Marks and Spencer 2010 Annual Report Download - page 45

Operating & financial review 
Governance p50 
Financial statements p78 
41To find out more, visit marksandspencer.com/annualreport2010
Brand & marketplace p20 
Performance & KPIs p14 
Overview p01 
Your M&S Employee
magazine
Bi-monthly magazine that
provides employees with
features on the latest M&S
initiatives and employee
stories.
Your Say Survey
Launched in 2006, our annual employee
Your Say Survey provides us with a
comprehensive view of employee opinion.
Response rates for our most recent poll
were up 3% to 94% participation and our
overall positivity score increased to 74%
demonstrating the progress we have made
in a challenging year.
This year, we added questions to the
survey to help individual line managers
identify what they are doing well and where
they need to improve. Following the survey,
each line manager will now receive a
Manager’s Personal Report.
Looking ahead
A great business is founded on great
people. As we look forward we will continue
to harness the full potential of all of our
employees so we can emerge as a stronger
and more competitive business.
We will do this through ongoing
investment in our people, ensuring that our
employees have the right skills to support
our growth ambitions and that they have the
opportunity to fully understand the plans and
priorities of the business.
Communicating with employees
Against a backdrop of continued economic
uncertainty, it’s vital that we maintain an
open dialogue with all employees. We do
this through a number of channels including:
Business Involvement Group (BIG)
is made up of over 3,500 elected staff
representatives from across M&S. BIG
represents employee views on matters
relating to work and employment, leading
consultation processes on behalf of stores
and head office.
Director Breakfasts
Informal Q&A sessions
for store colleagues with
business unit leaders.
In-store listening
groups Regularly
hosted by store managers so any issues
can be communicated to Head Office
M&S Intranet Our employee portal,
updated daily with announcements from
the business, as well as regular news
from the wider retail sector.
Quarterly results broadcast A regular
financial update to all employees, outlining
the Company’s performance
Top 100 briefing A monthly cascade of
Head Office information to top managers.
Getting involved
Research has told us that increasingly
people make a decision about the company
they want to work for based on its social
and environmental agenda. Employees need
to trust their employer to act responsibly
towards them as individuals and increasingly
they want to be able to trust a business to
act in the best interest of society. Plan A
provides an excellent platform for M&S to
demonstrate its ethical and eco commitment
to current and future employees. As part
of this year’s relaunch we set out to further
engage colleagues in Plan A and encourage
them to lead greener lifestyles.
All M&S employees are now entitled
to a paid day off to volunteer in their local
communities and we have introduced Plan A
targets into the bonus framework for senior
executives. We continue to recognise the
work employees do across the community
and in the workplace with our annual Plan A
Volunteer awards.
A year of celebration
Last year M&S celebrated its 125th
anniversary and our people were at the heart
of the celebrations. To mark the occasion
we set colleagues a 125 Challenge, to raise
£1.25m for local community charities in
125 days between May and September.
M&S stores and offices up and down the
country got involved – from bake sales
to cycling challenges and even hiking 84
miles along Hadrian’s Wall – our colleagues
rose to the challenge and smashed
our original target, raising £2.8m.
Our 125th year was
topped off with a gala party,
with colleagues across the
country coming together
to celebrate.
INNOVATION
Above: Our Your Wellbeing website for
employees was developed by Russel Turner, from
M&S Occupational Health: “The website provides
easy to use tailored programmes designed to help
employees achieve personal goals, be that improving
work-life balance or even getting a better night’s
sleep. Launched as part of ‘Wellbeing Week’,
where colleagues were offered free head massages
and advice from fitness experts, the site received
over 1,600 employee pledges in the first four days.”