CRB's R&R facilitation workshop in Bangalore

"Workers who better understand their business role, responsibilities and workplace rights are far more likely to develop a deep "sense of belonging” and “job ownership” at their workplaces, compared to their counterparts in mere mercenary and transactional work settings”, was the key message that all participants of Rights and Responsibilities (R&R) training programme took home at Bangalore yesterday! Rights and Responsibilities (or R&R as it is popularly known), is the flagship capacity building initiative of Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), a CSR centre of excellence incubated in 2011 in New Delhi, by the GIZ, SAI and BSCI. CRB has been involved in designing, developing and implementing many innovative capacity-building initiatives in the ready-made garments, home textiles and footwear supply-chains of India and Bangladesh for the past five years. 

“It is surely exciting to see how the R&R approach has creatively translated our code of conduct aspirations into short, easy to comprehend videos that speak to workers in their own contextual reality”, says Yogananda Kote, India sustainability manager at NIKE who took an active part in the recent R&R facilitation training in Bangalore on 29th March. Instead of delivering long and often boring powerpoint presentations to factory workers who are generally lethargic with short "attention spans”, R&R learning methodology involves showing short, fictionalised video films of 8-9 minutes’  duration, shot in actual factory environments and thereafter engaging workers in a facilitated feedbacks and discussions. “This way, our workers are never bored and tired from a long dragging behavioural orientation, as the R&R approach naturally triggers spontaneous and open responses from workers on how they feel about their working conditions and the possible roles they could play in bringing about the changes they see as necessary”, says Kalpana B.G, who currently leads the human resources management function at the Madura Fashion & Lifestyle (the RMG arm of India’s Aditya Birla Group). “As much effective a tool R&R is in building awareness of workplace rights and responsibilities among workers, a few of these training videos are also excellent new recruitee induction material!” reflects Poonam Chopra, HR Manager at Arvind Exports. 

While for many skeptics, a positive and proactive orientation of workers on workplace rights and responsibilities (which R&R approach stands for) might sound like a naïve and pre-mature adventure of raising unrealistic expectations among the workforce, the R&R experience so far however points to the contrary! More than 70% of the factories that have successfully implemented R&R worker trainings as a regular part of their HRM engagement with their workforces, have reported drastic improvements on their workers’ absenteeism and attrition fronts, which include some major savings in losses of skilled workers! While a structured M&E component to the programme just got added this year, the general feedback from most RMG and Home Textile businesses who embarked upon the R&R journey 2-3 years ago have been tremendously positive and encouraging so far.       

About the Author :

Raphel is an experienced supply chain sustainability professional who has earlier worked with Bestseller, a top Danish fashion retailer, handling their entire supply chain sustainability programme for the Asia region, and also with Mothercare, Timberland, H&M and Columbia Sportswear in as similar capacity. Before joining the corporate sector he had stints with WWF-India, CSE and Australian High Commission (New Delhi). He is currently working with Centre for Responsible Business as Vice President – Supply Chain Sustainability

ISEAL analysis demonstrates deepening ISEAL member engagement and expansion in Brazil, China and India.

Five years ago, ISEAL’s ‘Scaling-Up Strategy’ set out a number of reasons why emerging economies should be a priority for the sustainability standards movement, with Brazil, India and China identified as key markets. Not only are these economic powerhouses the world’s biggest producers and buyers of commodities, but there is also an increasing commitment to tackling major social and environmental issues in these diverse societies.

While several sustainability standards and initiatives have had long-standing relationships in these countries, data collated by ISEAL shows how the use of standards systems in these markets have accelerated in the last three years.

In 2015, ISEAL members covered a total of 9,800 certified entities in Brazil, India and China, up 20% from the year before. Comparing data on certification uptake between 2012 and 2015, ISEAL found that members which in 2012 had no, or very limited reach in emerging markets, were successful in rapidly expanding and consolidating a user-base for their standard. Established standards systems such as FSC or Rainforest Alliance (that already had significant uptake in Brazil, China or India) experienced continued growth across all three countries.

