Our priority for 2025, as it is every year, is to be one of the retail sector’s best employers.
Retail is a rewarding and vibrant sector to work in, and no two days are the same so being a stand-out employer for our incredible people is an ongoing challenge, and one that we are happy to rise to.
This year we have launched a range of initiatives in pursuit of this goal; most recently enhancing maternity leave pay to six months from six weeks, enhancing paid paternity leave to four weeks from two weeks and introducing fertility, neonatal and baby loss leave.
We have also launched some more unique initiatives, which we hope will pay dividends in demonstrating why Jollyes is such a special place to both start and build a long-term career.
Two of my favourites, both of which were launched in recent months, are Fur-st Impressions, which allows interviewees to bring their pet to their job interview, and Career Paws, which allows colleagues to take a career sabbatical of up to six months, while retaining an equivalent role.
This year, we also launched employee listening groups helmed by myself, our chief executive officer (CEO) Joe Wykes and retail operations director Craig Smith, which have been an big hit. So far, we have had 300 action points raised from these groups and actioned just over half of them.
Finally, we have partnered with a number of specialists to enhance our employee support package.
Two stand-outs are our financial wellbeing platform, supported by Wagestream, and the launch of our happiness dashboard with Retail Trust and WorkL. This tool allows our employees to complete a short survey, which, in turn, enables us to better understand the benefits our people really need and want.
Claire Goldenberg is people director at Jollyes
