Benchmark results by company size
Safecall works with organisations of all sizes – from specialist single‑site operations to some of the world’s largest global brands.
Company size has a measurable influence on reporting behaviour, shaping the types of concerns raised, the channels employees use and the level of anonymity they choose.
This section helps you explore how reporting patterns differ across organisations of different sizes, and what these variations may mean for designing effective, scalable speak‑up arrangements.
How to use this company size analysis
Use these insights to understand how reporting behaviour varies across organisations of different sizes and what this may mean for your internal arrangements:
- Compare reporting channels by company size
See how the balance between web, phone and email reporting shifts as organisations scale. - Understand size‑related issue patterns
Explore how the mix of HR, General, Health & Safety and Dishonest Behaviour concerns differs across workforce sizes. - Interpret identity choices in context
Compare levels of anonymous, semi‑anonymous and named reporting by size band to understand how identity preferences vary across smaller, mid‑sized and larger organisations. - Support programme design as organisations grow
Use size‑based comparisons to assess whether your reporting routes, communication approach and case‑handling processes remain effective and accessible as your organisation expands or restructures.
These insights help you interpret your own data in the context of organisational scale and identify where channel visibility, communication or programme design may need attention across different workforce sizes.
Company size-driven reporting patterns
1. Reporting channel use by company size
Web reporting dominates across all company sizes, accounting for 71% of submissions globally. However, the balance between digital and phone reporting shifts as organisations grow.
Phone use rises steadily with company size, increasing from 9% in organisations with 0–249 employees to 28% in those with 50,000+ employees.
Email usage remains low across all sizes (6% globally), with all bands – with the exception of 10-000-19,999 (17%) – sitting at 7% or lower.
Channel mix by company size
| Phone | Web | ||
| 0-249 employees | 6% | 9% | 85% |
| 250-499 employees | 4% | 13% | 83% |
| 500-1,499 employees | 6% | 18% | 76% |
| 1,500-4,999 employees | 7% | 17% | 76% |
| 5,000-9,999 employees | 7% | 20% | 73% |
| 10,000-19,999 employees | 17% | 22% | 61% |
| 20,000-49,999 employees | 2% | 27% | 71% |
| 50,000+ employees | 1% | 28% | 71% |
2. Issue mix & risk profile by company size
The overall issue mix also changes as organisations grow. HR issues make up the largest share of reports in every size band, increasing from 32% in organisations with 0–249 employees to 49% in the 1,500–4,999 band and 61% in the 10,000–19,999 band. Larger organisations also show a high HR share, including 54% in 20,000–49,999 and 56% in 50,000+ organisations.
General issues are proportionally higher in smaller organisations, accounting for 35% of reports in the 0–249 group and 31% in the 250–499 band. In larger employers, general issues account for 18–23% across most bands.
Dishonest behaviour remains relatively steady across company sizes, ranging between 10% and 18%. Health & Safety issues represent a smaller proportion overall, from 9% at their lowest (10,000-19,999 band) to 17% in the 500–1,499 band.
Sub‑classification patterns vary with size. Within dishonest behaviour, integrity dominates in smaller organisations (93% within 0–249), while fraud is more prominent in larger organisations (e.g., 37% within 50,000+).
Within the general category, policy accounts for 44% of reports in the 0–249 band, while reputation is significant in some size groups, including 76% in 250–499 organisations and 54% in both 5,000–9,999 and 50,000+ organisations.
For Health & Safety, general safety is the main category in every size band (ranging from 57% to 100%). Substance abuse appears more frequently in some larger sizes – such as 40% in 5,000–9,999 and 43% in 20,000–49,999.
Within HR issues, unfair treatment is the largest sub‑category in every size band (44%–66%), while bullying accounts for 17%–32% depending on organisation size. Harassment ranges from 3% in smaller organisations up to 19% in the largest employers (50,000+ employees).
