Asian businesses embrace whistleblowing culture

MANILA  -Seven in 10 believe whistleblowing is crucial in improving organizations, highlighting the prevailing sentiment toward a practice that has exposed corruption and other misconducts in business throughout history.

According to the 2023 Asia Pacific Conduct Watch Survey Report by professional services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte), 70 percent of respondents in a survey conducted last March 31 to May 1 reflected this sentiment.

The survey drew responses from more than 500 organizations in Asian countries, including Japan, Korea, China, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

The survey also covered more than 10 different industries and ranged from organizations with less than 1,000 employees to those with more than 50,000 employees.

The same report showed that 66 percent see it as a way to detect fraud and other misconduct, while close to 60 percent said they see it as a strategy to foster a positive and transparent working environment.

“While fraud and conflicts of interest still represent a significant proportion of disclosures, whistleblowing channels are increasingly being used to report concerns related to people matters,” Deloitte Philippines said in a statement on Monday.

Of these concerns, the report said 48 percent of respondents cited human resource grievances as the top issue while 25 percent cited sexual harassment.

The report further noted that 58 percent of respondents said whistleblowing was a high priority within their organization, but only less than half felt that oversight should also be given to the company’s board.

“This disconnect between what people say—that whistleblowing is a priority—and what people do—not giving the board oversight for whistleblowing—is one of the roadblocks to optimizing a whistleblowing program,” said Neal Ysart, Deloitte Philippines’ forensic leader.

“If employees and third parties do not see actual leadership support for this policy, it is less likely they will step forward and speak up, if and when they have knowledge of wrongdoing,” he added.

-CSN

READ: Exposing wrongdoing: The uncertain fate of whistleblowers in PH