Boots UK’s Corporate Policies On Health, Safety, Diversity, And Inclusivity

Health and Safety Policy

In the growing and more competitive corporate world, human resource (HR) remains the essential part of many companies. The way a business manages its HR dictates its effectiveness and success. For a firm to achieve the set strategic objectives, many have come up with various corporate policies to govern their operations and ensure that strategies are aligned with the HR practices. It is vital to review procedures to ensure that they will yield positive outcomes for the organisation as well as how the outlined policies affect the business performance (Briscoe et al. 2012, pp.11). Boots UK is one of the leading retailers in Pharmaceutical products in Britain. The Boots is a small unit of the more prominent Alliance Boots. Boots was launched after a successful merger of Boots Group Plc. and Alliance Boots (Boots, n.d). The Company operates and manages about 1400 branches in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The company has grown tremendously, and it deals with approximately 8 million customers in a week (Boots, n.d). The company develops and sells branded products to its respective markets

Due to increased competition as well as various legislation rules, Boots UK is striving to streamline the activities and operations to ensure that they survive in the market (Boots, n.d). In most cases, it has been made possible through company’s commitment to evaluate their corporate strategy in such a way that it is confined along its mission, values and the already set goals. For process to be successful, a company has various policies to aid its operations within and outside operating environment as well as ensuring that approaches are in line with the legislation measure put by the government. Boots policies have been developed to ensure that the organisation achieves its strategic objectives and consequently help the organisation to grow and accumulate enough wealth. A company should make enough efforts to ensure that it offers a good working environment for its employees as well as its customers for maximum output and the company’s growth (Stahl et al. 2012, pp.34). An excellent corporate strategy should put into consideration how the company’s employees relate to each other.  Hence, policies found in any corporate strategy at the workplace should look at aspects such as health and safety of workers and shoppers as well as diversity and inclusivity at workplace (Bratton and Gold 2017, pp.20). 

In an effort to streamline the activities and ensure that they get the best from its employees, Boots has placed the safety and health of its employees first. Work safety remains a priority in most companies’ workplaces. Workplace safety remains a management responsibility of ensuring that places of employment are safe for the workers which include health as well as safety hazards (Bluff 2017, pp.42). In the UK, there are statutory laws made by the state to protect the rights of the employees including health and safety (Chartier 2014, pp.34). As a result, there was the establishment of the legislative rules under the Health and Safety Act (HSWA) of 1974 which states that an employer must protect the safety of its employees. The HWSA of 1974 dictates the rules applicable in the entire employment field under section 2(1) of this Act which states that: “It shall be the duty of every employer, to ensure, so far as logically practicable, the health Safety and welfare of all his employees” (Health and safety executive, n.d). The Act is further simplified and made more specific under section 2 of the act which states that “provision and maintenance of plant and system of work so that they are safe and without risk to health.” (DINGAYO 2015, pp. 30)

Diversity and Inclusivity Policy

Apart from above Act, there is also a company’s liability under the common law rules which enforces a control to ensure that employers take reasonable care of the employees’ safety in their line of duty (Budhwar and Debrah 2013, pp.53). At common law, the task of supervision explains that regarding a contract, the employer has an obligation of ensuring that reasonable care is taken to ensure that the employees are safe in their workplace (Chartier 2014, pp.35). It was established under the House of Lords, and it ensures that within the area of work, the employer must provide adequate safe plant and equipment, a secure system of work as well as a safe place of work.

At boots, the company is striving to place value on everybody who is under their premises. To achieve that, the company has put the safety of everyone working or visiting their shops first. The company has put robust measures to ensure safety of its colleagues and customers. The company has struggled to refresh and update its health and safety policy by establishing a healthy and safety document to help everyone to be understand the company’s approach towards them. Boots Health and Safety document is aimed at protecting its employees, customers and visitors (Boots, n.d). The company is also striving to perfect its approach to health and safety policy. Boots UK has established a Boots UK Governance Committee to steer their health and policy. To succeed in their efforts, the committee is making the issue of safety as culture in their organization. That has been achieved through the integration of safety within the company’s everyday workings. The company has also planned to make health and safety policy a long-term strategy by initiating regular communication lessons to help the employees within the organization on how to improve their safety and that of their employees (Boots, n.d).

