Deal with Whistleblower

Many companies will set their public relation on the frontline, when companies are facing a serious issue that damage their reputation. Here’s public relation do their job as the gatekeeper who responsible to maintain the reputation. Public relation usually deals with a lot of internal crisis and issue, including whistleblowing case.

Whistleblowing is kind of internal issue that may be become global issue of company if the company cant handle it well. When worker reports or claims doubted wrongdoing at work, this called as making a disclosure in the public interest and company should prepare to protect this problem. Here’s public relation stand for, public relations should make-sure; what does worker complain or report and validate if it does not spread to the public and media, if it already happened, public relation should take an action to facing question from media and prepare back up plan to reduce the media intention to the company.

 There is no easy way to be solved this whistleblowing case. Even Public relation will need particular strategy to handle it. Public relation should build the policy or law before this case happens to the company, because unconsciously if it happens; it will effect to the company business on long run period.

For an example, One of BUMN company: Garuda Indonesia has their own strategy to face the whistleblower. They know whistleblowers are damage but Garuda Indonesia try to handle it with well prepare approach, so they can control the whistleblower. Garuda Indonesia has whistle-blowing system where whistleblower can report any criminal things, violation of ethnic code, violation of SOP (operational procedure), so if worker find desecration, they can go to http://www.ga-whistleblower.com then report. I think this is good strategy, where public relation prepares any possibility can happen to Garuda Indonesia.

If I was Garuda Indonesia public relation, it can be easy to detect the whistleblower and filter the complaint in order to manage them. Because if whistleblower do not have a place to tell, they probably will go to media and tell anyone. But Here’s whistleblower can tell anything without worry but their identity. Garuda Indonesia positioned whistleblower as their source, where they can evaluate themselves and also whistle blower can be their internal issue-maker.

To sum up, public relation has big responsible where they should watch and maintain the reputation, at the same time they solve whistleblowing case. Garuda Indonesia is good example that shows how the public relation trying to understand the case and what happen to the internal company, so they can give hand to deal it.