Ethical misconduct at work is not always reported: survey

The Institute of Business Ethics and the Compliance Institute surveyed over 12,000 employees from 16 countries on ethical matters in the workplace

By AFPRelaxnews

Published: Oct 18, 2024 05:12:38 PM IST

Updated: Oct 18, 2024 05:14:26 PM IST

25% of workers reported that they had been aware of misconduct or illegal activity at work in the last year, up from 18% in 2021. Image: Shutterstock

Human resources departments are taking matters of incivility and ethics in the workplace increasingly seriously. Indeed, inappropriate behavior is a major threat to well-being at work. And yet, according to a recent international survey, employees are not systematically reporting misconduct.

The Institute of Business Ethics and the Compliance Institute surveyed over 12,000 employees from 16 countries on ethical matters in the workplace. The overwhelming majority of those surveyed believe that their employer takes such issues seriously (71%), yet they still see ethics breaches in their company.

A quarter of those polled said they were aware of misconduct or illegal activity at work. This figure is up from 18% in 2021. In detail, 20% of employees who had reported misconduct said they were aware of sexual harassment, and 13% of bribery or corruption.

Encouragingly, 84% of employees surveyed claim to work for a company where they can express themselves freely—a climate that enables them to denounce any breaches of ethics or misconduct. But not all employees feel comfortable reporting such incidents: 34% don't do so because they feel it would serve no useful purpose. Others remain silent for fear of damaging their career (34%).

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Nevertheless, this is not a wise choice. Ethics help to create a healthy and respectful working environment. Remaining silent when witnessing an unethical situation contributes to the persistence of unacceptable behavior, which can be detrimental to well-being and motivation. In fact, it has been demonstrated that employees can be more inclined to leave a company where they perceive ethical issues or value conflicts, even if they do not affect them personally.

As a result, it's important for companies to establish a framework for reporting this kind of misconduct, and to take formal steps to curb it. This could involve company-wide written standards in business conduct. Training courses can also be organized to help employees identify ethically unacceptable situations.