ISEAL members also increased their strategic presence in emerging economies. Looking at aspects such as awareness raising activities, training provision, capacity building, partnership-building and investment in local staff, ISEAL found that the bulk of its members had intensified their strategic engagement in emerging economies. Whereas less than half of ISEAL members could be considered engaged in emerging markets in 2012, by 2015 this had increased to 66%.

Brazil engagement already strong, but alliances have grown

In terms of engagement efforts by ISEAL members, the Brazilian context shows the least change over three years in comparison to the Chinese and Indian landscape. This confirms the relative maturity of the Brazilian market and the fact that many ISEAL members had some form of engagement in Brazil prior to 2012. Over the years a vibrant ISEAL community has emerged, with a notable increase in alliances and partnerships across ISEAL membership. Examples include ISEAL members working together on the Rio Olympics Food Vision Initiative or sharing facilities and back office support. In addition, several ISEAL members have developed structural links to Brazilian standard setting initiatives and certification bodies. Given this context, ISEAL organised its first annual Global Sustainability Standards Symposium in São Paulo on 23rd September 2015, which was widely attended by business leaders and key stakeholders.

China opens up and ISEAL members increase their presence

In China, ISEAL members’ engagement levels have intensified since 2012, with about two thirds of the members now investing in some form of engagement, although these levels have been relatively low compared to the size of the Chinese market. For at least five members, engagement in 2015 is still in an early planning stage. Part of this growth has been made possible by government-led standards sector reform and opening up, along with an open and willing attitude from Chinese regulators to work with ISEAL and ISEAL members along with other leading sustainability tools and standards. Greater numbers of businesses are also using sustainability standards in the Chinese domestic market, often led by global brands, but increasingly by Chinese brands as well. For example, Chinese investors in the palm oil sector have benefited from certification to and guidance from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Palm oil and Chinese foreign investment were the topic at an ISEAL Sustainability Standards Salon in Beijing that coincided with ISEAL’s board meeting held there last April.  Chinese businesses were happy to share how standards like RSPO are helping guide them on their sustainability journey to reduce risk and achieve sustainable returns on investment.

India shows most dramatic growth in ISEAL member activity in emerging economies

India emerged as the most dynamic emerging market location for ISEAL members over the past three years, with a strong upsurge and investment in partnerships coupled with a dramatic increase in the number of certified entities and production areas under certification. The number of highly engaged members has doubled, indicating strong investment in local staff offices, strategic partnerships, and increase in the number of certified entities. Through partnering with the Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), an Indian NGO focussed on sustainable supply chains and sustainability standards, ISEAL was able to support a broad range of activities and events to help facilitate members’ expansion in India. Examples include creating a network forum for the local staff of ISEAL members, research on market entry opportunities as well as activities aimed at building the local demand for certified products.

ISEAL is continuing to work in emerging markets to support our members and to build greater awareness of credible standards across Brazil, India and China. Ultimately, we continue to move towards our shared long term aim to see a significant scaling up of the positive sustainability impacts in the sectors and commodities in which ISEAL members operate globally.  

Guest Blog Series: India and Sustainability Standards by Prof Deborah Leipziger

Last week, the Centre for Responsible Business provided a historic opportunity: to promote pathways to sustainability in India and globally. Company executives gathered with government officials and civil society leaders in New Delhi from November 18 - 20^th for ‘India and Sustainability Standards: International Dialogues and Conference 2015’ convened by the Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) along with 50 Indian and international standard setters, policymakers, businesses and civil society organisations, to look at how sustainability standards can be adopted, implemented or adapted to promote better environmental and social practices in India, including in the SME world as part of the global value chains.  Leaders from standard initiatives like Social Accountability 8000 (SA8000), UNICEF, UNDP, OECD, GIZ, and sector-specific standards in cotton and apparel, mining and tea, gathered for three days to dialogue and reflect on how India can lead the charge in the world on self-regulatory approaches. 

For 25 years, I have worked to develop and implement sustainability codes and standards. I feel fortunate that I was involved in the early drafting of several initiatives, including SA8000 and the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI). I am deeply honored that the third edition of my book The Corporate Responsibility Code Book was launched in New Delhi at the Sustainability Standards conference on 18^th November 2015.

