain about, like an ethical dilemma, and they do not know where to turn.

In Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) Sinar Mas, we encourage every employee and the stakeholders who has an interest with us to raise their concern regarding the violation of Business Code of Conduct, Company’s policies or law and regulations. Company provides a channel to report wrongdoing with anonymously and confidential. 

In addition, APP also protects the whistleblower against retaliation. Our Company does not tolerate retaliation against a whistleblower who submitted their reporter in a good faith. Retaliation is prohibited and constitutes a violation that may result in disciplinary sanctions.

If you have any doubts or a report related suspected violations in your workplace, take an action to raise your concern. Make a Change, Speak Up!