Internship report on a study on Aarong SCPD and its role in enhancing artisan retention and productivity

Abstract

As one the largest leading fairtrade organizations in Bangladesh, Aarong plays a crucial role in empowering producers and rural artisans by providing sustainable livelihoods, fair wages, training, and social benefits with the support of one of the world’s largest NGOs ‘BRAC’. In becoming a successful organization, loyal producers and artisans play a great role. Their unbelievable contribution and loyalty have helped Aarong maintain its product quality from the beginning to now and remain one of the market leaders in the Bangladesh retail industry. The Social Compliance and Producer Development (SCPD) department is consistently working as a Human Resource team for 700 hundred producers and 1500 artisans to make things happen. So, this report aims to understand SCPD’s role and initiatives in contributing long-term engagement and efficiency of its producers and artisans. The report is based on qualitative research, including interviews with SCPD employees and artisans as well as secondary data from company reports, website, and academic literature, and my observation of the three-month internship journey. So far the Department of Social Compliance and Producer Development is made up of many units and I have tried to work with all units. All of them have equal contributions in retaining Aarong’s treasure like artisans. The findings of the report illustrate Aarong’s fair trade policies, skills development training, and welfare programs. However, challenges such as market competition, limited technological adoption, and artisans’ financial struggles still exist. To further strengthen artisans’ retention, recommendations include expanding training programs, performance-based incentives and leveraging digital solutions for better efficiencies.