Effective retention strategies
Retention strategies are assuming even greater importance for many employers anxious to reduce their skills shortages and retain valuable staff. We look at the solutions that organisations are implementing.
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A certain level of staff turnover is both inevitable and desirable. Without some attrition, no new people will be coming into the organisation with their fresh ideas and inspiration. Turnover also gives employers the room to develop the career paths of existing staff, either by considering promotion or sideways moves.
On the other hand, if staff churn is too high and an organisation is losing key employees, the impact can be very damaging. Additional recruitment and training costs will be incurred; productivity will fall; corporate knowledge will be lost with the departing staff; and morale could well suffer.
It is for each organisation to decide what its optimum turnover rate should be, and it will vary dramatically according to factors such as industry, location and company size. It has been suggested that a turnover level of between 5% and 10% is a positive and realistic rate for most organisations, although this would be an impossibly low target for, say, the hospitality sector.
This article comes in two parts:
the first part looks at some of the current trends in labour turnover, the reasons why employees are likely to leave an organisation and some of the steps an employer can take to boost retention; and
the second section comprises four case studies showing the different approaches that employers have taken to address the retention challenge.
Up and down
According to the latest findings from national surveys, staff wastage rates fell in 2001. The annual labour turnover survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)1 shows a drop from 23.5% in 2000 to 16.3% in 2001, while the Confederation of British Industry survey2 indicates a more modest fall in staff turnover, from 17.9% to 15%. Beneath these overall figures lies a more varied picture, however, with labour turnover levels rising in a few sectors and occupations and falling in others.
Despite this seemingly downward trend in turnover rates across the economy as a whole, the CIPD's 2002 recruitment and retention survey3 reported that retention was assuming greater significance for many employers because of recruitment difficulties, high rates of labour turnover and the need to motivate staff affected by reorganisation or redundancies.
Last year, IRS launched an annual research project called HR Prospects4. We found that four out of five organisations (80%) considered that retaining staff had proved difficult within their organisation during the previous 12 months. More than one in five (22%) said that "retaining staff has proved increasingly difficult" in the same period. This year's findings will be analysed in a special report in IRS Employment Review 775 and will be based on feedback from more than 400 employers across the UK. Initial results show that retention remains one of the top 10 issues for personnel practitioners.
The negative impact of trying to sustain a turnover rate that is too high for the organisation is difficult to quantify, but it is possible to calculate some of the costs involved. The CIPD's latest turnover survey estimates the cost of losing a single manager at £5,699, while the price tag to replace a sales employee stands at £4,102. These costs typically include employers' expenditure on leaving administration, recruitment of replacements, reduced productivity while new employees become familiarised with their duties, and losses in customer service and satisfaction caused by the movement of staff.
Reasons for leaving
Employees decide to leave their jobs for many different reasons, such as career advancement or to start a family, but frequently are spurred to do so because of a combination of "pull" and "push" factors.
Psychological research has shown that the "psychological contract" between employees and employers continues to play a major role in the reality of most employees' experience of work. When one or more push factors intervene and weaken employees' attachment, then they begin to consider changing jobs.
Sometimes, the pull factors assume more importance, for example in low-paying jobs when the need to earn more money becomes a compelling reason to leave. But, in general terms, the pull factors tend to come into play after the individual has made the initial decision to begin to look elsewhere for a job.
At this point, their search takes account of such factors as higher pay, better career prospects and the ability to work flexibly (and, therefore, be able to juggle career and caring commitments). Employers tend to take more notice of the obvious pull factors, such as competitors' higher rates of pay.
This is reflected in the findings of the CIPD labour turnover survey, which is based on information supplied by employers rather than the individuals who change jobs. According to that survey, the top three reasons for employees terminating their employment are:
a move to a higher-paying job, including promotion (62%);
a change of career (38%); and
level of pay (35%).
Aside from redundancy or retirement, other important reasons for turnover cited by employers in the survey include the level of working hours, family reasons (not related to maternity or paternity) and perception of job insecurity.
A global survey from Development Dimensions International's HR Benchmark Group5 also explored the issue of retention, and its findings highlight the importance of the push factors within employees' current organisations. The group found that factors such as work-life balance, the quality of the employee's relationship with their manager, and the level of trust, seriously affect an individual's decision to stay or go.
The results of our own HR Prospects research in 2002, already mentioned, revealed that the loss of staff to key competitors lay behind most organisations' difficulties in retaining staff (52% considered this was the case). A serious concern for employers (38%) was that low staff morale was responsible for the high turnover they experienced. Another factor was thought to be the unsettling after-effects of organisational restructuring. Unlike the CIPD labour turnover survey, only a minority of employers (17%) believed that the loss of staff could be attributed to uncompetitive salaries.
