Retailer nails staff engagement with ‘your Screwfix, your say’ scheme

All retailers know that having energetic, engaged staff on the shopfloor is crucial, but managing that is often far easier said than done.

What Screwfix has achieved with its ‘your Screwfix, your say’ engagement initiative made a big impression on the judges.

The ongoing scheme – introduced as the retailer grew rapidly and became an increasing force in multichannel – has brought many benefits to the business, to its 8,000 staff members and to customers.

The programme means employees feel valued and continue to satisfy changing shopper demands, and keeps a healthy stream of new talent coming through Screwfix’s doors.

More engaged

One of the retailers on the judging panel said: “The whole scheme came across really well. They’ve actually created a qualification [which is externally recognised] on the back of it, which people see as being transferable. I go to Screwfix a lot and you can just see the engagement in the staff – it makes a big difference.”

“I go to Screwfix a lot and you can just see the engagement in the staff – it makes a big difference”

Awards judge

It’s a difference that has been widely recognised: with a 66% level of active employee engagement Screwfix is in the top 30% of retail employers worldwide, according to independent consultancy Gallup.

The scheme was developed by frontline and head office HR staff working hand in hand.

It delivers about half a million pieces of individual feedback a year, and store staff are encouraged to report on every aspect of the way they are managed and how they think the company is serving the customer.

That, of course, has plenty of financial benefits to Screwfix. As well as being able to point to increased sales, in its entry Screwfix said that it had reduced staff turnover levels by 20%.

High performance

One of the judges said: “They have managed to demonstrate  extra sales from the initiative which is very impressive.

“They’ve managed to translate all that employee engagement into business performance”

Awards judge

“The stats were very impressive and they’ve managed to translate all that employee engagement into business performance.

“They really understood the benefits of having engaged staff.”

Among some strong entries, the judges felt Screwfix was the standout example of a great employer this year and epitomised what retail as an industry could achieve.

As one judge said: “What we need in retail is the right talent, and we need to know how to attract that talent. What we want is to get people from outside retail into the industry and initiatives like this are a great example of how that can be done.”