Boots UK has partnered with Primary Authority Partner to extend their safety systems and safety plan implementation to their stores through the establishment of Retail Safety Steering Group. Through all these ways, the company will be able to strengthen their continuous safety improvement campaign for their customers, employees and visitors. As a result, the company has initiated various campaigns such as: 

According to Boots, the health and wellbeing of the people is imperative. The campaign is aimed at ensuring that people within the stores to relax by feeling good and safe. With over 60,000 employees within the organization, the company is striving to ensure they are cared for. To help their employees feel good at work include some schemes such as Workwell Campaign, Bike to Work Week, Products and Services and Safeguarding and Prevent.

Conclusion

Workwell Campaign helps the company to strive and improve the safety in the workplace. Together with Business in the Community, the company has been able to succeed in this campaign. Bike to Work Week encourages the employees within Boots UK to cycle to work in raising awareness of the health benefits. The company is encouraging its employees to hold cycling promotions to raise the necessary awareness. In products and services, the company strives to offer their customers discounted eye tests and discounted flu vaccines through their Lets Make It Happen booklets (Boots, n.d). Finally, through the Safeguarding and Prevent policy, the company strives to helps its tender and vulnerable colleagues to stay safe whether inside or outside their area of work. The company also offers a Healthy Minds to help its employees on how to deal with mental health and stress (Boots, n.d). Also, through Healthy Backs scheme, the company helps to raise awareness on how to manage back pains and stay fit. All that is found in the company’s website.

The health and safety of a work-place should and will remain a part of any business human resource strategy (Aswathappa 2013, pp. 32). It should be an aspect that is rooted deeply in the business culture. The company has strived to ensure that it compensates all the employees who are injured during their line of work as well as offering medical covers for them and their families. The approach will help the company to increase its productivity, enhance the quality of its products, raise the employees’ morale, better employee/human resource management, reduce the employee turnover, and improve use of human resources within an organisation (Banfield et al. 2018, pp.11).

Another corporate strategy policy used by Boots Company Limited to make sure that it achieved maximum and increased productivity is Diversity and Inclusivity policy. In any company, factoring in the diversity and inclusivity policy in HR strategy is imperative. The company is ensuring that it recruits, retain and promote a diverse mix of employees who represent the diversity within the local communities it is operating (Nankervis 2013, pp.20). The method gives Boots an opportunity to access a wide range of ideas and being able to build a broad range of products which customers expect. Having been operating in a global world with the aim of empowering the society by fighting poverty, equality and diversity is a significant concern for Boots to consider while dealing with its workforce.

A company’s equality and diversity policy should be applied in every part of its workplace, that is, from the recruitment process, allocation of salaries and the process of offering promotion opportunities to employees and other after work events like annual general meeting (AGM) and motivational staff trips (Cascio 2018, pp.29). The main aim is to take into consideration all the state of affairs within an organisation to reduce the chances of inequality from thriving anywhere. Equality and diversity issue is a significant concern, and it applies to all businesses. Currently, UK government has a legislation law Equality Act 2010 to ensure equality and diversity among companies operating within its jurisdictions. The Acts stipulates that any company or institution that discriminates against people based on the age, gender, disability or any other protected features will be acting against the law and it is punishable. The law requires all public sectors institutions to: avoid discrimination, harassment and victimisation of individuals within the areas of work, embrace equality of opportunities among individuals from various groups, and also nurture good relations among people from different sets.

Boots has a substantial number of diversity and equality objectives: employees who are a representative of the diversity of the community it is operating, recruitment, retention, and promotion of its employees indiscriminately. Similarly, the company observes gender equality by empowering women who constitute 79 percent of the total number of employees, recognising and accommodating people from the minority ethnic groups by ensuring that 35 percent of its employees are from ethnic minority groups. Boots has also observed its equality and diversity when operating to improving the lives of less fortunate people and influencing key development issues across the UK (Boots, n.d).

