A paper by Sherry Wu of UCLA and Elizabeth Paluck of Princeton, demonstrates that actively encouraging employees to speak up about their work process and experience, rather than solely listen to management, boosted productivity by 10% in a Chinese apparel factory, after just six weeks. The productivity boost is equivalent to a $58 USD increase in wages. Once again, it is clear giving workers a voice is foundational to improvements in the workplace and the bottom-line. When workers are heard and engaged, everyone benefits. Read the detailed study here.

Last month, we published an article showing a drastic increase in the utilization of WOVO from February to March. As the pandemic continues, utilization of WOVO continues in increase. In these uncertain and stressful economic times, workers are asking more questions to their management than ever. From February to March, we have seen utilization rates of WOVO increase tremendously across the region: Vietnam – 91% increase in messages sent by workers Indonesia – 50% increase Cambodia – 173% increase China – 129% increase In turn, management also increased outreach to workers: 100% increase in the number of broadcast messages sent globally by managers to workers from February to March 27% increase in the number of newsletters sent globally by managers to workers from February to March Managers using WOVO during the COVID-19 outbreak report that they are happy to have access to a digital technology that allows them to keep in touch with workers even when those workers are staying at home.  For factories laying off or indefinitely furloughing workers, WOVO will be key to getting workers back on the line when government restrictions ease and orders continue. Hear from human resource directors who are using WOVO to build trust and improve moral during COVID. Does your company or workplace have a corporate communications tool in place? A recent McKinsey & Company report on COVID-19 says that adopting a two-way communication system with workers is critical during a crisis. The study says that these systems act as a clear source of truth, provide workers with confidential reporting mechanisms, and help employers have a clearer understanding of what is going from the perspective of workers. Reach out so we can help you set up WOVO – and other tools we developing in response to COVID-19 disruptions – in your facility quickly. We will continue to update this data as the crisis continues. Hashtag #uncategorized

This month over 400,000 new workers gained access to WOVO’s elearning platform, allowing them to take courses on topics ranging from Fire Safety to Pregnancy Support. While WOVO eLearning is available in over 20 countries, this months’ launch included workers in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Philippines, China, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Honduras. Of the 400,000 workers, 76% are women. “We are excited to see our eLearning platform expanding to more workers. We’ve spent the last year working hard on improving our user interface, accessibility and building partnerships with great subject matter experts,” says Labor Solutions’ CEO Elena Fanjul-Debnam. With this launch to a new set of workers, the WOVO eLearning platform has been upgraded. New reporting features allow factories which roll out the eLearning platform to earn badges based on the percentage of workers who complete and pass a course, rewarding factories and making it easy to share success with clients. The eLearning content has a new interface and is more interactive. Laso Robo, WOVO’s new learning ambassador, and his friends help usher workers through courses with jokes and light-hearted banter. Workers can also now download content to view later without WIFI. Courses continue to be added to the platform as Labor Solutions works closely with subject matter experts. Digitizing existing curricula and distributing to as many workers as possible is a key goal for the Labor Solutions team. If your or your organization has content relevant to factory workers and are interested in working with Labor Solutions to distributed it widely, please reach out to Sheila Schulze. Founded in 2013, Labor Solutions leverages technology and data to improve the lives of workers. Our tools and services are created using user-centric & inclusive design to engage and connect with the entire value chain of stakeholders. We foster social infrastructures to support sustainable and valuable change in workplaces.

