IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS WHAT IS AN IMPACTT ASSESSMENT? Impactt Assessments are site-level studies that measure the impact of company activities on the communities and livelihoods of those who work in its supply chain. Impactt places worker wellbeing at the centre of all assessments, as we do with all our work. Workers are the best source of information about the ethical impacts of business on communities and livelihoods. Companies began assessing the impact of their business in order to communicate their corporate responsibility to stakeholders. Sustainability professionals soon found that the value of these assessments goes beyond communications material. Ethical managers and buyers began using assessments to identify and mitigate risks along the supply chain, as Impactt Assessments delve deeper into supply chains, worker sentiment and root causes than auditing. The approach has been adapted to assess different stakeholders (workers, producers, homeworkers, communities, etc.) and to meet different business needs (see the next section). Over the last six years, Impactt has assessed numerous supply chains in Bangladesh, China, India, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the UK, reaching over 700 workers, farmers and homeworkers.
WHY DO AN IMPACTT ASSESSMENT? Impactt Assessments can be a light touch review of key issues in a supply chain or an in-depth analysis resulting in robust baseline data and a thorough understanding of the impact of your business as well as the root causes of any negative impacts. Impactt has carried out these assessments with retailers and brands who wish: To understand workers’, farmers’ and their households’ livelihoods – Useful for communicating the benefits of jobs and business, and shaping policies, programmes or projects To gain the workers’ perspective – Useful for understanding what makes workers tick and collecting ideas on how to improve operations and working conditions To measure the impact of business activities on workers, their households and communities – Useful for determining where a company can best support people in its supply chain, identifying where more attention is needed and understanding impacts in terms of social, economic and/or environmental To report positive stories and identify challenges – Useful for annual sustainability reports and internal awareness To know who works for you – Useful for better-supporting suppliers in improving management systems and identifying and addressing risks in a supply chain To strengthen local partnerships – Get clarity on stakeholder needs and priorities in order to help you work better with partners and suppliers.
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS Other stakeholders benefit from the process as well. Workers and smallholders have an opportunity to… Think about the benefits the job brings Help management connect and communicate with them Tell us about their lives – help us see what is important to them “Thank you. You helped us think about these things.”
- Smallholder farmer
“You came to my house to ask how I am. The company must really care about us.” – Factory worker’s mother Buyers and factory managers get… To monitor and track trends within our supply chain A better understanding what motivates workers and what workers aspire to (humanise the workforce) To understand how/where types of workers fit into the supply chain so we can develop systems and strategies to meet the needs workers tell us about Clarity on where the brand and factory can help workers to improve their livelihoods and communities “These findings will be very helpful in planning worker training. We’ll put the recommendations into practice to.”
– Site manager
“I am very interested in your findings. We have been improving communication with farmers and I want to know how we can do this better.” – Factory manager OUR APPROACH Our worker-centric approach measures qualitative and quantitative impacts of jobs on workers’ lives and livelihoods. To begin with, we work with the retailer or brand to secure buy-in and articulate the value of the assessment to each partner. Next, we work with site level management to collect information on demographics, the supply chain and management systems and approaches. We also spend time explaining our approach to site management, determining which aspects of the study are appropriate for the sample and making logistical arrangements. During the fieldwork stage, Impactt’s expert interviewers carry out two types of interviews with a significant sample of workers, homeworkers or producers: quantitative and qualitative. During quantitative interviews, we speak to workers about: Household composition Household income, expenditure and other economic indicators Education, health and other social indicators Household vulnerability and dynamics An example of household expenditure is provided in the following chart.