Categories by company size
| Dishonest behaviour | General | Health & Safety | HR | |
| 0-249 | 18% | 35% | 15% | 32% |
| 250-499 | 10% | 31% | 11% | 48% |
| 500-1,499 | 15% | 20% | 17% | 48% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 16% | 22% | 13% | 49% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 14% | 18% | 10% | 58% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 12% | 18% | 9% | 61% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 13% | 23% | 10% | 54% |
| 50,000+ | 16% | 16% | 12% | 56% |
Sub-categories by company size: dishonest behaviour
| Bribery | Corruption | Fraud | Integrity | Money laundering | Theft | |
| 0-249 | 0% | 0% | 0% | 93% | 0% | 7% |
| 250-499 | 0% | 21% | 22% | 36% | 0% | 21% |
| 500-1,499 | 4% | 4% | 25% | 53% | 0% | 14% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 2% | 6% | 14% | 64% | 1% | 13% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 1% | 5% | 22% | 63% | 0% | 9% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 2% | 10% | 26% | 54% | 0% | 8% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 4% | 4% | 11% | 72% | 0% | 9% |
| 50,000+ | 1% | 8% | 37% | 47% | 0% | 7% |
Sub-categories by company size: General
| Corporate governance | Data protection | Environmental | Failure to act on previous report | Policy | Regulatory compliance | Reputation | Safeguarding | |
| 0-249 | 11% | 11% | 0% | 0% | 44% | 6% | 28% | 0% |
| 250-499 | 5% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 19% | 0% | 76% | 0% |
| 500-1,499 | 8% | 9% | 3% | 0% | 21% | 19% | 40% | 0% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 7% | 9% | 1% | 2% | 21% | 8% | 52% | 0% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 6% | 11% | 2% | 0% | 23% | 4% | 54% | 0% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 6% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 35% | 3% | 32% | 20% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 4% | 16% | 0% | 4% | 20% | 8% | 48% | 0% |
| 50,000+ | 2% | 10% | 4% | 0% | 22% | 8% | 54% | 0% |
Sub-categories by company size: Health & Safety
| General safety | Product contamination | Substance abuse | |
| 0-249 | 85% | 15% | 0% |
| 250-499 | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| 500-1,499 | 68% | 5% | 27% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 74% | 1% | 25% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 60% | 0% | 40% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 86% | 2% | 12% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 57% | 0% | 43% |
| 50,000+ | 78% | 9% | 13% |
Sub-categories by company size: HR
| Bullying | Discrimination | Harassment | Modern slavery | Racism | Unfair treatment | Victimisation | |
| 0-249 | 32% | 16% | 4% | 0% | 4% | 44% | 0% |
| 250-499 | 26% | 9% | 11% | 0% | 4% | 48% | 2% |
| 500-1,499 | 28% | 9% | 9% | 0% | 2% | 51% | 1% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 20% | 8% | 3% | 0% | 2% | 66% | 1% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 23% | 10% | 8% | 0% | 3% | 54% | 2% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 20% | 6% | 8% | 0% | 1% | 64% | 1% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 24% | 10% | 6% | 0% | 4% | 54% | 2% |
| 50,000+ | 17% | 8% | 19% | 0% | 1% | 54% | 1% |
3. Identity choices by company size
Across all company sizes, anonymous reporting is the most common route, ranging from 40% to 67% across the various company sizes. Named reporting reaches 44% in the 250-499 bracket, and 32% in organisations with 50,000 or more employees.
Channel differences are also visible. For phone reports, anonymity is lower overall (49%) and named reporting is much higher (41%) compared with the all‑channel average. Several larger size bands, including 20,000–49,999, and 50,000+, show named phone reporting above the global average.
By contrast, web reports show significantly higher levels of anonymity (63% overall) and lower proportions of named reporting (20%). In smaller organisations (0–249 employees), web anonymity reaches 70%, and remains above 66% across most mid‑size bands. Named web reports vary by size, from 9% in the smallest employers to 27% in the 50,000+ group.
Identity choice by company size: all channels
| Anonymous | Semi-anonymous | Named | |
| 0-249 | 67% | 21% | 12% |
| 250-499 | 40% | 16% | 44% |
| 500-1,499 | 66% | 17% | 17% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 62% | 17% | 21% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 60% | 18% | 22% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 49% | 23% | 28% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 59% | 16% | 25% |
| 50,000+ | 52% | 16% | 32% |
Identity choice by company size: phone
| Anonymous | Semi-anonymous | Named | |
| 0-249 | 63% | 12% | 25% |
| 250-499 | 38% | 0% | 62% |
| 500-1,499 | 58% | 9% | 33% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 48% | 11% | 41% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 54% | 18% | 28% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 46% | 18% | 36% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 45% | 7% | 48% |
| 50,000+ | 48% | 10% | 42% |
Identity choice by company size: web
| Anonymous | Semi-anonymous | Named | |
| 0-249 | 70% | 21% | 9% |
| 250-499 | 41% | 17% | 42% |
| 500-1,499 | 73% | 15% | 12% |
| 1,500-4,999 | 71% | 14% | 15% |
| 5,000-9,999 | 66% | 22% | 12% |
| 10,000-19,999 | 63% | 16% | 21% |
| 20,000-49,999 | 66% | 18% | 16% |
| 50,000+ | 54% | 19% | 27% |
Elevate your speak-up culture
Whether you’re looking to strengthen governance, improve reporting confidence, or build a more transparent and responsive culture, our specialists can help you take your speak‑up programme to the next level.
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