Work experience week at Inherently Human
21 July
Last month marked our first work experience week at Inherently Human, and we were pleased to welcome three students into the team: Cerys, Tui and Immy.
Across the week, they took part in events for London Climate Action Week, worked on a project examining migrant workers in the food industry, and joined Module 4 of the Ethical Trading Initiative’s (ETI) Human Rights training, which covers Grievance Mechanisms.
Cerys kindly wrote up her reflections on the week afterwards, and we wanted to share them in full.
In Cerys’s words
“My week’s work experience with Inherently Human was incredibly varied and fascinating, and I began to understand some of the complexities of human rights compliance in business.
“Common themes were around lack of funding, complex supply chains covering different countries with diverse cultures and law, and a lack of frequent and transparent communication between the buyer and supplier.
“I particularly enjoyed learning about grievance mechanisms (GMs) during ETI’s training session. It helped me to see how human rights compliance is achieved in practice and the systemic nature of human rights violations. By considering the variety of grievance issues and their potential sources, for example power imbalances between women workers and male supervisors, I understood the important yet complex role GMs have to fulfil.
“It was interesting to discuss with human rights professionals the benefits of different components of GMs, such as independent auditors and spontaneous audits, and how workers can be supported to access and understand a GM. In a small group, I discussed the feasibility of using smartphones to address this issue, and presented our ideas, which included data protection, accessibility and the use of AI. My main takeaway from this discussion was the need to detach oneself from a Western viewpoint when considering the utilisation of technology for GMs in international supply chains.
“Overall, the week gave me an invaluable opportunity to deepen my understanding of human rights and provided an insight into their role and their future in business. Thank you very much to all of the Inherently Human team for making this work experience possible.”
Thank you to our wonderful work experience students
Thank you to Cerys, Tui and Immy for the energy and curiosity they brought to the week.
Tui and Immy took part in the same programme of events and training across the week, bringing their own thoughtful questions and unique perspectives to the group discussions.
Fresh perspectives on how human rights issues land with younger audiences help inform our own approach, and the work we do with our clients, and we appreciated the opportunity to listen and learn from the students too.
This is something we want to do more of. From next year, we’ll be opening applications for work experience placements at Inherently Human, and we’ll particularly welcome those from people currently underrepresented in business and human rights.
