Director priorities shift towards employee welfare and workplace conduct

When asked about their policy priorities, directors demonstrated a more prominent emphasis on areas directly impacting staff. 79% of business directors state that employee benefits are a high priority, and have also shown the greatest momentum, with 34% of respondents reporting that employee benefits have taken greater precedence over the past 12 months.

Closely behind employee benefits, pension schemes are also high on the agenda, ranking as a high priority for 76% of directors, and rising in importance for 26% - indicating that businesses are shifting focus to attracting, retaining and securing both the health and financial futures of staff.

Strengthening workplace conduct is also top of mind, becoming more important for businesses in light of the Worker Protection Act which came into force in 2024, stipulating that employers are legally obliged to take ‘reasonable steps’ to protect workers and proactively prevent sexual harassment. And the Employment Rights Bill, which dictates that greater protection will be given to whistleblowers who make a sexual harassment disclosure. Policies addressing misconduct and fairness show a significant rise in importance. Sexual misconduct policies have the second-highest rising trend (26%), closely followed by DE&I policies (rising in priority for 24%) and harassment policies (rising for 23%). This signals a renewed corporate commitment to creating safe and equitable working environments.

However, while people-focused policies and additional focus are positive, other important areas, such as whistleblowing, are dropping down the list, with 34% listing this as a low priority. This will raise concerns in light of the new Economic Corporate Crime and Transparency Act (ECCTA), which dictates that businesses must implement reasonable procedures to prevent fraud and place greater emphasis on transparency and accountability, or risk facing serious penalties such as criminal convictions and unlimited fines - meaning companies must recognise the importance of having a robust whistleblowing procedure in place.

And while businesses may be changing their focus, associated governance requirements play a major role in facilitating revised priority areas - and directors themselves are feeling the brunt. 45% agree that increased governance requirements will be hard to handle, and 28% of directors believe that it acts as a significant impediment to their day job.

Ben Turner, Managing Director of Corporate Secretarial Services at Law Debenture, commented: “Though it’s encouraging to see that businesses are planning to adopt a more people and conduct-centric approach, it’s vital that firms don’t lose sight of governance requirements and leave themselves exposed in the process.

“The deprioritisation of important areas, such as whistleblowing, can not afford to be overlooked. ECCTA legislation, which is centred heavily on financial fraud and having robust whiteblowing procedures in place to combat it, need to be high on the agenda of any business. ECCTA penalties, especially those specific to directors such as unlimited personal fines and criminal convictions, cannot be underestimated, While it’s clear that increasing governance requirements are taking a toll on directors, working with a third party governance partner could ease the strain on business leaders and enable them to address their areas of priority.”

Joanna Lewis, Managing Director of independent whistleblowing service Safecall, added: “It’s positive to see a shift towards employee-focused priorities, and a particular focus on strengthening workplace conduct is welcome. This is especially important in the wake of the Worker Protection Act, and the recently-passed Employment Rights Bill, which is why it’s imperative that these good intentions are turned into real actions.

“To facilitate this, businesses need to focus on building an inclusive culture based on support and trust, where employees feel safe and empowered to speak up and report wrongdoing without the fear of any repercussions.”

Methodology

Research conducted by Censuswide in August 2025, surveying 500 UK Directors with at least 250 from large companies (250+ employees). All individuals surveyed are directors on the public record - that is, they are listed as directors on Companies House, and therefore ECCTA applies to them.