Currently viewing: Office human capital | Next: Shareholder analysis summary
OFFICE

Human
capital
Focus on aligning Office's human resource processes with those of Truworths continued during the reporting period. Office continues to work in collaboration with its counterparts in Truworths on business-critical operations.
Total employees
1 556
(2023: 1 733)
TOTAL EMPLOYEES

GENDER OF EMPLOYEES

LIVING OUR VALUES
The Office Values are aligned with the Truworths Values. The aim is to entrench the Values into everyday working life within Office, just as they have been in Truworths, and to ensure a common understanding of how each Office employee can contribute to the success of the business by living our Values.
Following on from the refresh of the Values in the previous financial year, the process has been reinforced through interventions to ensure that leaders are driving this change in culture within their teams. The major refresh of our Values was the inclusion of an additional value ‘embracing the power of inclusive teams’ and a greater emphasis on being ‘contribution focused’. This was reinforced through the introduction of the CEO Citations recognition programme, a more rigorous performance review process and focused training initiatives which continued into the new financial year.
REMUNERATION, BENEFITS AND RETENTION
The Office remuneration strategy has been aligned with that of Truworths and all employees are rewarded based on financial and strategic project performance, as well as team and individual contribution. All management and full-time employees are remunerated on total guaranteed packages and a private healthcare benefit, which is paid by the company, is available to all qualifying staff. In addition, tailored incentive structures are aimed at driving reward for performance in all areas across the business, including a commission scheme for store staff. While there is a strong demand for talent in the market, there is also a drive to manage costs to ensure the long-term sustainable performance of the business and its ability to continue employing and rewarding people. The national minimum wage in the UK for 2024 increased between 9% and 21% depending on age category, the highest increase since its introduction. Office salaries were reviewed in April 2024 and adjusted, where applicable, in line with the revised minimum wage levels.
The latest gender pay gap report (available on our website www.office.co.uk/view/content/gender-pay-gap) was published in May 2024. This report is required to be produced annually in terms of the Equality Act 2010 for businesses employing more than 250 employees in Great Britain.
Staff turnover at the head office in London has normalised, with vacancies at acceptable levels. The number of store-based resignations has also normalised since the migration to the new human resources system, which facilitated the introduction of more efficient payroll processes for the part-time employees. The decline in total headcount is largely due to close management of replacement headcount when existing staff leave.
An annual CEO awards function was also introduced during the year where high-performing employees are nominated and attend the annual awards function to celebrate the recognition of their commitment, their alignment to our Values and their contribution.
TALENT AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
The key area of focus has been on training all staff on the updated Business Philosophy, with a focus on our Values. The ACE (Achievers of Continuous Excellence) Programme was introduced for the first time at Office where training is an integral part of the programme. There has also been a focus on leadership development. All mandatory training for new employees (including induction and other key-related topics such as health and safety, fire safety and data protection) are conducted through Office’s e-learning training platform. There are currently more than 1 000 active users registered on the e-learning platform.
The e-learning platform houses training modules that staff can access on a needs basis when looking for information on topics such as the staff handbook, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, in-store processes and procedures and human resource-related training. The platform also enables company-wide communication and is used for regular business updates from the Managing Director.
In the year ahead, there will be a greater focus on training through the apprenticeship levy, further leadership training and expanding the ACE Programme.
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Office aims to create an inclusive environment where all employees are able to bring their whole self to work and feel comfortable sharing information about who they are. The principles of fairness and respect for difference, equality of opportunity and treatment across gender and ability (mental, physical and different abilities) are practised across the business. The updated Business Philosophy, with the focus on our Values, embraces the power of inclusive teams.
Office’s human capital at a glance | 2024 | 2023 | ||
Total employees (UK and Ireland) | 1 556 | 1 733 | ||
Full-time employees | 529 | 537 | ||
Part-time employees | 1 027 | 1 196 | ||
Apprenticeship levy | (£) | 12 739 | 13 659 | |
Total employees trained (including online learning platform and those who left employment during the period) | 1 332 | 1 065 | ||
External referrals for unfair discrimination | 2 | 1 |
