Impactful communication for workers

Communication is often viewed as the final step of due diligence; reporting on the processes implemented and actions taken by companies. Yet in practice, it can be an effective part of the due diligence process itself, creating the transparency, dialogue and trust needed to improve decisions over time.

Building on the last HREDD Compass, Fair Wear explores how we can optimise the changing communication landscape to leverage sustainability communication for impact. We spoke to Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), to continue this conversation.

Communication as a driver of change

Communication is a key part of the due diligence cycle and has the potential to support accountability, enable continuous improvements, and raise awareness globally. How is this role of communication perceived by workers and trade unions in Bangladesh?

Sultan: We similarly see communication as a driver of change. Companies’ communication about Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) plays a role in awareness raising on the topic, not only amongst consumers but also amongst policymakers and business associations. This matters, as having the same understanding of HRDD and the harms it addresses is a prerequisite for collaborating on this. Through the international dialogue that sustainability communication creates, we can better understand supply chain risks and learn from each other’s experiences.

Verified information matters

The industry is facing increasing scrutiny around the quality and reliability of sustainability claims. In this context, what makes communication effective for workers and their representatives?

Sultan: Communication can only be a powerful tool for raising awareness and creating alignment across different stakeholders when the information being shared is accurate and verified. Moreover, effective communication is part of a feedback loop and should reach worker representatives directly. When workers and trade unions receive the same information as consumers, they are better positioned to assess whether commitments are reflected in practice. This, together with robust feedback mechanisms, creates stronger accountability. Without verified information, sustainability communication risks becoming disconnected from reality and can undermine trust.

Social dialogue is essential

Many companies are exploring how communication can become a two-way process rather than a one-way disclosure exercise. Yet social dialogue remains a challenge across many supply chains. How can companies move from communicating about workers to creating communication systems that genuinely include workers' voices?

Sultan: For communication to become a genuine feedback loop, workers must have mechanisms to share their perspectives, raise concerns, and reflect on sustainability reporting and company communication. This requires strong social dialogue structures: organisational support, capacity building, and companies’ commitment to regular engagement, transparency, and acting on worker feedback. Trade unions and Multi Stakeholder Initiatives can play a role in streamlining these processes.

Communities should be a key audience

Finally, trust has become one of the defining challenges in sustainability communication. From your experience, what builds trust in communication coming from companies?

Sultan: When companies communicate about actions they are taking to improve labour conditions, workers and local communities should be among the primary audiences. When companies communicate the same sustainability ambitions, actions, and outcomes to workers, communities, and consumers alike, they demonstrate openness, transparency and accountability and create the conditions for meaningful impact. This is essentially what creates trust.

Insights for the industry

• Effective communication starts with accurate and verified information.
  Communication that is not grounded in reality can undermine trust, while transparent and credible information helps align stakeholders and supports accountability.
• Communication should create dialogue.
  Sustainability communication has the greatest potential for impact when it becomes part of a feedback loop that structurally includes workers’ voices.
• Workers and local communities are critical audiences.
  Workers are a key stakeholder in the due diligence process, being directly affected by companies’ due diligence work. Communicating sustainability efforts and goals consistently across stakeholder-audiences increases trust in sustainability communication.

Sustainability communication is impactful when it creates understanding, accountability, and dialogue. The reflections from BILS highlight that communication can strengthen due diligence when it is credible, reaches workers and their representatives, and creates opportunities for meaningful engagement. By treating workers and local communities not only as stakeholders but also as key audiences, companies can leverage communication to improve labour conditions and build trust across their supply chains. 

Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) is dedicated to protecting worker rights and fostering social dialogue in Bangladesh. Established in 1995 by senior trade unionists of Bangladesh, BILS represents twelve of the thirty-two major Trade Union Federations in the country. BILS focuses on capacity building of local Trade Unions through training, research and information sharing and promotes labour rights through its lobby and advocacy work. For more information, visit https://bilsbd.org/.