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS
How does factory worker and homeworker expenditure compare to the national average? 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0%
Homeworker
Factory worker
National Average
Figure 1: This graph shows household expenditure for factory workers and homeworkers in a garment supply chain in Thailand. Food accounts for the highest proportion of household expenditure for both groups of workers; this is comparable to the national average (34.2%). Although there are no rent payments amongst homeworkers, 22% of household expenditure is spent on loan repayments; it sometimes covers loans to cover land and home improvements. We then carried out focus groups and semi-structured interviews with a smaller sample of workers with whom we had established rapport. We visit workers outside of the factory, in their home, dormitory or at a local café. We find out more about the social networks that support them (at work and outside work), their worries and aspirations. We investigate how their jobs contribute to their household’s circumstances, what they appreciate about their jobs and what changes they would like to see. Sometimes the retailer or brand will also be interested in community opinions of the local suppliers. In these cases, we will talk to shopkeepers, schools, government offices and other local organisations. Using the results from these interviews, Impactt compared workers’ circumstances against local norms including legal minimum wages and cost of living estimates. Modern households can be very diverse and complex, especially in the case of migrant workers who typically support family members in different provinces/countries. We also hold opening and closing meetings with management in order to understand management’s assessment priorities, current management systems and approaches and to feedback top line findings. When she becomes more confident, she will tell [the wife of the owner of the factory], who supervises the production process, “I want to do sewing” so she can build her skills as a worker. “My pride is having a tolerance to any difficulties in life, and this is only for the sake of my kids.” Factory Worker, Thailand “As a family, we are able to save 20,000RMB which we put aside for our daughters studies and the families security in the future. You never know what will happen and when it may come in useful.” Worker, Zhejiang province, China Jo did say the job has its good and bad points: “It is a challenging job with a fast pace. The only thing I would change is the late nights I should finish at 17.00, but I often work until 19.00.” Factory Worker, UK “[The job] enables us to be more stable. If we could not work at the factory, we would have to work and live apart from each other, meaning we could not see each other every day.” Couple from Shandong Province, China
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS “I’m happy to see friends and earn extra money. I feel good about helping my husband as he himself could not sufficiently make it all for the family.” Homeworker, Thailand THE RESULT We bring our quantitative and qualitative findings together into a report defining the impact of a business on workers in a specific community. Outputs typically include: summary of overall findings demographic profile of each workers’ household, coupled with an explanation of any household dynamics and structures Data and analysis of workers’ current social and economic circumstances Individual worker case studies or pen portraits of the common types of workers in that supply chain Focused recommendations on how the business, its partners and the site can use the findings to improve workers’ conditions. Top tip: Carry out an Impactt Assessment before your company makes big changes such as local capacity building, certification or significant orders. This will produce a baseline for which to measure the impact of your changing business activities. It is good to revisit the site every 2-3 years to understand how workers’ circumstances have changed and what more could be improved.
WHY DO AN IMPACTT ASSESSMENT? Impactt Assessments can be a light touch review of key issues in a supply chain or an in-depth analysis resulting in robust baseline data and a thorough understanding of the impact of your business as well as the root causes of any negative impacts. Impactt has carried out these assessments with retailers and brands who wish: To understand workers’, farmers’ and their households’ livelihoods – Useful for communicating the benefits of jobs and business, and shaping policies, programmes or projects To gain the workers’ perspective – Useful for understanding what makes workers tick and collecting ideas on how to improve operations and working conditions To measure the impact of business activities on workers, their households and communities – Useful for determining where a company can best support people in its supply chain, identifying where more attention is needed and understanding impacts in terms of social, economic and/or environmental To report positive stories and identify challenges – Useful for annual sustainability reports and internal awareness To know who works for you – Useful for better-supporting suppliers in improving management systems and identifying and addressing risks in a supply chain To strengthen local partnerships – Get clarity on stakeholder needs and priorities in order to help you work better with partners and suppliers.
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS Other stakeholders benefit from the process as well. Workers and smallholders have an opportunity to… Think about the benefits the job brings Help management connect and communicate with them Tell us about their lives – help us see what is important to them “Thank you. You helped us think about these things.”
- Smallholder farmer
“You came to my house to ask how I am. The company must really care about us.” – Factory worker’s mother Buyers and factory managers get… To monitor and track trends within our supply chain A better understanding what motivates workers and what workers aspire to (humanise the workforce) To understand how/where types of workers fit into the supply chain so we can develop systems and strategies to meet the needs workers tell us about Clarity on where the brand and factory can help workers to improve their livelihoods and communities “These findings will be very helpful in planning worker training. We’ll put the recommendations into practice to.”
