John Dove has worked for large-scale international enterprises for much of his 25-plus-year career, gaining an extensive set of business skills and experience that he now applies to consulting in the area of business and human rights. John is leading the development of the RCG Reflex program — a novel, effective approach to the problems of labour violations in global supply chains.
With expertise in corporate audit, business and product development, and service operations, John’s recent involvement in business analysis further strengthens his skills for assessing compliance and supporting remediation of forced labour in supply chains. In addition, his strong abilities with data analysis for business intelligence reporting enable him to communicate clearly the key performance indicators for continuously improving remedies to systemic problems. John also has experience in procurement and logistics, so he knows the value of efficient production and understands the underlying business drivers for profitability, from product lines through to the company bottom line.
John has contributed to RCG’s Reflex work for the Mekong Club, a membership-based ethical business alliance in Asia that works with companies wanting to take active steps to identify potential risk and eradicate modern slavery from their business. Notably, he undertook a comprehensive comparison of transparency in supply chain legislation.
As a Labour and Ethics Lead Auditor, John is qualified to an international standard set by the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), and has the ability to lead a social audit of a manufacturing facility using the RBA Validated Audit Process, customized to the specific requirements of a client’s industry sector, or to apply the same standard of work to other social audit programs.
John is currently working with field auditors in Asia to strengthen their ability to identify issues around the recruitment and mobilization of migrants as they commence their journeys abroad, such as charging prohibited fees and providing misleading information on terms and conditions. He is also contributing to a peer review of a paper for the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on the role of technology in combating human trafficking, with a focus on the potential role of blockchain.
Complementing this work to strengthen current social auditing practice, John is part of the RCG Reflex team working with the International Organization for Migration to develop a monitoring and complaints mechanism for the International Recruitment Integrity System (IRIS), a certification system for international labour recruitment agencies. John’s role includes advising on the piloting of IRIS along the Philippines–Canada migration corridor, as well as ensuring consistency between the proposed monitoring and complaints mechanism and key international standards.
Alongside this assignment, John is working to shape the Reflex approach in line with the three pillars of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: “Protect, Respect and Remedy” — with a particular emphasis on the importance of providing relief to victims of forced labour. Central to this approach is ensuring that responses are cost-effective through minimizing compliance costs, seeking offsets such as productivity gains through better workplace management, and increased collaboration on supply chain transparency among brands and manufacturers.
John holds a Bachelor of Science from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, and a Master’s Certificate in Business Analysis from the University of Victoria, Canada.