How is the landscape of codes and standards changing?

Standards and codes continue to evolve and become more integrated across industry sectors and themes. There is a greater need for integrating social and environmental issues by businesses in the economy and in our global society.  It is impressive to see how the majority of the standards and initiatives continue to expand their membership and influence. In the 15 years since I began working on the first Code Book, it is impressive to see that some of the early initiatives, like the Ceres Principles, have become so commonplace that they are just part of the ethos for how most companies operate. The new edition of The Corporate Responsibility Code Book has a section on gender, a theme which continues to grow in importance for the standards community.

What is the legacy of codes?  

The evolution of codes and standards has left us with an important legacy. One of the key features of some of the initiatives is their strong multi-stakeholder approaches, which bring together leaders from civil society, the business community, trade unions, government, and academia, and thus creating the much needed credibility for the standards. Also, these multi-stakeholder approaches create opportunities for dialogue, change and, learning. Social Accountability International (SAI), the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI), the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), and the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) are among the leading international initiatives which have created strong multi-stakeholder alliances.

One of the greatest contributions of these alliances and standards is the development of capacity building. At SAI and ETI, and within the wider community of codes and standards, we have worked to develop training for workers, for managers, and for auditors. Building capacity has yielded benefits to communities and empowered workers to understand and exercise their rights.

Standards and codes have created important definitions and processes that serve as guide posts. The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights uses the term “irremediable” for human rights abuses for which there is no remedy. Standards have helped to develop the terms which allow us to dialogue and change.

But codes and standards are just a beginning. Social entrepreneurs within companies are recognizing their ability to be change agents. Corporations are developing products and services which create social value. I am inspired by the wave of social innovation and social entrepreneurship that is sweeping across many MBA programs and businesses.

Codes and standards provide a framework for dialogue and a starting point for broad cultural change. The legacy of codes provides a common language and multi-stakeholder alliances to create the kind of world we want to leave to our children. 

About the Author

Deborah Leipziger is an author, professor, and advisor in the fields of corporate responsibility (CR) and sustainability. She advises companies, governments, and UN agencies on CR and sustainability issues.  She has advised leading multinational companies on strategic and supply chain issues, as well as a wide range of CR initiatives, including the UN Global Compact, the Global Reporting Initiative, the UN Environment Programme, and Social Accountability International.  She is the co-author of Creating Social Value: A Guide for Leaders and Change Makers, (Greenleaf, 2014) and  The Corporate Responsibility Code Book, soon to be released as a third edition (Greenleaf, 2010) and co-author of Living Corporate Citizenship (FT, 2002) and Corporate Citizenship: Successful Strategies of Responsible Companies, (FT, 1998). She is the author of Social Accountability 8000: The Definitive Guide to the New Social Standard (FT Prentice Hall, 2001).  Her books have been translated into Portuguese, French, Korean, and Chinese.  Born in Brazil, Ms. Leipziger has a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts from Manhattanville College in Economics and International Studies.  For more information, go to http://deborahleipziger.com/

Guest Blog Series: Can Sustainability Standards Help India Meet the SDGs?

In September, the heads of state of over 190 countries met at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in New York to adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Replacing the Millennium Development Goals, which expired this year, the SDGs consist of 17 goals and 169 targets, aimed at reducing poverty, promoting social development, and protecting the environment on a global scale. Along with other heads of state, Prime Minister Modi declared India’s firm commitment to achieve these goals by 2030. By every measure, the SDGs constitute the most comprehensive and ambitious list of sustainable development goals world leaders have ever committed to.

All eyes are on India

There is no doubt that India will play a key role in the implementation of the SDG agenda. Its sheer size and the magnitude of its development challenge make the country a focal point in this process. India is home to nearly a third of the world’s ‘bottom billion’ and continues to struggle to provide large segments of its population with access to basic public services, such as water, food, healthcare, and education. At the same time, India holds great potential to make progress on these issues. The country is an emerging economic powerhouse that has seen annual average growth rates of 6-8 percent over the last few decades. This year it overtook China as world’s fastest growing large emerging economy. The promotion of economic growth through initiatives like Prime Minister Moodi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign is central to the country’s development strategy. But better mechanisms are needed to reconcile its economic, social, and environmental policy objectives. Whether or not the government will succeed in this will be of crucial importance not only for India but for the entire SDG process.

