From strength to strength – with dialogue and participation

We launched the WE project in September 2007 in cooperation with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and implemented it at 40 production locations in China, Bangladesh and Thailand. Our aim was to test and continue to develop an innovative approach to qualifying suppliers with a view to achieving enduring improvements at factory level. The particular innovation of our approach lies in the fact that  rather than simply pointing the finger at problems from outside, we empower employees and managers of Asian production plants to improve working conditions at their company from within.

Finding solutions together – and putting them in place for the long term

Over a period of two years, we train manufacturers on issues such as occupational safety, child labour, wages and overtime. On-the-ground support is largely provided by local coaches, who are specially trained for this task and are assisted by international consultants for the duration of the project. The coaches are well acquainted with the culture of the region they are working in and speak the same language as the suppliers.  

The core of the training programme is dialogue between equal partners. In the course of workshops and company visits, managers and employees learn to communicate better at work, tackle challenges and solve problems together. This gives, above all, employees in the factories a voice – they are empowered to express their ideas for improvements to their situation without fear and to work together with their managers to translate these ideas into reality.

Beneficial change for all involved

The dialogue set going by the WE project helps build trust. Everyone involved feels the desire and the will to find solutions acceptable to all. This process results in better working conditions for employees. Additionally, higher employee satisfaction has a positive impact on productivity, product quality and the companies’ capacity for innovation – a win-win situation for everyone.

Our buyers are involved in the process

WE doesn’t only bring factory employees and managers to the table together. The project also offers a space for an exchange of views and experiences between retail companies and their suppliers – a dialogue of tremendous importance, due to the potentially major impact decisions made by purchasers, quality managers and product developers can have on working conditions in production plants.

An example: If a product’s design specifications are changed at short notice due to fashion trends, suppliers may have to order new materials or additions for the product. This may mean shorter production times for the supplier. Depending on how much time the supplier has planned to cover any delays or eventualities and on the degree to which capacities at the plant are engaged with other customers’ orders, this may lead to overtime for employees – a situation nobody wants.

We help buyers understand the effects their decisions can have on production by including them in our WE workshops on the ground. Additionally, we also permit local governmental bodies, NGOs and trade unions to take part in the programme, as they are key players in the implementation of social standards.

Open, honest dialogue among all stakeholders

In 2009 and 2010, along with the workshops and factory visits, we held stakeholder conferences in Bangladesh, Thailand and China, with Germany as a new host country in 2010. These events provided a forum for representatives of governmental bodies and NGOs, trade unions, retail companies and WE manufacturers to enter into an open, honest dialogue and identify potential partners for the extension of the programme planned for the future. Furthermore, we received valuable feedback for the further development of the WE project approach.

WE works

The project’s pilot phase came to an end in August 2010. Since WE’s launch in September 2007, we have worked with 18 coaches and 40 production plants in China, Bangladesh and Thailand. Our innovative approach has proved a success. An external analysis has examined – and confirmed - the effectiveness of the dialogue-led approach. Practising the dialogue method and setting up dialogue-promoting structures in factories is directly correlated with improvements in working conditions, in relation, among other things, to wages, overtime, discrimination and participation in decision-making by employees and their representatives in the supplier companies. Positive effects on economic indicators such as employee fluctuation, accident rates, productivity and quality have also been obersved and confirmed. Additionally, producers report a significant improvement in their economic efficiency. We benefit both from the project’s positive effects at factory level and from our direct dialogue with our suppliers. Our encounters with suppliers at the plants give us access to insights which we can use to improve the management of our own supply chain – making it possible to handle orders still more smoothly in the future.

The limits of the approach

Nevertheless, we are acutely aware that we have not yet reached a breakthrough on securing living wages and employees' freedom to join unions and conduct collective bargaining. We will continue to apply our efforts in this area.

Into the future with WE

The pilot phase is over, but WE is continuing: We have already got a further 42 production plants in China and Bangladesh on board for the innovative training programme and trained up eight new local coaches in China. Additionally, we are working with GIZ to engage further companies and organisations in the programme and make the approach available to a wider audience – with a view to developing WE into a national and international standard-setter of the future.