Tip Lines May Prevent Smoldering Crises

Metro Council in Louisville, Kentucky, will soon consider an ordinance that would create an anonymous tip line for citizens and government employees to report theft, fraud, mismanagement, and unethical behavior in city government (http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009904130362). The recommendation came from the state attorney general's office after an audit of the city's Housing and Human Services Department found "gross mismanagement" of millions of dollars in federal grants.

An outside company would be hired to operate the tip line. Council members say that's important so that people won't feel threatened to report evil deeds in government. When a tip comes in, it will be referred anonymously to the department or agency best suited to investigate.

This proposal is an indictment of the way managers in local government manage and the culture of fear and retribution that comes as a result. We shouldn't have to spend $12,000 a year to do what should happen naturally.

But the sad fact is that this tip line is the next best alternative to an environment of trust. If the culture in your organization suggests you keep your head low and don't cause trouble, then you also need a tip line or an ombudsman or some other anonymous system to catch the bad apples in your barrel.

An effective system for reporting waste and theft is the way many smoldering crises are prevented. If that smolder turns into flame, as it did in Louisville's Housing and Human Services Department, there follows embarrassment, stakeholder outrage, loss of credibility, new laws and ordinances, and more. If you don't have an open communications environment in your business (and be sure it really is open and not just someone's perception), consider a system for employees to report wrongdoing. It may save you from using that crisis communications plan quite so often.