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John Lewis and Partners has announced the launch of a supplier engagement programme entitled ‘Better Jobs’ to all of its 120 UK manufacturing suppliers.
The programme, which followed a “successful” trial run, aims to replace traditional ethical audits and “create more rewarding and enriching jobs” for suppliers.
John Lewis developed the programme alongside a group of suppliers, as well as an advisory group consisting of representatives from The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Institute of Employment Studies, and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
The programme falls in two parts, a framework which helps suppliers “think about the ways they support, engage and reward their employees”, and an employee survey.
The Framework itself is formed of seven themes: voicing opinion, progression, reward, security, job design, respect and health and wellbeing.
The employee survey consists of questions from an annual partnership survey, as well as questions from the CIPD ‘World of Work’ survey, and covers all seven framework themes.
An action plan will then be created alongside John Lewis experts, with managers given access to a custom-built portal with resources to help them deliver the plan.
The suppliers invited to partake have previously undergone “forensic-style” audits to confirm that they comply with laws on employment and human rights, and health and safety, John Lewis noted.
In addition, the retailer has published a report on the findings of the trial run with 23 suppliers and 800 employees. It found that over 70% of employees “felt they could voice their opinion”, while almost 90% said they “have influence over how they do their work”.
Over 80% of suppliers had development plans in place for employees, though the retailer noted this “needs to be offered to a more broad and diverse range of employees”.
Nadia Youds, partner and social impact manager said: “The Better Jobs Programme was set up following discussions with suppliers about how the Partnership could support them with the challenges they face such as recruiting skilled people, future-proofing their industry and being more innovative.
“We wanted to support them to go beyond just meeting the law through ‘tick box’ audits which suppliers said they found restrictive; and to deepen our relationship with our suppliers and share some of our resources with them.”
