Local Enterprise Advisor -Better Factories Cambodia’s advisory services

Background

The garment, textile, footwear sector remains the heart of the Cambodian economy, generating 74% export earnings, formally employing more than 650,000 Cambodians, the majority of whom are women. It is estimated that each garment worker supports another three to four family members. This means that two million Cambodians depend on the garment sector for their livelihoods.

Since 2001, Better Factories Cambodia has joined with workers, employers and government to improve working conditions and boost the competitiveness of the garment industry. Originally, the project was linked to an innovative trade agreement between the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) with the United States that provided market access in return for improving working conditions in the garment sector. After the expiration of the trade agreement in 2004, the Cambodian Government, together with unions and employers, requested the ILO to continue with the implementation of the programme.

As its longest running programme, Better Factories Cambodia (BFC) is in many ways the driving force behind Better Work and has inspired the establishment of the programme in nine other countries. Central elements of the programme’s approach began in Cambodia: from cultivating social dialogue through worker-management committees, to offering factories tailored advisory services to help them solve their own labour rights’ challenges or using public reporting to spur improvements in factory working conditions and workplace environment across the industry. The programme currently covers over 550 factories and has close collaboration with over 200 of those factories where it helps systems of social dialogue to help solve workplace issues.

Objective

BFC’s main core services are assessment, advisory and training. BFC is recruiting for an enterprise advisor maternity cover. The role of the enterprise advisor is to work with factories through the worker-management committees, providing professional level enterprise advisory services to support remediation and enterprise improvement. For each advisory factory, progress reports will be written, which are accessed by enterprises, international buyers.

Reporting/supervision

The Better Factories Cambodia Enterprise Advisor will report to a team leader who is based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Guidance and advice on technical procedural aspects of the work are received as required. Judgement, initiative and creativity required in translating projec­t tools and approaches the ­­­enterprise level. The work product is controlled by the supervisor for technical soundness and appropriateness.

Main Tasks & Deliverables

Under the supervison of the team leader, the consultant will be responsible for the following:

Delivery 1: Carry out high quality worker-management committees’ meetings in 10 advisory factories

• Develop a clear plan and carry out advisory worker-management committees meeting once per every 1.5- 2 month
• Develop the worker-management committees meeting agendas and document the improvements in meeting minutes
• Record all advisory meeting visits in BFC’s management system
• Work with factories to take ownership of worker manager committee meetings, maintain their improvement and improvement plans, and ensure gender is mainstreamed into the advisory services.
• Apply advisory tools (Social Dialogue, Root cause, analysis, Improvement Plan, and Roadmap) and communicate significant challenges to supervisor to leverage the progress made in advisory factories.
• Provide coaching as part of the advisory visits support the factory’s sustainable improvement.

Delivery 2: Implement the factory’s learning plan

• Work with advisory factories to develop training plan and share with BFC’s training assistant
• Develop coaching sessions with detailed session plans and provide high quality of coaching sessions leading to sustainable changes for to the committee and factory’s improvements and ensure gender and social dialogue inclusions in the coaching sessions and materials

Delivery 3:Develop the improvement plan and encourage the sustainable implementation of improvement plan

• Work with the committee to develop a clear improvement for all factories and record in BFC’s management systems
• Encourage the committee to hold own meeting to discuss the areas of improvement with agenda, meeting minute
• Produce high quality of progress reports and encourage the factory to also produce progress reports

Proposed period and duration of assignment

The contract will commence to carry out this advisory task on 01 May 2023 and will be completed on 30 September 2023. This timeline can be modified through mutual agreement, but the finished date should be no later than 30 September 2023.

Qualification and Selection Criteria

• Experience in working with worker manager committees to build good social dialogue in factory or any organization
• Two year experience in proving the training/capacity building and facilitation skills
• Understanding of labour law and occupational health and safety, and labor standard in factory context
• Understanding of gender equality and inclusiveness in the workplace

Submission of Proposal

Interested consultants are requested to submit an expression of interest by 15 March 2023, including a

• Proposal and consultancy fee
• Portfolio of previous similar works
• List of produced training materials (or equivalent)

The expression of interest shall be sent to: The expression of interest shall be sent to: bfcjobs@ilo.org and cc’ed dara@ilo.org

Confidentiality Statement

All data and information received for the purpose of this assignment are to be treated confidentially and are only to be used in connection with the execution of these Terms of Reference. All intellectual property rights arising from the execution of these Terms of Reference are assigned to IFC and ILO. The contents of written materials obtained and used in this assignment may not be disclosed to any third parties without the express advance written authorization of the IFC and ILO.