Social Impact Assessment Program expands to 45 countries and new sectors endorsing beyond the toy industry

2022 marks two years since we started our Social Impact Assessments, a verified-remote assessment which scores the maturity of a company's social compliance systems in place implementing responsible labor standards. Businesses, of all sizes and sectors, that have experienced the cost-effective remote Social Impact Assessment (SIA) have since become supporters of the program, enquiring with IETP to further deploy the program to new sectors and areas.IETP’s coverage reaching across almost every continentSIA is a non-category-specific online assessment that enables buyers to verify the capability of any supplier with regards to how they manage labor standards in their facility or supply chain, depending on the type of company: direct manufacturer, licensees, vendors, or agents. Since its launch, the program rapidly expanded to reach 21 countries in the first two years, and as we enter year three, this figure has now grown to 45 countries and regions including Australia, Brazil, India, Peru, Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey, UK, USA, and many more. Through the Social Impact Assessment, IETP's geographic coverage is set to expand across almost every continent. Tapping into new sectors and types of manufacturersThe Social Impact Assessment program is designed to look into the effectiveness of a company’s management system for implementing responsible labor standards, for example, do you have policies or procedures to inform employees of their rights ? How do you communicate and manage internal and external involvement affecting your labor practices? The remote assessment is suitable for businesses at all stages & tiers of the supply chain, allowing IETP to engage with new sectors, new types of manufacturers, and new company categories.Over the past two years, we have worked with a wide variety of companies including polymer distributors, aerosol manufacturers, paint manufacturers, printers, binders, bespoke manufacturers of artisan paintbrushes, promotional products vendors, plastic thermoform packaging manufacturers, metal components manufacturers and home textile providers; these are only a few from a vast spectrum of companies we have worked with.IETP can transfer a wealth of experience, obtained from the toy industry, to benefit other sectors. SIA offers verified scores and tailored improvement plans to participating businesses helping to build capability and improve standards. Demonstrating progress through improved scores One of the greatest achievements SIA has had to date is the improvement in scores of an average of 12% across the board from companies who have renewed their assessments, with some increasing by as much as 20% in key priority areas.When asked by investors, clients, or consumers, to report your supply chain sustainability performance, their question really begs: what is your level of visibility over your global supply chain? SIA helps you to take a good look at your operations, and those of your partners’. The tracked scores demonstrate your progress across social metrics for your internal & external ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting. Thoughts from a company executive A participating company recently shared with us the challenge they faced when their buyers asked them to report their ESG metrics. They wanted to make a positive impact through their business operations, however, as a SME (small and medium-sized enterprises), they were struggling with limited resources and knowledge on how to measure & report their metrics, as well as lacking the ability to identify priorities and effective actions. Their senior executive was taking on the responsibility to monitor and manage their supply chain, and as a result, was overwhelmed by the extent of work and was seeking an expert individual or organisation to review their direction and offer advice. During the Social Impact Assessment, the executive learned to divide responsibilities into 10 key areas, and by answering the questions, understood which policies and guidance documents are important to communicate internal and external expectations. In addition to this, according to their final scores and improvements suggestions, this executive was inspired to empower employees to get involved in the social performance tasks that are relevant to their specific functions. Like this company, all businesses evaluated by the Social Impact Assessment go through a capacity-building exercise as part of the assessment to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and are provided a tailored improvement plan. Many of those solidified their priority areas; made improvements by introducing new worker committees helping increase workers' involvement in labor standards at work; formalized risk assessment procedures to ensure checks are conducted routinely and regularly. Some companies even created new positions such as social performance managers to champion social compliance and labor standards within the company. Prepare for the raising demands There is increasing demand for businesses to measure and manage their social and environmental impacts, in other words their effect on People and the Planet; recently, the EU Commision announced new rules for companies with regards to respecting human rights and the environment across global value chains. IETP’s Social Impact Assessment, with its online analytic tool, is an efficient oversight and due diligence program for buyers. The program is scalable and low cost, proving easy to deploy across the entire supply chain. The program is also suitable for any company that would like to do a self-assessment to understand the maturity of their social impact management system. Get in touch with us to find out how the Social Impact Assessment and other IETP programs can help benefit your supply chain. Email Todd Merton (todd.merton@ethicaltoyprogram.org) to find out more and get tailored suggestions for your business., or view the services we offer to businesses.