Workplace misconduct is not disappearing just because large groups of people now work remotely. But how has the COVID-19 crisis affected workplace misconduct? What new challenges have arisen for compliance and ethics professionals?
Gartner ran surveys about misconduct observation and reporting behaviors among employees across all locations, including in-office, remote, and hybrid. Here are three trends that emerged.
1. Nearly one-third of potential noncompliance instances go under the radar
Misconduct is getting less visible in the new hybrid environment. Gartner found that the percentage of employees who observed wrongdoings declined from 25% (2018 through 2019) to 20% (2020 through 2021).[1]
People are also less likely to speak up when observing issues. Forty-one percent of employees said they reported an issue when they saw it from 2018 to 2019, but that number went down to 36% between 2020 and 2021.
Taken together, these differences translate into a 30% overall decrease in the potential instances of misconduct that compliance learns about.