Since introducing the “Dignity at Work” policy in 2012, Boots ensures it remains in line with UK’s Equality Act 2010 by ensuring that they absorb and retain more employees from the diverse range of communities in UK. In February 2013, the company held it diversity and inclusion day which helped the company to refresh its strategy and plans for inclusion and diversity. The company was able to actively reach communities deemed hard to reach and included them in group of stakeholders. As part of being inclusive, Boots has initiated a program dubbed “Women in IT” to promoted the talents among women by providing networking and mentoring opportunities in a move to give back to the community. The company has also participated in various Businesses in the Community such as “Race for Community” and “Opportunity Now” helping them to undertake surveys which focus on gender and race equality thus helps the company to shape strategies and plans.

The introduction of relevant policies and developing the culture of inclusion, a company can reap a lot of increased commercial benefits of growing the revenue. Having a diverse, equal and inclusive workforce, Boots has demonstrated social awareness as well as a social responsibility which have helped it to remain competitive and tap into new markets. Boots’ good diversity and inclusivity policy have enabled it to improve the performance of its employees. It has also enhanced how people view Boots as a good employer, that is, it has increased the image of the employer. Similarly, the diversity policy of Boots has helped in building its brand awareness. The policy has contributed to foster a good relationship between Boots and its customers since they feel at home. Additionally, it has helped the employees to be innovative and creation for more improved products. By adopting a public position of inclusion and embracing policies and procedures aimed at ensuring equal and fair opportunities, workplaces can make a positive account to existing and potential new workers and customers (Shields 2015, pp. 24).

But, it is worth noting that success of the above-discussed policies and approaches is anchored by motivational theories and models in the field of human resource. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs also known as motivational theory seeks to understand what motivates people. Maslow suggests that various needs of employees should be fulfilled so as to be comfortable in workplace and become highly innovative and productive (Jerome 2013, pp.39). In safety needs level, employers should assure employees work at safer environment where they feel it is secure. If the workers feel insecure, then, they will rarely work efficiently to achieve the organisation’s strategic objectives and goals (Hendry 2012, pp.14). Hence, to cater for safety requirement, Boots’ corporate strategy profoundly accommodates the safety and health of its employees under Health and Safety policy which has been put under the HR department to ensure that policy is implemented. Consequently, it has enabled the organisation to remain the best among its competitors across the UK. As stated by Maslow, effective communication is very commanding in the effort to understand the needs of employees for them to be motivated to work more efficiently (Kaur 2013, pp.1061).

Frederick Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory coined by Frederick Herzberg is yet another theory of HRM which stipulates what drives employees to work efficiently and productively. In this theory, Frederick highlighted various factors which motivate the employees to work and called the factors motivators.  Among the highlighted factors of motivation is the ultimate feeling of recognition, the potential for personal growth as well as the probability of promotion. Boots’ strategy borrows highly from this theory as seen in its Equality and Diversity policy. As discussed above, Boots UK has remained committed to embracing equality in recruitment, retention and promotion of its employees from a diverse range of communities in the UK without discrimination. It has motivated its employees and the community around since everybody feels recognised and given an equal opportunity to grow.

Although Human Resource Management has been described by the researchers as the most vital factor to achieve organisational efficiency and success, it is vital to note that Human Resource Management alone cannot help the organisation make competitive advantage in the market. Thus, to achieve Boots strategic objectives and goals, Strategic Human Resource Management is required. Strategic Human Resource Management helps in aligning the human resource practices to the overall corporate strategy of the organisation (Cascio and Boudreau 2012, pp.73).

As discussed above, Boots’ corporate strategy puts in place a Corporate Social Responsibility named “Workplace” which has helped its human resource department to strategically manage its workforce with the aim of achieving the set goals and objectives (Boots, n.d). Thus, it is important to note that Human Resource Management cannot adequately ensure that the organisation’s strategic objectives are accomplished.  Hence, the need to borrow heavily from the company’s corporate strategy.  Therefore, there is a need to introduce Strategic Human Resource Management over Human Resource Management (Hill et al. 2014, pp.58). The corporate strategy offers the guidelines to be adopted by Boots’ Human Resource team. 

