Everybody is somebody
Diversity and Inclusion
Treating people as we would like to be treated ourselves
At Specsavers, everybody is somebody
We recognise the benefits of embracing a diverse and inclusive workforce, in terms of better business performance, more engaged employees, enhanced employer brand and greater innovation. We believe diversity and inclusion are key to achieving our long-term goals, ensuring we have the right people in the right place at the right time.
As a business operating in many markets around the world, we believe diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. We want a connected workforce that reflects the communities in which we work and the customers we serve. Different ideas and perspectives help us innovate, manage risk, and grow the business in a sustainable way – and difference is celebrated at Specsavers.
Building a diverse and inclusive workforce
Our organisation was founded on ‘treating people as we would like to be treated ourselves’, so for us, nurturing a diverse and inclusive culture is based on more than just business benefit. We are committed to supporting all of our people to be the best that they can be by creating an environment that respects and values difference. Our focus is:
Building the agenda
We have a global programme of diversity and inclusion activity, led by a dedicated resource. Local action groups are established to drive local agendas to deliver meaningful change across all of our Support Office’s and Manufacturing and Distribution (M&D) sites. They aim to make sure everyone feels included and can help Specsavers to address internal challenges and opportunities. Their insight into the experience and needs of a diverse customer base can also help our business identify commercial opportunities. Networks and communities are being established by our people across Specsavers. These voluntary groups bring together employees with shared characteristics and common interests, for example representing LBGT+.
Challenging our biases
Since 2018 we have been focusing on establishing a shared basic understanding of how bias can play out in the workplace and the decisions we are making. It is a critical step in our diversity and inclusion journey and is critical to changing behaviours. We continue to keep unconscious bias awareness firmly on our agenda with sessions being available to all staff. See what some of our colleagues say below about our recent sessions:
My leadership team has been in place for 6 months, one of the first activities we did as a team was the D&I training. We have used this to help us work on our understanding of each other’s different skills sets and how we can leverage the right capabilities across the team to get the best outcomes for the business. As the weeks go by I am seeing a more natural progression towards unconscious inclusion.
Global Leader
Working in manufacturing as a shift leader for a number of years, I felt that I was a good judge of character and was sensitive to people’s individual differences. However, after attending the unconscious bias training it has made me re-evaluate how I perceive people. What you may think you see is not always accurate even if you think you are open. It has also made me aware that people may see me differently to what I am as a person so need to be conscious of how I act around my peers. In summary, it has made me self-reflect in both my daily working and personal life.
Shift Leader – M&D
Throughout our nearly 40-year history, we’ve always valued differences – whether that’s our colleagues or customers, and their individual experiences – and learned from them. Our membership to Diversity in Retail will help us to explore, grow and understand more about how we can ensure our culture embraces the different views and thinking of a diverse workforce; making Specsavers somewhere our people are proud to belong.
John Perkins
CEO
Flexible working
We have always made good use of flexible working here at Specsavers. However, we have reinforced our commitment to ensuring that everyone in our support offices globally can request it. Where viable, we are now recruiting with an explicit commitment to our support for more flexible working arrangements. Focusing on how, when and where people work.
People process reviews
Our recruitment and talent management activities have been reviewed end to end, ensuring all roles are accessible to the broadest skillsets possible – removing any bias from the process.
Data and Reporting
We are focused on enhancing our data processes to develop broader measures beyond gender and reporting around Group diversity. How we gather, manage and access our global people data is fundamental to our commitment to transparency with our inclusion programme.
We continue to share gender pay data internally for all our businesses around the world (Global Inclusion report), as well as fulfil our legal obligation in UK, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden in line with in-country reporting approaches.
Our people ambition this year is to be the place we are all proud to belong
We want to ensure all our colleagues are listened to and feel included, valued, and motivated and we’ve set ourselves some big targets to help us get there. To help start us on this journey networks and communities are being established by our colleagues across Specsavers.
Our commitment
For Specsavers to be a truly inclusive place to work. From recruitment to retirement, recognising everyone as an individual, providing an environment for everyone to be the best they can be.