Employees in the Netherlands are the least likely of the 16 surveyed countries to say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation. However, they are also the least likely of the surveyed countries to feel pressured to compromise their organisation’s standards of behaviour.
Compared to 2021, they are more likely to say that they have been aware of misconduct at work but are also more likely to speak up about misconduct and be satisfied with the outcome after speaking up. While they are more likely than in 2021 to experience retaliation after speaking up, they are slightly less likely to experience this than the average employee.
Employees in the Netherlands are significantly more likely than in 2021 to be aware of their organisation providing four building blocks of an ethics programme, particularly in relation to awareness of their organisation offering advice or an ethics helpline.. However, they are the least likely of the surveyed countries to be aware that their organisation provides training on standards of ethical conduct.
Employees in the Netherlands have mixed views on their line manager’s commitment to ethics but positive views about their organisation’s engagement with internal and external stakeholders on ethics.
Data for the Netherlands were first collected in 2021 as indicated in the global report. For the first time, historical trend can be reported by comparing 2024 data against 2021 data.
Organisational culture
- Around four in five employees in the Netherlands say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation (77%), remaining consistent with findings in 2021 (80%) but lower than the percentage of employees who say so globally (84% global average). Employees in the Netherlands are the least likely to say that honesty is practised always or frequently in their organisation.
- Around one in seventeen employees in the Netherlands feel pressured to compromise their current organisation’s standards of ethical conduct (7%), remaining consistent with findings from 2021 (6%). This figure is the lowest recorded amongst the 16 surveyed countries, placing them well below the global average (15%). Around a quarter of employees in the Netherlands who have felt pressured compromise their organisation’s standards of ethical conduct say that the need to meet unrealistic business objectives (28%) is the main source of pressure.
- A quarter of employees in the Netherlands reported being aware of conduct that they thought violated either the law or their organisation’s ethical standards in the last year (25%). The figure in 2024 is statistically higher than in 2021 (18%) but similar to the 2024 global average (25%).
Speaking up
- Nearly two-thirds of employees in the Netherlands who were aware of misconduct in the last year spoke up about it with management, another appropriate person, or through any other mechanism (63%). This figure is higher than in 2021 (53%) but similar to the percentage of employees who say so globally (64% global average).
- Of all those who were aware of misconduct but did not report it, around a quarter of them cited feeling that it was none of their business (28%) and that they thought someone in their organisation already knew about it (25%) as the key deterrents to speaking up.
- Of those reporting a concern, nearly half (45%) say that they experienced a form of personal disadvantage or retaliation as a result. This figure is slightly higher than in 2021 (41%) but similar to the 2024 global average (46%).
- Nearly three-quarters of employees in the Netherlands say they were satisfied with the outcome after raising concerns about misconduct (72%). This figure is higher than in 2021 (65%) but similar to the percentage of employees who say so globally in 2024 (71% global average).
The ethics programme
- Employees in the Netherlands are less likely than average to say that they are aware of their organisation providing two of four building blocks of an ethics programme. For example, 67% of employees in the Netherlands are aware that their organisation has written standards of ethical business conduct in their organisation, compared to a global average of 71%. They are the least likely of the 16 surveyed countries to be aware of their organisation providing training on standards of ethical conduct (37% vs 60% global average). They were more likely than average to say that they were aware of their organisation providing a means to report misconduct confidentially (69% vs 61% global average).
- However, compared to 2021, they are more likely to be aware of their organisation providing each of the building blocks. The biggest increase has been recorded in relation to awareness of their organisation offering advice or having an information helpline where they can get advice about behaving ethically in the workplace (55% vs 45% in 2021).
Embedding ethics through a supportive environment
- In the Netherlands, 72% of employees (vs 72% global average) agree that their line manager sets a good example of ethical business behaviour, 62% (vs 68% global average) agree that their line manager explains the importance of honesty and ethics in the work they do, 67% (vs 72% global average) agree that their line manager supports them in following their organisation’s standards of ethical behaviour. While 72% (vs 71% global average) agree that senior management takes ethics seriously in their organisation, 32% (vs 38% global average) also agree that their line manager rewards employees who get good results, even if they use practices that are ethically questionable.
- 77% of employees in the Netherlands (vs 76% global average) agree that their organisation acts responsibly in all its business dealings and 72% (vs 72% global average) that it lives up to its stated policy of social responsibility.
- Employees in the Netherlands are also likely to have positive views about how their organisation engages with employees on ethics. 80% of employees in the Netherlands (vs 77% global average) agree that people in their organisation know what is expected of them in terms of ethical behaviour, 71% (vs 67% global average) agree that decisions about people are made fairly in their organisation and 62% (vs 62% global average) agree that issues of right and wrong are discussed in staff meetings.
- 61% of employees in the Netherlands agree that their organisation disciplines employees who violate its ethical standards. A similar percentage of employees agree globally (65% global average).