However, experts and even senior government officials concede that implementing the SDGs in India by 2030 poses a major challenge. Prior to the UN conference in New York, Mrs Sindhushree Khullar, CEO of NITI Aayon, a new government body charged with implementing the SDGs, expressed concerns about the feasibility of the task. According to Khullar, India has already had problems to reach its own more modest sustainable development targets and that, in comparison, the 169 SDG targets marked “a huge jump”.

Can sustainability standards help?

At least since the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio in 1992, the private sector has been actively involved in the formulation and implementation of global sustainability goals. One important mechanism is supply-chain-driven sustainability standards. Prominent examples of this approach are the Forest Stewardship Council, the Marine Stewardship Council, or the Better Cotton Initiative. Sponsored by firms and NGOs – often with the support of governments – these programmes harness market forces and corporate power to implement international sustainability targets. Now well-integrated into the regulatory regimes in Europe and North America, they are relatively new to India and other emerging economies.  

While no silver bullet, sustainability standards have the potential to help India tackle its implementation challenge. In particular, they could provide support in three areas in which progress is crucial:

Defining indicators – Only those things that can be measured can be managed. The SDGs define 169 targets, but to work towards these targets concrete indicators are needed. These indicators need to define and operationalize what sustainability means across industries and issue areas. This requires a high level of technical expertise which public regulators often lack. Over the years, sustainability standard systems have developed this expertise for the industries and issue areas they work in. Instead of trying to ‘reinvent wheel’, India should make use of this expertise and enlist appropriate sustainability standards in its regulatory frameworks. In this way, precious time and resources could be saved.

Monitoring and reporting progress – Related to the previous point, progress needs to be monitored and reported. Given India’s size and the comprehensiveness of the SDGs, this truly is a mammoth task. But again, sustainability standards could help India meet this challenge. These systems have developed sophisticated monitoring and reporting devices that can track and trace the environmental and social impacts of products and commodities from production to consumption. This is not to say that these systems are perfect and some are better than others, but, used in the right way, they could complement the work of public regulatory agencies.

Creating ownership – Finally, sustainability standards are well placed to generate greater ownership for the SDG agenda within the Indian business community and the wider civil sphere. Most standard systems follow an inclusive and transparent governance model and actively encourage participation and stakeholder consultation. Scaled-up through government endorsement, they could serve as vehicles to create larger communities of practice in support of India’s SDG agenda.

These are just three examples through which sustainability standards could help India tackle its implementation challenge. But currently this potential is not realized. Awareness among policy-makers and business leaders in India about sustainability standards and their work remains low. Addressing this knowledge gap could bring India (and the world) a small step closer to achieving the SDGs by 2030.

About the author: 

Philip Schleifer is a Max Weber Fellow at the Global Governance Programme of the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. His research interests lie in the areas of international political economy, global environmental politics, and transnational private governance. He received his PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics in 2014.

CRB International Dialogue Forum and Conference 2015 : India and Sustainability Standards

Social Dialogue at Workplace in Global Value and Supply Chains: Experiences from India, Wider Asia and Way Forward

Social Dialogue, as defined by International Labour Organisation (ILO), include negotiations, communication, consultations, or simply exchange of information between or among representatives of governments, employers and workers, on issues of common interest relating to economic and social policy in a workplace. Governments, employers or workers acting alone cannot achieve economic and social progress and stability, and require continuous and constructive interaction and engagement to arrive at social consensus and/or compromise. Social Dialogue provides participating stakeholders with opportunities to jointly decide on their mutual and individual responsibilities and futures. Social Dialogue as a mechanism and an effective tool for solving collective challenges by creating structures and environment suitable for efficient problem -solving, facilitates conditions for establishing better working and living conditions and social justice for workers in particular, and enhanced harmony and productivity at workplace for employers and managers.

