Having personally been involved in sustainability for over 15 years and in the creation of Plan A (M&S’s sustainability strategy) under the leadership of Stuart Rose, I believe there are some valuable lessons that need to be considered for any retailer, at any stage of their sustainability journey.

Firstly, why are you looking at sustainability?

There are all sorts of reasons why businesses are looking at sustainability but at some point, you must decide on your positioning; Do you want to be leaders? Be in the middle? Or do the bare minimum? It sounds obvious but depending on you positioning your sustainability strategies would be completely different. There is no right or wrong answer here but there needs to be a common view; there’s no point in the CEO thinking they want to be leaders when the directors and middle-management want to do the minimum.

It’s such a massive area- which area of sustainability should I focus on?

I would suggest that you focus on the area’s most important to your brand and customers. If you sell tons of sportwear then maybe the sustainability of synthetic fibres is important, if you are a fast fashion brand then ways to recycle clothing maybe more important, or if you are a luxury brand then ethical trade might be the most important. We know that many customers say one thing and do another, but this is about customer attitudes over the next 10 years. Customer views can change very quickly and dramatically, just ask the American car industry which almost went bust as they ignored the rapid change in consumer behaviour to more fuel efficient compact cars made in Europe and Asia. Now there is another shift occurring to electric and hybrid cars taking place, driven in part by Tesla who have been able to show that electric cars can be sexy and fast.

Does sustainability cost more?

Like anything there are swings and roundabouts. My experience is that most people only talk about the negative impact of implementing sustainability and the things that cost more. There are lots of areas that save money like reducing packaging, recycling hangers, recycling other materials, more efficient factories, LED lights…. and many, many more! There are also many areas that are cost neutral but are surrounded with incorrect information and the supply chain will try and increase costs using smoke and mirror tactics. It’s important to keep abreast of the commercial business case of each initiative and continue to revisit as technology keeps advancing, the price of oil could make something feasible tomorrow that isn’t today,  changes in exchange rates or new tariffs and duties can have a significant impact. Non-tangible costs such as added complexity, additional lead times, availability constraints need to be considered but also have negative publicity and brand damage of not doing what your customers may expect today or in the future.

Trial, evaluate and roll out or stop

There will always be new innovations where you are not sure if they will work, not sure about the business case, not sure about the technical aspects or simply if the solution is more sustainable. The only way to truly find out is to pilot and test potential solutions and rigorously evaluate before rejecting or rolling out. Never jump in with both feet without testing first!

Do not sign up to things you can’t deliver

There is always pressure to keep up with other retailers or keep NGO’s on side. All businesses are different; for example, if you don’t sell silk and cashmere products it’s very easy to ban silk and cashmere but may not be as easy for another business. Many NGO’s are only looking at a single issue and in the real world most issues are very complex and interlinked. Stopping or banning one thing may lead to huge issues elsewhere like job losses or the disappearance of entire industries. I would never cut and run from an issue, I think you have to try and work up potential solutions and give reasonable time to implement changes. It’s very tempting to sign up and promise all sorts but these will come back to bite. Only do what is commercially deliverable for your business where you have the capability and resources to make the changes in an appropriate time line. Normally it’s the “time to make changes” that becomes the debate, NGO’s want change immediately and retailers need a bit of time to make changes to their supply chains- don’t be bullied and stick to your guns.

Get expert advice

I’m not trying to sell our services- honestly, but this is one area you need to know what you are doing. Having the wrong strategy or promising the world or getting things wrong in this space can be extremely expensive, very demotivating for the teams and career limiting for the technical leaders. This is an area that the commercial teams expect the technical teams to know their stuff and the commercial impact for the business surrounding each initiative.

So, in summary, making a business more sustainable has to be a good thing from both from a business and environmental perspective, if done in the right way, focussed on what’s important, done at a sensible pace and with the whole organisation being clear whether they want be leaders, laggards or somewhere in the middle!

Deborah Shulton has over 20 years experience working in Retail Technology but in 2008 decided to take a change in career gaining a Post Graduate Certificate of Education and now specialises in delivering bespoke training packages to buyers, designers and merchandisers. Deborah shares her experience and insights on how to get the best out of training; for both the individual and company:

 

Training has been shown to improve employee commitment – a recent study* showed that 94% of employees would stay at a company longer if it invested in their career development. However, making sure that the training is effective and that the employee has the time and support to attend is essential. The same study shows that the number one reason employees say that they feel held back from learning is because they do not have the time to learn the skills they need.

