Summary
With over 450 stores across 17 countries, Primark is an international fashion retailer with an expanding global presence. Primark aims to provide affordable choices for everyone, from great quality everyday essentials to standout styles for men, women and kids, as well as beauty products, homeware, and accessories.
Among its 80,000+ colleagues, the over 2,000 Department Managers (DMs) in stores worldwide represent a key population. In 2022 an initiative streamlining roles within the store populations substantially shifted the focus of DMs from task-oriented responsibilities, which was a strong focus previously, to leadership and people management.
Initially we designed and launched a bespoke leadership programme to three cohorts of DM’s in the UK and Ireland. Due to the great success of this initiative, we have gone on to rollout a wider leadership programme to over 2,000 DMs in 17 countries who lead a significant number of colleagues in Stores.
How Did we Get There?
The Challenge
Following the initiative of streamlining roles, DM’s are now managers of managers, which is a significant transition for them. DM’s needed support to develop their leadership skills recognising the impact they have on the people they lead. There was also an opportunity to support DM’s in leading on and role modelling the new values and behaviours across Primark.
The partnership aimed to equip DMs with the necessary skills to effectively lead their teams in Store, having a positive impact on the people they lead and to foster a more supportive, engaging, and caring environment for their teams, creating a culture they can be truly proud of!
The Solution
Phase 1: The Diagnostics
We launched our leadership programme with a pilot cohort by conducting in-depth diagnostic interviews with Primark colleagues, including Store Managers, DMs and Central Functions colleagues. Additionally, DMs in London were shadowed in store to gain further insight into their day-to-day roles.
By exploring different perspectives on the DM role and its broader context, we identified gaps in leadership capabilities. This allowed us to pinpoint development areas, aligned with Primark’s newly developed values and behaviours, ensuring the greatest impact on this key population.
Phase 2: Programme Design & Objectives
The insights from the diagnostic review shaped the programme’s design, which comprised of two face-to-face modules. Utilising the pragmatic approach and language of Will It?, each of these interactive days focused on equipping DMs with specific skills, tools and solutions tailored to enhance their capacity as high-performing people leaders at Primark.
Given the evolving responsibilities of Primark DMs, the overall aim of the programme was to develop great people leaders who:
- Care for people and value the contribution their team make.
- Build the skills needed to develop themselves and others.
- Inspire and empower others to deliver amazing results.
Maintaining momentum and accountability
While the in-person workshops provided DMs with a practical toolkit of strategies to elevate their leadership performance, Will It? devised activities for DMs to complete with their teams back in store. Aligned with the content of each workshop module, these activities aimed to reinforce learning and promote real-world application.
These follow up activities ensured that the newly acquired leadership skills were not only understood but actively practiced and integrated into the DMs daily operations at Primark. Line managers were asked to play an active role in the programme and a buddy system was established to foster ongoing support and peer learning. This approach ensured that ownership for the programme’s success was firmly in the hands who had the greatest impact and influence.
The Results
Before the launch of the pilot there was a strong consensus from the Diagnostic report that DMs at Primark needed to understand how to use coaching as part of their everyday leadership to empower and develop their team. There was also huge acknowledgement from all respondents of the need teams have to feel valued, empowered and cared for. We are delighted to share the below uplift in the DM’s leadership performance.
Department Managers
- 10% uplift in participants now having the skills required to coach, develop and grow their team.
- 12% uplift in DMs taking the time to understand what motivates their team members.
- 11% uplift in DMs being clear on key ingredients that make a great people manager.
- 11% uplift in DMs recognise their own strengths and opportunities for development.
- 8% uplift in DMs feeling they’re able to have difficult conversations with their team.
Store Managers
- 22% increase in Store Managers saying their DMs coach and invest time in developing their team.
- 29% increase in Store Managers saying their DMs understand what motivates their team members.
- 21% increase in Store Managers saying their DMs show care to all colleagues in store.
- 16% increase in Store Managers stepping in to difficult conversations when needed.
Participating in the Maximising My Impact DM Leadership Development Programme has been a transformative experience for our team of Department Managers. This initiative has not only enhanced individual leadership skills but has also cultivated a culture of collaboration and engagement across our stores. The positive impact on our teams is evident, and I wholeheartedly recommend this programme to any organisation looking to elevate its leadership capabilities.
Next Steps
Global rollout
Building on the success of the pilot, we are in the midst of a global rollout of the revised DM leadership programme. This initiative spans 13 of Primark’s international markets and is upskilling over 2,000 DMs in total, strengthening the leadership capabilities across the whole organisation.
To ensure high-quality delivery, a combination of approaches has been adopted. Whilst many of the UK & Ireland workshops are being facilitated by our expert Will It? consultant, we have also delivered a ‘Train the Trainer’ Programme. This initiative has equipped a select group of Primark’s internal colleagues with the skills needed to deliver the programme themselves. By doing so, we are ensuring that the content is being delivered in the local language and adapted to each market, fostering sustainability and continuity long term.
The overall feedback from the cohorts we’ve engaged with so far has been extremely positive. An impressive 94% of participants indicated they would recommend the programme to a friend or colleague, while 96% confirmed that the objectives of the workshops and modules were successfully met. These results highlight the programme’s impact and its value to Primark’s global leadership development efforts.
