Marks and Spencer 2013 Annual Report Download - page 32

Marks and Spencer Group plc Annual report and financial statements 2013 30Strategic review
People
Focusing on product knowledge,
presentation, availability and service,
over 65,000 colleagues have now
participated in our In Touch learning
programme. As we introduce more
technology to our stores, apps are also
becoming an increasingly popular
communications resource and our
Knowledge to Share videos are now
available on in-store iPads, as well as our
online portal. These short films from our
in-house experts help employees share
their pride and passion for our products
and services with customers. We have
also introduced social media portals into
our offices, delivering a live stream of
customer comments to M&S employees
across our business.
Employee engagement
We know there is a strong correlation
between engagement and performance,
so in 2012/13 we introduced our new
Pulse questionnaire – a shortened
version of our annual Your Say survey
– which increased the frequency of
employee feedback from annual to
quarterly. Results are shared via our new
online Engagement Hub, which brings
together resources including external
research and practical tools to help
managers address specific challenges
and create a more engaged team.
Despite a challenging environment, our
Your Say survey demonstrated improved
engagement, up 3% on last year.
Through our communication channels
we ensure everyone understands how
they can contribute to M&S’ success.
This year we extended our popular BIG
Idea staff suggestion scheme to our
international businesses, starting with
colleagues in our international sourcing
offices. Through the scheme, we pose a
quarterly question focusing on a key
business issue to employees. Each
question attracts around 2,000 ideas
and the first question posed to the
international staff attracted a response
from over one in ten employees.
Providing an efficient service
As part of our wider IT upgrade
programme, we are rolling out our new
People Planning system to all our offices
and stores. Designed to improve the
accuracy and flexibility of our HR service,
the new systems help deliver better
resource planning, fewer pay queries
and a significant reduction in paper
usage. Employees are also enjoying the
benefits – such as remote holiday
booking, online payslips and a salary
exchange scheme.
Our people are the lifeblood of M&S;
bringing our values to life: from the
innovative products they create
through to the service they provide.
To deliver value for our shareholders
we must engage our employees in our
business plans and ensure we have
the right individuals, with the right mix
of skills to deliver growth. In 2012/13
we kept our 82,000 colleagues as
engaged as possible and in turn
helped them become more in touch
with our customers.
Skills for today and tomorrow
As we transform M&S from a traditional
British retailer to a leading international,
multi-channel retailer, the skills and
experience of our workforce must evolve
too. This year we strengthened our
leadership team with a number of senior
appointments and almost two thirds of
our top 100 managers now have
international experience. In support of
this, we introduced a ‘global mobility’
team to facilitate global working and help
increase international exposure across
the business.
This year we continued to build our
pipeline of future talent; we continued
our MBA programmes, recruited 150
graduates and offered 50 one-year
placements to undergraduates as part of
their degree course. Following the move
to bring our software development
in-house, the 2013 graduate scheme
also included opportunities for specialist
software engineers to drive our ongoing
IT innovation and support our multi-
channel ambitions.
We are focused on building robust
succession plans, aligning the content of
our development programmes with our
business strategy. Over 90% of our
senior management has now completed
our flagship training programme – Lead
to Succeed. This year we introduced a
new development programme, targeting
the next generation of emerging leaders.
In touch with our customers
Our new company-wide In Touch
initiative is designed to equip employees
with the insight and skills to connect with
customers and help them discover more
about M&S. We know our customers are
looking for friendly, helpful,
knowledgeable people when they visit
our stores and through a combination of
in-store learning and information sharing,
we are helping employees better
anticipate customer needs and deliver
even higher standards of service.
Pension auto enrolment
New legislation introduced in
November 2012 required us
to automatically enrol eligible
employees into our pension
plan. We worked hard in
advance to ensure we had
an appropriate solution for
the business and retained a
leading pension offer for our
employees.
Our new wellbeing
website
Keeping our people healthy
and happy helps to ensure we
have a productive and
effective team. Our Wellbeing
website encourages
employees to maintain a
healthy lifestyle and this year
we updated the site, adding
new features including online
physiotherapy advice and
confidential counselling
services. The site now
attracts up to 2,000 employee
visits each month.
Total employees
81,734
Employees with over
five years’ service
59%
Employees with over
ten years’ service
31%
PEOPLE HIGHLIGHTS