IBE Survey - Ethical Risks 2024
19 February 2024
What is the ethical issue?
Wellbeing, put simply, is about ‘how we are doing’ as individuals. It includes the physical and mental wellbeing of employees in a workplace, and signifies the importance of ensuring they are happy, healthy and motivated.
In 2015/2016, the official Labour Force Survey reported that the number of working days lost to stress, anxiety and depression reached 11.7 million. According to research by recruitment consultancy Robert Walters, 88% of professionals believe that employers have a responsibility to support and enhance employee wellbeing.
Organisations are also becoming more aware of the need to develop and embed effective employee wellbeing programmes. It is no longer adequate to simply add green plants to the office or offer weekly fruit deliveries.
Without a positive and progressive approach to mental health and wellbeing, organisations run the risk of not moving with the times. With younger generations more attuned to, and open about, mental health in the workplace, an obstructive or unhelpful approach within a company or its senior management could cause recruitment and retainment issues.
IBE Guidance
A summary of good practice
- Organisations need think holistically about employee wellbeing, and develop a wellbeing strategy that goes deeper than superficial initiatives and is informed by the company’s ethical values.
- Focus should be given to creating a culture of openness and support, which encourages employees to discuss concerns with line managers, while also providing opportunities for teamwork and enjoyment, such as sport, which creates a stronger working community.
- A supportive tone from the top, with a formalised position on wellbeing, sends a message to employees that their welfare and happiness matters. Organisations may choose to empower and train line managers to notice signs of faltering wellbeing and initiate early intervention, as well as introducing flexible working arrangements to meet employees needs.
- By establishing a supportive and happy culture, organisations are more likely to secure and retain the best talent. In turn, organisations can be rewarded with employees that want to uphold a culture of integrity which will prove intrinsic to the company’s long-term success.
Further resources
Post CBI, post Casey, post #MeToo – is now the real time for change?
Read the latest blog from IBE Deputy Director, Rachael Saunders.
27 April 2023
Business Ethics in the News 2022
This resource provides an analysis of the year’s news trends and the issues and sectors that featured the most.
12 January 2023
Is your business ethical - and do your stakeholders think so?
Listen in as Survey Director, Christopher Cowton shares his thoughts on our latest survey, IBE Attitudes of the British Public to Business Ethics 2022.
30 June 2022
Attitudes of the British Public to Business Ethics 2022
Businesses and UK politicians must do better at demonstrating their ethical credentials if they are to win back the confidence of the British public - the 2022 results of the IBE's annual survey of the attitudes of the British public to business ethics.
29 June 2022
Business Ethics in the News 2021
This resource presents an overview of the ethical concerns and lapses, as well as the positive business ethics stories, that the IBE recorded for its media monitoring exercise in 2021. It provides an analysis of the year’s trends and the issues and sectors that featured most frequently.
24 January 2022
Employees’ voices: a glass half full
The results of our latest Ethics at Work survey bring us some good news, but also some red flags that cannot be ignored as organisations shape their ethical agenda for the future.
08 December 2021
The right question
Read the latest blog by Mark Chambers, IBE's Associate Director (Governance).
10 November 2021
Ethics at Work: 2021 International Survey of Employees
This survey is the only one of its kind, covering 13 countries over four continents, that provides real insight into employees’ views on ethics across all sectors and job roles.
04 November 2021
Every crisis is an opportunity
Read our latest guest blog by Sally March, Jane Mitchell, Robert Smith and Ruth Steinholtz.
13 October 2021
Attitudes. Ethics. Trust.
In this blog, Guendalina Donde, IBE's Head of Research, discusses the results of the 2020 Attitudes of the British Public to Business Ethics survey.
13 January 2021
Attitudes of the British Public to Business Ethics 2020
The 2020 results of the IBE's annual survey of the attitudes of the British public to business ethics.
30 December 2020
The Lessons of 2020
To end 2020, IBE's Director, Ian Peters, reflects on the lessons learnt and looks ahead to 2021.
23 December 2020