Increasingly, retailers, brands and multi-stakeholder groups are adding worker feedback into their social compliance programs and standards. We are excited that workers are finally being included into the process, but caution that the trend to conduct worker surveys quickly and haphazardly could hurt workers more than help.
The trend to conduct worker surveys quickly and haphazardly could hurt workers more than help.
The power dynamic of a traditional audit is clear: buyer > supplier. The same cannot be said about worker participation in an audit; a worker's honesty could lead to their employer failing the audit and thus, the worker losing their job. Thus, incorporating worker voice into social compliance programs must be more comprehensive then simply deploying a survey to collect data.
Trust is at the core of all worker engagement efforts. Workers must trust that responses are anonymous and must trust the integrity of the process or handling feedback. Putting value judgements