Based on my experiences of running Fabric Appreciation courses for more than 10 years I have listed some points to consider as well as some things to avoid if you are organising training sessions for your teams.

Be clear about the learning objective with all parties.

• Ensure that the course participants know what to expect when they sign up to the course and that the trainer is fully briefed in advance with the relevant and specific subject matter required. There’s nothing worse (for either the participant or the trainer) than turning up to a training session expecting to learn about something – only to find that the trainer is going to cover something completely different.

Consider the Audience

• Depending on the subject matter it may be better to run courses for a multi discipline team that work together (e.g. A buying team) – especially if it’s a subject that affects them all. However, in some instances mixing teams (and therefore having different seniority of people at the same course) can be intimidating for more junior team members – in which case it may be better to organise by peer group (e.g. Assistant buyers / Buying Admin assistants etc.).

Plan in sufficient time

• Be clear about the timings to those attending so that they can plan their time away from their day job. If you are holding a course in house, then I usually start around 09:30 so that people can see to any overnight crisis before they attend. It’s also a good idea to plan in a short break after a couple of hours and then beak for a short lunch. This helps the audience to keep their concentration, and also, if need be, make an odd urgent phone call / e mail.

Be aware of different learning styles

• People absorb information in different ways. Some people will learn information best by looking at it or reading it (Visual learners); some by listening to it (Audio learners) and some by actually doing practical exercises (Kinaesthetic learners). In actual fact people will generally absorb information most effectively using a combination of these styles. Therefore, to make any training more effective the trainer should use a number of different techniques to cater for all styles and to keep people engaged. Avoid standing in front of the audience and just talking – they will very soon switch off and won’t remember much of what’s been said. I always include as many samples to touch and feel as possible as well as fabric swatches to analyse in detail and exercises / questions throughout to test people’s understanding.

Confidence and Enthusiasm

• People that are the most confident and passionate about what they are presenting will generally be those that are able to hold their audience’s attention. If you are presenting – don’t be afraid to talk around the subject and illustrate points with real examples – don’t be tempted to just read out the information that is in front of the audience on a power point presentation, they can do that themselves. A good trainer will bring it alive.

Make it relevant

• Encourage as open an environment as you can – allowing the attendees to feel able to ask those questions that they’ve always wanted to ask. This will make the training far more effective and relevant to the audience.

Include a Plenary

• It’s good practice to include a session at the end of training that allows the participants to prove to themselves (and the course leader) that they have learnt something! I will often run a quiz at the end of the session with questions based on the course content that’s usually quite a fun and effective way of finishing the training.

Continued Learning

• Some participants may be keen to learn more – so I will often give them pointers as to where they can get further information from – including letting them know they can contact me with questions they may come up with after the course.

Act on feedback

• After running any course – always seek feedback about from those that have attended – and if there is a common theme consider what changes could be made to improve on the course.

*2018 Workplace Learning Report. LinkedIn learning

As a retailer or brand, large or small, your product will need testing at various stages of the product’s life cycle; product development, first bulk production (particularly if the product has a promotional benefit eg water resistant) , ‘Due Diligence’ testing of finished goods (a legal requirement) and customer compliant resolution – e.g. safety related injury, skin irritation, loose dye staining, etc.

Choosing the test house group (or groups) to work with

Assuming you elect to work with one of the major global test house groups, you will know they all have the majority of their testing capability covering the same main areas of colour fastness, physical, safety, and chemical analysis testing.

On the surface – it may appear that only the price of testing is the distinguishing factor between the organisations.

