Store management roles at home improvements retailer Wickes are now part of a flexible working model being rolled out at the firm’s 230 stores worldwide.
In preparation for the move, Wickes partnered with social enterprise Timewise to carry out research on the roles of store managers, operations managers and duty managers to find out what barriers there were to flexible working.
It then sought to design, trial and evaluate a flexible working model that supported managers to deliver their roles with greater flexibility, input and control over their working patterns.
During the trial, some managers opted to change their working patterns to work four longer days in-store, while others chose to flex their hours across the week in a way that better suited their lives.
Following a six-month pilot across 14 stores, Wickes saw there were no negative effects for stores or on key performance indicators. Almost all (96.5%) store managers taking part in the pilot were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their working hours at the end of the pilot (up from 66.5% pre-pilot).
Sonia Astill, chief people officer at Wickes, said the retailer was happy to be “busting the myth that managers in retail operations need to be on-site at all hours of the day. We have demonstrated that this just isn’t the case and that being open-minded about flexible working patterns can deliver significant benefits to both the company and colleagues.
Astill said that Wickes now believed that flexible working was leading to higher levels of engagement, reduced turnover and increased the ability to attract and retain diverse talent. “Ultimately, happy colleagues lead to happy customers and better overall company performance,” she said.
Amy Butterworth, consultancy director at Timewise, said: “The UK has approximately 8 million shift-based workers, and they want to be included in the flexible working revolution. In roles based at a particular location – a busy store, a hospital ward, a factory floor – the best way to make that happen, is by offering greater input into the schedule and more say in terms of working pattern, exactly as Wickes are doing.”
In 2017 Timewise formed a partnership with the British Retail Consortium aiming to help retailers implement flexible working and help retain talent. Pets at Home was one of the first retailers the firm worked with under this partnership.
Flexible working law changes on 6 April 2024.
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