Culture and Strategy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Woolworths has a long-standing commitment to building internal capability. We consider this to be a key driver of our ability to perform, change and grow. We are pleased to have retained all executive women who were due to return from parental leave in the 2009 calendar year.As part of our commitment to diversity, Woolworths will aim to have a 33% representation of women at board level and within its senior executive group by 2015. Representation of women in leadership roles across the company has remained constant over the last two financial years at 27%.

Typically, external recruitment focuses on specialist roles, often at our corporate support office in Norwest, Sydney. We source candidates through a variety of channels to ensure we locate those best suited to the roles and Company. These include online job boards, industry magazines, recruitment agencies, employee referrals and word of mouth, career expos and press advertising.

Woolworths’ diverse operations enable us to offer employees an unusually broad range of careers within the one company. Our commitment to promoting internal talent is strong: Work experience in multiple divisions is a common characteristic of a Woolworths career. 

It is part of our strategy to be  committed to protecting the safety, health and welfare of our employees, customers, contractors, visitors and the community. Safety is a key aspect of our business and underpins all operational activities. Our vision for safety at Woolworths is ‘Destination ZERO’ – zero harm to our people, environment and community. Destination ZERO is supported by the following principles:

• We will make safety personal.
• No task is so urgent and no service so important that we cannot take time to do it safely.
• We will aim to improve the quality of life, now and for future generations.
• We are responsible for:
  – Our own safety and health.
  – The safety and health of our co-workers, customers, contractors and visitors.
  – Our impact on the environment.
  – We will recognise and promote excellence in safety, health and environmental performance.

The Safety and Health Strategy was developed by the Woolworths Management Board and Executive Leadership Team in February 2010. The Strategy resulted in the agreement of four key imperatives that will be finalised and rolled out during 2011. The four key strategic imperatives are:

1. Recruitment and induction.
2. Non-trading area standards.
3. Safety Leadership.
4. Safety Communication.

Our Supermarket division has implemented a targeted education program called ‘Keeping Safety Fresh’ that focuses on highlighting key risks areas within our stores. Each month there is a different safety focus specific to a department within the store, i.e. during grape season a DVD, poster and fact sheet was distributed to Woolworths supermarkets to raise awareness of the hazards of grapes on the store floor resulting in a significant reduction in customer falls from slipping on grapes.