Background Providing meals for 4,000 workers three times a day is complicated, requiring a team to manage preferences, health concerns, consistency and variety. Complaints about the food served at factories is common and often these complaints are brushed off as minor or unimportant. However, there is a clear connection between canteen condition, food quality and worker engagement and productivity. An ILO study argues good nutrition at work is good business, leading to gains in productivity and worker morale, prevention of accidents and premature deaths, and reductions in health-care costs. Worker satisfaction and thus retention is directly related to food served onsite. In a survey conducted by Labor Solutions in 25 factories, eighty percent of workers unsatisfied with the food provided were considering quitting. In the same study, twenty-seven percent of employees said access to healthy food and drink was the number-one way their employer could be supportive. Brands and factories alike should take this issue seriously. This case study takes a closer look a Vietnamese factory that used WOVO to focus on improving their canteen and after 3 months saw a measurable increase in worker satisfaction and productivity. Case Factory management knew workers were unhappy about the food served in the canteen, but lacked the tools to systemically collect feedback and address the issue. So, management saw WOVO as an opportunity to help them solve their ongoing canteen problems. Unsurprisingly, when WOVO launched, a majority of complaints received via WOVO’s Connect Feature, were regarding the food at the canteen. Analysis showed workers dissatisfied with the repetitive, tasteless and small amounts food. Workers also complained that food menus were only published onsite in the canteen, resulting in dangerous crowds and shorter break hours as workers rushed to canteen to decide whether to dine in or order out. The management at this factory, now equipped with WOVO, decided to take the following steps: Proactively reach out to workers using a factory wide survey. Based on the survey results, they got rid of the unpopular dishes and added a few recommended ones. Now this survey is being ran on a quarterly basis. Factory management also decided to start publishing the menus on WOVO using the newsletter feature. This seemingly minor adjustment had a big impact on the workers’ behavior. They no longer rushed to the canteen at lunch time; instead, they checked menus on their phones. This helped reduce over-crowding and allowed to have a more relaxing break. Increased their promotion of WOVO to encourage workers to voice opinions. This helped to reduce the workload of team leaders and HSE staff as they no longer needed to have repetitive conversations or manually record the issues. Workers were also able to give suggestions easily and quickly when issues first emerged helping the management address the issue faster. While, WOVO was a needed a tool to help the factory management communicate and gather feedback, improvements policies and procedures were also necessary to create sustainable change. Here are some of the actions management took: Staff from the administrative and HSE departments, now conduct monthly meetings with the canteen team and randomly check food portions and hygiene onsite to ensure ongoing compliance. If the factory receives multiple complaints about food, they treat the issues as urgent and try to resolve it immediately, before the day ends, including providing additional snacks or milk, when workers complain about a lack of food. The factory expanded the compliance committee to include night-shift workers to ensure consistency no matter the shift. The canteen team also made improvements such as replacing the old utensils, changing the kitchen layout and adding more staff to provide food faster. They also took special notice of the hygiene, taste and diversity of the food. Results Three months after making changes, the impact of their work was clear: The number of reports regarding canteen and food had dropped by 40% compared to the last quarter. Absenteeism due to food-borne illnesses dropped to zero. A 40% increase in the number of daily meals served, an indicator that more workers were choosing to dine in. Workers were more productive, increasing production by more 15%. A 25% increase in worker satisfaction. WOVO's ongoing support and engagement is key to factories ability to make real lasting change and react in the moment worker needs. Proud of what his team had accomplished using WOVO, the Human Resource director said, “we love Connect and Company Post features of WOVO since they have made significant contribution to our workplace communications. Thank you WOVO Team.”

