Phnom Penh, 26 October 2006 — A report released in a Phnom Penh seminar today shows that training in management skills can significantly improve garment supervisors’ practices and factory performance in Cambodia’s leading industry.
The report, A Stitch in Time, presents evaluation results from a pilot supervisory skills training program conducted jointly by the International Finance Corporation’s Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (IFC-MPDF) and clothing retail giant GAP Inc. This four-day program, which was given 36 times between January 2005 and March 2006, trained 650 supervisors who manage nearly 20,000 workers in seven factories producing for Gap.
Dorothy Berry, IFC’s Vice President for Human Resources and Administration, who was visiting from Washington DC, stated that managerial skills are an often overlooked necessity. “When companies are small, with less than 20 employees, managerial skills are important. But when companies want to grow and achieve their full potential, both locally and internationally, management skills are crucial. They can make the difference between success and failure.”
Summing up results of the evaluation which surveyed 1,800 people (supervisors, human resources managers, factory managers and workers), Ms Berry stated “When you think about training, don’t think of it as an expense – think of it as a necessary investment. The Supervisory Training Program results show a number of improvements that contribute to greater productivity. For example, labor relations improved with a 12 percent reduction in employee warnings and an 8.2 percent fall in absenteeism. Production quality improved as well, with a 38.9 percent reduction in in-line rejections and a 44.4 percent reduction in shipment rejections.”
H.E. Prak Chantha, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training, emphasized the important role that garment factories play in Cambodia’s economy. “In the first half of 2006, the industry earned Cambodia two billion dollars, represented more than 80 percent of manufactured exports and employed over 300,000 people.
“The Cambodian garment industry is the driving force behind this country’s recent impressive economic growth,” The Secretary of State also stressed the importance of good labor practices which has helped the industry grow in the face of strong regional competition.
The supervisory skills training program was adapted from a successful training scheme conducted in GAP factories in Indonesia and India. “We chose IFC-MPDF as our partner because of its extensive experience in developing affordable and locally tailored resources for management training in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam,” said Vannchhai Leng, Gap Inc. Project Manager, Global Partnerships for Social Responsibility.
Based on the success of the pilot program, IFC-MPDF, Gap and the International Labor Organization’s labor monitoring and remediation program, Better Factories Cambodia, now plan to extend the pilot industry-wide. According to Conor Boyle, Training Manager for Better Factories Cambodia, they also plan to customize the course. “It’s important to develop a version of the course for senior managers. We are keenly aware that without buy-in from them, no training program can achieve its intended impact. All of this will require an expansion of the existing locally-based trainers’ network and the cooperation of other socially responsible buyers.”
An industry-wide training strategy is also being developed by IFC-MPDF and ILO in collaboration with employers, unions, buyers, the government, and non-governmental organizations. This is expected to result in a range of training programs and other initiatives that will raise the level of skills across the industry.
