Organizations suspected to be involved in corrupt practices risk being shunned or even blacklisted by employees.

Workers in Hong Kong have voted with their feet that corruption, especially in the top echelons of corporate management, is intolerable and an affront to their working ethics.

The 2015 Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey, conducted by multinational professional services firm Ernst & Young (E&Y), has concluded that unethical business will find Hong Kong the most difficult place to retain talents in the Asia Pacific, with the city topping the region in resisting bribery and fraud.

The survey, based on 1,508 interviews with employees of large companies in 14 Asia Pacific cities and regions, shows that fraud prevention has become a prominent recruitment issue that impacts talent retaining and business continuity.

"In Hong Kong, 93 percent of employees say that if any organization is involved in bribery and corruption, they'll be unwilling to work for that company," said Chris Fordham, Asia Pacific managing partner of E&Y's fraud investigation and dispute services.

About 78 percent and 72 percent of respondents in the Asia Pacific and on the Chinese mainland shared the same perception of unethical business.

Fordham explained the fact that Hong Kong's Independent Commission Against Corruption has been around for more than 40 years and has succeeded in unearthing some of the city's most high-profile cases, have contributed to higher awareness among employees.

As far as organizations are concerned, a greater number of them have established codes of conduct. But, despite adequate steps having been taken in training staff, promulgating anti-bribery and anti-corruption policies and setting up whistleblower hotlines, policies are not as effective as they should be.

"The number of respondents in the Asia Pacific who are prepared to use whistleblowing hotlines has dropped significantly - by nearly a third, from 81 percent to 53 percent - since we first carried out the survey in 2013," Fordham said.

"Our respondents' concerns are in two fronts - the first being insufficient legal protection in their jurisdiction or under the policy to protect them from retaliation retribution." There's also concern over the lack of confidentiality in the process.

The growing threat from cyberspace also worries employees, with 49 percent of Hong Kong respondents apprehensive that their organization will face an increased risk of cyber attacks in the next few years.

"The cyber-attack threat has escalated to the board and CEO levels" and because it has been raised to that level, said Jack Jia, a partner of E&Y fraud investigation and dispute services, enterprises are considering buying insurance to protect themselves.

selena@chinadailyhk.com

Yu Fuping (left), deputy general manager of Joy City Property Ltd, shares his views at the Omni Channel Retailing Conference held at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on Wednesday. Yu says interaction between traditional retailing space and e-commerce is a way out for today's brick-and-mortar retailers. Parker Zheng / China Daily

(HK Edition 06/11/2015 page8)