Talented, passionate, committed retailers.

It is essential to have the most talented, passionate and committed retailers, at all levels in the organisation, performing at their best.  With over 12 000 employees to care for, line management works closely with the human resource department to ensure that each and every employee reaches their maximum potential in terms of their personal development and their contribution to the team, and in turn, that they are fairly rewarded for their efforts.

Making Woolworths a great place to work is a key priority and includes making Woolworths a great place to grow, belong and earn.  Many additional items related to these topics can be found in this document in the corporate governance and sustainability reports, including safety, the health and wellness of employees, HIV/Aids, Black Economic Empowerment and additional detail on Employment Equity.

a great place to grow
Skilled and confident employees can, and do, make the difference.  Woolworths invests heavily in skills development throughout the business and the company’s skills plan currently exceeds legislative requirements by a substantial margin.  Of the 2.7 training days planned on average per employee, we achieved more than 3.9 days on average per employee in the last skills year.

The most promising individuals at every level in the business are actively sought out by management and invited to join an appropriate career development programme.  The Retail Academy and Management Development Programme take talented leaders with potential, equipping them with further business and leadership skills.  The Academy programme operates in partnership with two of South Africa’s major business schools bringing a balance between practical co-operative learning and sound theoretical fundamentals that support the retail discipline.  The year-long Retail Bridging Programme invites between 50 and 60 sales assistants annually to learn and grow within the company.  The Merchant Week brings the most talented staff-level employees from all over the country to head office for a week of intensive learning across all disciplines.

To help team leaders and line managers receive feedback on their management and leadership style, a sophisticated, intranet-based 360-degree assessment programme is in use.  Peers, subordinates and management are all able to participate objectively in the feedback session that takes into account current and future leadership competencies.

Whilst there is extensive use of in-house training, formal accreditation as a learning provider from the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) has been achieved.  This is based on quality standards set by the South African Qualifications Authority.  In addition, the organisation received accreditation to present Associated Accounting Technician, Associated General Accountant and Chartered Accountant programmes.

Aggressive business growth targets have placed a great emphasis on achieving business results through performance management.  The company’s balanced scorecard reflects this priority and it is incumbent on all managers to regularly review performance with their subordinates.  Supporting initiatives from the Woolworths human resource department include up-skilling managers on performance improvement, aligning employee objectives with business drivers and managing employee goal realisation.

a great place to belong
Providing an environment where commitment to the business is balanced with a deep understanding of the importance of the family and community is,Woolworths believes, fundamental to developing loyal and dedicated employees.

Significantly, in late 2002, Woolworths deepened the sense of belonging in the business by moving more than 6 000 casual staff to permanent employment.  Besides being exposed to new career opportunities within Woolworths, these valuable employees now receive benefits previously unavailable to them.

Woolworths maternity policy allows for a minimum of four months paid leave.  All permanent employees are entitled to 3 day’s paid absence to deal with family illness each year.

All employees receive funeral cover.  Financial assistance towards the purchase or upgrading of houses is offered to fulltime permanent staff.  Each and every employee gets a discount on full price and sale merchandise when they shop at Woolworths and many store staff take regular advantage of the opportunity of significant price reductions on expired merchandise.

a great place to earn
A comprehensive remuneration and benefits strategy has been implemented to ensure that we are able to attract and retain the talent required.  The strategy covers guaranteed pay, variable pay, benefits and shares.  The guaranteed pay and benefits ensures market related salaries for all of our employees.  Variable pay aims at driving exceptional performance and is aligned to our company scorecard and goals.  All employees are eligible to participate in an incentive scheme.  Shares form part of the total package for senior employees.

A preference survey, conducted amongst employees of both head office and stores, is used to check if the benefits that the company offers are congruent with what our employees consider to be important.  Those benefits rated as most important have been adjusted and included as part of our continuous endeavour to ensure a compelling employee offer that is appropriate to our employees and the market.