Ethisphere Launches Latest Insights Report on Corporate Culture: Ineffective Training Impacts Reporting of Misconduct and Perceptions of Organizational Justice

NEW YORK, March 5, 2020 (Newswire.com) – The Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, today announced the launch of volume three of its Ethical Culture Insights Report series. The report derives insights from Ethisphere’s proprietary Culture Quotient (CQ) data set representing the viewpoints of more than four million employees and reveals a strong correlation between employee perception of the training they receive and their ability to identify basic misconduct.

Data shows that employees who believe their company’s training is inadequate are 67 percent less able to identify misconduct than employees who found their company’s training and communications useful.

Additionally, they are 157 percent less likely to say they have faith that the company’s rules are the same for everyone.

These findings are featured in the new Ethisphere report, called Insights from Our Culture Quotient Data Set: Volume Three – The Case for Investing in Engaging and Effective Training and Communications.

The report highlights the impact of training and communications effectiveness on the reporting of misconduct and also how it affects the perceptions of organizational justice. Moreover, the report provides insights into reasons training misses the mark and offers practical guidance and examples of how leading companies make training and communications more effective. The report can be downloaded at https://ethisphere.com/culturereport/.

“Our latest data shows how vital it is for training and communications to resonate with employees. If training is ineffective, employees are considerably less likely to spot or report misconduct and more inclined to perceive the company as unjust and not operating with integrity,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Executive Vice President and Chair of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance. “This poor perception of organizational justice can be corrosive, so it behooves a compliance team to identify where that perception might exist and address those concerns.”

“In the population of people who found training ineffective, if they did identify misconduct, they were 63 percent less likely to report it than someone who found the training and communication materials helpful, indicating a reluctance among many employees to say something if they notice bad actions in the workplace,” said Scott Stevenson, Senior Analyst, Data and Services. “We also found that only three percent of employees who found the company’s training and communication efforts ineffective made use of any compliance-related reporting channels. This is very significant and indicates that there could be many issues within a company that aren’t being reported.”

The Culture Quotient Survey

Volume three of this report examines the data set extracted from responses provided by multinational companies, encompassing more than 585,000 employees around the globe, in 30 languages, representing the views of well over four and a half million employees. From this category-leading compilation of current employee responses, Ethisphere has culled insights to share over the course of three volumes. The Eight Pillars of ethical culture that Ethisphere measures are:

• Awareness of Program and Resources
• Perceptions of the Function
• Observing and Reporting Misconduct
• Pressure
• Organizational Justice
• Manager Perceptions
• Perceptions of Leadership
• Perceptions of Peers and Environment

These eight foundational pillars serve as a framework for systematically and objectively capturing employee sentiment on the formal and informal ethical systems of the enterprise. Developed by Ethisphere experts in collaboration with members of its Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), each pillar is designed to provide insights that lead to clear action and remediation (or praise) where it is most needed. The report provides excellent insights for all companies, but also provides data that leaders can use to determine if their ethics programs are lacking and if they need additional help in building a strong culture.

“Our Ethical Culture Report provides a broad context from companies across the world and is designed to provoke thought and share valuable insights. Companies that are struggling with internal cultural issues or in identifying problems within their culture should consider a standalone ethical culture survey which complements and, in many instances, informs leaders on key metrics that will shed light on challenging issues pertaining to their own business culture,” Byrne said. “Standalone surveys provide a deeper dive into the perceptions of employees, offering insights into what company-specific programs are working and where improvements can be made.”

The new Ethical Culture Report can be downloaded at https://ethisphere.com/culturereport/. Ethisphere also offers a range of related resources including additional data, an infographic, business case slides, and more. These resources can be found at https://ethisphere.com/what-we-do/culture-assessment/.

All Ethisphere research, content, and expertise, such as a recent special report about digital innovation, can be found on the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) member hub, which is made available to global members of BELA. To request guest access, please contact Executive Vice President Jonathan Whitacre at [email protected].

About Ethisphere 

The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, benchmarking, and guidance. More information about Ethisphere can be found at https://ethisphere.com.

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Media Contact:
​Aarti Maharaj​
​Director of Communications
​[email protected]
@Ethisphere