The nub of the problem
The above section provides an overview of some of the possible reasons for turnover, but it can be counterproductive to try to generalise what may trigger a high resignation rate in any particular organisation. An employer's perception of what leads high numbers of employees to hand in their notice is likely to be very different from reality.
As a first step to countering high turnover, an employer needs to establish exactly from which parts of the organisation workers are leaving, and the specific causes. High levels of attrition in one section of the business could be attributable to the actions of one particular manager, for example, rather than a more general malaise in staff morale. Quantitative data, in the form of labour turnover rates and stability indices, or calculation of the survival rate, can provide a useful starting point. This information can then be benchmarked against the turnover rates of key competitors, if possible, or against industry norms. (See our annual guide to benchmarking labour turnover for more information.6)
In order to shed real light on the reasons for staff churn, however, this hard data needs to be considered in conjunction with more qualitative information, such as that collected from exit interviews, separation questionnaires or employee attitude surveys.
This latter method should hopefully gauge employee opinion before many individuals have reached the point where they have decided to look for another job. The results may even provide the opportunity for the organisation to undertake further investigations, and put some preventive measures in place to tackle problem areas. As a general rule of thumb, employers wanting to discover employees' real motivations for leaving should use open-ended questions to elicit as much pertinent information as possible. One-to-one interviews are most likely to encourage a more relaxed and frank discussion.
Stemming the flow
If an employer has carried out enough research, a picture - or more accurately, a pattern - should start to emerge that indicates from what section of the organisation, and why, some of its employees are leaving. This research will lay the groundwork for developing a strategy to counter the problem. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that one simple initiative will provide the answer to reducing the turnover rate, although this may be the case in some smaller organisations. Typically, a more sophisticated and long-term strategy is needed to combat the more complex scenario that lies behind the uncomfortably high resignation rate. There is therefore no "one size fits all" solution to the problem but, on the upside, there are no end of tools at an organisation's disposal that could be used to reduce staff churn, as the following examples show.
Some solutions
An employer's approach to tackling turnover will be unique to that organisation, but there are some common areas on which retention initiatives often focus.
Pay is often a prominent part of any retention strategy, although its effectiveness as a long-term motivator has attracted widespread criticism. Half of the organisations we contacted for last year's HR Prospects research had turned to pay to improve staff retention. There is a range of financial measures that an organisation can implement besides raising basic pay, including short-term incentives such as one-off retention bonuses, or a longer-term strategy involving a share option scheme, for example.
Tinkering with the reward system is usually more of an option for private sector companies, although in today's cost-cutting environment, it may simply not be a viable option to increase staff salaries, whether or not additional payments are consolidated into basic pay.
Train to stay
Training and development is heavily used by employers as a means of improving their retention of staff, as both the IRS research (73% of organisations) and CIPD's 2002 recruitment and retention survey (66%) show. Creating better career development opportunities is another popular option for employers hoping to increase staff loyalty. The same CIPD survey showed that almost one in three employers (31%) had increased the opportunities for promotion, while the CIPD's turnover survey found that a quarter (24%) of employers had made changes to their approach to career management in response to combating high turnover.
Owl Housing, a housing charity for people with learning difficulties based in London, does not experience high attrition, but still views staff retention as a priority. "Even though our turnover rate is below 10%, we are an expanding organisation and keeping staff is vital," explains Charlie Beardsley, personnel manager. "We have therefore been proactive on the retention front and have introduced several initiatives that are proving successful."
As well as offering flexible hours and improving internal communications, the organisation focuses on providing training and development opportunities, career progression paths and improving line managers' skills.
Owl Housing has a structured approach to supporting employees who wish to embark on training linked to National Vocational Qualifications in the social care field and also encourages managers to pursue level 4 awards. A rolling programme of team-building events is provided for the 170-strong workforce, when groups of employees take part in training activities at a Brighton hotel. "The training and development interventions are very popular with employees, and have also had a positive impact on staff retention," says Charlie Beardsley.
Work-life balance
Flexible patterns of working and improving the balance between employees' work and personal lives is another area that can have a big impact on retention. In the CIPD survey, 43% of employers had adapted hours of work through some form of flexible working to help reduce the number of leavers.