A Case Study: After COVID hit, one brand decided to digitize their trainings in hopes of meeting a 3-year goal of training 25% of workers on gender-based violence and safety.  Read how they were able to increase the number of workers trained, meeting their goal after just 6 months and reduce training time by 60%. In 2019, a small apparel brand set a 3-year goal to have 25% of workers in their 1st tier supply chain trained on safety and gender-based violence by 2023. The brand set a plan to hit this ambitious target, creating face-to-face training modules and hiring additional staff globally to deliver the trainings. Then COVID hit. The brand was no longer able to go onsite to conduct trainings and suppliers were busy trying to protect workers from COVID and changing production efforts to match every changing local regulation. The sustainability team morale was deflated, their efforts to train workers had been derailed. While the brand strongly believed combating COVID and protecting workers from the virus should be a key priority, they also knew increased stress and a shrinking job market would result in an increase in worker vulnerability. They decided their goal to train workers was still critical. The brand heard from one of their suppliers about WOVO eLearning and decided to engage Labor Solutions to digitize their lessons. By digitizing the lessons, the brand and suppliers were able to deliver the trainings to more workers despite COVID. Content Design The Labor Solutions digital learning team used the face-to-face training curricula outlines and created a blended learning model for the brand. They were able to digitize over 80% of the curricula. Working with the brand the team created interactive and entertaining content for workers, ensuring to check for understanding after the presentation of each concept and then to conduct an assessment at the end of the lesson. The team was also able to use a set of culturally ambiguous characters, making translations easier and more affordable. Literacy was a concern for the brand as well, so for some languages, voice overs were added. All courses were saved in both a video format to be shared on screens in factories, but also as an eLearning package to be distributed via WOVO to workers. Program and Reporting Design The Labor Solutions team advised the brand to set targets for the percentage of workers who completed each lesson for each country to ensure that suppliers prioritized distribution. The brand considered challenges each locality, like the prevalence of COVID, when they set targets, and decided to set slightly different targets for each supplier countries. They also decided to set lower targets to make sure the goals were not overwhelming at first. The goals were clear and easy to communicate both internally to brand stakeholders but also to suppliers. After a group call with suppliers and an email, the suppliers were clear on the Brand's expectations. Implementation Labor Solutions sent each supplier a set up package. To get started: Suppliers were given access to their own WOVO worker database to easily upload worker profiles. This allows for courses to be ta rgeted to specific groups of workers, like managers. It also allows for more accurate reporting. If a worker takes the course and then later quits, the workers data will be counted in the Overall Trained Data point but not in the current workforce data point. This allows the supplier to ensure their current workforce is up-to-date on trainings. Suppliers were given promotional materials and a video to distribute to workers to make downloading and registering for the app easy Workers scan the QR code and download the WOVO app. The App automatically filled in the company code, workers only need to add their employee ID number to get started Suppliers set up digital training areas at the factory Suppliers provided WIFI in these areas for workers to download the course to take later or to take the course live Many suppliers provided a few extra devices (computers, phones, tablets etc) for workers without smart phones to use to access the content. Some suppliers provided incentives like free phone credit or entry into a raffle for workers who completed the courses Data + Results After just 6 months the brand had successfully trained 25% of workers at their strategic suppliers. The brand saw this as an instant success and continued to have their digital trainings translated and rolled out to more suppliers. The digital trainings also require 60 percent less worker time than classroom training. What used to be a half a day training was now a twenty-minute digital training + one-hour face-to-face training. The brand plans conduct the face to face component of their blended learning program when COVID subsides. The onsite training is now structured as a practicum, allowing participants apply the content learned in the digital training to real life scenarios. The shorter training allows the brand to train more workers and the suppliers are happier that workers spend less time away from the production line. ----------- Labor Solutions’ products and services support brands and retailers in reducing risks through engagement, access, and improvement. Our plug-and-play tools have been carefully designed to support our clients’ varying needs throughout the entire Worker Engagement Cycle. Our Client Advisory team helps our client’s set-up for success in each facility and country. To learn more about our tools and services click here.

