Incident management has always been fundamental to effective corporate compliance programs. Without the ability to intake, investigate, and resolve issues in a rigorous and systematic way, no compliance program would meet the challenges of doing business in our highly regulated world. Now, however, new pressures are coming to bear on the business world that make incident management even more crucial for effective compliance programs:

  1. New regulations such as the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive, which goes into effect in December 2021. Firms operating in Europe will need to provide internal reporting systems that assure the confidentiality of whistleblowers. For retaliation against whistleblowers that does happen, businesses will need a system to receive, investigate, and respond to retaliation complaints within 90 days.
  1. Enhanced workplace safety rules from the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration, imposing more stringent measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19. One provision in the guidance specifically calls for creating a hotline to let employees report safety concerns anonymously, and for businesses then to follow up on those reports. The practical result: more incidents that might come to the compliance department’s attention.
  1. A more forceful enforcement posture from the Biden Administration and regulators overseas on anti-corruption, tax avoidance, privacy breaches, and many other subjects; as well as a more unforgiving public that might roast your corporate reputation on social media for issues or incidents your business handles poorly.
  1. The lingering disruption of the pandemic, which created a host of new risks for organizations that might now end up in your incident management system.

Quite simply, the calculus for investing in incident management systems is changing: companies have more incentive to get this capability right, and risk more severe consequences for getting it wrong. So let’s consider what an effective incident management system should be able to achieve, and how to leverage that effective system for a better compliance program and corporate culture overall.

This whitepaper covers:

  • Key incident management goals and best practices for your compliance program.
  • Critical capabilities to expect in an effective incident management solution.
  • Leveraging your incident management or whistleblowing compliance program to drive better, healthier and more productive corporate culture.

Download the whitepaper below.