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Progress Tracking Charts (PTCs)
Measuring development, communicating improvement and addressing persisting issues
What are PTCs?
Progress tracking charts (PTCs) are monthly reports, filled out by factories who have completed an FLA training module, that use key performance indicators (KPIs) to document and illustrate the impact of capacity building measures.
The FLA has defined a number of KPIs to measure a factory’s progress and to collect hard figures on every compliance issue, and has created a structured reporting sheet to collect soft information. PTCs are completed monthly over a defined period of time – usually between 10 and 12 months after completing the training phase in a capacity building program. This allows all involved parties – factory management, brand compliance staff as well as the FLA - to observe the impact of the capacity building activities, track the implementation of new policies and procedures, and to initiate corrective changes if necessary. PTCs data is also an important source of information for the independent external assessor, who will verify the accuracy of the PTC data.
Some capacity building modules, like Workers’ Participation, roll out over several months, and include several training sessions. To keep factories on track throughout this process, the FLA and the trainer responsible for the program provide reporting sheets for training participants. Referred to as PTC 1s, these questionnaires are usually composed of several questions that collect the opinions and observations of the training participants as they and the factory go through the module. These PTCs are administered and collected by the trainer at each training session following the first, and the results are summarized in the training reports submitted to the brand. These are independent of PTC 2s, which collect quantitative data in addition to some qualitative information, and track progress following the completion of the training program.
How are PTCs structured?
PTCs are constructed to easily integrate into a company’s balance score card system, if such a system already exists, or if a factory is planning on developing one to manage their capacity building program.
To generate objective data, indicators should reflect the different perspectives and qualities of the factory’s workers and management. Wherever possible the following perspectives are considered when defining the the performance indicators PTCs:
Qualitative and Quantitative
A qualitative performance measure summarizes attributes of performance that are intangible (like factory climate) or tend to escape easy quantification (like worker satisfaction). Quantitative indicators, in turn, are constructed on the base of ‘hard’ facts collected from data sources that are objectively verifiable.Lead and Lag
A lag measure summarizes the outcome of activities initiated or carried out in the past. A lead measure by comparison, summarizes the activities performed today in order to achieve a desirable outcome in the future.
How are PTCs completed?
Participating factories can download excel forms to enter in their data each month, and which will automatically produce charts that show through charts and graphs the development or progress of that activity. The factories then communicate this data to the FLA and the brands.
Why are PTCs important?
PTCs benefit the factory in two major ways: 1) the positive feedback and real change experienced by both management and workers encourages the factory to continue improving its worker participation structure. Improved satisfaction with the management and the factory increase workers' effectiveness and willingness to work hard and take pride in what they do. 2) The progress tracking charts show areas for improvement, and point to specific instances where workers or management see weaknesses. This gives the factory points to focus on, and keeps improvement steady and appropriate over time.
Brands benefit from PTCs due to the structured reporting process, increased communication between the factory and the brand, and the quantitative data produced by these reports. They provide useful, informative and regular data.
PTCs available to download: