A helping hand

It is great to raise money for charity, but getting staff behind such initiatives can teach them valuable new skills, get them closer to their communities and customers and build stronger teams and relationships.

Signet’s H Samuel division recently announced a tie-up with the children’s charity Variety Club. Signet marketing director Colin Wagstaffe says store staff have been involved from the start; from choosing the charity to raising money.

Staff are encouraged to think proactively in store. “We send them briefing leaflets about suggested fundraising activities and regularly discuss these with their area teams - trying to use these kinds of activities as team-building events too,” says Wagstaffe.

Although the main reason for Signet’s involvement in charity is philanthropy, Wagstaffe admits the HR aspect is useful. “These include making Signet a good place to work; external business reputation building and team building. Involvement in head office charity fundraising activities means getting to know team members and people from other stores,” says Wagstaffe.

Other retailers allow local stores and staff to choose who they want to support - a policy that works well according Stephen Cook, editor of charity magazine Third Sector. “From our experience local businesses partnering with local charities can be really beneficial for both sides,” he says, and suggests retailers that do choose a national charity get local stores to partner with the charity’s local branches.

At Beaverbrooks and Bravissimo stores are given their own charity budgets. “Each store has a ‘Giving Something Back’ budget to spend on local charities,” says Laura Meneaud, HR and customer services director at Bravissimo. “At our head office we also have a local charity and community group that is given a set amount of money each year to support projects in the local area,” she says.

Last year Meneaud was one of 14 Bravissimo employees who took part in the Cotswold Challenge to raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer.

“The charity work we undertake undoubtedly creates a feel-good factor among staff and for many this a real motivator,” says Meneaud.

Meanwhile, at Beaverbrooks the retailer donates 20% of its post-tax profits to 400 different charities. “We give each store an amount of money per person to choose a charity of their choice,” explains managing director Mark Adlestone.

Many retailers also donate staff time. Beaverbrooks staff are given two days paid leave a year to do charity work. “The benefits are the development of the individual. Team bonding is a nice side benefit but the reason we do what we do is that we want to make a difference to the communities we operate in,” concludes Adlestone.