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Assessments and Methodology / Ethical Culture

The Eight Pillars of an Ethical Culture

In this eBook, we focus on the foundational elements of an effective and sustainable culture, which we have consolidated into the eight pillars of an ethical culture. This framework defines the key metrics of a strong ethical culture:

  • Do your employees understand what is expected of them when it comes to ethical behavior?
  • Do they know where to go if they have questions? Are they willing to speak up?
  • Do they trust the reporting process enough to engage in it? Or do they fear retaliation or lack of an appropriate response?

Ethical culture matters – to employees, investors, and all stakeholders. Companies that have strong values-based cultures are better places to work and well-poised for long-term success. There are many benefits to fostering a culture in which employees feel supported when they speak up. Not only will you reduce people-driven risks, but your organization will also hear from a range of voices – sharing new ideas and other ways to make the company more successful.

What’s New for 2025:

The latest insights on each pillar reflecting thousands of Ethisphere analyst hours working with leading global organizations on measuring the ethical culture of their employees.

New data reflecting the views of nearly 1.3 million responses across 100 organizations.
New resources, including access to:
  • Masterclasses with guidance for evaluating and improving a culture of compliance
  • Reports, data and infographics highlighting the practices of leading organizations
  • How-to resources on topics such as storytelling, top tips for measuring culture and more
  • Members of the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA) also have access to: templates, toolkits, company examples and event sessions featuring senior leaders discussing topics such as ‘managers as pressure regulators’ and ‘leading with integrity.’

Why Trust Ethisphere?

Our team has helped hundreds of companies measure and improve their speak-up cultures. As we look to 2025 and beyond, we’ve refined what and how we measure: helping companies around the world adopt a more frequent cultural temperature check with pulse assessments, going deeper on the lived employee experience when reporting misconduct to get at what’s not working and what compels employees to speak up.