I would suggest that, based upon over three decades of experience at a major UK retailer, whilst price is key, the following are arguably even more important to consider for a technical team at a retailer or brand:

1. Globally recognised credibility- Important, so that if a test report with its name on could, in a legally contested issue, stand up to scrutiny in a court of law, or with a very demanding customer or local authority
2. Location of laboratories- Is the test house group represented in the key sourcing countries your company uses? If not, and samples need to be flown to a nearby (or remote) country for key tests, time is lost, and it may be difficult to speak to the actual technician who carried out the test, in the case of a query.
3. Global experts- In critical speciality areas e.g. chemical analysis (referred to last month by my former colleague Phil Patterson), does the test house group have a series of ‘global experts’ to call upon in cases of complex issues to be resolved, offering expert opinions, or providing know-how on standards and legislation?
4. Interpretation of results service-Is the test house group primarily set up to just deliver reports, and leave it to you, the retailer, to read and interpret those reports? Or do they offer, as part of their service, an accessible team of experts who can offer interpretation of the results? This can be very important if you have new technologists in your team, who may not always have the experience to understand, for example, ‘borderline’ test results.
5. Liaison- Does the test house have a knowledgeable liaison team who regularly visit your offices, or possibly, if the business is large enough, are prepared to have an Intern from their organisation based within your buying office?
6. Special projects- When these arise e.g. benchmarking one of your products against its equivalent being sold by other retailers, do they have the resource and project management skills to manage and deliver this effectively?

Many retailers and brands choose to have two (or more) test house partners, partly to ensure that price competitiveness between the laboratories is actively challenged, but also because certain test houses may not always be represented in every sourcing country, or key location, whereas its competitor may be.

Finally, I would recommend that whilst links with the test houses should primarily be with the product specific technologist in the buying office, appointing a central technical expert, or small team, to be the businesses’ key link, can ensure that standards, projects, and new test method development, are all effectively managed and coordinated across the organisation.

IAN MORRIS

Trusted Circle Founding Partner Alok Nagpal has over 25 years experience in the recruitment world, and has unrivalled expertise when it comes to negotiating a job offer. Here, he gives his thoughts on how to get the right package:

So you’ve been offered a job but slightly disappointed in the overall package being presented… (assuming it’s a job you want of course!)

Firstly, well done – it’s a great position to be in and clearly the prospective employer would like you to come on board and join the team. A lot of time has been spent on both sides to reach this point.…company research, preparing/ attending for the interview(s), taking time off work and from the employer’s side – reviewing your CV and taking the time to meet you, discussing your application with colleagues & HR and putting an offer together for you.  This is a critical point in the recruitment process and how you handle your response in terms of your message, requirements and speed will be key to ensure a positive outcome.

Bigger Picture

It is human nature and understandable to ‘want more’ when offered a position, however, there are many aspects to consider before asking for an improvement.

There is often good reason for the salary/package being offered e.g. existing salary structure constraints or areas for development picked up during the interview process. It could be a really good career move for you, so be open to seeing the bigger picture and taking the long term view. Therefore sometimes, it is better to accept the offer and prove your capabilities once you have joined.  Take advice from colleagues / friends or from your recruitment agent. The rewards should come later.

However, if you have genuine reasons that you can justify and present fairly, employers will generally try to accommodate your needs where possible.

Keys principles for a successful negotiation

Know your figures and be open. If asked the question at about salary at interview, be prepared and include a breakdown of your current benefits, if appropriate. With a complete understanding of your current package, the employer is more likely to offer you at least a comparable package.

When applying through an agency – again, give full details of your current package to include any bonuses, pension details, gym memberships, share options, promised pay rises or promotions. A Recruiter should be able to advise if your expectations are realistic and pre-empt any issues before the application process starts.  It also enables the Recruiter to advise or negotiate on your behalf before an offer is officially presented.

If applying direct and the offer is less than what you were hoping, you need to handle this one especially carefully. Sounds basic but first say thank you for the offer. If the package does not meet your expectations, it is important to confirm your interest in joining the company (if applicable) and give a breakdown of your current package and requirements for you to accept.  (It may well be that an oversight was made when putting the offer together so well worth doing this as long as you are polite.)

Give guidance on your expectations. Negotiations are not about making demands. Be flexible in approach.

If applying through an agency and asked at interview, be consistent with what you’ve said to the Recruiter!  Inconsistencies can call your character into question and be detrimental to your application. On a few occasions over the years, I have seen employers retract offers, so please be consistent.

No situation is ever the same but if you follow these basic principles, this should hopefully lead to successful conclusion. Good luck!