Marks and Spencer 2009 Annual Report Download - page 50

46 Marks and Spencer Group plc Annual report and financial statements 2009 Directors’ report
Our people
Retail is the largest private sector employer
in the UK, and M&S is a significant contributor
towards this. We employ around 73,000
people in the UK and a further 5,000
worldwide. We have one of the lowest
employee turnover rates in UK retail, at 23%
for customer assistants and 12% for
management. Around 44% of our people
have been with us for over five years
and 26% for more than 10 years.
Developing our people
We have redesigned our learning and
development programme to identify and
train the next generation of leaders, as
well as to ensure talented people within our
business are given the right sort of training
and encouragement to develop.
Lead to Succeed – Our flagship leadership
programme Lead to Succeed targets the
development of the 300 most senior M&S
people. It is designed to identify and develop
people for succession and is built around our
M&S brand values – Quality, Value, Service,
Innovation and Trust.
Line managers – Phase one of a new line
management development programme has
been launched. This is designed to develop
the 2,000 line managers who are critical
to the motivation and retention of talent
across the business.
Academies – We have developed our
GM and Food academies so we continue
to innovate as a business. Staff attend a
variety of master-classes, from improving
their core buying capabilities and range
planning in GM to their culinary and tasting
skills in food.
International – We have concentrated
on training managers who are building
our overseas businesses to encourage
consistency of the M&S brand, taking into
account local and cultural differences.
Your M&S Career Path – All of our UK and
Republic of Ireland employees are supported
by Your M&S Career Path training and
learning programmes. In-store, our customer
assistants complete a thorough induction of
up to 26 weeks and work through four
possible levels of coaching cards. In addition,
section managers and store managers
receive targeted workshops, designed to
improve selling and cost management skills.
Rewarding our people
The M&S benefits package remains one of
the best in the retail sector. New membership
to the final salary pension scheme closed in
2002, but we offer a generous retirement plan
where M&S matches employees contributions
by up to 12%.
One in three employees (26,000) participated
in our Sharesave Schemes in 2008/09.
There was a 21% increase in employees
joining Sharesave over the previous year due
to our low share price as well as employees
coming out of options with a higher price.
We are pleased that so many employees
want to invest in the business and believe
in its prospects for growth.
We have a number of initiatives designed
to make people feel well-cared for. For example
we run two-year breast screening cycles. Some
27,000 were screened in the cycle that ended
in February 2009, and a further 13,400 women
will be screened in the new programme starting
this year.
Attracting and retaining the industry’s best talent is at the heart of
our Human Resources strategy – and even more so when the
economy is tough. In 2008/09 we introduced new development
programmes tailor-made for growing tomorrow’s leaders. We also
reinforced lines of communication between management and
colleagues at every level of the business, so we could provide
reassurance through this difficult period. All of which underpin our
strategy of being an employer of choice, since we know that great
people make a great business.
125 YEARS OF SERVICE
Above: Mystery shopping M&S stores are
anonymously visited once a month – twice in the
case of larger flagship stores – by mystery shoppers
who evaluate service quality. In 2008/09, that was
the equivalent of 6,326 visits, with staff achieving an
above average 84% score.
125 YEARS OF SERVICE
Below: Cycling Sam Sam Worton was a
warehouseman in the Nottingham store for more
than 32 years. He was given his nickname when he
cycled to every M&S store in the country – a journey
that took all his holidays for five years between 1950
and 1955. He visited 243 stores from Aberdeen to
Truro and covered a distance of 7,173 miles.
Our people
Being an employer of choice