The adidas Model: A Scalable Blueprint for Worker Voice and Engagement to Meet CSDDD Requirements
- Jan 8
- 5 min read
Updated: 4 days ago
From Case Study to Action
Inspired by adidas’ Global Deployment of WOVO
The EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) requires companies to engage affected stakeholders, including workers, as part of human rights due diligence.
Many companies understand the requirement. Fewer understand how to implement worker engagement at scale across hundreds of supplier facilities and hundreds of thousands of workers.
This blueprint translates adidas’ real-world implementation of WOVO by Labor Solutions - reaching 400,000+ workers across 95 factories in 10 countries - into a practical, repeatable plan that other companies can follow.
Proven Scalability
What adidas Achieved through Worker Engagement
Before outlining the steps, it is important to understand the scale this model has already proven:
400,000+ workers active workers
92 supplier facilities
100% of strategic Tier 1 suppliers covered
10 manufacturing countries
47,200 grievances handled digitally in one year
99% grievance resolution rate
<11-hour average response time
These outcomes demonstrate that tech-enabled worker engagement can operate at enterprise scale, not just in pilot programs.
Step 1: Establish Worker Engagement as a Due Diligence System
Objective: Formally embed worker engagement into your human rights due diligence (HRDD) framework.
How adidas did this at scale
adidas defined worker engagement as a core element of its social compliance and due diligence strategy, applying it consistently across 90+ supplier sites rather than limiting it to high-profile factories.
Actions for replication
Define worker engagement as part of ESG, compliance, and HRDD governance
Identify priority labor and human rights risks across your supply chain
Assign ownership across compliance, sourcing, sustainability, and local teams
Ensure worker data feeds into risk assessment and remediation processes
Result: Worker voice becomes a structured input into decision-making across large supplier networks.
According to adidas’ 2024 Annual Report WOVO is "highly effective" and "trusted by workers" throughout the supply chain, evidenced by the “consistent, widespread”, “sustained usage" and "the high volume of cases received through the app.”
Step 2: Deploy Worker Technology Across Strategic Suppliers
Objective: Enable consistent engagement and comparable data across geographies and suppliers.
How adidas did this at scale
adidas deployed WOVO across 100% of its strategic Tier 1 suppliers, reaching 400,000+ workers in 92 facilities across 10 countries.
Actions for replication
Roll out worker technology across:
All strategic Tier 1 suppliers
High-risk Tier 2 suppliers where relevant
Prioritize regions with known labor risks or weak protections
Set Year-1 targets for:
Number of facilities
Number of workers reached
Geographic coverage
Result: Worker engagement becomes enterprise-wide, not fragmented.
Step 3: Operationalize a Digital Grievance Mechanism
Objective: Ensure access to remedy at scale, as required under CSDDD.
How adidas did this at scale
All strategic Tier 1 suppliers were required to operate a digital grievance mechanism through WOVO Connect, handling 47,200 grievances in 2025 alone.
Actions for replication
Mandate a standardized digital grievance mechanism at supplier level
Train supplier HR teams on grievance handling
Actively promote the system to workers in local languages
Monitor grievance performance centrally
Benchmark KPIs (based on adidas’ experience)
Utilization rate: ~9%
Resolution rate: ≥95% (adidas achieved 99%)
Response time: ≤11 hours
Worker satisfaction: ≥70% (adidas reached 79%)
“We are attentive to worker concerns and issues and continuously review and assess the feedback received through the WOVO platform...“It helps us understand the main challenges and labor rights issues... and undertake timely interventions where necessary.”— adidas 2024 Annual Report
Result: Grievance mechanisms function as real accountability tools, even across hundreds of thousands of workers.
Step 4: Launch Regular Worker Surveys at Scale
Objective: Capture worker sentiment continuously and proactively identify risks.
How adidas did this at scale
adidas conducts biannual worker surveys across all strategic supplier facilities, with favorable responses increasing from 78% in 2020 to nearly 90% in 2024.
