This article explains how to create reporting channels and categories in Personio Whistleblowing. If you haven't already done so, learn how to set up Personio Whistleblowing.

Before you start

Only Personio Administrators or employees with "Channel Administrator" permissions can set up and manage reporting channels. Case managers can add, edit, or delete custom categories. See Add or remove case managers in Personio Whistleblowing for more info.

Understand reporting channels and categories

Reporting channels

Reporting channels allow organizations to define separate channels for their Whistleblowing reporters to choose from. This is useful when your company wants to separate cases depending on team, legal entity, or subsection.

• Case managers can only view the cases within the reporting channel they've been assigned to, providing extra security. 
• The defined reporting channels appear as options in the Branch dropdown menu, located in step one of the reporting form.
• Reporting channels cannot be deleted, only archived.

To manage and assign case managers, see Add or remove case managers in Personio Whistleblowing. 

Categories

The categories feature provides a way for case managers to sort and organize cases based on what the type of misconduct involved. All case managers can add, edit, or delete custom categories.

• This gives reporters the option to select what they feel their case is related to.
• There are four pre-defined default categories in Personio Whistleblowing: Discrimination, Harassment, Fraud, and Leak. These cannot be edited or deleted, but new custom categories can be added.

Create a reporting channel

To create a new reporting channel, follow these steps:

1. Select Whistleblowing from the navigation bar in Personio.
2. In the top-left corner, click Whistleblowing > Settings > Reporting channels.
3. Click Add new channel in the top right.
4. In the window that appears, enter the reporting channel name and click Add.
5. The new reporting channel appears in the list of reporting channels, and as an option in the branch dropdown menu in step one of the reporting form. 

To manage the case managers assigned to a reporting channel, see Add or remove case managers in Personio Whistleblowing.

Edit the name of a reporting channel

To edit a reporting channel's name, follow these steps:

1. Select Whistleblowing from the navigation bar in Personio.
2. In the top-left corner, click Whistleblowing > Settings > Reporting channels.
3. Find the reporting channel you want to edit and click the ... icon > Edit name.
4. Update the name and click Save.

The name updates instantly on the list of reporting channels, and as an option in the branch dropdown menu in step one of the reporting form.

Archive or restore a reporting channel

Archive a reporting channel

To archive an existing reporting channel, follow these steps:

1. Select Whistleblowing from the navigation bar in Personio.
2. In the top-left corner, click Whistleblowing > Settings > Reporting channels.
3. Find the reporting channel to archive and click the ... icon > Archive.
4. Click Archive channel in the confirmation window that appears.

Reporting channels cannot be deleted, only archived. Archived reporting channels are not visible to reporters in the reporting form, but any existing cases still remain visible to case managers. Reporters can still follow up on their case.

Restore a reporting channel

To restore an archived reporting channel, follow these steps:

1. Select Whistleblowing from the navigation bar in Personio. 
2. In the top-left corner, click Whistleblowing > Settings > Reporting channels.
3. The archived reporting channel appears in the list of reporting channels. Find the reporting channel to restore, and click Unarchive.
4. Click Unarchive channel to confirm.

This makes the reporting channel visible to reporters, and you will be able to add or remove case managers assigned to this reporting channel. Any previously assigned case managers will be restored.

Create a custom category

To add a custom category, follow these steps:

1. Select Whistleblowing from the navigation bar in Personio.
2. In the top-left corner, click Whistleblowing > Settings > Categories.
3. Click Add category, enter a name, and click Add. 
4. The new category appears under Custom on the Categories page and as an option for reporters to select during step two of the reporting form.

Edit or delete a category

To edit or delete a custom category, follow these steps:

1. Select Whistleblowing from the navigation bar in Personio.
2. In the top-left corner, click Whistleblowing > Settings > Categories.
3. Find the category you want to edit or delete. 
   • To edit: click the Pencil icon to the right of the category, enter the new name, and click Save.
   • To delete: click the X icon to the right of the category and click Delete category to confirm. This won't affect cases that already have this category.

Changes are reflected on the Categories settings page and in step two of the reporting form. Deleted categories cannot be edited and are listed separately on the settings page. An icon appears next to those still assigned to reports. A deleted category remains visible in Filter and Category assign lists until removed from all reports, but cannot be selected. If not assigned to any existing reports, a deleted category immediately disappears from all options.

Next steps

For next steps, refer to the following Personio Whistleblowing articles:

• Learn how to assign case managers.
• Learn how to manage cases.