Independent TV company Mersey Television Group has put in place a number of flexible working and supportive measures to help retain its predominantly female workforce. Famous for producing dramas such as Brookside, Grange Hill and Hollyoaks, the company employs around 365 staff at its Liverpool studios.
"This type of industry has a very mobile workforce and there is strong competition for skilled staff," explains Linda Hendrick, HR director. "We are unique in the television industry because we have a permanent staff base that happens to consist of a significant number of young females in skilled posts. Family-friendly initiatives are therefore vital to encourage retention and this was no more apparent than at one time when four of our production assistants were preparing to go off on maternity leave."
Flexible working patterns and childcare support were therefore considered a high priority for the company's retention strategy and, in 1994, Mersey Television opened an onsite, purpose-built crèche for staff with young children. Nursery fees are subsidised and employees also receive a couple of fee-free weeks a year for their children.
"The nursery has had a big impact on our retention levels and there is a two-year waiting list for places," says Linda Hendrick. "The convenient and subsidised childcare we offer is an attractive retention tool for women returnees. Nearly all our female employees with pre-school-aged children - and some dads - have used the crèche at one time, and a number of staff have cited it as a major reason for staying so long with us."
The workplace nursery is open from 7.30am to 7.30pm to help cater for the sometimes long or unsociable hours that staff work when shooting a production. A range of different work patterns is also available - such as jobsharing and working part-time hours - to boost retention and help employees balance their professional lives and personal commitments.
Selection and induction
Recruiting the right staff in the first place, and quickly making them feel at home in the organisation, can have a direct impact on retention levels.
Bookmaker William Hill employs around 10,500 staff across the UK. In 2002, the company succeeded in reducing staff turnover among its frontline retail staff by more than a quarter from 52% to 38%.
"As a first step, we held workshops in order to talk to employees and collect the data to as to why staff were leaving the organisation," explains David Russell, group HR director. "Acting on the findings, we have put in place a number of initiatives to reduce attrition, such as more training and development opportunities for staff, improving the skill level of line managers and enhanced communication with employees generally."
Two main areas that the company focused on were getting recruitment and selection right in the first place and improving the induction training for new recruits. On the selection side, William Hill has undertaken a lot of work to develop role profiles based on high-performing employees, with the aim of using these insights to identify selection criteria. The induction programme has been strengthened and a buddy system set up to help new employees settle in, where a more experienced member of staff working in a similar role offers support and guidance to the new employee during their initial stages of employment.
With the aim of encouraging buy-in from both managers and employees, William Hill identified the reduction of labour turnover as one of its "breakthrough objectives" and communicated it as a key priority for the business.
Culture club
One question that employers most frequently ask on leavers' questionnaires and at exit interviews is whether the employee was happy with the relationship they had with their manager and colleagues. Employers recognise that management style and working environment, both expressions of the prevailing organisational culture, can have a major impact on employees' happiness at work, and so the likelihood of them leaving or staying.
Hillarys Blinds, a leading supplier of made-to-measure window blinds, which is based in Nottingham and Washington-upon-Tyne, has recently put in place a number of initiatives aimed at increasing its profile as a quality local employer and making the company "an exceptional place to work". Part of the impetus for the change programme, according to Sue Hartley, senior personnel officer, is the recognition that a happier, more motivated workforce can provide better customer service, which has a direct impact on business success.
As well as introducing a new benefits package for employees, including an occupational health scheme and additional holiday entitlement, the company has enhanced its communication and recognition practices. A new intranet site, noticeboards and a relaunched staff newsletter are helping to build the employer brand, while a new charity committee and works council encourage employee involvement in the business.
Other initiatives aimed at improving the work environment include family fun days and a casual dress code. "We are very pleased with the impact these changes have had so far on the working climate and our annual staff survey has revealed that employees are happier too," says Sue Hartley. "Staff turnover rates have improved by 20%."
Conclusion
Avoiding a turnover rate so high that it has a damaging impact on the organisation's purse strings and on staff morale is crucial to the long-term success of any business. However, it is undeniable that developing a retention strategy is no easy task, particularly in today's climate of limited resources and rationalisation. But it is achievable, as the experiences of the four organisations featuring in the case studies below prove. The case studies also demonstrate that, if retention is taken seriously by employers and well thought-out plans are put in place, the results produce benefits that go far beyond a simple reduction in resignation rates.
Case study 1: Reward and recognition at Claridge's
The luxury hotel Claridge's recently won the top "employer of the year" award at the 2002 National Business Awards. Four years ago, this would not have seemed possible: customer satisfaction was running at only 50% and labour turnover was 73%.
While the hospitality sector is not known for its high retention rates, it was decided that a major cultural-change programme was needed to improve both customer and staff loyalty. As a result of a whole raft of cultural and HR initiatives that have been put in place, customer satisfaction has increased to 94% while employee satisfaction is now measured at 88.1%. Staff turnover has been slashed by almost two-thirds to 28%.
One team, one hotel
The first step in the change programme was to create a new vision and values for the hotel, with employees at the centre of the approach. As Sara Edwards, HR director, explains: "The philosophy is now 'one team, one hotel', and it was vital from the start that employees felt valued and respected in the new working environment."
The senior management team carried out an employee attitude survey and used the results to draw up an action plan to rectify areas of dissatisfaction. "Some positive changes, such as redecorating the staff canteen, were carried out immediately," says Sara Edwards. "This showed employees that we were serious about improving Claridge's as an employer."
Recruiting the right staff
Recruitment and selection processes have also been revised to support the new working environment. Behavioural interviewing techniques are now used to ensure that would-be recruits have the appropriate attitudes and behaviours to fit the new culture.
As part of the induction programme, every new employee stays overnight as a guest of the hotel in order to appreciate not only the customer perspective, but also the contribution that employees make to the guest's comfort.
Open communications
Employee involvement and communication are integral to the new employment relationship at Claridge's. Sara Edwards explains: "The previously mundane staff meetings have been transformed into a lively and open debate about organisational issues. We have introduced a regular newsletter, hold a monthly birthday for all staff with birthdays falling in that month, and put on a champagne breakfast every three months for the nightshift to keep them up to date." The hotel has also set up a number of project teams involving staff, such as the "communication and cooperation team", which is responsible for coming up with new ideas to boost internal communication.
Management style is another area that needed changing, and leadership training was introduced to encourage teamwork and foster practical management skills, such as coaching and giving praise to staff. At least one off-site development event is now held annually for each of the different layers of management, to reinforce the new culture and management style.
Recognition practices
One area considered key to turning around the employment relationship at Claridge's, at the same time boosting retention rates, is the raft of employee-recognition schemes that have been introduced. The Employee of the Month scheme enables staff to make nominations, and the winner receives £150 in vouchers and their photograph joins the portrait gallery of past winners outside the staff canteen. Following on from this scheme is the Employee of the Year contest, and this year's winner receives a two-week luxury cruise in the Caribbean.
The highlight of the hotel's employee-recognition strategy, however, is Going for Gold. The "gold" refers to a pot of gold envelopes in the HR director's office. An employee takes a "lucky dip" if they have been given a Going for Gold card, indicating that they have successfully demonstrated one of Claridge's core values.
"The gifts contained in the envelopes do not necessarily have high monetary value," explains Sara Edwards. "But they have a high perceived value for employees, such as an extra day's annual leave, or an extra hour for lunch, or a ride home in a limo." The top prize is an all-expenses-paid night in Claridge's penthouse suite that would normally cost a guest more than £3,800.
Reaping the benefits
The possible correlation between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction that some research has indicated, appears to be borne out by the impressive results at Claridge's. As Sara Edwards concludes: "The employment relationship has improved enormously here, which, in turn, has improved both staff retention and customer retention."
Case study 2: Reward and recognition at Wizard Inns
Wizard Inns is a fast-expanding non-branded chain of 64 pubs in the south of England. The company employs nearly 1,000 people in an industry where turnover rates of 200% are the norm, particularly in London, where many of the Wizard pubs are situated. Retention is therefore an important strategic issue for the chain.
Reward and recognition both play a key role in helping to motivate staff and engender loyalty. As well as paying competitive basic salaries, there is a host of bonus schemes in place, some of which are based on meeting, or beating, financial targets.
The schemes are not restricted to those staff who are directly involved in selling the drinks or preparing the food, or managing the customer relationship. As Julian Sargeson, operations director, explains: "Even a cleaner working two hours a week would be eligible for a bonus if total sales targets were met or exceeded; that way, we encourage the team spirit necessary to run a successful pub."
Magical mystery tour
Another bonus is paid to the staff of the pub that wins the annual Quality Award. The process for determining the winner takes the form of a series of visits by "mystery guests".
The winning pub is selected on the basis of the highest score, and on how much it has improved. Staff at the most recent pub to come out on top won a trip to Brussels. High-performing pubs and employees are also included on a "roll of honour" with categories such as Employee of the Month and Manager of the Month.
