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The rise of the #MeToo movement is having an impact on companies, according to new data from compliance software company Navex Global.

The 2018 Hotline Incident Management Report, which pulled company complaints from more than 13,000 Navex clients across a wide range of industries, showed that HR and harassment reports were up in the last quarter of 2017, coinciding with the growing visibility of the #MeToo movement.

Harassment and sexual assault allegations against film producer Harvey Weinstein were reported in a New York Times investigation published last October, and helped put the movement in sharp focus, leading to accusations against a long list of prominent men in entertainment, business and beyond.

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That trend seems to be echoed in Navex's findings. The number of reports classified as harassment before Oct. 5, the date the Weinstein article was published, made up about 9.8 percent of the total report volume. After that date, about 10.9 percent of all reports were related to harassment.

Navex acknowledged that while the number of reports is up, the rise is only a slight one. “Trust within an organization is built slowly,” the software company said in a press release Tuesday.

In a Navex webcast following the report's release, Scott Nelson, a partner at Baker McKenzie, said, “we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg with the #MeToo movement.”

He noted that he wouldn't be surprised to see more reports next year. This is because workers increasingly feel like they have a voice, particularly millennials, he said. Nelson also said the media coverage of harassment in the #MeToo era is “deeper” and “more pronounced” than other times in history.

“This movement is going to have some legs for a while,” Nelson said in the webinar.

Navex found in its report that while HR and ethics and compliance officers have taken action to address harassment, the data also showed that many in upper management, including those in the C-suite, corporate boards or senior leadership, are not providing a sufficient level of support.

Overall, the median case closure time in all cases in 2017, including accounting, business integrity, environmental health and other issues, was 44 days, up from 42 days the year before. With reports about HR, diversity and workplace respect, the median case closure time was 41 days, the same time frame as in 2016.

“Although these leaders emphasize 'zero tolerance,' the numbers do not show that reports are being addressed in a timely manner,” the Navex report said.

Here are some of the tips Navex offered in its webcast to organizations trying to address ethics and compliance complaints:

  1. Increase focus on anti-retaliation efforts.
  2. Continue to work on getting cases closed within best practice ranges.
  3. Get a more complete picture of your risks by documenting all reports in one centralized incident management system.
  4. Make the business case for matching your report volume with appropriate resources.
  5. Encourage employees to see your hotline as a resource for information, not just a channel for reporting.