Murthy-chaired panel demands effective whistleblower policy

An effective whistleblower policy and an ombudsman mechanism on employee complaints are among the measures recommended by a panel chaired by Infosys’ chairman, N R Narayana Murthy, for bettering the way companies are managed.

Ethics and corporate governance should go beyond mere regulatory compliance and all companies must have robust governance practices, according to the report, given today by the Governance and Ethics Committee of Nasscom, the apex body of the information technology industry.

The committee was set up last year after the Satyam scandal threatened to damage the reputation of IT/BPO companies. It comprised industry leaders like Pramod Bhasin, Som Mittal, Ganesh Natarajan and S Ramadorai. The report underscores that governance does not signify excessive focus on compliance but on effective stewardship of company resources and fair and transparent practices.

The report recommends that a supervisory board should move from the traditional advisory role to having strategic oversight of company affairs. More, a company should follow ethical practices for contracts with customers, besides clear accountability, compliance with legal issues and data security, privacy. For competitors, the report suggested that sharing of best practices, respecting intellectual property and ethical hiring would enable a collaborative industry.

“The IT-BPO sector goes beyond just regulatory compliance and involves robust governance practices and ethical behavior, which not only hinges on the functioning of the board but also on how various interconnected building blocks of the ecosystem work together,” said Murthy.

The report recommends that employees of the organisation must maintain confidentiality of information, protecting company assets and adherence to company policies and processes, to enable the company and its employees to align to common goals

For the company as an employer, the report asks it to provide a congenial and safe work environment, equal opportunity to all, appropriate grievance handing and enabling processes for promoting learning and fair practices.