You can always count on LRN as a consistent source of important ethics and compliance program trends and insights.  In its latest report, LRN provided important insights on company Codes of Conduct.  The last report from LRN on this topic was in 2023.

LRN’s Report included a comprehensive review of nearly 200 global Codes and a new survey from over 2,000 employees across 15 countries.  LRN’s Report cited a significant trend — companies are not just updating their Codes of Conduct, they are redefining what effectiveness means.  In other words, compliance professionals are examining the linkage and influence of a company’s Code of Conduct  on actual experiences and behaviors.  LRN describes this trend — “Updating the [Code of Conduct} is no longer the challenge, embedding it is.”

The key findings of LRN’s Report are:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly being incorporated into company codes.  In 2025, the number of companies including AI risks in their codes tripled from 5 percent in 2023 to 15 percent in 2025.  This is an issue that should rapidly increase in the next few years.

Reporting and Accountability statements are provided in 98 percent of the codes and 77 percent include helpline details.  Companies are actively promoting whistleblower protections and clear guidance for raising concerns.

User-Friendly Codes are rapidly increasing consisting of policy links, resource callouts, ethical decision-making models and tables of contents. Only 30 percent, however, included real-life scenarios.

Core-Risk Topics remain a priority for corporate codes, including bribery, conflict of interest, and increasing mentions of cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

Hybrid-Work and Positive Engagement with codes of conduct — 76 percent of employees using the company’s code as a resource, up from 67 percent from the previous year.  A flexible work environment supports greater access to and application of, ethical guidance.

Updating Codes of Conduct is becoming an annual task — 45 percent make substantive revisions annually, compared to 11 percent ten years ago.

Codes In More Languages — two-thirds of employees reported they access their codes of conduct in their native language. 

Middle Management Lags in Code Messaging — only 53 percent of employees reported hearing about the code from their manager, while 85 percent of executives communicate about the code.

Web-Based Codes are Increasing — 32 percent of respondents reported that they access an online version of the company’s code.

Regular Updating of Code — LRN recommends that companies update their codes annually and do a significant overhaul every three to five years.  in the 2025 Report, 73 percent were updated, while 27 percent were exactly the same as 2-3 years ago.  60 percent of the codes were substantively revised, while only 13 percent of the changes were cosmetic.