Case Closed: Increase Efficiency by Closing Cases Faster
Taking lots of calls and opening cases is important, but if those grievances go unresolved then your efforts are pointless.
Top compliance professionals know that their job is only beginning when someone phones into the whistleblower hotline. The subsequent goal should be to collect all pertinent evidence and work to actively close the case in an efficient manner.
As cases remain open, faith in the organization tends to suffer. Employees become less likely to report violations moving forward and the organization loses accountability.
Getting your cases closed faster requires a faster, more efficient intake process coupled with awareness on the part of employees that you have their back through it all.
Also, are you looking for more cool compliance stats and info?
Why Do Cases Stay Open for Too Long?
Exceedingly long case times usually start with the intake process. If the people answering phones are not properly trained or the systems are too laggy, this will result in a muddled exchange of information.
Precision is everything when it comes to compliance reporting, so this initial intake process is critical to leading all parties down the road to a positive outcome.
No Sense of Urgency
It seems downright preposterous, but it’s true that many organizations lack a sense of urgency on their operations side.
Usually, poor training is the culprit, and it leads to situations where intake specialists fumble with details presented by the whistleblower which slows down the investigation process and prevents any positive outcome to result.
Bad or Incomplete Information to Start an Investigation
If there are too many cases left open, it’s possible that there isn’t good enough information for the investigation team to start. This again harkens back to the intake process.
It’s important that your compliance professionals are trained to ask the right questions and collect the most useful notes for investigators.
Is it an adaptive interview process? Built-in empathy? Or, is it a straightforward process that is rooted in the collection of facts. Your intake team should be trained to relate to the caller’s dilemma and present a sense of urgency that they want to help mediate and lead them towards a solution.
When your team is just focused on asking the individual a handful of pre-written questions before moving on to the next call, important details will be lost and you won’t get to the root of the issue.
Follow-Up Communications
Continuous follow-ups with your employees are critical to lowering your open rates. This instills trust in your processes and helps them see that you’re actively pursuing a resolution.
Callers are more likely to open up to you and provide the necessary details in less time, leading to a faster closure rate of cases.
How Can You Drive Towards a Better Close Percentage?
Make the intake process adaptive, train the people who are taking those calls, stamp out issues of awareness on the intake side, and make sure that your investigation team is working in concert with your intakers.
When you review ComplianceLine’s 2020 Hotline Benchmark Report you’ll see that ComplianceLine has experienced an average close rate of just 23 days compared to the industry benchmark of 45 days. That’s nearly 2x as fast as other compliance professionals.
80% of ComplianceLine’s cases are closed in under 30 days versus the industry-wide 23%. This saves you time and valuable resources, but most importantly it helps your organization resolve conflicts in a healthy manner.
To determine where your team is at, set some smart goals, and assess your current processes. Perform a sorting rank of your open cases by age days and follow-up on those open cases. You’d be surprised what kind of improvements can be made just from shining a light on those processes.
