Crystal International Launches Worker Voice Program to Power Employee Engagement
Crystal International wants to nurture a “people-oriented” culture.
The Hong Kong-headquartered apparel manufacturer earlier this month launched Worker Voice, a suite of digital programs to enhance employee communications. The company said “effective and versatile employee communications is essential to empower talents and enhance their sense of belonging.”
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The garment producer is utilizing the Wovo and Ulula mobile apps to enable employee engagement, conduct employee surveys and provide online learning for skills such as supervisor training and women leadership sessions.
Wovo, developed by Labor Solutions Global, is primarily a tool employees use to anonymously communicate with managers. The Ulula app, which also shields user identity to preserve privacy and foster honest dialogue, is a communications tool promoting supply chain visibility. These channels are intended to encourage transparent two-way communication between factory teams and workers, Crystal International said.
The company already uses a Facebook Group to share official announcements and recruitment information, report large and small company events, and post memes. Crystal also uses CompanyIQ, an all-in-one mobile app rolled out in 2019 for employee engagement, online learning and human resource management. An Employee Care Toll Free Hotline, which workers can dial to get help on topics such as employee welfare, accident assistance and mental health, is available as well. The hotline fields roughly 500 calls a month through 10 different lines. Crystal believes Worker Voice will help diversify the ways in which employees can ask for and receive aid.
Through Worker Voice, employees have access to anonymous channels, through both apps, to air their grievances or submit feedback to leadership.
Staff can also call the toll-free employee hotline to “connect with the factory on a personal level” to get help for sensitive issues, such as mental health and welfare, without repercussions.
Crystal said it will expand the extent of the Worker Voice programs to “continuously improve physical and mental well-being in the workplace.”
At the end of last year, the group employed about 73,000 in Vietnam, China, Cambodia, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Crystal didn’t immediately clarify whether all employees are covered under the Worker Voice program, regardless of location.
Though dozens of apps and websites are readily available for brands to foster employee communication, creating industry-centric solutions is an approach that has gained traction in recent years.
In 2018, Fung Group launched WorkerApp, a tool for greater supply chain connectivity for digitized garment worker communication and training. In 2020, sustainability solutions provider Elevate acquired WorkerApp to facilitate expansion plans. PVH Corp.’s 2019 Workplace Cooperation program, run in partnership with Better Work, is designed to “elevate and amplify” workers’ voices, the company said.
“By utilizing innovation to facilitate social dialogue between company and employees, we can provide convenient ways to all employees, especially our factory workers, to communicate with us in a timely manner,” said Catherine Chiu, vice president of global sustainability at Crystal International. “We are able to offer prompt assistance anytime, anywhere.”
