Apparel factories commonly have vertical or hierarchical management structures. The first step in our work with Impactt is to help factories develop the concept of management as a team. We bring together the GM, HR, production manager, compliance officer, welfare officer, industrial engineer and a selection of supervisors to engage in training together. For many factories, this will be the first time that the entire set of management personnel will have been brought together to function as a team and develop a common set of practices and beliefs about factory management.

For the training to be successful, managers must buy in to the theory of the program. The training must also help factory managers develop factory social norms concerning management.

The business case will be part of the lure that attracts the interest of managers. However, as the training proceeds, manager perceptions of appropriate business practices will be affected by the rehumanization of workers in the minds of managers and supervisors.

Workers are also part of the team. The outcome for the factory depends on the workers and firms working toward the same goals. Social psychologists call this outcome dependence. Economists call this aligning incentives.

In order to align the interests of the workers and the firm or promote outcome dependence, managers and supervisors need a richer perception of workers as human beings. Worker perceptions of their own wellbeing depend on income, feeling respected at work and having the ability to realize aspirations for their family. That is, the training seeks to rehumanize workers in the minds of managers and supervisors.