Marks & Spencer polls over 60,000 workers in five countries with mobile tech
Marks & Spencer has scaled up its use of mobile technology in the supply chain to poll 64,230 workers across 46 manufacturing locations in China, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the UK.
This means that Marks & Spencer will have exceeded its target of 22,500 workers in 30 factories by more than double.
The retailer said this is the first time the workers have had an anonymous channel to report on sensitive issues like working hours, and communication with their supervisors.
Marks & Spencer’s head of ethical trading Fiona Sadler said: “Listening to workers in this way helps us connect the dots between quality of life issues like workplace health and safety and business issues in manufacturing, such as worker retention and productivity.”
Never Miss a Retail Update!Heather Franzese, executive director of the non-profit social enterprise behind the Labor Link platform, added: “With 44% of workers choosing to participate, M&S surveys are at the upper end of our average Labor Link response rate of 30-40%, and we see a higher degree of trust and scalability in anonymous mobile surveys, compared to more traditional methods of connecting with workers through interviews.”
Labor Link can reach workers with a variety of technology preferences. In Bangladesh, workers use basic feature phones and can access pre-recorded questions to address low literacy rates. In China, the technology is available through a WeChat application for workers with smartphones, giving workers the option to use the technology they prefer.
