Human Resources Director at Leroy Merlin

Nthabiseng Thaba

What are the current trends in the diversity and inclusion space in the retail industry?

The retail industry has improved by leaps and bounds to accommodate more people with disabilities in the workplace. The industry wants to be as inclusive as possible, not just in terms of physical disabilities, but also provide a more inclusive work environment in terms of gender, sexual preferences, race, and religion. As a business we have found that through the support of top management and having top management play a critical role in creating a more inclusive work environment we have seen a far more positive work team.

One of the ways we create an inclusive work environment is by ensuring that during the summer holiday period which in South Africa is the period of time where people take annual leave we refer to this period as year-end holidays instead of Christmas Holidays for instance off which would exclude those team members that perhaps do not celebrate or are of a different religious association. The retail sector in South Africa is greatly diversified and ensuring an inclusive environment creates a diverse platform for team members to feel included and valued and not judged or labelled but their association of belief systems.

Are there any processes you have implemented that make it better for people with disabilities to be accepted in the workplace?

When people mention People with disabilities (PWD’s) more often than not mental wellness is almost excluded the COVID pandemic period certainly opened our eyes as an employer of the challenges that our team members face, the stigma that team members face due to suffering from mental wellness illness such as depression and anxiety. The pressure that the pandemic levelled on people in general exposed these topics that have always been taboo to speak of or even identify. As a company we have engaged in empowering our leadership team to firstly know how to identify when their team members are in need of assistance, ensure that the know how to approach the subject in an appropriate manner and also provide reasonable accommodation where required. Partnering with our retirement fund service Provider we have educated team members of Employee Assistance Programs that is provided for team members but also extended to their family members. Again, all these initiatives driven and supported by top management and becoming engraved within our employee value proposition.

Is there any technology you use to streamline the diversity and inclusion process in HR?

As part of our employee benefit offering staff are offered Medical aid as well as Medical insurance and through the these offerings there are integrated employee related program assisting with creating healthier team members through initiating exercise plans and incentives for achieved health goals.

Innovation is a key point in our business, our team are provided with smart phones with the latest technology, of course this facilitates working in a world that is well into 4IR but more than that we are investing time in sourcing tech platforms that through tech utilization they can assist in creating a healthier team member on all levels of health, physical and mental, one such program we piloting is with Strove Wellness app which is a wellbeing solution that meets the needs of your employees across the health spectrum

Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Retail is the heart of any economy and of any country, as retailers it is imperative that we put our people first before profits. At the end of the day any competitor can replicate your products sometimes even produce a substitute that is even better than the original the one thing that competitors have failed to do since the beginning of time is replicate. Our People, the team so invests in them!