Tailored reward
Julian Sargeson believes that because the company is not branded and is relatively small, it has been able to foster a personable and entrepreneurial culture, or strong employer brand,to help retain staff.
On the positive side, though, he says that: "We are not restricted by big corporate structures and so individual managers have the freedom to be a bit original and gear incentives towards the individual. There is no point in offering a blanket type of reward; it is much better to take a bit of trouble to discover what would motivate someone to both perform better and stay with the company."
The options here are manifold. A trip to Paris was awarded to one high-performing employee, while the "best-quality manager" recently received a bonus of £3,000 in retail vouchers of his choice.
This reflects the fact that the company will go to some lengths to tailor an incentive or reward to suit an individual employee.
An informal approach to recognition is also encouraged. Julian Sargeson always has a number of bets running with his staff, as do the area managers. Called "managers' challenges" on his electronic diary, so that he can keep tabs on them, this is a list of current bets. For example, a Solihull pub manager who loves football is set to earn two Premier League football tickets worth £200 if he beats his profit budget, while another manager received pop concert tickets as his preferred reward.
Pay to stay
Wizard Inns is particularly proud of its management retention rate. "We have only lost one quality manager whom we didn't want to lose in the past five years," says Julian Sargeson.
The company has just launched a new "super bonus scheme" to engender even greater loyalty among its pub managers. The three-year scheme has an unusual selling point: it costs each manager between £5,000 and £20,000 to join, depending on the size of the pub and its profit margin. But the rewards can far exceed this personal investment as the pub manager stands to earn a significant percentage of the pub's total profits.
The even bigger inducement to remain with the company is the "pot of gold" beckoning at the end of the scheme, which is an additional percentage of the pub's profits accrued during the preceding three years.
"Competition for quality managers is fierce in this industry, and so the scheme is designed initially to retain our top managers; and, so far, seven pub managers have been invited to take part," explains Julian Sargeson. "The joining fee requires a high level of commitment to the company, which, so far, has not been lacking."
Julian Sargeson believes that ultimately the key to retaining staff is quality management. "Our aim is to build a supportive and fun culture, with open and effective relationships, as well as offering suitable incentives to staff," he says. "Above all, it is our managers who play the key role in boosting retention. Put simply, good managers are more effective in recruiting the right staff in the first place and fostering the loyalty to make them want to stay." As one area manager recently reported a turnover rate less than half the industry norm, it seems that the company is on its way to reaching this goal.
Case study 3: Pret A Manger recruits staff to stay
Pret A Manger has more than 120 retail outlets in the UK alone, and prides itself on selling fresh food made from natural ingredients. The fast-food industry is known for its high level of staff churn, and annual labour turnover rates of up to 150% are not unheard of in some parts of the industry.
Pret, although recognising that a high attrition rate is endemic to the nature of the business, has managed to control turnover at a sustainable level of around 62%. As Esther O'Halloran, head of recruitment, explains: "Retention is key. A certain level of turnover is positive, but we invest a lot of time training and developing our teams and don't want to lose that."
Recruitment first
Getting recruitment right, so that the employment relationship starts on a good note, is the first step to retaining staff at Pret. The company measures key performance indicators, such as employee turnover and stability, to help review its recruitment and selection procedures.
As Esther O'Halloran says: "It is vital that we recruit the right people for Pret; it is our hardworking employees who make all the difference to the success of the business." Employing people with the right competencies for the company is therefore considered vital, and Pret's competency framework provides the basis for the job descriptions and role profiles used at all levels of recruitment. Line managers play a big part throughout the recruitment and selection process, and are used as assessors on assessment days. They are, therefore, thoroughly trained in all aspects of the procedure.
There is no shortage of applications to work at Pret, a factor attributed by Esther O'Halloran to the company's strong brand recognition; more than 75,000 applications were received last year for team member vacancies alone.
Employee involvement
Pret fosters a strong culture to encourage high morale and improve staff retention, built around values such as good teamwork, employee involvement and simply having fun. Social outings, often paid for by the company, are encouraged for each shop on a regular basis. The overall aim is not to replace employees' social life, but to enhance the quality of their experience at work.
Empowering staff to have a say in important organisational issues is no idle claim; the teams in the shop vote on who is recruited to work in their shop. This input into selection decisions is made possible by the "on-the-job experience day" (OJE) where would-be recruits are assessed against Pret's competency framework as they take on normal team member duties for one day. Esther O'Halloran believes that involving employees so directly in the selection process encourages both teamwork and a sense of responsibility in the new recruits from the start.