Recently Elena Fanjul-Debnam,  had the honor of speaking with Mark Evans at Omega Compliance. Following their conversations, Mr. Evans published the following article. Mobile phone technology within responsible sourcing programs is becoming increasingly common. From the introduction of the Amader Kotha helpline in Bangladesh after Rana Plaza, to the growth of worker sentiment surveys and standalone worker wellbeing projects at factories, the trend is clear. “It’s exciting and certainly has a future,” says Elena Fanjul-Debnam, Head of Labor Solutions.  “Countries are changing their rules and regulations around cellphone data and, coupled with more service providers entering the market, the price of mobile phone technology is reducing.” With any new technology though, there is always more excitement than practicality. “Brands need to be thoughtful about what they want to achieve,” explains Elena. “You need a lot of sampling, account management and training. You also need to be cognizant of the end user. In this case, it is the worker. We have to think through how we implement worker grievance tools, what we do with the data, how we react to it and how we make changes based on what is said.” Elena prefers the term ‘worker dialogue’ rather than ‘worker voice.’  Worker voice describes a one-way tool, collecting information but, perhaps, not acting upon it, while, worker dialogue, instead, describes a conversation. “We are replying to workers and we’re getting to the bottom of what’s going on,” she explains. “We’re listening and that is where change is going to be made.” While there is some discussion within the industry around the potential for worker dialogue technology to replace responsible sourcing audits, Elena believes the tools are distinct and should remain separate. “Audits attempt to be an objective assessment,” shares Elena. “For example, is minimum wage being paid? A worker may not know that nor, as another example, understand if there is an effective fire alarm system at the factory.” According to Elena, brands should also be aware of the limitations of worker grievance technology as worker helplines. “Many helplines are built on a model which require a factory manager to ask their employees to report to a client whether they are a bad employer,” she shares. “Given this incentive structure, productive engagement is less likely. Also, third party helplines are so removed for workers that it’s also worth considering how vulnerable and aggrieved a worker must feel before using a third-party channel.” Elena believes worker dialogue technology is deployed best at the factory. “The best place for change to happen is where workers can communicate directly with their employees,” she shares. Worker dialogue tools only work where there is the ability to make change. If the factory asks, ‘How do you feel about your wage?’ but has no intention to increase it, it’s best not to ask the question. “It’s about trust,” explains Elena. “You want the workers to trust you and tell you things, but they are only going to confide in you so long as you act upon their feedback, or at least be able to tell them what the resolution was.” “Brands also need to be careful about false negatives,” adds Elena. “One should not assume the absence of feedback means there are no problems.” As an example, Elena explains that she lived in Jakarta, Indonesia, for eight years, and has been in Singapore for two. She has filed more complaints in Singapore than she did in Jakarta, because her experience has been that in Singapore someone will listen, follow-up, then respond. In other words, the lack of complaints she filed in Jakarta does not indicate that there were less issues there. People react to what they anticipate will happen. If a factory manager, in the past, has followed up upon what a worker said, they may be more likely to provide negative feedback again because they believe they will change things. By telling the truth, they are asking for change. From the perspective of the factory, it’s about direct employers engaging their workers and really creating systems which enable that. “From a brand’s perspective, if we look at suppliers and know that they are having direct engagement with workers, we know the risk is decreased,” explains Elena. “I think the most effective place to deploy worker dialogue technology is factory by factory, facility by facility, because that’s the workers’ reality.” This blog was originally published by Omega Compliance. Hashtag #compliance #humanrights #sustainability

While it may not always be possible to include direct employers in the survey process, we encourage brands to do so if possible. Worker Surveys are more meaningful if supplier facilities are part of the process. As the employer, supplier facilities are responsible for providing workers a positive work environment. Follow up to worker surveys is just as important as collecting worker feedback and direct employers are best equipped to do this. When a brand collects worker feedback without the supplier facility engaged, it misses an opportunity to leverage capacity and empower for change. Imagine if you and your co-workers had spent the last three months lodging complaints about the factory sponsored bus, and then your employer launches, what they call an “Employee Engagement Survey” and doesn’t ask about the bus. This oversight would lead you to believe your employer doesn’t care about what you have to say and result in you being less interested in responding to the survey. While better understanding transportation issues may not be your brand's objective for the survey, by not addressing the daily concerns of workers, it is impossible to build the trust necessary to uncover more concerning challenges. When suppliers are engaged in the survey process, the whole process is more efficient and effective: Employer knowledge and experience in the field will help you create the right questions. Suppliers are more willing to support survey deployment, helping to promote the survey among workers and assist with onsite deployment When the right questions are asked, and management promotes a surveys more workers respond and are more likely to be honest with their feedback. Suppliers feel ownership and are more likely to act upon the data from the surveys they own. The Worker Engagement Dashboard (WED) was built with this in mind. With the WED Survey Tools: Brands create surveys and assign to their suppliers. Suppliers can add their own questions or combine questions from two different brands without changing the brand's core questions or the reporting structure. From their dashboard suppliers decide to how to distribute and promote the survey Data is reported back to selected stakeholders in their selected format, allowing for easy comparison of data sets. The WED survey tool underlines Labor Solutions' commitment to creating sustainable long term solutions that lead to capacity building and ownership. --- Founded in 2013, Labor Solutions leverages technology and data to improve the lives of workers. Our tools and services are created using user-centric & inclusive design to engage and connect with the entire value chain of stakeholders. We foster social infrastructures to support sustainable and valuable change in workplaces.

