Best practices

Built from knowledge and experience

The best practices we share are a compilation of best practices and lessons learnt from iterations of the programme and the peer to peer network. We will continue to share new best practices, cases and studies during the programme.

The Swedish Workplace Programme (SWP) is centered around addressing three strategic areas: Decent Work, Sustainable Business and Partnerships. Each of these areas include a wide variety of themes important to any company who wants to instill their policies in the company culture and to fulfill their objectives towards Agenda 2030. These themes can include skills development, gender equality, occupational health & safety, as well as diversity and inclusion.

Dialogue and cooperation

The main goal of dialogues in the workplace is to promote consensus building and democratic involvement among the main stakeholders in the world of work. Successful dialogue structures and processes have the potential to resolve important economic and social issues, encourage good governance by supporting the implementation of policies to practice, and boost economic progress.

Using Social Dialogue for Workplace Cooperation

In Kenya, social dialogue has contributed to decreased conflicts. Management, trade union representatives and employees jointly solve challenges through the workplace committees supported by SWP. Watch the video.

How to achieve Workplace Cooperation

Cooperation leads to better business and engaged people - but how is it done in practice? We have gathered insights from our partners in South Africa on experiences and tools used to achieve workplace cooperation. Watch the video.

Diversity and inclusion

The benefits of diversity in the workplace include higher revenue, more innovation, better decision making, higher rates of job acceptance and better performance. Diversity in the workplace is the “what” while inclusion is the “how”. Making diversity a priority is important, but the next logical step is creating a culture where all personnel feel included. Inclusivity is key for maintaining (not just creating) diversity in the workplace.

Youth perspective on a diverse society

SWP promote conversations on how our differences present unique opportunities to grow and improve as a society.

SWP and the corporate partners in Colombia support this in many ways. The latest activity is a dialogue with children and youth on their perspective of what a diverse society is.

Watch the video created by SWP’s partners in Colombia.

Equality awareness

In Colombia, SWP partners with SKF Latin Trade and support its work in gender equality.

SWP and SKF in Colombia choose to challenge biases and stereotypes in the workplace and throughout broader society by generating inclusive dialogue about gender.

Watch the video to the right to learn more about the equality awareness initiatives by SKF Latin Trade that strengthen the dialogue.

Equality and diversity

Watch the video to the left about our insights on inclusion for equality and diversity together with our partnering company Atlas Copco Colombia. 

Mainstreaming diversity

Extensive study on strategies for mainstreaming diversity into wellness programmes.
Read this study (.pdf)

Wellness through diversity

How to properly create a wellness culture through managing diversity.
Read this study (.pdf)

Transformative norms

Why engaging men, women and gender transformative norms matters
Read this study (.pdf)

Sexual harassment awareness

Sexual harassment in the workplace – An example from Babcock Ntuthuko South Africa
Read this study (.pdf)

Business cases

The Business Case section serves as a source of inspiration and wealth of knowledge for our current and future partnering companies. Discover and learn more about the employee driven initiatives and the impact they have had in the workplace as a result of the approach.

Return on investment of the previous HIV and AIDS programme

Cost-effectiveness and Return-on-investment of the previous HIV and AIDS Programme in South Africa
Read this study (.PDF)

Catalytic approach to HIV and AIDS

Public-private partnership: Catalytic approach to sustainable HIV and AIDS workplace programmes
Read this study (.PDF)

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UPSKILLING OF UNION SHOP STEWARDS

A lack of enabling environment for social dialogue at the workplace level, despite the provision of legislative acts that protect and promote workplace cooperation is a reoccuring issue  in Kenya. To implement good policy there must be a fertil ground.

Therefore SWP developed the UP!  project. Together with Swedish companies as an entry point, and with unions i South africa and Kenya. 

In Kenya SWP created the SWP UP! Programme targeting skills development of the union Shop Stewards from 18 companies in the Automotive sector in Kenya during 2021. As a result, the Stewards were able to use their skills to build trust and cooperation with management in new ways to avoid conflicts. 

A second cohort of training, in close cooperation with union AUKMW, takes place in 2022.

The training allows shop stewards to step out of their daily routines and understand their role and the purpose of their union, understand the labour market context, the laws that regulate relationships and the business itself. But on a human level, many shop stewards also highlighted that they feel respected as human beings, and that they have developed the skills to engage with supervisors and management and experience respect in professional relations. The experiences had deeply impressed them and helped to project the vision of dialogue and mutual respect and their own potential as a means to change workplaces.

The intervention of the SWP programme had a direct effect at the workplaces, where shop stewards listed several cases where they had managed to intervene and secure results in dialogue with management, avert crises or find solutions based on opportunities and the communication skills obtained during the SWP training. For the Amalgamated Metal Workers Unions in Kenya, the shop stewards pointed to how the training had enabled them to design their own strategies at the workplace in relation to supervisors and staff, and to achieve many concrete results.

Based on this shop steward upskilling, I feel confident that as a union we now have change ambassadors that will grow the industry, protect, and promote decent work principles for both the employer and the employees represented. And that disputes will be dealt with at the workplace level by though consultative dialogue.

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Rose Omamo

General Secretary
Amalgamated Union of Kenya Metal Workers

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE CONTENT AND TRAININGS IN THE UP! PROJECT IN KENYA AND SOUTH AFRICA
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