In addition, targeted surveys reached 46,000 workers in a single year on gender equality alone.
Actions for replication
Conduct surveys at least twice per year
Use short, focused surveys that scale across languages and regions
Deploy targeted surveys for specific risks or worker groups
Result: Worker sentiment becomes measurable, trackable, and comparable at scale.
Step 5: Integrate Worker Data Into Due Diligence Systems
Objective: Turn worker feedback into actionable due diligence intelligence.
How adidas did this at scale
WOVO data feeds directly into adidas’ human rights due diligence systems and supplier social compliance scores, enabling real-time visibility across 90+ facilities.
Actions for replication
Integrate grievance and survey data into compliance dashboards
Flag facilities with repeated or unresolved issues
Use insights to trigger targeted remediation or supplier support
Result: Due diligence shifts from periodic review to continuous monitoring.
Step 6: Make Worker Engagement a Supplier Performance Standard
Objective: Create accountability across large supplier networks.
How adidas did this at scale
adidas embeds worker engagement metrics - such as grievance resolution and survey participation - into supplier KPIs across all strategic suppliers.
Actions for replication
Embed worker engagement indicators into supplier scorecards
Set minimum performance thresholds
Incentivize strong performance with preferred sourcing or support
Share comparative benchmarks across suppliers
Result: Worker engagement becomes a measurable, enforceable expectation.
Step 7: Communicate Results to Meet Regulatory Expectations
Objective: Demonstrate compliance, transparency, and impact.
How adidas did this at scale
adidas publicly reports worker engagement outcomes - covering hundreds of thousands of workers and thousands of cases - in its annual reporting.
Actions for replication
Publish aggregate metrics (workers reached, grievances resolved, survey participation)
Share examples of improvements driven by worker feedback
Report outcomes to regulators, investors, and auditors
Result: Companies can evidence CSDDD compliance with data, not narratives.
Outcomes
What Six Years of This Model Proves
This blueprint has already been tested at enterprise scale - not in a pilot, and not for a single year.
adidas has run the WOVO program continuously since 2017, across hundreds of supplier facilities, in more than a dozen countries, reaching hundreds of thousands of workers. What that sustained commitment has produced is not just scale. It's a measurable, compounding improvement in every dimension that matters for worker engagement.
Metric | 2019/2020 Baseline | 2025 | |
Worker satisfaction with case resolution | 39% (2019) | ~79% | |
Average grievance response time | 49 hours (2020) | <11 hours | |
Worker Pulse: favorable responses | ~78% (2020) | ~91% | |
Grievances resolved | 98% (2020) | 99% |
Satisfaction has doubled. Response time has fallen by nearly 80%. Favorable survey sentiment has risen 13 points. Resolution has held at or above 99% throughout. None of these are one-year results - every metric improved across every year of the program.
The 2025 grievance volume figure captures what this trajectory ultimately produces: close to 47,200 complaints were submitted in a single year - up 32% from 2024 - while the number of covered facilities actually decreased. More workers, per facility, chose to use the system. Not because conditions worsened, but because trust in the outcome grew. That is the clearest signal a grievance mechanism can send.
This is what program maturity looks like at scale: not just access, but use. Not just use, but confidence in what happens next.
Worker engagement should not live in pilots, audits, or standalone initiatives. As adidas' experience across six years demonstrates, when worker voice is embedded into systems, KPIs, and due diligence processes, the returns compound. Faster response times build trust. Higher trust drives usage. Greater usage surfaces more issues earlier. Earlier intervention improves outcomes. Better outcomes raise satisfaction - which builds more trust.
That cycle is not automatic. It requires consistent governance, the right technology, and a genuine commitment to acting on what workers say. But once it is running, it becomes one of the most durable assets a brand can have in its human rights due diligence program.
As adidas’ experience shows, when worker voice is embedded into systems, KPIs, and due diligence processes, it becomes a driver of resilience, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Want to learn how to apply this blueprint to your own supply chain?
Talk with us about scaling worker engagement under CSDDD.
