Within our support offices
We continue to strengthen our self-led learning culture and in 2016 / 17 have encouraged our people to take control of their personal growth . There has been a focus on providing tailored development options , reflecting the varied and ever-changing business environment . Supporting tools include a refreshed online learning programme and a suite of workshops . We have also encouraged people to think differently and creatively about their personal development and to consider the use of local and global secondments , cross-functional projects , job shadowing and job change to support career advancement . This has enabled many of our people to undertake exciting opportunities in different parts of the business and the world , giving them breadth of experience and enabling us to promote internally into key roles within the business .
We are equally passionate about developing our current and future leaders , enabling them to realise their potential . A new , flexible , self-led and blended approach to leadership development allowed participants from right across the business to build on their development throughout the year and reinforce the skills and behaviours needed to be a great leader at Specsavers .
We have a strong legacy of growing our own talent from within , and our People Review forums are crucial in enabling us to do this . They support our managers to have great conversations about their people – how they are doing , where they want to go in Specsavers , and how we can help them to get there – ensuring we always have the right people in the right roles and at the right times , enabling us to achieve our business plans and strategic ambitions and ensure our people have a great experience of working at Specsavers . Asked for feedback following this year ’ s People Review , one leader wrote : ‘ As managers and leaders , it ’ s our job to spot and develop great talent at Specsavers . Not only to find our own successors , but to get the best from everyone in our teams . Different people have different hopes and ambitions , so it ’ s vital that we understand these and proactively support people to find their own way to success .
‘ People Reviews are a great way of taking a step back from the day-to-day operation and talking about our people – how they ’ re doing , what they need in order to be even better , and how we can help them . They ensure we have what we need from our people , when we need it , in order to deliver an exceptional service to our customers and keep the business growing .’
Professional development
Over the past year , we have created strong and collaborative relationships with schools , promoting careers in optometry and working on becoming the preferred employer for students and graduates . In the Nordics , this has included numerous visits to schools , reinforcing the idea that Specsavers is a brand that focuses on professionalism , people development and innovation .
The success of our Optical Retail Apprenticeship scheme in England continues to grow , with 200 apprentices graduating in early 2017 and a further 300 apprentices currently on the programme . 95 % of those joining the apprenticeship scheme have continued in the business , with almost 80 % of those studying for further qualifications such as level 3 and 4 certificates for Optometric Clinical Assistants . Our plan for the coming year is to expand on this success to provide a ‘ best in class ’ apprenticeship service for the wider business .
In Australia , the support office in Melbourne hosted two days of induction for graduate optometrists . This was the first event of a two-year development programme designed for our recently qualified optometrists . A similar two-day induction event was held in Sweden for our first group of graduate opticians there . What ’ s more , in the UK we recruited a staggering 450 students on to our pre-registration graduate training programme – our highest intake yet . This means that more than half of pre-registration optometry students across the UK chose to start their careers with Specsavers . The pre-reg programme forms part of the Specsavers optometrist career path , and marks a stepping-off point on the unique career pathway that spans school and youth engagement , a summer undergraduate programme and a bespoke learning and development programme for our newly qualified optometrists , as well as a programme of lifelong education and training .
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Nine months after returning to the UK from a secondment as HR Manager in Hong Kong , I accepted a 12-month secondment as IT Business Manager . I have learned a lot from these very different opportunities , gaining a deeper insight into the business and working with different people across the business . I have been stretched , challenged , encouraged and trusted , and the experience and knowledge I have gained has been invaluable .
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Sam Brehaut , Human Resources