Social Dialogue is an integral component of ILO’s Decent Work agenda and extremely relevant in the context of Asia as a major part of global production networks (GPN) and value and supply chains. ILO’s fundamental principles and rights at work, and particularly the right to associate and bargain collectively, are pre-conditions for social dialogue. However, effective operation of social dialogue is required for these principles to be fully realized. The benefits of social dialogue within enterprises have been recorded in the form of improved worker-management communication, initiation and strengthening of forums for communication, dialogue, deliberation and solution oriented decisions and improved industrial relations. Worldwide Enhancement of Social Quality (WE Project), a partnership project between Tchibo, a German retailer, and GIZ, could be seen as a good example of social dialogue at workplace. WE Project improved production rates by 30% and reduced turnover rates from 10% to 6% during the project period.

However, wider implementation of social dialogue methods at workplace in GPNs and value and supply chains in India and wider Asia is far from desired, due to several complex challenges around policies, context and practices. Senior management in organizations in GPNs do not view employee engagement as a strategic function, since there is no apparent direct link between benefits of social dialogue within an organization and it’s bottom-line. Limited awareness amongst workers and managers about labour standards and worker’s rights, and absence of democratically elected worker unions results in limited two-way communication between workers and senior management.

Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) in partnership with several garment and apparel and footwear brands is engaged in initiatives on social dialogue in their value and supply chains to enable creation of systems and processes in factories to practice and promote social dialogue and bridge gaps between the management and workers. To share experiences, perspectives and learning on social dialogue as an effective mechanism and chart future steps, CRB in collaboration with ISEAL Alliance, UK, is organizing a webinar on the topic “Social Dialogue at Workplace in Global Value and Supply Chains: Experiences from India, Wider Asia and Way Forward”. The webinar will bring together a panel comprising of international organisation and experts, who will share their experiences and discuss the role of various stakeholders, complexities and challenges in formulating, initiating and deepening social dialogue practices and systems, and the scope of promoting cordial industrial relations and improved working environments through social dialogue.

Human Rights and Business in India

Businesses, with their geographical and monetary reach owing to extensive globalization, have had a powerful impact on the Human society through employment generation, raising living standard, community development and provision of goods and services for enhancing daily-life convenience. Particular emphasis has been on its effects on Human Rights, and today it is considered an integral pillar of the Business Responsibility discourse. The most significant development on this in the recent years has been the release of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) for implementing the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework in 2011. Developed by the United Nations through a consultative process spanning 6 years, it enumerates the roles and responsibilities of Governments and Businesses towards protecting Human rights, and encourages nations to have a national action plan on businesses and human rights.

India has actively espoused the importance of Human Rights, having played a key role in developing and adopting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and followed this with the adoption of the Constitution of India, and its articulation of Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy. In more recent times, the Government of India enacted the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 and the establishment of a National Human Rights Commission. However, there were no clear directives for the role of businesses in Human Rights emancipation. To this end, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs released the National Voluntary Guidelines (NVGs) for Business in 2011, wherein one of its Nine Principles of Business Responsibility is devoted to Human Rights. The Companies Act 2013 relies heavily on the NVGs to provide frameworks for businesses to advance Human Rights both inside and outside the workplace.

Despite the presence of suitable legislative architectures, the awareness in businesses regarding their roles and responsibilities on advancing Human rights, and amongst citizens about their rights as consumers, is very low. Businesses need to incorporate Human Rights into their core businesses and CSR initiatives, and engage with various stakeholders to implement, assess and report their initiatives. To discuss these issues further and chart a way forward, Centre for Responsible Business (CRB) in collaboration with ISEAL Alliance, UK, is organizing a webinar on the topic ‘Advancing Human Rights in Businesses in India’. The webinar will bring together a panel comprising leaders from companies and civil society organizations with extensive Human Rights experiences to share their perspectives on this topic. The 90 minute webinar will be organized on 15th April 2015, and will start at 10:30 pm (GMT).