The advisory panel is an important aspect of the governance of Fashion Footprint. The group of employees from across the brands and functions report to the Fashion Footprint Steering Group on their ideas and suggestions. This year the panel saw their ideas for employee volunteering take shape with the Wallis employee volunteering pilot (see above). This was then taken up by the Wallis focus group and HR team.
In spring 2012 the panel carried out a head office survey of attitudes to Fashion Footprint. This was as a follow up to the survey carried out in 2010. This time we had a similar response rate – around 25%. In 2010, global warming was one of the top three important topics chosen by employees, however this year they were:
- labour standards in factories (number two in 2010);
- wage levels of production workers; and
- recycling (number one in 2010).
The survey demonstrated that, for the employees who responded, knowing they worked for a company with an important social and environmental programme was a key influencer in feeling positive about their jobs.
The results also allowed us to see where employees think we could improve (e.g. packaging and recycling) and how much our communication reaches them. It has given the FFAP some useful guidance on where to focus their efforts.
The FFAP has also worked with other colleagues on the following two updates: Green Champions and the Fashion Footprint Festivals.
