Case Study: Training and Development - Sainsbury Supermarkets

Sainsbury’s has a good ratio of male to female colleagues at a very senior level and at colleague level (approximately 59%), but they have identified that there is a gap at middle management level and at Store Manager level in particular. The company recognises that it needs to reflect the customer base at this level and a lack of women in these middle manager roles could also impact the pipeline of female talent for senior positions in the future.

The first step was to hold listening groups to understand key barriers to success at this level and to find out what women thought Sainsbury’s should do to address these barriers.

As a result 6 key initiatives have been developed:

• Promote job sharing at Duty Manager and Store Manager level by writing practical guidelines for job shares at this level, role modelling and raising awareness.
• Establish a coaching programme for female staff, identifying appropriate male and female mentors, writing guidelines for mentors and mentees, and arranging a launch event to introduce the programme, provide a framework for development and begin networking
• Develop a Career Pathing structure to target HR Managers (who are predominantly female) to move into Store Manager positions
• Incorporate career aspiration discussions into appraisal processes by including discussions on aspirations and exploring barriers
• Review, amend and relaunch HR people policies to encourage changes in culture regarding all varieties of flexible working
• Look for more opportunities to use internal communication channels to support these initiatives, including Sainsbury’s Journal and monthly briefings

A female store manager will sponsor each of these initiatives and a Steering Group, chaired by the Group HR Director, will monitor progress.