Strengthening grievance mechanism of a large FMCG

Geography

Worldwide

Context

As part of its sustainable development strategy, our client has deployed a new due diligence approach to fully comply with the French law of March 2017. The client had already put in place social and environmental auditing processes as well as contractual terms for Tier 1 suppliers and has requested InclusEO to upgrade them.

 

Solution

To meet this ambition, InclusEO performed a benchmark at the industry level as well as beyond – in pursuit of innovative and impactful practices. We reviewed the available information, conducted interviews with experts from peer companies and different institutions. We advised the client to share the result with peer companies in order to engage in an pre-competitive dialogue.

InclusEO’s work was structured around 4 main steps:

1 - Conducting preliminary research:

• Identified 10 leading companies (retailers, FMCG and other industries) that were vocal about deploying Human Rights and Social Fundamentals due diligence within their value chain.

2 - Interviewing relevant experts:

• Using a questionnaire, we interviewed 15 experts to identify the most impactful processes and innovations.

3 - Strengthening the overall approach: 

• Reviewed the Human Rights Due Diligence Framework.
• Defined new activities to engage (I.E., worker voice).
• Formulated ways to integrate the new process in the company’s procurement practice.
• Identified key success factors like Human Resources, reporting tools, governance models and connections with social innovation funds deployed by the company.

Expected outcomes

• Better identification of social and environmental risks.
• Procurement team’s engagement with mitigation actions.
• Identification of partnership opportunities with Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers.