Technical cooperation

The central objective of ACT/EMP´s technical cooperation programme is to promote strong, independent and representative employers´ organizations. While the objective itself is very broad and multidimensional, the programme is focused on specific capacity aspects – capacity to adopt and pursue a strategic approach to organizational development and management, improve services in order to provide value to existing and potential members, and to strengthen the policy influence of employers´ organizations on the basis of communication skills and well-researched advocacy. In essence it is focused on strengthening the key elements of institutional capacity that employers´ organizations need to promote their value to members and fulfil their mandates as representative membership organizations designed to advance the interests of their member companies.

The programme operates on a global, regional and national level through a team of technical specialists at Headquarters, at the ILO International Training Centre, and in ILO Regional and Country Offices and Decent Work Teams. It is based on a thorough organizational analysis and seeks buy-in and ownership of the results by the constituents. Country-level activities are specifically tailored to address the expressed and evaluated needs of constituents to ensure the sustainability of results.

Tools for capacity development

The technical cooperation programme of ACT/EMP is largely a capacity building programme aimed at strengthening institutional change and improvement on a sustainable basis with the ultimate aim of building employers´ organizations that address members´ needs and contribute to economic and social development in their countries.

The programme utilizes an intervention model that combines an optimum of various methods and resources depending on the identified needs, including:

• Advisory services
• Training
• Exchanges of experience between organizations
• Study visits
• Twinning arrangements
• Technical support for employers organizations developing tools, products and resources

These interventions are supported by ACT/EMP´s global products on training, hands-on guidance resources such as toolkits and handbooks, and research, good practice and know-how.

Measuring results

As a result of ACT/EMP advisory services, training and projects employers´ organizations in many countries have:

• Emerged to represent growing private sector enterprises and have become credible partners in national policy and social dialogue. ACT/EMP has contributed to the establishment and development of employers´ organizations in the transitional economies in central Europe, and central Asia. Organizations in these countries are now fully recognized as the voice of business and credible dialogue partners.
• Achieved tangible policy results on a number of socio-economic issues. These achievements range from social security regulations in Cambodia, to more favourable SME policies in Jordan achieved by enhancing the advocacy capacity of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, and a differentiated minimum wage policy adopted in Mongolia as a result of advocacy by the Mongolian Employers´ Federation.
• Developed and delivered services and tools for members that have helped generate income while attracting new, and retaining existing members. For example, in 2011 China Enterprise Confederation (CEC) introduced a Code of Practice and Guide for Employers on Promoting Equal Opportunity and Treatment and Preventing Discrimination at Work. Furthermore, as a result of ILO support in 2010-11, the Employers´ Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) developed and delivered new services to improve the competitiveness of its members and promote corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Sustainability and replicability

ACT/EMP´s technical cooperation programme seeks to secure ownership and consistency with the organizational strategies of beneficiary employers´ organizations at the planning and design stage of project cycles. This ensures that the intended results contribute to the strategic objectives of the employers´ organization. In addition, by focusing on institutional structures and processes, ACT/EMP programmes are designed to ensure the sustainability of developed capacity. In concrete terms this means that improved governance and management, membership and revenue strategies, the development of services, and the capacity to maximize advocacy outcomes feed into greater organizational capacity to sustain gains and create a virtuous cycle of organizational development.

Many of ACT/EMP´s global products are designed and developed with strong elements of best practice and adaptable application to ensure that they are replicable and sustainable to allow diverse organizations from around the world to tailor solutions to their own needs.