Integrity standards in companies around the world appear to be improving, driven by better management guidance and tighter regulations. However, there are still significant internal and external pressures on employee behaviours, according to the EY 2024 Global Integrity Report, titled ‘How can trust survive without integrity?’
Regarding challenges related to compliance with ESG regulations, 32% of respondents in Romania see compliance with new ESG regulations and inconsistent or inaccurate data used to measure progress against performance goals and for ESG reporting in public filings and statements as a major challenge , slightly below the global average of 37%.
According to the answers of 32% of respondents, the priority of Romanian organizations in the effort to become compliant with ESG reporting requirements is to hire external consultants.
At the same time, the EY Global Integrity Report study shows an improvement in integrity standards in Romania, with guidance from management having a crucial role in this respect
One of the factors of progress identified by 78% of respondents is that management has raised the standards of behavior in the organization in the last two years.
These efforts have led to a record level of trust, with 94% of respondents saying they are confident their management complies with relevant laws, codes of conduct and regulations in their industry.
At the same time, the tolerance towards unethical behavior displayed by people in higher positions or by high-performing employees is decreasing, with only 27% of the study participants indicating that such attitudes are still accepted in their organizations, decreasing by 10 percent compared to 2022 results.
Almost half of the participants (45%) recognize their companies’ efforts to implement training programs dedicated to ethics and integrity in business and professional life. In addition, 42% mentioned that disciplinary measures are taken within their companies, when behaviors that do not demonstrate integrity are identified. Compared to 2022, these figures show an increase in the adoption of training and discipline measures, from 43% and 40% respectively.
Only 21% of respondents have used a channel to report irregularities in the last two years, compared to 36% in 2022, although at the national level the protection granted to people who report irregularities has improved, through the adoption of Law no. 361/2022 (Law on the protection of whistleblowers in the public interest). Moreover, 39% of respondents mentioned that it has become easier for employees to report irregularities to them in the organization.
Asked why they did not report the irregularities observed, 35% of respondents to the study mentioned that the main reason would be loyalty to colleagues, a significant paradigm shift compared to the year 2022, when 53% of respondents offered as a reason the fear that the irregularities reported by they will not be considered.
Although the perception of management integrity has improved, the tolerance for unethical behavior by colleagues raises questions. Thus, 90% of respondents expressed confidence that employees in their organizations comply with relevant laws, codes of conduct and regulations in their industry, a percentage equal to the global average. But compared to 2022 (95%), the current percentage of 90% indicates a slight decrease in the level of trust in the ethical behavior of employees. Moreover, 29% of Romanian respondents said that, in order to improve their career, they would engage in at least one unethical behavior, a percentage that is increasing compared to 2022, when only 23% said so.
