WINNER River Island - HR excellence awards

BEST HR TEAM: PRIVATE SECTOR
WINNER
River Island
FINALISTS
•Northern Rail
•Penguin Random House
•RWE GBS UK
•XPO Logistics
HIGHLY COMMENDED
R
iver Island’s HR team is a real mixed
bag. Among its 36 members are those
with both specialist and generalist
skills. The team deals with the full gamut
of HR issues, from recruitment and
operational tasks to learning and
development and reward.
Set up two years ago, the team has taken
HR from a transactional function to one that
is integral to the success of the business.
People issues are now a key part of River
Island’s business strategy, so the team
partners with other functions to champion
the people agenda throughout the chain.
In 2012, River Island initiated a three-year
transformation programme, and its HR team
was tasked with four objectives in order to
achieve the programme’s aims. These
included improving the perception of HR
within the business, boosting core HR
functionality, establishing an employer brand
for the company, and creating an
HR team that was recognised as being
commercially focused.
Radical action was needed to meet such
complex objectives, and a huge amount of
work was undertaken. Initiatives included
a strategic restructuring of the team,
implementation of new technology, creation
of an L&D Academy, developing an
apprenticeship programme and building new
relationships with educational institutions.
Throughout this process the team worked
closely with other functions and key
hrmagazine.co.uk
stakeholders, which enabled HR to get
closer to customers and have more of a
commercial impact.
While the three-year programme is coming
to an end, there have been some fantastic
achievements for the team to build on going
forward. In 2015 it made a cost saving of
£343,928 by making changes to the
recruitment process. The company’s cost per
hire has reduced from £126 to £94 over three
years. And retention of new hires is now 97%
– a 7% increase in 12 months – which is
certainly impressive.
River Island’s L&D Academy is now up and
running, and its core management skills
course is endorsed by the Institute
of Leadership and Management. In addition,
the ‘Get Connected’ customer service
programme delivered by HR has improved
the company’s Net Promoter Score by
31 points.
Things are looking rosy internally too, with
25% of the HR team’s employees receiving a
promotion. All of the function’s staff have
had the opportunity to take part in
development activities at Henley Business
School’s Centre for HR Excellence, proving
that commitment to L&D provision runs
through all levels and business sectors.
The judges were very impressed with this
entry, describing it as “innovative, a good
result for HR”. One judge summed it up with
the apt comment: “HR is clearly leading here,
not just delivering.”
British Gas
Utility companies have often been in the
headlines for the wrong reasons.
However, British Gas’s HR support team
is getting everything right.
Realising that often the business
wasn’t flexible or agile enough to meet
customer needs, the HR support team
decided on several objectives to improve
its offering. By better meeting employee
needs, those staff would then be able to
provide a better service to consumers.
Objectives included improving service
to customers, raising HR leadership
capability and revolutionising the
HR team.
The 2014 people plan covered
leadership development, coaching and
succession; better engagement with field
teams; delivery of improved business
metrics; a strong gender diversity plan;
strengthening trade union relationships;
and making significant cost savings.
Operating at just £1.1 million per
annum, and with 15 members to oversee
a geographically diverse workforce of
more than 10,000 people, that’s no
mean feat.
Sponsored by
July 2015 HR Excellence Awards 11