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BASF: How a global speak-up culture strengthens trust, transparency and compliance

From regional hotlines to a globally connected speak-up program: BASF strengthens trust, transparency and compliance with NAVEX – and makes speaking-up more accessible for employees in manufacturing and operational roles.


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Industry

Chemical company

Number of Employees

108,000 employees worldwide

Location

Branches in 93 countries

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About BASF

BASF is one of the world’s leading chemical companies contributing to the success of its customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. BASF’s employees are working across a wide range of environments – from shift-based manufacturing facilities and R&D labs to office locations.

For the compliance team, one key challenge stood out: How do you create a global speak-up culture that reaches employees worldwide, builds trust and at the same time supports consistent processes and greater visibility into risk?

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The challenges

From regional hotlines to a global speak-up program

Before implementing a centralized global system, BASF relied on a mix of regional hotline solutions and local processes. Reports were handled by external law firms or different service providers, and global visibility into reports, trends and processes was limited. 

At the same time, the company’s international structure created additional communication and awareness challenges – especially for frontline employees working in manufacturing environments without regular access to computer-based workplaces. 

“A hotline alone is not enough. You have to build trust and truly reach people,” says Mirko Bengel – Senior Vice President, Corporate Compliance – of BASF. 

Beyond standardizing processes, BASF wanted to strengthen the speak-up culture across the organization – across regions, functions and organizational levels.

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The solution

Making compliance visible – worldwide and closer to employees

With NAVEX, BASF established a global whistleblowing system with a centralized platform, regional responsibilities, and multilingual reporting channels. 

Alongside traditional hotline channels, web- and mobile-based reporting options play an especially important role. Employees can submit reports easily through online forms or QR codes – anonymously or by name – in their local language. 

“For frontline employees in manufacturing environments, the barrier to using phone-based reporting was often higher,” explains Heidrun Geis – Compliance Specialist – of BASF. “Digital reporting channels made access significantly easier.” 

At the same time, BASF invested heavily in communication and awareness initiatives. Training, global and local campaigns, posters in production areas, internal communications, and on-site engagement activities helped make compliance more visible and personal. 

“We wanted to put a face to compliance,” says Bengel. “People should understand who is behind the process and what happens to their reports.”

We wanted to put a face to compliance.

BASF

Mirko Bengel
Senior Vice President, Corporate Compliance

Why BASF relies on NAVEX for global speak-up processes

Consistent processes worldwide

Regional responsibilities and global standards can be connected within one centralized system

Greater visibility into risks and trends

Centralized reporting and analytics help identify emerging trends and risk patterns earlier

Greater trust in the process

Multilingual and anonymous reporting channels strengthen accessibility, confidentiality and credibility worldwide

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More visibility, better data and stronger governance

With the global system, BASF can now manage reports centrally while still enabling regional handling and ownership. Responsibilities, escalation paths and conflicts of interest can all be mapped and documented within the system. 

This has created not only greater consistency across processes, but also a much stronger foundation for reporting, trend analysis and governance. 

“Ten years ago, we were still working with Excel files and manually consolidating data,” says Bengel. “Today, we have a completely different level of transparency and data quality.” 

The centralized structure also helps BASF identify risks earlier, develop more targeted preventive measures, and monitor trends more effectively across business units and regions.

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The results

A speak-up culture that grows with the business

Since further developing its global program, BASF has seen a significant increase in usage of its compliance hotline and reports on this in their annual ESRS G1 Sustainability Reporting: 

  • 2021: 277 reports 
  • 2022: 453 reports 
  • 2023: 643 reports 
  • 2024: 751 reports 
  • 2025: 739 reports 

For BASF, this trend is primarily a sign of growing trust in the process and a stronger global speak-up culture. 

In 2025, BASF received a total of 739 reports through its compliance hotline. Reports covered a wide range of code of conduct topics, including workplace respect, corruption, handling of company property and environmental, health and safety (EHS) matters. 

The resulting data helps BASF identify trends earlier, better assess risks, and continue evolving compliance initiatives in a more targeted way.

The number of reports shows us above all that we have built strong trust in our speak-up culture and compliance processes.

BASF

Mirko Bengel
Senior Vice President, Corporate Compliance

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Compliance as an ongoing process of improvement

BASF continues to evolve its global compliance and whistleblowing program, including investments in automation, data quality and future AI-powered capabilities. 

“When processes are centralized in one system, completely new opportunities emerge for efficiency, consistency and analytics,” says Bengel. 

At the same time, BASF sees one factor as especially important: technology alone is not enough. Success depends on building trust, actively engaging employees, and making compliance a visible part of everyday work.

Explore more resources on speak-up culture and whistleblowing management

Compliance doesn’t have to be complicated. 

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