In developing the WOVO platform to address supply chain social sustainability, a primary emphasis was placed on the seamless integration of our tools. Our primary stakeholders; workers, suppliers, and brands already utilize various software and applications. WOVO needed to be simple, useful, and be a centralized hub of information.
WOVO's four flagship tools are; WOVO Educate, WOVO Connect, WOVO Engage, and WOVO Improve. Together these tools provide suppliers and brands with worker engagements, insights on their supply chain, and improvement plans for their social issues within their value chains. Coupled with our experienced implementation and advisory team WOVO has become one of the most trusted platforms by the workers in the industry, an all-in-one solution for suppliers and brands to improve their social and human rights performance.
To maximize efficiency, use all WOVO’s tools together. Here’s how:
Listen to Your Workers + Fix Issues
WOVO Connect is the tool that enables suppliers (direct employers of the workers) and brands to listen to worker voices + get insights into value chains. Workers can anonymously voice their concerns through various communication channels (app, WeChat, WhatsApp, SMS, browser) of WOVO Connect and suppliers then can manage and action these concerns easily through a case management dashboard, which enables an auditable trail of communications plus powerful analytics. Brands, on the other hand, see data from WOVO Connect on their global dashboard, enabling real-time + transparent aggregated data of worker voices to identify issues early and to provide support to suppliers for remedy + prevention.
Coupling WOVO Connect with WOVO Educate can drastically increase its efficiency, both to increase engagement and to prevent issues. In 2022, an Indonesian footwear manufacturer started implementing eLearning lessons for workers on “Understanding Grievances” and “Workplace Health + Safety”. The lessons explained health and safety standards and the importance of workers speaking up to help solve issues quickly. Immediately, Connect’s utilization increased—there was a 50% increase in the number of health and safety messages and reports; including reports of smoking, the need for new protective gloves, and insect infestations. The following quarter saw a 124% increase in the number of health and safety reports, indicating that the workers now understand and trust the grievance mechanism.
WOVO Connect is more than a grievance management platform. The worker feedback can be an early indicators of larger issues within the production line. Deploying a targeted survey using WOVO Engage around the issue can provide more insights and understanding of the issues. For example, a factory in Vietnam receiving complaints about the canteen food decided to proactively reach out to workers and ask targeted questions to gain a better understanding. Armed with more information via WOVO Engage, the factory was able to increase workers’ satisfaction by 25% and increase production by 15% due to the complete elimination of absenteeism due to food-borne illness.
Leveraging Worker Surveys to Prevent + Improve Social Issues
WOVO Engage is a worker survey tool that is designed specifically for complex supply chains; enabling brands and suppliers to 1) design worker surveys based on localized risks, 2) deploy the surveys through WOVO’s multiple channels 3) get access to workers' opinions directly and 4) easily build reports + share with stakeholders. WOVO Engage ultimately gives real-time, structured feedback + insights from workers to make improvements around their wellbeing. Our standardized surveys such as; Nike’s Employee Engagement & Wellbeing Survey and Social and Labor Convergence Program (SLCP) Worker Engagement surveys give consistent + comparable data for benchmarking.
During the economic downturn, an apparel manufacturer was facing challenges in meeting workers’ compensation satisfaction. Despite the recent increase in wages, the manufacturer was still receiving low scores from the workers in their standardized surveys. We co-designed a targeted survey to gather specific information on compensation and personal/family needs; aiming to capture not just monetary benefits, but also additional benefits + resources to aid workers facing these challenges.
The survey showed that the workers lacked financial knowledge and faced high financial costs with childcare. Through WOVO Educate, the factory launched a financial literacy program, covering topics on savings, managing expenses, financial planning + more. These improvement actions + factory's commitment to open a child-care center resulted in a 23% increase in workers’ compensation satisfaction and an overall increase in their financial savings + planning. [Read how one factory used WOVO Engage + WOVO Educate to reduce fire safety accidents by 80%]
Worker Surveys combined with WOVO Connect can also result in improved worker well-being and improved compliance with new Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) regulations. A factory in India conducted a survey and saw that 30% of the workers noted that the workplace negatively affected their health. A further inquiry revealed that the low workstations were the root cause, but the workers were too hesitant to report the issues. The factory immediately made ergonomic improvements at the workstation and implemented WOVO Connect. It was set up as a highly accessible and safe channel for workers to speak about their concerns directly with the management. Six months after these improvements,the factory saw a 44% reduction in the reporting of negative health impact and 33 points increase in their health and safety satisfaction.
An Ecosystem of Tools to Engage, Connect, Educate, and Improve Worker's Lives
By using this ecosystem of tools in combination WOVO can provide you with more effective usage of the grievance mechanisms, more transparent + accurate data, and a better understanding of the issues happening within your value chain. The integrated tools can also help you prevent further risks and take action to communicate and make improvements with the workers.
These contextualized data are also used in our automated improvement plans provided to the suppliers through WOVO Improve. The suppliers are given a customized plan with a checklist of to-dos, access to resources via the marketplace, and recommended specific eLearning lessons to make improvements. If suppliers need support, our advisory team will provide hands-on consultation to make meaningful changes in their production lines, ultimately improving workers’ lives and increasing businesses’ bottom line. [Read how WOVO can contribute to sizeable economic returns for businesses.]