Our People
We aim to provide a great place to work in all our markets. We employ local people and develop staff at every level, giving us home-grown managers.
Our position
Tesco employs over 440,000 people in 13 countries. Our success depends on recruiting, developing and retaining the best people. Our employees deliver the customer service that our business relies upon, from making sure the right products are on the shelves to providing a friendly face at the checkout. We want employees to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve and our employment practices need to respond to the differing work and family demands in modern societies.
Critics say that supermarkets provide low-paid, low-skilled jobs with little prospect for development.
We believe that investing in our people is the right way to live our values and it brings sound business benefits. Tesco offers competitive pay and benefits and provides employees with comprehensive support and training. Developing individuals at every level means that we have homegrown managers who understand our culture and can effectively develop our business. Many of our leaders began their careers on the shop floor, including Board Director David Potts, who joined as a grocery assistant.
We understand that people give more to their work and their customers when they feel valued. Our People Promises sum up our commitment to provide fulfilling employment:
- to be treated with respect;
- to have an opportunity to get on;
- to have a manager who helps me; and
- to have an interesting job.
We operate through simple management structures, delegate responsibility and aim for a culture of trust, where people are allowed to learn from mistakes and to challenge conventional thinking. We listen to employees and communicate at all levels through mechanisms such as staff question times and an annual opinion survey.