Footwear and clothing manufacturers in Vietnam are riding a wave of economic opportunity, attributed to a profitable trade agreement with the European Union and increased manufacturing costs in China. In April the country’s Ministry of Industry and Trade reported that textile, garment and footwear exports had risen 7.1 percent year-on-year. However, there is another opportunity impacting the industry as well. Race to the Top, a collaborative initiative coordinated by IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative, is successfully promoting large scale improvements to sustainable manufacturing in the country. A unique partnership involving the Vietnamese apparel and footwear industry, global consumer brands, the Vietnamese government and public partners, Race to the Top intends to reshape manufacturing practices starting in Vietnam, but then extending across the globe. Labor Solutions has recently been selected to join Race to the Top as technical experts for worker engagement efforts. As part of the project, Labor Solutions will equip participating factories with WOVO, a mobile phone-based communication platform that promotes worker wellbeing using two-way confidential communication and e-learning. WOVO also features advanced online analytics that can track employee engagement trends and other actionable data. Race to the Top uses a pilot program framework to showcase a business rationale for adopting environmental and social sustainability practices. As part of the pilot programs, factory workers, union representatives, supervisors and management participate in trainings and coaching to develop skills and implement practices that improve both sustainability and profitability. Initial outcomes have been impressive, demonstrated by the following: An average decline in monthly worker turnover from 10 percent to 6 percent. An average 14 percent increase in right first time (RFT) Lasting effects, as 85 percent of workers recognized program benefits two years later “The factories in our pilot programs are successfully demonstrating that a combination of productivity and worker engagement training can improve both working conditions and profitability,” shares Sibbe Krol, Senior Program Manager at IDH. “We are finding that the sustainability measures being implemented are leading to reductions in worker turnover and optimized production. That is a win-win for workers and management.” For more information about Race to the Top, visit racetothetop.info or contact Sibbe Krol at Krol@idhtrade.org. To learn more about WOVO, contact Labor Solutions at info@laborsolutions.tech.

Facing significant disruptions to existing supply chains, workers and managers are turning to technology solutions to communicate as factories shut down and social distancing measures are enforced. In these uncertain and stressful economic times, workers are asking more questions to their management than ever. From January +  February to March + April , we have seen utilization rates of WOVO increase tremendously across the region: Vietnam – 120% increase in messages sent by workers Indonesia – 100% increase Cambodia – 173% increase China – 129% increase In turn, management also increased outreach to workers: 80% increase in the number of broadcast messages sent globally by managers to workers from January+  February to March + April 50% increase in the number of newsletters sent globally by managers to workers from January +  February to March + April Managers using WOVO during the COVID-19 outbreak report that they are happy to have access to a digital technology that allows them to keep in touch with workers even when those workers are staying at home.  For  For factories laying off or indefinitely furloughing workers, WOVO will be key to getting workers back on the line when government restrictions ease and orders continue. Does your company or workplace have a corporate communications tool in place? A recent McKinsey & Company report on COVID-19 says that adopting a two-way communication system with workers is critical during a crisis. The study says that these systems act as a clear source of truth, provide workers with confidential reporting mechanisms, and help employers have a clearer understanding of what is going from the perspective of workers. Reach out so we can help you set up WOVO – and other tools we developing in response to COVID-19 disruptions – in your facility quickly.

