15 November 2016.

The Better Work service model is rooted in four key themes: Ownership, Partnership, Accountability and Dialogue. Ownership means that each factory improvement process takes into account the views of the women and men working in the factory regarding what is important in the workplace to them and how they can bring about sustainable change. By promoting dialogue in factories, we empower management and worker representatives to identify their needs and improve their working relationships, as a basis for effective prevention and remediation of problems. While engaging with factories we also build partnerships with other industry stakeholders, to capitalize on their efforts and strengthen their roles. Finally, accountability is essential to ensure that needed improvements are implemented and to bolster the reputation of the industry among consumers and other stakeholders.

In this video we see how factories effectively take ownership in their improvement process. It tells the story of a factory in Vietnam where workers and management are working together to identify and realize needed improvements. In doing so, the factory took the initiative in the improvement process and reported key improvements to its buyers before a Better Work assessment was carried out.

Watch this space for coming videos on dialogue, partnership and accountability.