KUALA LUMPUR - LRN Corporation in its new report revealed striking generational differences in how employees engage with their organisation’s code of conduct and approach ethical decision-making in the workplace.
More specifically, Gen Z employees say they are more likely to consult their employer’s code of conduct compared to their older counterparts (63 per cent versus 49 per cent of Boomers, for example), but are paradoxically 2.5 times more likely to agree that bending the rules is acceptable to "get the job done".
This generational divide poses unique, and significant, challenges for ethics and compliance (E&C) professionals aiming to build a consistent ethical culture across their multi-generational workforces.
A leader in E&C solutions, LRN Corporation in a statement said its 2024 Code of Conduct Report highlights a range of insights that reflect the evolving challenges in promoting and enforcing ethical behaviour in the workplace.
The research also found that employees in India and China, where code of conduct training was most prevalent among respondents (97 per cent and 91 per cent of employees respectively), are the most likely to engage "very often" with their code of conduct (47 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively).
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, 64 per cent respondents were least likely to have had training and 35 per cent are the most likely to say they "never" engage with it.
The findings showed that a notable gap continues to exist between how senior leaders, middle managers and front-line employees perceive the importance and use of the code of conduct, with 90 per cent of senior leaders believe that the code is followed, yet this confidence drops to 81 per cent among middle managers and just 69 per cent among front-line employees.
Despite organisations increasingly rolling out web-based or interactive codes of conduct, employees are 1.7 times more likely to prefer viewing the code in a traditional PDF format.
This suggests that organisations need to communicate the benefits of digital tools more effectively to encourage adoption.
The report also uncovered employees in hybrid work arrangements show the highest levels of code engagement, indicating that a balanced approach between remote and in-office work is likely to play an important role in ensuring more effective E&C programmes. - BERNAMA