By adopting the two policies of Health and Safety policy and Diversity and Inclusivity Policy, Boots UK has been able to gain a lot of advantages and disadvantages. To be able to analyze and arrive at these advantages and disadvantages, the company is looked at from the internal and external perspectives. Therefore, all the advantages and disadvantages have been covered here.

Some of the advantages from the internal perspective include: Increased productivity and performance due to employee motivation, increased productive ideas as a result of diverse employees, increased employee morale, low employee turnover, healthy employees who are energetic to perform their functions effectively and increased collaboration and teamwork leading to the achievement of organizational goals. The advantages as viewed from external perspective include: Enhancement of the company’s reputation, improved company’s relationship with the general public, by fulfilling the above policies the company will avoid with the government, and also it will attract more investors to buy its shares due to good reputation. Some advantages will be increased cost of maintaining all these campaigns, employee conflicts due to different cultures and backgrounds and also high costs of maintaining medical covers for employees.

The corporate policies incorporated in the human resource management might not yield the desired positive outcomes if there are no good employee relationships (Rees and Smith 2017, pp. 8). Employee relation, therefore, becomes a more significant term that integrates HRM and industrial relations. Hence, employee relationship is aimed at maintaining employer-employee goodwill thus contributing to satisfactory productivity and increased employee motivation to deliver. The association also helps in resolving issues and problems arising in the places of work involving individual employees. In Boots UK, employee relationship is not a static thing, making it quite dynamic. It means that employee relationship at Boots is influenced by several other external and internal factors as discussed below.  

The organisational structure remains one of the leading factors that impact on the employment relationship (MORSCHETT et al. 2015, pp.45). Boots’ corporate structure remains very simple since the whole company has been divided into smaller units leaving Boots to only deal with pharmaceutical products. The splitting of the small units avoids confusion, allows specialisation as well as good coordination of activities which has ensured an excellent employee relationship. The culture within Boots has also helped to boost employee relations hence increased output. The culture of being innovative and enhancing brand has enabled employee from diverse communities in the UK to come up with more improved products; building a better relationship with Boots’ management.

Boots’ investment on its employees in terms of skills has led to a healthy employee relationship thus improving its productivity. The most important aspect of investment in the employee skill involves learning and professional training to help in the growth of specific skills (Singh and Mohanty 2012, pp.87). Boots has initiated a programme called “Women in IT” which has enabled them to empower more women on IT; it will improve the technological capabilities to allow women to work with Boots despite the changing technology. An educative seminar which gives employee more exposure and development of skills has helped Boots maintain excellent employee relations. The economic growth in the UK has also impacted a good employee relationship in Boots. As the economy grows, the company has accumulated more wealth that it uses to support CSR programme to the communities; it has led to customer goodwill thus increasing sales. As a result, the company is accumulating more wealth and therefore it is able to offer its workers more benefits to encourage them (Malcolm 2011). 

Conclusion

Apparently, the core assets owned by any company is the Human Resource or employees. Managing people within and outside the business environment dictates the massive success or failure of any organisation. When developing its corporate strategy, Boots Company Limited has placed its primary focus on the human resource management to ensure that its employees and the people around the organisation deliver the best and remain productive. Human resource management has frequently been placed at the ‘heart’ of Boots’ business management to enable the company to develop its workers in a move to respond and counter the stiff competition in the market.

Hence, Boots has been able to develop, review and improve its corporate strategies which are incorporated into its Strategic Human Resource Management. It has ensured that the company’s policies are implemented with its strategic human resource management to empower its workers to work efficiently and deliver the best for the company. Based on the two policies, Health and Safety policy and Equality and Diversity policy, it is evident that any corporate strategy is directly linked to human resource management (Health and safety executive, n.d). As any company struggles to come up a strategy, it should consider the human resource factor to ensure that the approaches it takes have a positive impact on its workforce. Thus, the strategic plans should have a direct relationship with the company’s human resource management.   

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