Worker Voice
We believe a skilled, valued and engaged workforce is essential to long-term growth and resiliency. Not only are engaged workers more likely to have a greater feeling of wellbeing, but they are also likely to be more productive and have lower rates of absenteeism.
When workers feel heard, respected and empowered to contribute, suppliers are better positioned to attract and retain talent, strengthening performance and building more resilient workplaces. That’s why we continue to work with suppliers to understand worker experience and embed worker voice into how decisions that impact worker experience are made, how workplaces are managed and how progress is measured.
NIKE, Inc.’s two-phase Engagement and Wellbeing (EWB) program is the backbone of our work in supporting improved engagement and wellbeing throughout our supply chain. During phase one, suppliers partner with a NIKE, Inc.-approved service provider to deploy NIKE Inc.’s Engagement and Wellbeing (EWB) Survey to a statistically significant sample size of workers to establish a baseline for current engagement levels. The survey is anonymous. The survey includes 16 content questions divided into seven categories: Skill Building, Communication, Health and Safety, Compensation, Social Connection, Stress and Respectful Workplace.
During phase two, suppliers use insights from their survey results to create a transparent action plan. The plan is intended to support a holistic worker experience and instill a culture of feedback by integrating worker engagement and wellbeing processes into a facility’s overall human resources approach. NIKE, Inc. requires that results be communicated to workers within 28 days of survey deployment.
Since 2017, we have strategically scaled the EWB program to reach more suppliers and, by the end of FY25, 100 percent of strategic suppliers* were participating in the program and had completed both phases of the EWB program.
As we look ahead, we expect our strategic suppliers to expand engagement efforts beyond an approach focused on statistically significant sampling toward increasing direct participation by their entire workforce. This next phase reflects our focus on deepening insight, strengthening accountability and embedding worker voice into how businesses operate every day.
Beginning in FY26, we are evolving our survey approach to better capture the drivers of worker wellbeing and engagement. We believe that new questions on mental health, worker voice and inclusivity, along with enhanced demographic insights such as relocation status and employment type, will surface a more holistic understanding of worker experiences.
*Strategic suppliers: strategic finished goods suppliers; suppliers representing approximately 80 percent of total footwear and apparel production.
We support suppliers in building capabilities that help further increase engagement. We continue to evolve tools and advance capabilities to help suppliers convert the insights from their EWB Survey into actions that positively impact workers. These include the EWB Action Planning Guide, which helps facilities develop and implement a process for converting insights from workers into action and embed these practices into their human resources management systems. In FY25, 100 percent of our strategic suppliers and survey service providers completed this training, helping equip organizations across our ecosystem to better hear the voices of workers and create plans to successfully improve their experience.
After training on the EWB Action Planning Guide, supplier facilities select two or three improvement areas based on low-scoring questions to create an action plan. As part of the action plan, they hold focused discussion groups with workers to understand the root cause of low-scoring questions and develop an action plan that addresses the concerns for lasting improvement. Between 2020 and 2025, supplier facilities saw an increase in scores related to all seven EWB categories, indicating the targeted Action Planning approach is having a positive impact on worker engagement and experience.
NIKE, Inc.’s Code Leadership Standards require our suppliers to have effective grievance processes which include the ability to raise grievances anonymously and confidentially without fear of retaliation.
We require suppliers to implement an effective grievance process enabling workers to raise concerns about their experience on the job, such as working conditions, company policies and procedures and terms and conditions of employment. Suppliers are also expected to document and track grievances, including response time, to help measure the effectiveness of the grievance process. We encourage suppliers to assess their grievance channels on a regular basis and support their efforts in practical ways. For example, during FY25 regional learning communities, we presented the Fair Labor Association (FLA) grievance mechanism toolkit, which is a self-assessment tool to improve current facility grievance processes.
Additionally, NIKE, Inc. maintains a “Speak Up” Portal, which can be accessed anytime online or by phone. It is available to supply chain workers to report concerns directly to NIKE, Inc. We also participate in the Fair Labor Association (FLA) Third Party Complaints Mechanism, a multi-stakeholder complaints mechanism which enables individuals or organizations to approach the FLA with concerns or when NIKE, Inc. is not the only buyer for a factory. The Third-Party Complaint Mechanism allows any person, group or organization to report serious concerns about workers’ rights as a tool of last resort when all other channels have failed.
NIKE, Inc. seeks to address and remediate credible and substantiated concerns raised through this mechanism, when sufficient details are provided for NIKE, Inc. to conduct a proper investigation into the relevant allegations that could lead to remediation or another meaningful resolution.
In addition to formal grievance processes, NIKE, Inc. believes that effective two-way communication between management and workers is key to creating strong and growing businesses. Some of our suppliers’ facilities have one or more formal unions where their elected representatives serve a critical function in representing and negotiating on behalf of workers and as an important partner in broader communications.
Many of our suppliers’ facilities also have worker committees through which management can get direct input on how to continually improve operations and working conditions.
Our Code Leadership Standards contain detailed requirements on how suppliers must respect the rights of workers to freely associate. These requirements include prohibitions on interference with workers seeking to organize or carry out union activities, as well as on any sort of activity which seeks to intimidate, harass or retaliate against workers for participation in a union or other representative organization or for attempting to organize or form a union.
Where freedom of association and collective bargaining are restricted under law, NIKE, Inc. requires suppliers to allow for parallel means for independent and free association and bargaining.