Developing employees’ strengths

Giving staff the opportunity to develop is the best way to make sure they stay with the company. Waitrose has a reputation for being one of the best when it comes to giving employees the chance to shine, and it is upping the ante by pledging to produce individual development plans for every one of its 45,000 employees.

Speaking at IGD’s food and grocery employability and skills summit last week, Waitrose personnel director Rob Collins said that happy employees make for a successful business. “What’s vital is that everybody in our business feels we are developing them in some way,” he said. “We want every individual, whatever role they might do, to feel they work for a company that really wants to help them keep improving.”

The retailer wants to produce individual development plans for all of its 45,000 employees by the end of next year. The plans will focus on a range of skills that help employees to develop, and won’t just be limited to skills used directly in the business.

“Some people just want to develop skills relating to hobbies outside work,” Collins said. “These skills can still make people happier both in and out of the workplace.”

Waitrose will also look into encouraging staff to develop their skills by working in the community, and will look at volunteering schemes in the local area when coming up with the plans.

Collins said development for all staff will focus on their strengths. “We want to develop people using a strength-based approach, not aweakness-based approach.”

A strong focus on keeping staff happy has helped the business grow to where it is today, Collins said. The idea is to inspire staff so they are on board with changes in the business as it evolves.

“People need to be emotionally engaged and feel as though they are a part of the organisation - which is very different to just being part of it. Inspiring people about change is intrinsic to our core purpose as a business.”

The company has signed the IGD employability pledge. Companies that do this are committed to providing quality work experience and work opportunities and Collins says it reflects Waitrose’s general interest in developing talent.

“We are hugely passionate about moving forward in this area, and there’s a massive amount we want to be doing and we are building, I hope, from a strong basis,” he says.