How to choose the right external case management service

When you implement your whistleblower system within the organization, it can be good to know that certain components can be handled externally. This is an excellent alternative if you do not have staff within the organization who possess the necessary competence to handle matters concerning whistleblowing, if you do not have someone sufficiently independent for this or if you simply want to offer external reception of whistleblower matters.

Here we take a closer look at just external case management, how it works, what it means for you as an organization and how to choose the right external case management service.

Advantages of external case management

Choosing to use external case management is something that comes with a lot of benefits for the entire organization. In addition to the more obvious benefits such as reducing the pressure on the internal HR or Legal department, there are also the following benefits.

Also read: Should the whistleblowing channel be on the website or intranet?

Professional case management

When you choose to use an external solution for case management of whistleblower reports, you can feel confident that cases are handled in a professional way. Competent staff and lawyers with relevant experience help to handle cases when needed, according to the guidelines of the new Whistleblower Act. For your employees, it can be an important signal that you take whistleblowing seriously.

Security & compliance

By choosing an external case management solution, you ensure that you choose a solution that offers security and compliance with current directives and requirements. This is something that can suffer during internal case management, which can have major consequences. Either due to lack of knowledge or skills or simply due to negligence. Regardless, this point is something worth taking seriously, no matter how big or small your organization is.

Reduced administration

External case management reduces the pressure that the internal staff needs to handle. It is often the case that relevant staff are already busy administering other things. Then it is a great advantage to be able to get a safe alternative, which also results in reduced administration. For larger organizations that receive more cases, it can be easier for that reason, while smaller organizations, which may only receive a single case per year, do not have to familiarize themselves with regulations and processes the few times a case does come in, which often means that the internal recipients need to learn this again.

What a good external case management service contains

There are a couple of different features that good external case management services in whistleblowing have in common. The first, and most basic, is that there are opportunities to keep the whistleblower anonymous during the handling process. The majority of all major case management services offer this feature, but there are also some that lack this basic piece.

Also read: Anonymous reporting in whistleblowing

It is also important that communication regarding the case is handled via an encrypted method. Many people do not consider e-mail to be sufficient when it comes to sensitive tasks such as whistleblowing. Guarantee the security of your organization and your employees by choosing an external case management service that offers these features.

Regarding the case management service itself, there are also different arrangements regarding payment. This is often a fixed price per case, a fixed price per year or a current hourly rate. Visslan's external case management service, or external reception function as we call it, offers different types of arrangements but for the most part a fixed price per year, regardless of the number of cases.

What an external case management service actually means is also an important part. In most cases, it means the initial recommendation when a case has been received, i.e. whether it should be investigated, whether the competent authority should be contacted directly or similar, as well as compliance with the Whistleblower Act in the form of follow-up, documentation and so on. regulations such as the GDPR.

Also read: How to make sure your whistleblowing solution is user-friendly

How to choose the right external case management service

There are a number of different external case management services in designs to choose from. Some of them are too simple and may lack some basic features. Others may be too advanced and simply cost an unnecessary amount of money.

An external case management service for whistleblowing should be easy to understand and easy to use. The whole point is, after all, that you do not want to need to train your own staff in the subject, otherwise you would still be able to set up internal case management, which in itself often does not have to be something negative.

Visslan’s external case management gives you a good balance of the points above. Our external case management gives you access to lawyers who help you handle whistleblower cases. In this way, Visslan helps you save valuable time that can be spent on other things, but it is also a cost-effective choice that helps you save money in the long run.