Unlocking potential: The impact of training on career growth

ETI has offered its ETI Essentials courses on business and human rights for over 10 years. Essentials provides a foundational course for people new to human rights to learn from experts, network with others working in the same field, and take away practical solutions. 

Our expert delivery partner Inherently Human chatted to a former participant and to one of the course’s expert trainers to hear more about the impact of the course on participant’s careers. 

Ciara Barry, from Fashion Revolution, tell us when you took the course and what immediate impact it had?

I participated in the ETI Essentials course in 2018 while working as an Ethical Trade Assistant. At that time, I had a genuine passion for human rights but was relatively new to the business and human rights landscape. The Essentials course and its practical examples allowed me to delve into human rights issues within supply chains, understand root causes, and explore key concepts and issues that allowed me to have an impact in my role quickly. 

I was fortunate to learn alongside professionals from diverse sectors and nonprofit representatives who shared their practical experiences and case studies. 

And six years later, tell us about your work and what you still reflect on from the course…

Fast forward six years, my career has transitioned from business to campaigning and academia, including business and human rights work with the United Nations and as a lecturer for London College of Fashion. The early training from ETI Essentials laid the foundation for my understanding of human rights and inspired me to drive change across different sectors. I highly recommend this course to anyone working in business and human rights - it provides the professional stepping stone needed to confidently address human rights challenges and delve deeper into effective due diligence practices and the UN Guiding Principles. 

We turn now to one of the Essentials trainers, Laura Falk, to hear her perspective on the Essentials training… 

Laura, tell us about your journey to delivering the Essentials course and what you’ve taken from it?

I started my career working for a UK funder called Comic Relief who’ve long been supporters of fair and ethical trade. My journey into business and human rights included work for non-governmental organisations in Tanzania and the Fairtrade Foundation and I subsequently came to lead the Sustainable Sourcing team at UK supermarket Sainsbury’s for more than ten years. I’ve always been passionate about building sustainability capability in supply chains, fuelled by considerable time working with suppliers across Africa, South America, Asia, and Europe 

It’s been great to join the ETI training team for the Essentials as part of a portfolio of roles I do supporting businesses. Delivering Module 1 on the foundations of human rights and business continues to provide a great platform to help participants understand the origins and evolution of human rights in the business sphere and recognise how human rights apply to their organisation and their role. We discuss how legislation and frameworks need to guide organisations space in this work and explore practical examples of human rights issues in supply chains. There is always such active engagement from participants on these issues and I love the real-life scenarios they bring to the session - these, along with the case studies we use, bring the theory in the course to life.

How do you see the Essentials fitting into the journey for human rights professionals and helping people unlock their potential? 

In comparison to when I started work in this field, we now see so many young professionals moving into the field of human rights and sustainability – it’s fantastic. It can be overwhelming though with the rapid development of legislation and the scale of the challenges we face now. People aren't always sure where to start. That’s where I see the Essentials fitting in – giving people the basis of where to start and covering some of the key fundamental principles of the ETI, in particular a focus on rightsholder engagement, power dynamics and purchasing practices.  Participants gain a roadmap that they can use to quickly make an impact. Being able to use ETI member case studies and resources gives the training additional depth – there is so much the organisation can bring to life through the training. 

Whether you choose to do all four, or just one module, our day-long Essentials sessions are an opportunity to develop your knowledge, equip you with skills and network with other ETI members and non-members. Find out more here.