Developing resources to elevate companies’ responsible sourcing programmes will continue to be the key focus of our Capability Building work stream. Our Responsible Sourcing Journey will form the basis for the development of a new and very ambitious knowledge and resource hub – the RSJ Centre of Excellence, designed to help members find the right tools to evolve their maturity journey, and providing a collaboration hub for learning and exchange of best practice. We partnered with TwentyFifty to help us shape the blueprint for this Centre of Excellence in 2020, and 2021 will be a pivotal year for the first step in building this new tool.
Collaboration with other industry initiatives to tackle systemic human rights challenges, as well as supplier training to drive respect for human rights in the supply chain will form additional strong pillars of our strategy towards 2025. We have a strong partnership with the Consumer Goods Forum on social sustainability and human rights; our aim is to work together on topics of common interest where mutual reinforcement, rather than duplication, is key to effect critical change. With regards to supplier events, unfortunately, during 2020 we had to forgo our planned global training sessions in key markets due to Covid-19 disruptions, but we will implement virtual alternatives in 2021 until we can meet again physically. With the help of ELEVATE we established a learning curriculum for suppliers, based on our Responsible Sourcing Journey (RSJ), which we aim to deploy across our training events this year.
Learning webinars and responsible sourcing clinics
2020 was a fruitful year for engaging members in virtual learning webinars and responsible sourcing clinics. We organised 10 sessions on topics such working hours, living wage and income, constituent voice, responsible recruitment, and many more. These sessions provide a touchpoint for members to learn and exchange on critical responsible sourcing issues, and are often the start of a specific project or collaborative initiative.
