We care about our people.
We will focus on learning and development, health and wellbeing, and diversity and inclusion to help us ensure that The Works is an engaging and inspiring place to work.
Our colleagues are fundamental to delivering great customer experience in a challenging and competitive retail environment. They are what makes The Works so special. Attracting and retaining great people is what makes us successful, and our culture is key to that.
Each year we invite our colleagues to participate in the Best CompaniesTM ‘Make a Difference’ engagement survey. This well-recognised third-party survey covers various areas including Leadership, My Manager, Personal Growth, Wellbeing, Fair Deal and Giving Something Back. As well as completing the set questions, colleagues also have the option to add comments on what is great about working at The Works and what could be better. 77% of our team completed the 2023 full survey and we were awarded a one-star rating (with three stars being the highest rating) in recognition of very good workplace engagement.
Learning and development
Our learning and development system, the Can-Do Academy, provides all colleagues with online learning covering compliance, management and leadership skills training. This year we have expanded our talent development team and introduced several new initiatives including The Works Welcome induction event, providing our new Support Centre, Distribution Centre and store managers a warm and informative welcome to our team.
Health and wellbeing
Health and safety (H&S)
We take a proactive approach in relation to all H&S matters and our aim is to continuously improve our H&S performance. To drive continuous improvement we operate a web-based portal and online reporting system which allows all stores to immediately record accidents, incidents and near misses. Our store managers all use streamlined H&S checklists that focus on things they need to monitor daily during regular floor walks, including identifying potential hazards and ensuring fire escape routes are always kept clear.
Wellbeing
Supporting the wellbeing of our colleagues is a key part of our people strategy and our ESG commitments. This April we launched our wellbeing strategy to ensure we support all aspects of our colleagues’ wellbeing. Colleagues have access to:
- MyWorks, our communications and engagement platform, which provides information on physical, mental and financial wellbeing.
- Our employee Assistance Programme through our partnership with the Retail Trust.
- Wellbeing Warriors , who are available across the business. These colleagues are specifically trained to support the mental wellbeing of their peers, act as an impartial, confidential, listening ear and provide unbiased support to colleagues.
Diversity and inclusion (D&I)
We have launched our D&I strategy and are making good progress
across the four key priorities:
- Further improve our understanding of D&I across our business.
- Improve D&I training and enhance awareness.
- Review our internal processes to ensure barriers to inclusion are removed.
- Ensure everyone at The Works is accountable for their role in creating an inclusive workplace.
