Executive Summary:
Each year, NAVEX conducts a deeper analysis of our annual global Hotline & Incident Management Benchmark Report to gain insights on regional incident reporting trends among our worldwide customer base. We analyze our global data by four main regions: North America, South America, Europe and Asia Pacific (APAC).
As in years past, there are meaningful regional differences revealed through this analysis. Yet we start our analysis of the 2022 reporting data with a major commonality – reporters in all regions seem to be growing more cautious since 2021's "Great Resignation", as evidenced by a marked increase in anonymous reporting year over year. Identifying all the causes for this increased caution is beyond the scope of this study, but we suspect generalized economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability are playing a major role. These macro-economic trends likely contributed to an apparent retreat by reporters who were only recently far more likely to put their name to a report than in years past. Workers now seem to have retrenched, bringing workforce culture issues to the fore as they devote greater focus to their current, and not prospective, employment.
Yet even this major trend features regional nuances, revealed through enhanced analysis included in this report for the first time. In addition to our examination of incident data in the region of an organization's headquarters, NAVEX is now also presenting data as calculated by the region of report origination. This helps tell the story of organizational cultures – illustrating how companies based in certain regions are employing their ethics and compliance programs worldwide. It also shines a light on regional cultures; metrics viewed through region of report origin that help reveal insights specific to workforces in those global areas.
Below are some of the key insights from this analysis.
Report volume rises across all regions; reporters are more cautious
Median Report Volume per 100 Employees rose for all regions comparing 2022 to 2021. This likely points to broad forces impacting the world's workforces – potentially, that weaker job markets and more uncertainty have given some workers greater urgency to invest energy in the dynamics in their current workplaces versus focusing outward at exploring different opportunities.
Organizations in the European Union also faced the accelerating rollout of the EU Whistleblower Protection Directive during this time period, which mandated many organizations in the bloc set up internal whistleblowing systems. It will be notable to see the extent to which EU report volume increases over time – Europe and APAC still show far smaller median volumes than North and South America overall.
As volumes have increased, so has the share of reports submitted anonymously. This may again reflect a greater sense of caution among workers in all regions. Organizations in North America show the lowest median anonymity rate. Meanwhile, it was reports made in Europe that were the least likely to be anonymous, suggesting reporters in that region may have the least actual concern about retaliation.
Health & safety reports recede while HR-type reports grow;
Europe retaliation holds steady New for this report, NAVEX examined 24 Issue Types as subsets to the six broader Benchmark Categories defining the sorts of issues reporters are flagging through various intake mechanisms. This Issue Type analysis is the result of an extensive review of nearly 22,000 variations of ways in which NAVEX customers categorize the report issue data of their own programs. We consider a common taxonomy as a gold standard for the industry going forward, but our reconciliation of these thousands of reports into respective Issue Types allows them to meaningfully inform this report's analysis. Guidance on categorizing this issue data for individual programs is available in the 2023 Hotline & Incident Management Benchmark Report.
Starting with Benchmark Categories, broadly speaking, Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) reports were a smaller median share, or a generally consistent share, of total reports across all regions and measures in 2022 compared to 2021. This likely shows the decline of COVID-19's prominence as a share of other issues around the world, whether viewed through the lens of headquarters or by region of report. Meanwhile, the median share of HR, Diversity and Workplace Respect reports generally grew in prominence across all regions and measures, likely showing how workers are focusing more intensely on the human dynamics of their workplaces.
Looking at the 24 Issue Types reveals some complex nuances between regions by headquarters and report origination. Some differences stood out, often where North America deviated from other regions. Organizations based in North America showed a far smaller median share of reports representing Conflicts of Interest. Free and Fair Competition reports were significantly more prominent as a share of all reports made outside of North America. Health and Safety reports were a greater share across all measures in North America, as were reports related to Imminent Threat to a Person or Property. These findings could all be considered through the lens of regional regulatory pressures – the EU's proposed directive on human rights in the supply chain, for example, or through review of the political climate in the United States where reports of threats against people or property are, unfortunately, more regular occurrences.
Finally, we continue to closely watch the share of reports linked to retaliation. While this Issue Type represents a relatively small share of global reports, it has an outsize impact on how much reporters are willing to trust an internal reporting system. The share held steady for organizations based in Europe while Substantiation Rates decreased – with the rollout of the EU directive, we would have expected both these measures to grow as workers became more used to utilizing reporting systems. That said, for reports actually made in Europe, the share of retaliation reports increased. This may be evidence of a growing public awareness around the issue of retaliation in that region. Japan is also seeing the rollout of new whistleblower protection and internal reporting regulations – these are all forces to watch in the impact on metrics going forward.
North American originating reports and North America-based organizations show by far the greatest share of retaliation reports – this could show a reporter awareness around this issue, or that organizations are doing a good job at inviting reports of this issue type. Meanwhile, the share of reports submitted about retaliation increased slightly for reports made in all regions apart from APAC, where it held steady.
Phone and web use grow as intake methods
For reports originated by reporters in every region, phone intake grew as a share of all intake methods. To this day, some reporters simply want to talk to a person. The rise of remote work may also help explain this trend, eliminating the fear some workers might have of being overheard by a coworker or other party while making a report.
That said, the share of reports made by phone for organizations headquartered in Europe fell. Risk and compliance program leaders based in this region may have an opportunity to better educate reporters about the value of a phone call as an option in order to avoid missing out on potential reports.
Reports made by web generally comprised the largest share of reports across all measures and geographies, with some exceptions. Phone intake represents the largest share of reports originating in North America. "Other", which includes in-person reporting, matches web for reports originating in APAC, suggesting workers in that region are utilizing in-person and other channels in a significant way.
Seasonal pattern emerges for report volume
Examining median reports by month, a consistent trend seems to emerge across all regions that might help inform the seasonal allocation of training resources to best support the greatest reporting activity periods.
Specifically, with some individual variance, regions generally show a stable increase in reporting volumes during the final four-to-five months of the year and into January. This pattern appears most clear when viewed by region of report origination, supporting a sense that norms for those respective areas are driving these patterns.
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