Smart Phone Data Collection
Initiative: Good World Solutions

http://goodworldsolutions.org/ ... Laborlink joins ELEVATE to scale worker voice

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Laborlink joins ELEVATE to scale worker voice

Words from Heather Franzese, Executive Director and Co-founder of Good World Solutions

Our mission at Good World Solutions is to use data to create safe and respectful workplaces. Our vision is a world where every worker is heard, and where worker well-being is integral to business success.

Six years ago, we started noticing cell phones in workers’ hands, and tested what was then a bold idea – that we could use mobile technology to connect directly with workers in real time. We first piloted Laborlink with 100 factory workers in Peru and have since reached over 1 million workers in 16 countries.

To scale our impact, we need to think bigger. Last year, we started looking at different pathways to scale, especially disruptive alternatives to the current audit system. We realized that to deliver on our mission we need to connect worker voice data to other rich data sources, including audit, self-assessment and capacity building data.

Among the leaders in this space today, no one has a deeper commitment to transparent audits or a broader set of tools to drive worker impact than ELEVATE. For that reason, we’re integrating Laborlink into ELEVATE’s products & services – with both our team and technology. ELEVATE combines insight with improvement, has deep in-country expertise and embraces disruptive approaches.

This integration is essential to realize our vision of a world where every worker is heard. We already have a history of successful partnership with ELEVATE. Through the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, we’ve partnered with ELEVATE, the project manager, to build Amader Kotha, a first-of-its-kind technology-driven helpline that receives calls on over 500 issues a month, including complaints about wages and benefits, and fire danger inside and outside factories. The helpline has been rolled out to over 1.2 million workers at 862 factories in Bangladesh.

Thank you for your support as our team embarks on this new chapter

We’ve had incredible support from funders like USAID, Cisco, The Walt Disney Company, and the Peery Foundation. Leading companies like Target, M&S, Levi’s, and HPE have used Laborlink in their supply chains, paving the way for a new model of technology-supported worker engagement. Laborlink data has driven measurable improvements in workplace safety and communication, and reduced sexual harassment and verbal abuse in factories in Brazil, India and China.

We are proud of these achievements, but we see how much more there is to do. It’s been 4 years since Rana Plaza and while real change is happening in Bangladesh, still too many workers around the world are not paid properly, are harassed by their supervisors, or exposed to toxic chemicals. The apparel industry alone employs over 50 million workers. Millions more are making our shoes, toys and electronics.

Our mission remains unchanged. We will simply have more resources to continue serving the mission, with a larger set of tools to reach millions more workers.

This is just the beginning. I’m excited about the possibilities and invite you to join us in this next chapter of our journey. We’re counting on your continued leadership to achieve our shared vision.

Look for more communication from our team and leadership in the coming months about how our tools will fit together and how this partnership will open up new opportunities to connect with every worker.

