The phrase “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies to quite a few situations, but selecting and implementing an employee hotline and case management tool simply isn’t one of them — particularly for smaller companies.

We can explain.

The majority of orgs have some sort of reporting mechanism. Even if your company currently has fewer than 150 full-time employees and no official solution in place, you probably have a system that works for you. Maybe it’s an open-door policy, an email alias, or a Google Form, and you might be resistant to switching — but how do you know when it’s time to graduate to an employee hotline and case management tool like Ethena’s?

The short answer might be:

  1. You need to meet requirements of SOCII, SOX, or the EU Whistleblower directive.
  2. You have a great culture where team members escalate incidents to their HRBPs, but no streamlined way of tracking this.
  3. You want to make the ability to report more visible to your team and truly anonymous. 

And for the long(er) answer? Keep reading.

How does Ethena’s HR case management tool work?

For those doing the reporting, we’ve put anonymity measures in place so everyone can speak freely, whether on their own behalf or that of a colleague or direct report. 

And for those hard-working admins receiving the reports, we put our most brilliant Product minds on creating a best-in-class case-management system so that all the information you need is at your fingertips, and items are that much less likely to slip through the cracks. (We know you already have enough on your plates, so it was literally the least we could do.)

How do I know if my team needs an employee hotline?

If your team is currently working to meet the requirements of SOCII, SOX, or the EU Whistleblower directive, it’s likely time for an outsourced tool — meaning you’re in the right place.

But even if you aren’t yet required to be shopping for a tool, it’s never a bad idea to get ahead of the game.

Regulations surrounding anonymous reporting requirements are not only constantly shifting, but also notoriously vague. We know that having a reporting system in place in the event of an audit or investigation can help companies avoid stiffer penalties. But since the punishments for even an unwitting violation are so high, why risk it? It’s wise to have a scalable system in place before you need it. After all, it won’t do you much good after.

You have a great culture where team members escalate incidents to their HRBPs, but are missing a streamlined tracking method

This is an objection we hear a lot, so we wanted to call it out specifically. Folks at smaller orgs or tight-knit companies often rely on people just coming to them. Okay, so maybe you don’t need the reporting form, but we’re betting you could certainly use the organization of it all. And even if your organizational process is currently working perfectly, are you certain it will continue to work 
 forever?

As you scale, you’ll still need to record all the details of these less official reports, which can become a higher and higher lift without a case-management system like Ethena’s. Ask yourself: Would you still want to be using your current process if your org doubled in size? What if you left for another opportunity? Would you feel comfortable onboarding someone new to your system? Can you guarantee that nothing would get lost? (Because you need to!)

And finally, if you’re using an open-door process, how can you be certain that folks really are coming to you? You can’t, right? Making it the dreaded feedback vacuum — an unknown unknown.

We tried, but we couldn’t hold back any longer — here’s what the employee hotline and case management workflow looks like.

You want to make the ability to report more visible to your team and truly anonymous 

We want to be clear that there are absolutely situations where Google Docs is robust enough for you. If you’re under 50 full-time employees, for example, you could very well be totally fine with Google Docs.

But let’s also think about a potential audit trail. Where are you going to put notes in a Google Doc? That’s a today problem and a future problem, particularly as security surrounding a Google Form can be a bit iffy. Plus, Google Forms only allows for one-way communications, offering no method for someone to report anonymously but opt into followup. (Oh, have we not mentioned that our tool does this? Because it does.)

Finally, our tool shows you exactly who can see any given report, whereas with a Google Form, you run into user issues like not knowing who a form is going to — and even if you do know, worrying that it can change over time. 

So isn’t it better to trade up now to save yourself a headache in the future? We’re biased, of course, but we think so.

How Ethena’s employee hotline and case-management tool stands out

We’ve already spoken at length about the benefits of our particular tool, so we’ll leave you with some bullet points. Ethena’s employee hotline and case management tool provides you with:

  • The ability to communicate with reporters (who have opted in), even if they’ve submitted anonymously
  • Best-in-class tracking and case management abilities through our Admin Hub
  • A built-in foundation of trust for those already using Ethena
  • A consolidated solution for companies trying to pare down
  • Transparent and empathetic language guiding users (and admins!) through the form and process 
  • An FAQ page to proactively address concerns like:
    • What will happen to the person I report?
    • What about retaliation?
    • How can you guarantee my anonymity?
    • Etc.
  • Customizable, company-specific FAQs (with suggested language provided) to minimize effort for small teams, touching on topics like:
    • What’s the investigation process like?
    • Who will have access to my report?
    • Etc.

It's time to level-up your existing processes with our light-lift employee hotline

We aren’t gonna lie, we’re really proud of this one. So if there’s something you’re concerned about that we didn’t touch on here, please do reach out — we’d love to hear from you. You can book time to chat with a member of our sales team, look through our G2 reviews to see what our existing customers have to say, or if you still aren’t convinced, read more about our employee hotline and case management tool here.