The ‘Ethics at Work: 2024 International Survey of Employees’ report has just been released by the Institute of Business Ethics (IBE). This report offers insights into how employees perceive ethics within their organisation and highlights the importance of strong ethical workplace cultures. Over 12,000 working adults in 16 countries including New Zealand were surveyed for this report.
One of the key insights that the IBE highlights in their press release is the proportion of unethical behaviours that don’t get reported. According to the report, ‘one in three employees who knew about misconduct did not report it’. Reasons shared by survey respondents range from fear of retaliation to concerns that corrective action would not be taken by their organisation.
When zooming into the New Zealand results of this global survey, we find a similar trend. While the proportion of employees who are aware of ethics programmes and their importance is on the rise, it seems too many of them remain reluctant to speak up about instances of misconduct. Overall, surveyed NZ employees seem dissatisfied with the ways in which ethics programmes are applied and followed in practice.
Increased awareness: a positive trend
Compared to 2021, employees in New Zealand are more likely to say that they are aware of each of the four building blocks of an ethics programme considered. They are also more likely to say that they have been aware of misconduct at work compared to 2021 (23% vs 16%).
When asked questions about how ethics programmes translate into practice and day-to-day behaviours, NZ employees respond very positively. 73% of them say that their line manager sets a good example of ethical business behaviour. 77% say that their organisation acts responsibly in all its business dealings. And 82% of them say that people in their organisation know what is expected of them in terms of ethical behaviour.
However, with awareness comes dissatisfaction
Employees in New Zealand are among the strictest towards ethically questionable workplace practices. In other words, they seem to have high expectations of their peers, colleagues and leaders when it comes to behaving ethically, and in line with their organisation’s ethics programmes - or at least higher expectations than their counterparts in other countries.
The percentage of NZ employees who say that honesty is practised always or frequently in
their organisation has slightly decreased in the past three years. Also, NZ employees are less likely to say that their line manager explains the importance of honesty and ethics in the work they do (63% of NZ employees vs 68% global average).
The percentage of employees who have felt pressured to compromise their organisation’s standards of behaviour has further increased in New Zealand compared to 2021 (12% vs 10%). This could be explained by the more acute awareness of ethics and ethical behaviours at work: a higher proportion of employees with an awareness and understanding of what is ‘right’ in the workplace might come hand-in-hand with a higher number of employees who are aware of what may constitute a compromise in ethics.
62% of NZ employees who have been aware of misconduct at work have spoken up about it with management, another appropriate person, or through any other mechanism. This is lower than the average of the 16 countries surveyed (64%), which in itself is considered too low by the IBE, as mentioned above.
One of the main reasons seems to be fear of retaliation. Amongst the NZ employees who have raised their concerns about misconduct they have been aware of, 42% report experiencing retaliation as a result. 34% feel that speaking up might jeopardise their job, and 28% don’t want to be seen as a troublemaker by management.
The other reason is the perceived lack of consequences or corrective action. Only 49% of the employees who decided to speak up were satisfied with the outcome. This compares with 58% in 2021, and it is at the lowest level ever recorded in New Zealand.
Of the 16 surveyed countries, employees in New Zealand are the least likely to be satisfied. Amongst the employees who decide not to raise their concerns, 28% said that they did not believe that corrective action would be taken. Overall, NZ employees are less likely than average to say that their organisation disciplines employees who violate its ethical standards (61% vs 65% global average).
Ethical leadership needs more priority
These results seem to show that a large proportion of NZ employees expect a high level of integrity from their organisations and their colleagues. This reveals a positive trend: more and more employees are aware of the existence and importance of ethics programmes and believe that it is important for these programmes to be carefully implemented and respected.
The implications are higher levels of expectations, which need to be met by employers. Aspects of organisations’ culture and support structures need to improve to meet these rising expectations. This may include developing mechanisms to create a safe ‘speak up’ culture, creating opportunities to encourage dialogue and discussions around ethics amongst employees, or putting in place initiatives that foster trust and transparency in the workplace. Ethical leadership needs more priority and further attention.
As Lauren Branston, CEO of the Institute of Business Ethics, commented:
“A culture where employees feel safe to speak up leads to increased trust, improved employee engagement, and ultimately, better overall performance. You can’t fix something if you can’t see that it’s broken, so having a positive approach to speak up should be seen as a vital part of an organisation’s culture. Getting this right isn’t just about risk management - it has real, tangible benefits for businesses.”
Key findings and Full Ethics at Work report for the world can be viewed here.
The Institute of Business Ethics’ Ethics at Work 2024 International Survey of Employees was conducted with 12,000 employees from across 16 countries with representative samples of 750 employees per country. Professor Karin Lasthuizen is the inaugural and current Chair of The Brian Picot Chair in Ethical Leadership – Aritahi, IBE’s National Partner for New Zealand. Karin published a nearly identical version of this article on her LinkedIn profile.
