ILO, with the support of the Government of Sweden (Sida), developed the SAM-SDI in partnership with representatives of social dialogue institutions and experts from around the world.

The main goal of the process, presented in an official ILO's publication last November, is to “enable countries to achieve more socially just and economically sustainable policy outcomes by strengthening the contribution of social dialogue institutions to national policy-making processes”.

The decision is based on the fact that policies developed through social dialogue, with the engagement of representative organizations of employers and workers alongside governments, deliver better, fairer and more sustainable outcomes.

The assessment used in the SAM-SDI is based upon two key concepts: inclusiveness and effectiveness.

The political legitimacy of democratic institutions is assessed on the basis of three criteria: who (input), how (throughput) and what (output).

The inclusiveness of an SDI is related to the “who”: which organisations participate, whether these organisations represent the voices of a broad spectrum of employers and workers, and whether they include the most appropriate governmental representation.

The “how” refers to both the inclusion and the effectiveness of an SDI: the way the inputs made by the members of the SDI are transformed, through its internal processes and operations, into its policy or other outcomes.

The "what" relates to the effectiveness of an SDI and refers to the policy or other outputs it produces.

The process in clearly illustrated in the presentation:

The assessment follows a series of interlinked steps, following a logical sequence from beginning to end, which should normally be applied in its entirety. The steps can be summarized as follows:

Step 0: Deciding to apply the SAM-SDI. The initial step requires to examine whether the right conditions are in place to proceed with the assessment. Decided, through consensus to apply the SAM-SDI, it is necessary to select the assessment team and devise a work plan and budget.

Step 1: Building an understanding of the SDI’s history and context.  It consists in all the preliminary activities, such as reviewing the objectives, constructing a and mapping the wider institutional environment in which the SDI operates.

Step 2: Assessing the inclusiveness. The team conducts an assessment of the various dimensions of the institution’s inclusiveness, based on an analysis of its strengths and weaknesses, using predefined benchmarks and identifying objectives and action to enhance it.

Step 3: Assessing the effectiveness. The team examines the different dimensions of institutional effectiveness using guiding questions and identifies key objectives and activities to enhance it.

Step 4: Formulating the action plan. The team develops the action plan, holding a consultation to gather feedback and finalizing, and disclose the self-assessment report and action plan.

Step 5: Implementing the action plan. The team monitors progresses and adjusts its implementation.

The SAM-SDI is targeted mainly at tripartite social dialogue institutions operating at the national or state/provincial levels but is suitable for application by social dialogue institutions of differing size, composition, mandate and resource availability.

This first edition of the method will be launched and tested with a number of social dialogue institutions in the coming months to evaluate its scope and efficiency.