Employees

We take the safety and security of our staff very seriously and are committed to protecting the welfare of our staff as far as possible by taking proactive measures. In our shops, we have significant crime prevention measures that we use to minimise the risk, including the fitting of security screens, installation of digital closed circuit television (CCTV) systems and fitting electronic and magnetic door locks.

In 2007, we introduced a bespoke training initiative ‘Counter Plan’ to provide staff with the tools needed to deal effectively with events that may happen prior to, during and after a robbery. In 2010, over 10,000 shop employees received a Counter Plan briefing. During the year, 34% of all robberies were unsuccessful and classed as attempts, reflecting the success of our training programme. We are now part of the ‘Safe Bet Alliance’, which has established a minimum set of standards for the betting industry to use to prevent robberies. We have also launched 'Crimestoppers' initiatives in conjunction with Safe Bet Alliance and the police in a number of areas, including Manchester, Northumbria and Strathclyde.

We are committed to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all persons in our employment and all other persons who use our facilities or are affected by the way in which we conduct our business, including customers, visitors, contractors and neighbours and the general public. We undertake and continuously review a programme of risk assessments in all significant areas of our business and address any areas of deficiency as appropriate. Employees are provided with information and training, and we monitor our effectiveness through a system of safety audits, health and safety co-ordinators and the Health and Safety Steering Group.

We provide training for employees throughout their career with the Group, from an extensive induction programme at the start of their employment through any skills-training relevant to their particular role to further training and development opportunities such as secondments and special projects. In addition, we aim to identify individuals who demonstrate the personal drive and ability to operate at a more senior level. Our Talent Pool develops individuals with the potential to be senior managers and our Talent Academy develops individuals into management roles, supported by mentoring either by senior managers or external advisers. We develop operational excellence through management development workshops for our operations managers.

As we aim to develop talent internally, motivating key individuals through their remuneration and various retention tools is critical. We value and recognise long service, which helps to maintain the knowledge base in the business, with rewards for 10-year, 20-year, 25-year, 30-year and 40-year service. In 2010, we are introducing a new management bonus scheme linked to Group performance and achievement of individual objectives. We provide an extensive benefits package tailored to the needs of different levels of people within the business. During the year, we extended the package with some Corporate Responsibility-related incentives, including the ‘Cycle to work’ scheme, which offers a tax-efficient way to purchase a bicycle, a new car policy and a Give-As-You-Earn tax-efficient charitable donations system.

We are committed to providing effective communication on matters that affect employees, including the development and performance of the Group. This is achieved through formal and informal meetings, and our in-house magazine, Will2Win, which is distributed six times a year to all employees.

For our Retail staff, who represent more than 90% of our employees, we operate staff councils in each of our geographic regions and at Group level. Each council meets four times a year with the aim of providing an additional channel of consultation between directors, management and staff and to make the fullest use of employees’ experience and ideas. Representatives from the retail staff councils attend the National Staff Conference, held at least three times a year, which is chaired jointly by the Retail Operations Director and the Group Director of Human Resources. As part of our efforts to encourage employee engagement, we have operated an annual employee share save scheme since we floated in 2002.