Executive PA Australasia Issue 2 2019 | Page 20

j Meet Rosemary Rogers. For nearly a decade she served as chief of staff to multiple executives at National Australia Bank (NAB), and in that time Rogers lived in the lap of luxury. A jaw-dropping amount of money was spent on holidays, parties, properties, private jets and helicopters. It’s been reported that one of Rogers’s holidays to the US racked up a $485,000 tab, and over $70,000 was dropped on a no-expense-spared birthday party for her friends and family. But in early 2018, Rogers’s high-life came to an abrupt end. A whistleblower at NAB alleged that Rogers was conspiring with executive events company, Human Group, to defraud the bank out of millions of dollars. Police claim that Rogers approved inflated invoices for Human Group’s services and in return she reportedly received kickbacks totalling $5.4 million. Rogers has been charged with over 56 counts of ‘being an agent corruptly receiving benefit’ and ‘dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception’, or in layman’s terms—bribery. If proven to be true, and if Rogers is convicted, NAB’s internal watchdog and management may have all failed to detect or stop her alleged fraudulent behaviour. This story demonstrates just how important a whistleblower can be, and why every organisation should have appropriate policy in place to protect them. Why blow the whistle? Whistleblowing is an insurance policy, and the last line of defence against criminal behaviour. But the real value in whistleblowing is not what it produces, but what it prevents. Whistleblowing can be twice as effective as any other method of fraud detection, in fact, 40 percent of cases are brought to light by whistleblowers. In Australia fraud costs $8.5 billion a year and organisations typically lose five percent of their annual revenue as a result. ‘Business insiders’ commit a majority of the crimes and on average it can take 18 months to detect and stop the wrongdoing. If a whistleblower takes action, organisations can potentially avoid an immense financial loss. Despite the positives, whistleblowers are often seen as ‘snitches’. Blowing the whistle—particularly in high-profile cases—can come at a huge personal cost. Employees who speak up are at risk of retribution and put their careers, financial security, friendships and freedom on the line. HR expert and author, Karen Gately says, “treating whistle blowers as ‘trouble makers’ is an all too common attitude taken by people who would rather be free to act without consequences. Courageous organisations acknowledge their short comings and sincerely value the role whistleblowers play.” Recently an Australian law passed that requires listed and larger companies to have a whistleblower protection policy in place by late 2019. Organisations are now obliged to give whistleblowers safe and anonymous channels to speak up. If the protections are breached there are heavy consequences, including jail time. Best practice It’s all well and good to have an open and honest workplace, but sensitive complaints (like the one made by the NAB whistleblower in the Rogers case) require discretion. Good whistleblower policy should encourage employees to speak 20 Chief of Staff | Issue 2 2019 up on sensitive matters without fear of reprisals. Now there’s legislation in place that compels companies to draft policy, it’s important to understand what best practice looks like. Nathan Luker, CEO of external whistleblowing service YourCall, gave us his perspective. “Organisations need to act and allocate internal resources to construct whistleblowing policy,” Nathan explains. Correct whistleblowing policy should cover a few fundamental points. Firstly, an organisation needs to appoint the appropriate staff to deal with confidential reports, otherwise known as a ‘Whistleblowing Officer’. This position is generally given to a senior executive, and we’ll go into more detail on that role a bit later. Secondly, an organisation needs to work on creating a smooth process. A whistleblowing procedure needs to outline how a report can be made, who to make it to, when and how the organisation will investigate, and how the outcome will be managed. “There should be policies and procedures laid out for whistleblowers by the organisation for each stage. What the person’s responsibilities are, what the organisation’s responsibilities are, and what legislation is available to them,” Nathan says. Thirdly, once a procedure is established, it must be communicated throughout the workplace, and be available to any employee at any stage. According to Karen Gately, “taking time to ensure every team member is educated about the policy, the expectations it sets and protections it provides, demonstrates commitment to creating an ethical and accountable environment in which everyone is expected to play a role.” Anonymity is also paramount throughout the whole