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The ILO's Work Improvement in Small Enterprises (WISE) programme is designed to promote practical, voluntary action to improve working conditions by owners and managers of small and medium enterprises. A brochure describing the WISE programme and pamphlets on the technical subjects dealt with in WISE are available in English, French and Spanish.
Since the first publication in 1988 of the Action manual and Trainers' manual, Higher productivity and a better place to work, the WISE programme has resulted in improvements in small-scale industries in over 20 countries in Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and Africa.
A training programme for workers, based on the WISE approach, has also been developed.
The WISE programme is based on six basic training principles:
- Build on local practice
- Focus on achievements
- Link working conditions with other management goals
- Use learning-by-doing
- Encourage exchange of experience
- Promote workers' involvement
It makes use of action-oriented checklists that small business owners and managers can use themselves to identify opportunities for cost-effective improvements and to plan their implementation.
A companion book is available on Work Organization and Ergonomics, providing action-oriented ideas for more advanced enterprises.
The WISE approach has been institutionalized in the Philippines following a UNDP-financed project there. This experience, besides assisting hundreds of small enterprises to improve their conditions, also assisted the Philippines labour legislation system to develop practical strategies for intervening to achieve improved working conditions in small -scale and micro enterprises.
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