To harness the power of worker voice, executives and workers need to learn how to exchange ideas more frequently and more directly. But over the course of the last 40 years, many of the channels that used to connect executives to the frontlines of business have disappeared. The Aspen Institute Business & Society Program (Aspen BSP) convened a working group of scholars, worker advocates, investors, and corporate advisors to explore solutions to this challenge. One solution that emerged was to create a new forum, hosted by Aspen BSP, to cultivate the skills and comfort with direct exchange between frontline workers and senior executives.
Inspired by this idea, Aspen BSP will be designing a pilot experience for workers and executives to imagine more collaborative and reciprocal approaches to business problems. We want to hear from you. If you are interested in learning more or would like to provide input into the design of this pilot, please contact Miguel Padró at miguel.padro@aspeninstitute.org or Felicia Davis at felicia.davis@aspeninstitute.org.
In this report, we present an overview of what will guide us as we create this experience, including:
1) A brief history of the worker voice gap
2) A vision for a forum
3) Principles for the pilot