Two Sides to Better Work:Worker and Management perceptions of the impact of BW Lesotho

Kelly Pike, York University, Canada

Shane Godfrey, University of Cape Town, South Africa

Regulating for Decent Work, Geneva: Friday, July 10, 2015

Outline of Today’s Talk• Background context• Motivation for study• Research questions• Hypotheses• Data collection• Findings

• 1. Worker perceptions• 2. Management perceptions• 3. Comparing worker-manager perceptions

• Conclusions

Map of Lesotho

Motivation For Comparative Study• ‘Before and after’ data collected with both workers and

managers• Unique opportunity to compare two sides of the story• Common critique of CSR is literature is that it lacks worker

voice• Critique of ‘worker perceptions’ study in Lesotho that it did

not consider management’s input

Research Questions

• What do worker and manager perceptions in 2013/14 tell us about the impact of the BWL programme in Lesotho?

• Is there agreement between workers and managers on the issues on which BWL has had an impact? If so, to what degree?

Hypotheses: 6 possible outcomes1. Agreement between workers and managers on positive

improvements to a set of compliance issues

2. Agreement between workers and managers that there has been no improvement (or even a decline)

3. Disagreement between workers and managers, with workers indicating positive improvements and managers indicating no improvements (or even a decline)

4. Disagreement between workers and managers, with managers indicating positive improvements and workers indicating no improvement (or even a decline)

5. Mix of agreement and disagreement on an issue by issue basis, or agreement but with workers and managers differing in the strength of their perceptions that there had been an improvement

6. There were certain issues that were addressed in worker and management interviews that cannot be directly compared

Data CollectionWorkers Managers

2011/12 17 focus groups with 149 workers; 129 questionnaires

1-2 interviews per firm at 10 firms

2013/14 20 focus groups with 141 workers; 230 questionnaires

6-8 interviews per firm at 7 firms

Findings: Worker Perceptions

• Workers report significant improvements in health and safety• Receive PPE more frequently• Training on fire safety and emergency preparedness• Improvements in health and safety at home

• e.g. First Aid, hygiene, air circulation, fire safety

2011 2013

Received PPE 48% 72%

OSH policy 39% 71%

Osh training 13% 26%

• Workers view PICC as effective tool, instrument of change• Improved communication and relations between

workers and supervisors• Effective for identifying and resolving workplace issues• Aided by Supervisory Skills Training offered by BWL• Has also led to improvements in communication and

relations at home• Less stress at work means less stress at home• Workers report being more open, calm, playful with children• Men and women more open with each other at home

• Trying to share responsibilities, budget better, resolve conflicts calmly

Findings: Worker Perceptions

Findings: ‘Improvements vs. Problems’

Findings: Management Perceptions• Somewhat surprisingly, managers not concerned that

BWL had not led to more orders• Some senior managers suggest workers feel more secure

and satisfied in their work because of BWL• “Likely” to have impacted positively on productivity and quality

• Supervisors link improvements in communication with improvements in productivity and quality because there are less interruptions due to arguments, fewer mistakes

• HR managers have more time to develop proactive HR initiatives to improve productivity and quality

Findings: Management Perceptions• Managers believe one of the biggest improvements since

BWL is that of communication between workers and all levels of management, in particular with supervisors

• Shift in mind-set of supervisors has led to reduction in verbal and physical abuse of workers

• Managers highlight the role of both the PICCs and BWL training in improving communication and relations, and solving problems

Findings: Management Perceptions• All managers and supervisors agree BWL has had a

major impact on health and safety• They believe it has been enhanced in part because

workers now understand the need for rules regarding OSH

• Managers pleased with BWL training but want more

Findings: Comparative Analysis• Areas of significant improvement on which workers and

managers agree• Communication and Relations

• Both workers and managers attribute improvements to PICC and supervisory skills training

• However, workers see a bigger role played by PICCs and do not perceive the same degree of improvements in supervisor relations

• Health and Safety• Both workers and managers see major improvements here• Additionally, workers feel the PICCs are an effective tool for addressing

and resolving OSH issues• Furthermore, workers notice improvements in health and safety at home

Findings: Comparative Analysis• Differences of emphasis between workers and managers

regarding improvements• When talking about compliance with minimum standards,

workers spoke about OSH but also alluded to improvements in contracts and HR, compensation, working time, discrimination, and freedom of association (though they also identified persistent problems in each of these areas as well)

• Managers spoke only about improvements in OSH • Might be explained by priority to improve OSH and getting behind BWL

on a ‘special mission’ to target improved OSH• Could point to lack of sustainability if not part of a more holistic

management strategy to address all problem areas

• Managers’ perceptions suggested the emergence of a pluralist approach to labour relations, whereas workers also saw some change but emphasized due to presence of BWL

Conclusions• Possible outcome 1: Agreement between workers and

managers on positive improvements to a set of compliance issues

and

• Possible outcome 5: Mix of agreement and disagreement on an issue-by-issue basis, or agreement but with workers and managers differing in the strength of their perceptions that there had (or not) been an improvement

Conclusions• Degree of overlap highly encouraging

• Possibly linked to BW strategy of improving compliance without negatively impacting supplier competitiveness

• As well as increased social dialogue between stakeholders, and through mechanism of PICCs

• Significant improvement but off a low base, long way to go

• To achieve sustainable improvements, need effective management systems in place• Inconsistent improvements across factories might be explained by

lack of adequate systems for institutionalizing and enforcing compliance

• Increases risk of ad-hoc fixes• Address the issue of technical skills transfer for local supervisors