This think piece is intended to start a conversation about using lagging and leading indicators to track business respect for human rights. It is a contribution to Valuing Respect, which aims to develop better ways to evaluate business respect for human rights. The focus of the project is on outcomes for people. It therefore concerns both evidence of actual outcomes, as well as indicators of likely outcomes for people, that can be used to support good, and prevent bad, outcomes.
In this piece, Shift’s Senior Advisor John Sherman discusses the usefulness of lagging versus leading indicators in how we evaluate business respect for human rights, and what the future of these indicators might look like through the lens of Valuing Respect’s mission.
Business Model Red Flags 
Leadership, Governance, & Culture 
Tool for Indicator Design 
Quality of Relationships 