WHSmith has committed to becoming a fertility-friendly employer by signing up for membership with Fertility Matters at Work.
The retailer decided to gain the accreditation after several employees talked about their own fertility journeys and reached out to their line managers for support, as well as through a recognition that it wants to help its staff who are on an alternative route to parenthood, or childless either by choice or otherwise, on their journey.
As a result, it partnered with the training provider to implement policy-backed best practices when supporting staff experiencing fertility difficulties.
Through its wellbeing strategy and the creation of a dedicated fertility policy, WHSmith will be able to ensure its employees feel recognised, safe and supported through a sometimes challenging journey. These are underpinned by wanting employees to feel the organisation is a safe place to talk to managers about outside of work matters causing stress in their lives.
Juliette Cavilla, group head of wellbeing at WHSmith, said: “We are at the beginning of this journey, and we are committed to work towards being fertility-friendly accredited. Fertility Matters at Work has been really supportive, great at listening and understanding the differences and challenges we, as a retailer, face.
“Women’s health issues are complex and unique, and our gender network is passionate about how we can best support our people. By working with Fertility Matters at Work we can provide a rounded suite of support and also ensure our managers have access to research, as appropriate, to become empowered to support as required.”
Natalie Silverman, co-founder of Fertility Matters at Work, added: “We’re really excited to have WHSmith on board, working with us to become a fertility-friendly organisation. It’s incredibly positive that WHSmith is dedicated to supporting their employees by gaining the knowledge required to implement changes and create support consistencies across the organisation by undertaking our fertility-friendly accreditation.”