One year ago, we shared early successes from TenSquared projects at four technology suppliers to Dell Technologies and Cisco as they worked to increase communication about health and safety in the workplace, strengthen management-level commitments to OHS, and tackle overall health and safety challenges at their companies. Since then, the participating factories completed their 100-day challenges and had an opportunity to reflect on their progress and the program impacts.
Through the internal team promotion studies and the peer learning with other suppliers, management became more inclusive and active, workers demonstrated the power of participation and created all of the final goals achieved, encouraging all stakeholders involved to believe in the power of dialogue and have confidence in continuous improvement.
Jane Liu, Senior Manager, SAI China
All of the participating factories met their 100-day goals, leading to measurable reductions in health and safety risks, including reductions in factory noise levels, chemical safety issues, and incorrect or lack of PPE usage among workers. One factory reported an increase in the rate of employees’ safety behaviors from 79% to over 95%. Nearly all (93%) of those surveyed stated that there were benefits for all workers at their company, even those who did not participate.
“My biggest gain during TenSquared is that I [now] think about how to share my feedback and true thoughts with my managers [when] invited to join any meetings; my greatest pleasure is that I find everyone listening to me carefully.”
Worker from TenSquared participating factory
As one of the sponsoring brands for these projects, Dell recently featured the program in its annual ESG report, stating that factories’ participation in TenSquared “has inspired more communication, respect and recognition” between workers and management in the participating factories.
TenSquared impacts go far beyond the workers and managers who participate directly, affecting relationships and ways of working at every level of the participating company. A new book, Beloved Economies: Transforming the Way We Work, showcases this aspect of the program and explains how the TenSquared model for reframing traditional top-down decision making and facilitating more open communication could help us all work toward a more compassionate and equitable vision of work.
If you know a company that could benefit from the TenSquared approach, contact Christie Daly, SAI Director of Corporate Programs, at cdaly@sa-intl.org.
TenSquared was launched in 2013 with the generous support of the Walt Disney Company’s Supply Chain Investment Program and in partnership with Rapid Results Institute.
