Carphone Warehouse 2015 Annual Report Download - page 30

Dixons Carphone plc Annual Report and Accounts 2014/15
Strategic report
Corporate responsibility
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The Dixons Carphone Ethical Conduct Policy applies to all
employees and relevant managers are required to sign an
annual statement to confirm their compliance.
Our employees’ performance and engagement is measured via
a balanced scorecard, and alongside our values and strategy,
this scorecard is used to run our business, help us to make the
right decisions and recognise success. This is done at a
company, market and on an individual level.
One Dixons Carphone Team
One of our key priorities post-Merger is to build one culture,
one vision and one future. A major step towards this is locating
support centre colleagues in one site.
The decision to choose Acton as our main support function
site was made based on a set of criteria which included square
footage, car parking facilities and access to public transport.
We will relocate up to 1,000 colleagues from our Hemel
Hempstead site by November 2015, before the site closes on
31 December 2015.
Our Acton site remains fully functional while refurbishment
work takes place. This is aided by the introduction of Smart
Working - a flexible approach to time spent in the office,
designed to drive greater efficiency and effectiveness as well
as creating a more fluid working environment. We are building
a workplace tailored for the needs of our people.
‘Change Champions’ for each function have been identified
to help the move run smoothly and all colleagues have been
surveyed for their input and are being communicated with
throughout the process.
We are working to achieve the following design principles:
• One Dixons Carphone Team
• Tech Enabled colleagues
• Flexibility and Healthy Work-Life Balance
• Improved facilities
• A vibrant working environment.
Colleague Communications
We run a comprehensive colleague engagement programme
based on our belief that an engaged workforce will deliver a
great customer experience, resulting in strong financial results.
Our key aims for this programme are to fully integrate our
workforce and instil pride in working for Dixons Carphone.
September will see the launch of a colleague engagement
survey across the Group, administered by an external provider.
Colleagues will have the opportunity to say how they feel about
working for Dixons Carphone and this feedback will be used
to develop initiatives to ensure our company is a great place
to work.
In the UK & Ireland we are continuing to integrate online
communications channels to provide modern and effective
platforms with an emphasis on collaboration and peer-to-peer
communication. We will continue to produce ‘Connected’, a
hard copy employee magazine, which launched on the day of
the Merger and is a key channel for sharing news and
company progress.
Strengthening Capabilities
To help our people to grow their careers at Dixons Carphone
and develop the skills needed to perform well in their role and
help to grow our business we provide formal training, on the
job experience and management coaching.
We have a learning strategy to support our business strategy
and individuals have regular one-to-ones and a formal review
twice a year with their manager to assess their performance
and set clear goals and development plans for the year ahead.
Across Dixons Carphone around 96,000 learning hours were
recorded last year with over 80% of this learning completed
online. This year, we launched our Retail Academy for all new
store colleagues joining our business. We also run talent and
leadership development programmes to develop high
achievers and to improve leadership skills across our
management population.
Health and Wellbeing
Through the promotion of employee wellbeing, we aim to
create a happier, healthier and more productive workforce,
at the same time as reducing time off through sickness and
ensuring optimum levels of energy and resilience.
Healthy living is encouraged through a number of initiatives
and facilities. On-site gyms are available in many of our main
support centres and a new fitness centre is planned as part of
the refurbishment of our Head Office building in North Acton.
Relaxation rooms where employees can watch TV, play pool,
play video games or take time out are provided in Support
Functions along with on-site restaurants offering a range of
foods, which are reviewed regularly to ensure they offer a
balanced menu.
Our Employee Assistance Programme, which is available 24/7,
is available to all our employees and offers a range of
information about issues such as stress and nutrition.
A number of products and services are also available to
support employees, such as private medical insurance. This is
also available to their close family at subsidised rates. Dental
insurance and a Health Cash Plan are also available at special
corporate rates for employees who wish to participate.
Specific areas of the business also offer support in other ways
too. For example, at our Support Centre in Acton a
physiotherapist comes in regularly and offers treatments to
employees at reduced rates.