The OJE is considered a valuable way of ensuring that new starters fit in with Pret's powerful culture, which will also help boost retention rates in the longer term. External candidates for management positions, therefore, also undertake an OJE, as well as a personality questionnaire that was rigorously developed to ensure that it measures "real Pret behaviours".
Career progression
Esther O'Halloran believes that a significant inducement for employees to stay with the company is the career and training opportunities on offer. "We aim to fill around 60% of our management roles from within the business," she explains. "We provide a very clear and tangible career path for employees and, therefore, succession planning and HR forecasting are key activities for the company." Developing employees is also high on the agenda, given that many team members move up to team leader positions, and on to managerial roles in a lot of cases.
Training opportunities are not all work-related and employees are encouraged to develop life skills rather than just work skills. For example, aware of its ethnically diverse workforce, Pret offers discounted English language classes at head office with qualified teachers.
The future
Pret's expansion plans abroad are a measure of its success in building the UK business. In Esther O'Halloran's view, this success is in no small part attributable to Pret's employees, who are considered "the heart and soul" of the company. In her opinion, it is not enough to attract the right staff, you must also make them want to stay.
Case study 4: Asda's people strategy helps reduce turnover
Supermarket chain Asda employs around 130,000 staff in its 258 stores nationwide. In 2002, the company was voted number one in the Sunday Times "100 Best Companies to Work For" annual survey. Staff retention in such a high-turnover industry features strongly in Asda's HR strategy, and the company has in place a range of policies and cultural initiatives to aid staff loyalty.
The result is a retention rate well below the industry average. As Roisin McBride, head of reward, explains: "Our people strategy is aligned to the business strategy and we aim to recruit the right people, and train and motivate them in order to retain them."
Asda goldies
In 2002, Asda announced that it would be increasing the percentage of older workers to 20% within one year. In a bid to "take job advertising off the page", recruitment teams and older Asda employees targeted bingo halls and tea dances to help meet recruitment targets. The company believes that the employment of older workers in its stores has a stabilising effect on the workforce that can help improve retention.
Since the number of older employees has grown, so the rates of absenteeism and labour turnover have dropped. Absenteeism levels among older employees are now one-third lower than the Asda national average, while staff churn is 1% less. Another benefit strongly in evidence, according to people director David Smith, is a more motivated and flexible workforce.
Three cheers
Asda strives to develop and nurture a flexible and friendly culture for employees (who are referred to as "colleagues") that "engages the heart of its workforce".
Each store starts the day with the "Asda cheer". Although lighthearted in its approach, the company believes that this collective action both energises staff and reminds them that they are part of a bigger team. An informal atmosphere is also encouraged, with everyone from the top down being on first name terms, and a "no jackets required" policy for managers.
Flexible working
The company works hard to be as supportive as possible of colleagues' personal commitments and encourages store managers to "just say yes" when approached by staff wanting to swap shifts or take time off, and worry about the rota changes later. A whole series of work-life balance policies are in place aside from the more common types of provision, such as jobsharing and parental and maternity leave. These include:
study leave - for students going away to college who want to return to work during the summer holiday;
school starter scheme - allows parents to take a half day off on their child's first day of school;
Benidorm leave - up to three months off for the over-50s to take a longer winter break, perhaps in sunnier climes;
religious festival leave - recognising the multi-faith backgrounds of its diverse workforce, this scheme allows up to two days' additional leave to attend religious festivals; and
grandparents' leave - new grandparents can take up to one week's leave to help with childcare provision.
Roisin McBride explains that flexible working is "not a pink and fluffy thing", but is a key driver of retention in Asda's stores. The company also estimates that its family-friendly approach saves it around £4 million through reduced absence rates.
Taking the temperature
Listening to what employees have to say is a key priority for Asda. "Colleague listening groups" are held regularly in all its stores, providing a cross-section of employees with the opportunity to air their views. An annual attitude survey - "We're listening" - is also conducted to gauge employee opinion. This acts as a monthly temperature check for the business as it is done on a rolling basis, a proportion of all the stores being canvassed each month. Each February, this is extended to a survey of the whole business to help shape strategy.
The results from the latest survey give a strong indication of Asda's success in building employee commitment. From an 85% response rate, more than 90% of employees said that they enjoy working for Asda and about the same proportion said that they believe the work they do directly contributes to the success of the business.
Roisin McBride says that the findings from the surveys are consistently positive. "We are committed to developing a relationship with employees based on trust, listening and flexibility," she says. "That is what makes people want to join Asda but, even more importantly, that is what makes them want to stick around."
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