SUMMER 2025
What's New
With the EQ

How will the changes to the 2025 Ethics Quotient^® (EQ) questionnaire impact your World's Most Ethical Companies application?

by NEAL THURSTON

_{SUMMER 2025 |}_FEATURE

What’s New

With the EQ

by NEAL THURSTON

A look at the major changes to the 2026 Ethics Quotient^®(EQ) questionnaire at the heart of the World's Most Ethical Companies^® application process.

The application portal for the 2026 World’s Most Ethical Companies opened July 30, beginning what has become, for many companies, an annual effort to chronicle enterprise-wide initiatives to lead with integrity, prioritize ethical business practices, and demonstrate a commitment to doing what’s right. (The application period closes at 8 p.m. ET on October 30.)

Companies that have applied in the past know the magnitude of the task ahead as they work to answer more than 240 questions in the Ethics Quotient (EQ) questionnaire—a comprehensive evaluation of an applicant’s ethics and compliance program, culture, and governance practices.

NEAL THURSTON
Director, Data & Services
Ethisphere

Each year, the EQ is updated to reflect the evolving business integrity landscape. This year’s revisions are particularly significant, incorporating recent trends, challenges, emerging issues, and leading practices in ethics and compliance.

Ethisphere released the revised EQ on June 30, giving prospective applicants about a month to review the changes and prepare by coordinating with allied functions such as Legal, HR, ESG, and Governance. Socializing the questionnaire early helps organizations identify the information and documentation they’ll need to complete the application.

How the EQ Is Revised

How does the Ethics Quotient revision process work, and how are updates decided?

Throughout what we call Ethisphere’s “EQ year”—conversations take place to assess and improve the questionnaire. The process begins after the prior year’s application period ends, incorporating applicant feedback and insights from roundtables and events where Ethisphere engages with ethics and compliance leaders.

The review team also takes into consideration emerging regulatory developments and compares responses from prior applications, looking for opportunities to clarify questions and return more useful data to applicants.

From there, the team refines the EQ to ensure the questions reflect shifts in the ethics and compliance landscape, align with Ethisphere’s understanding of leading practices, and encourage growth across programs and organizations.

The final step is producing the updated EQ, documentation requests, guidance, help videos, and other resources to support the World’s Most Ethical Companies experience—ready for release ahead of the next application window.

Across the EQ, these refinements deliver actionable, simplified data to help applicants assess and strengthen their programs.

NEAL THURSTON
Director, Data & Services, Ethisphere

What’s New This Year

The EQ always evolves, but this year brings particularly notable changes due to regulatory developments and applicant feedback.

Participants told us they wanted two things: simpler response formats and more granular, actionable data. In response, we’ve made modest increases to the total number of questions, breaking apart some composite questions so each can stand on its own.

We shifted away from lengthy narrative prompts that previously encouraged 100- to 200-word essays. After analyzing those responses, we identified specific, measurable data points that are more valuable for applicants and evaluators alike, particularly in areas like third-party risk.

Across the EQ, these refinements deliver actionable, simplified data to help applicants assess and strengthen their programs.

How to Adapt

How should companies adjust their application strategy in light of these changes?

Organization is critical. Assign a point person to coordinate information flow and gather documentation to support EQ answers. Ideally, this happens before the application window opens by sharing the EQ with allied functions who will provide the necessary details and materials. Early coordination saves time and prevents bottlenecks.

Use the new Excel version of the EQ questions. This format, developed in response to applicant feedback, allows for easier organization compared to converting the PDF yourself.

Carefully review the written guidance, especially the explanations for document requests. Understanding why certain materials are requested helps applicants showcase what sets their processes apart and how they lead as ethics, compliance, and organizational role models. ■

The Importance of Documentation

Your World’s Most Ethical Companies documentation is very important to your overall score. It is manually reviewed by Ethisphere staff and scored on a 1–5 maturity scale. The higher the maturity, the higher your score.

Documents should be in English. If an English version isn’t available, translate headings, chart titles, or key details.
Review the documentation guidelines for accepted formats. Emails must be converted to PDFs, not submitted as .msg files. Avoid compressed or password-protected files, which cannot be reviewed.
Sensitive details may be redacted, but heavily redacted documents may not earn points.
Narrative explanations can provide helpful context, but they are not a substitute for documentation itself. If documents speak for themselves, narratives may be unnecessary.

EMILY MINER is Director, Data & Services, Ethisphere.