– Site manager
“I am very interested in your findings. We have been improving communication with farmers and I want to know how we can do this better.” – Factory manager OUR APPROACH Our worker-centric approach measures qualitative and quantitative impacts of jobs on workers’ lives and livelihoods. To begin with, we work with the retailer or brand to secure buy-in and articulate the value of the assessment to each partner. Next, we work with site level management to collect information on demographics, the supply chain and management systems and approaches. We also spend time explaining our approach to site management, determining which aspects of the study are appropriate for the sample and making logistical arrangements. During the fieldwork stage, Impactt’s expert interviewers carry out two types of interviews with a significant sample of workers, homeworkers or producers: quantitative and qualitative. During quantitative interviews, we speak to workers about: Household composition Household income, expenditure and other economic indicators Education, health and other social indicators Household vulnerability and dynamics An example of household expenditure is provided in the following chart.
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS
How does factory worker and homeworker expenditure compare to the national average? 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0%
Homeworker
Factory worker
National Average
Figure 1: This graph shows household expenditure for factory workers and homeworkers in a garment supply chain in Thailand. Food accounts for the highest proportion of household expenditure for both groups of workers; this is comparable to the national average (34.2%). Although there are no rent payments amongst homeworkers, 22% of household expenditure is spent on loan repayments; it sometimes covers loans to cover land and home improvements. We then carried out focus groups and semi-structured interviews with a smaller sample of workers with whom we had established rapport. We visit workers outside of the factory, in their home, dormitory or at a local café. We find out more about the social networks that support them (at work and outside work), their worries and aspirations. We investigate how their jobs contribute to their household’s circumstances, what they appreciate about their jobs and what changes they would like to see. Sometimes the retailer or brand will also be interested in community opinions of the local suppliers. In these cases, we will talk to shopkeepers, schools, government offices and other local organisations. Using the results from these interviews, Impactt compared workers’ circumstances against local norms including legal minimum wages and cost of living estimates. Modern households can be very diverse and complex, especially in the case of migrant workers who typically support family members in different provinces/countries. We also hold opening and closing meetings with management in order to understand management’s assessment priorities, current management systems and approaches and to feedback top line findings. When she becomes more confident, she will tell [the wife of the owner of the factory], who supervises the production process, “I want to do sewing” so she can build her skills as a worker. “My pride is having a tolerance to any difficulties in life, and this is only for the sake of my kids.” Factory Worker, Thailand “As a family, we are able to save 20,000RMB which we put aside for our daughters studies and the families security in the future. You never know what will happen and when it may come in useful.” Worker, Zhejiang province, China Jo did say the job has its good and bad points: “It is a challenging job with a fast pace. The only thing I would change is the late nights I should finish at 17.00, but I often work until 19.00.” Factory Worker, UK “[The job] enables us to be more stable. If we could not work at the factory, we would have to work and live apart from each other, meaning we could not see each other every day.” Couple from Shandong Province, China
IMPACTT ASSESSMENTS “I’m happy to see friends and earn extra money. I feel good about helping my husband as he himself could not sufficiently make it all for the family.” Homeworker, Thailand THE RESULT We bring our quantitative and qualitative findings together into a report defining the impact of a business on workers in a specific community. Outputs typically include: summary of overall findings demographic profile of each workers’ household, coupled with an explanation of any household dynamics and structures Data and analysis of workers’ current social and economic circumstances Individual worker case studies or pen portraits of the common types of workers in that supply chain Focused recommendations on how the business, its partners and the site can use the findings to improve workers’ conditions. Top tip: Carry out an Impactt Assessment before your company makes big changes such as local capacity building, certification or significant orders. This will produce a baseline for which to measure the impact of your changing business activities. It is good to revisit the site every 2-3 years to understand how workers’ circumstances have changed and what more could be improved.