Labor Solutions’ set of services is designed to shift the relationship between brands and suppliers from one of compliance to one of capacity building and ownership. Often, worker voice programs and helplines developed with a compliance mindset are designed as a ‘gotcha’ mechanism based on an undercurrent of distrust. As a result, suppliers suppress any challenges that might get them into ‘trouble,’ and do not promote helplines to workers, making them largely ineffective. Entering the industry with an employee well-being background, we recognized the conflict this presented and set out to design something fundamentally different. We wanted to create tools that could empower direct employers and provide data sets that spark change-oriented collaboration and action. Rather than focusing on whether there is a problem, we developed tools that measure whether the problem was handled well. This increases communication and reduces risks. When we designed WOVO, a key feature was its ability to facilitate two-way, anonymous communication between employers and workers. WOVO equips the employer to manage and respond to employees’ questions and suggestions. Additionally, it generates reports and provides data that can be useful for oversight. WOVO goes beyond the capabilities of a third-party helpline by not only capturing worker’s needs, but also giving management the resources it needs to respond to workers’ concerns and help minimize future risk. This can empower facilities, encourage their promotion of WOVO and result in increased participation by workers. In some instances, WOVO has received more than ten times as many cases as the third-party grievance line. We also find that with WOVO, cases are generally solved faster, and often small issues are managed before they become critical. For some facilities, responding directly to workers in real time and managing complaints can be challenging. That’s why we provide complementary client advisory services with all of our tools. However, we know that sometimes our standard advisory services aren’t enough, and facilities need more support. To address these concerns, we are introducing Enhanced Advisory Services, a new service from Labor Solutions, designed to provide additional support to specific facilities and to help buyers sort the underprepared facilities from the negligent. Because no workplace is perfect, Enhanced Advisory Services emphasizes progress over perfection. What’s included: 10 additional advisory services hours Guided self-needs assessment and target setting Additional oversight and support How it Works: Facilities with Enhanced Advisory Services will start with a guided self-assessment that identifies what standards they want to use for evaluation and any areas that they recognize need improvement. Based on the results of the self-assessment, the Labor Solutions team will work with facilities to set targets for improvement. Targets might pertain to speed of response to workers, number of worker committee meetings, utilization of tools and worker pulse scores, for example. Each quarter, the Labor Solutions team will review utilization rates, messages from workers, and responses from managers.  This insight will be shared with the facility by the account manager during quarterly meetings. We will hold the facility accountable to its own targets and, if needed, provide specific feedback for how the facility can improve. This could include ideas for expediting response speed, using empathy, optimizing management processes, and/or identifying better ways to use the data. To ensure that facilities maximize the utility of their service(s) and see real results, we will also convene a tri-party meeting among us, the buyer, and the facility in the event we observe no improvement or effort from the facility after three quarters. This allows the Labor Solutions team to have a one-on-one relationship with facilities and gives them time to make improvements without fear of being penalized, while still ensuring accountability. This incentivizes capacity-building and improvement. Facilities can also always supplement with additional Labor Solutions trainings focused on communication, worker dialogue, and grievance mechanisms. We recognize that supplier ownership comes with challenges, particularly for brands with limited resources or for facilities with a checkered past. Real change isn’t easy. With WOVO + Enhanced Advisory Services, facilities will receive the additional guided support they need to learn how to better initiate change from within. To learn more about our Enhanced Advisory Services service email us at info@laborsolutions.tech Hashtag #compliance #uncategorized