NAVEX 2025 Report Reveals Global Increase in Whistleblowing and Regional Variations in Reporting Practices
TL;DR
NAVEX's 2025 report reveals North American organizations lead in whistleblowing report volume, offering a competitive edge in risk management and compliance insights.
NAVEX's analysis of 2.15 million reports across 4,000 organizations details regional differences in report volume, closure times, and substantiation rates, providing a comprehensive view of global whistleblowing trends.
The rise in whistleblowing reports and substantiation rates globally underscores the importance of creating safer, more transparent workplaces, fostering trust and accountability across industries.
Discover how NAVEX's 2025 benchmark report uncovers surprising trends in whistleblowing, including Europe's high retaliation substantiation rates and the prevalence of anonymous reports in APAC.
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The latest findings from the NAVEX 2025 Regional Whistleblowing & Incident Management Benchmark Report shed light on the evolving landscape of internal reporting across the globe. Analyzing over 2.15 million reports from more than 4,000 organizations, the report reveals a notable increase in whistleblowing activities, with North America leading in report volume. Europe, however, has seen the largest growth in reporting rates, signaling a shift in employee engagement with internal compliance mechanisms.
One of the report's critical insights is the disparity in case closure times across regions, with Europe and APAC taking significantly longer to resolve cases compared to North America. This variation, coupled with the high substantiation rates of reports globally, underscores the importance of efficient and transparent investigation processes to maintain trust in whistleblowing channels.
Another concerning trend is the delay in reporting incidents in Europe and APAC, where the median time between incident and report is higher than in North America. This delay, along with the higher rates of anonymous reporting in these regions, may reflect underlying fears of retaliation among employees, highlighting the need for stronger protections and awareness of reporting mechanisms.
The report also delves into the effectiveness of different reporting channels, with hotlines being more prevalent in North America than in Europe and APAC. Additionally, the analysis by company ownership type reveals that privately owned companies have higher substantiation rates than their publicly traded counterparts, suggesting differences in how reports are handled based on organizational structure.
With the EU Directive's emphasis on whistleblower protection, the report's findings on retaliation cases are particularly timely. Europe's higher substantiation rates for retaliation reports compared to other regions call attention to the ongoing challenges in safeguarding whistleblowers and the need for continuous improvement in compliance programs.
Carrie Penman, Chief Risk and Compliance Officer at NAVEX, emphasizes the value of trusted reporting channels in preventing minor issues from escalating into major liabilities. The report's insights into regional reporting practices and trends offer organizations valuable benchmarks for enhancing their risk and compliance strategies, ultimately fostering healthier workplace cultures and more resilient supply chains.
Curated from News Direct