With gratitude,

Heather Franzese, Executive Director and Co-founder of Laborlink

LABORLINK'S GLOBAL IMPACT 1097372 workers reached 16 countries 3334604 data points collected Laborlink leverages mobile technology to give workers a voice Simply with a mobile phone, workers are invited to answer free and anonymous surveys about their working conditions, from health and safety to job satisfaction, with no fear of retaliation. Worker responses are analyzed and translated into actionable analytics on www.mylaborlink.org, enabling you to keep a pulse on what’s happening on the factory floor – before problems occur. Direct worker feedback enables our 30+ partners to go beyond compliance and start measuring impact, benchmarking change, and improving worker well-being in a way that drives business results. We need the right tools to go deeper into our supply chain and obtain meaningful data. Laborlink provides valuable technology and other tools which help us realize our social responsibility vision. — Patagonia's Director of Social & Environmental Responsibility, Cara Chacon — Listening to workers in this way helps us connect the dots between quality of life issues like workplace health and safety and business issues in manufacturing, such as worker retention and productivity. — Marks & Spencer's Head of Ethical Trading, Fiona Sadler — Laborlink data has been really valuable to us in terms of understanding vulnerability and risk and hearing worker voices. It also helps us target our resources better in areas/topics that matters to our workers. — Eileen Fisher's Human Rights Leader, Luna Lee — We need the right tools to go deeper into our supply chain and obtain meaningful data. Laborlink provides valuable technology and other tools which help us realize our social responsibility vision. — Patagonia's Director of Social & Environmental Responsibility, Cara Chacon — Listening to workers in this way helps us connect the dots between quality of life issues like workplace health and safety and business issues in manufacturing, such as worker retention and productivity. — Marks & Spencer's Head of Ethical Trading, Fiona Sadler — Portfolio We work with innovators – leading companies and NGOs that are not content with the status quo. Our partners want to see working conditions change for the better and we use our technology to catalyze that transformation. All Agriculture Apparel Electronics Footwear Social Enterprise Bangladesh: PrimarkAPPAREL China: Marks & SpencerAPPAREL India: Honest TeaAGRICULTURE India: VisionSpringSOCIAL ENTERPRISE Uganda: Fair Tade USAAGRICULTURE India: ElevateAPPAREL India: BSR HERfinanceAPPAREL China: Electronics BrandELECTRONICS China: Brooks SportsFOOTWEAR Brazil: TenSquaredAPPAREL, ELECTRONICS Laborlink services are customizable to clients’ and partners’ needs, and data collected via Laborlink is used in a wide variety of ways. Some of the most common uses for data sourced via Laborlink include: With enhanced data analysis, Laborlink users can view key-drivers of business impact and predictive analytics. For this factory, the data visualizations show the correlating factors behind worker turnover. Since 30% of workers self-reported that they do not believe that a complaint filed would be resolved fairly by management, those workers are 5.2 times more likely to quit within the next 6 months. Comparative analysis gives you the ability to evaluate your Laborlink survey results between the program’s baseline and all future follow-up surveys. With this insight, a brand or supplier is able to easily identify any statistically significant changes in worker opinions, benchmark results across factory sites, and measure new solutions for improved worker satisfaction. Risk-based visualizations show at-a-glance compliance issues (in red) that violate your code of conduct or supplier standards, such as unpaid overtime and threats to worker safety. With direct and unfiltered feedback from workers, you can keep a pulse on what’s really happening on the factory floor throughout the year. Use Laborlink to verify remediation and measure issues between audits. Laborlink offers a 360° view of the factory floor by surveying both factory management and workers. This side-by-side analysis can uncover communication gaps and provide actionable feedback on essential issues such as safety and workplace communication. Factories are adopting more sophisticated Human Resource Management practices and using reliable data to drive their decisions. The new Dashboard Map (in beta) provides you a global snapshot of your Laborlink programs. With a clear and comprehensive view of your survey results, Laborlink users can quickly see where their surveys are conducted, the global number of survey responses, total sites surveyed, and key-metrics around worker satisfaction. To see a snapshot of just one country, just click on the individual survey location. Thank you for sharing our Laborlink survey results. The information is clear and will be a good tool to improve and address our objectives related to worker welfare and productivity. — Knits supplier in Peru — The Laborlink survey process was easy and smooth. We feel privileged to participate in such a ground-breaking initiative. — Promotional supplier in China — I am delighted to see how effective the tool is to collect information which does not come along so easily. This will also help us to concentrate our resources to the areas that affect the workers directly. — Textiles supplier in India — Thank you for sharing our Laborlink survey results. The information is clear and will be a good tool to improve and address our objectives related to worker welfare and productivity. — Knits supplier in Peru — The Laborlink survey process was easy and smooth. We feel privileged to participate in such a ground-breaking initiative. — Promotional supplier in China — Our Tools Laborlink is not the only way we give voice to marginalized workers and communities. Through our award-winning Fair Wage Guide and Amader Kotha Worker Helpline, we are also combining technology and localized knowledge to create win-win outcomes for everyone across the supply-chain. GWS_FWGGraphicTest_1500px(TR) Handicraft artisans are paid per piece and have little bargaining power. The Fair Wage Guide translates piece rate into hourly rate for 150+ countries, empowering workers and encouraging retailers to source responsibly. At the click of a button, the Guide generates a localized wage analysis and comparison to international poverty benchmarks. Artisans have seen incomes rise by 20% after using the tool. GWS_AmaderKothaGraphicTest_1500px(TR) Garment workers in Bangladesh often face unsafe working conditions and previously had no way to report risks to fire and building safety. Amader Kotha, or “Our Voice” in Bangla, is a first-of-its-kind Worker Helpline developed in partnership with the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, Clear Voice and grassroots NGO Phulki in Bangladesh. The tool has reached workers in 250+ factories and counting. Some of our Clients & Partners MS1.pngVodafone.pngAE1.png Good World Solutions Email Facebook Enter your email here... Subscribe 1500 Broadway, Suite 400, Oakland, CA 94612-2079 info@goodworldsolutions.org | +1 510-844-1693 Careers | Videos | Press & Awards Subscription Confirmed Your subscription to our list has been confirmed. Thank you for subscribing! Good World Solutions 1500 Broadway, Suite 400 Oakland, CA 94612