This article was originally featured in the November 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!
Written by Gavin Peck, Chief Executive Officer of The Works.
We’ve all seen occasions where corporate strategies, developed in the boardroom, struggle to translate to something meaningful for the broader organisation. Posters with strategic drivers or pillars are often plastered over office walls yet fail to strike a chord with the very people tasked with delivery. For a strategy to succeed, while critical to be embodied by leadership, it must also resonate with colleagues at every level. From head office, to stores, to distribution centres and from full time roles to 4-hour contracts, every colleague must understand their role in delivering the strategy and be proud of the work they are doing. This is particularly important in retail, where in-store colleagues are the face of the business, engaging with customers daily and where pride in their work can be make-or-break. At The Works we have proven that a clear, unifying and purpose-driven corporate strategy can deliver long-term benefits across the entirety of the business.
At the start of this year, we launched our new strategy, ‘Elevating The Works’, setting out a clear roadmap for driving sales growth, improving profit margins and delivering strong shareholder returns. This wasn’t the start of the journey, in fact it was a product of months of insight gathering, stakeholder engagement and cultural alignment, which enabled us to develop a strategy in partnership with colleagues that we knew would not only be understood and accepted but embodied with pride.
The foundation of this new strategy is our renewed mission to become the favourite destination for affordable, screen-free activities for the whole family, underpinned by our purpose to inspire reading, learning creativity and play. At a time where screens eat into valuable time with loved ones, quality interaction has never been more important and where budgets are squeezed, this is a mission backed by evidence. As a father, this is something I personally feel incredibly passionate about and know that both colleagues at The Works and our customers do too. This mission has been a critical factor in ensuring colleagues are fully engaged, understand the part they play and feel proud of the impact their work has in bringing our mission to life for our customers.
The proof is in the feedback we’ve received from colleagues. For example, Emma Tunnicliffe, one of our Senior Accounts Administrators said:
“As a mum of 2 young children, I’m proud The Works provides affordable books meaning any child can have access to a book. Life is so busy as a working mum, so it’s important that the time we spend together is well spent and there is nothing better than reading a book together, boosting imagination and improving literacy skills. I feel a book is something every child should have access to, and The Works makes that possible.”
When launching the final version of the strategy, we held a series of ‘town hall’ events to ensure understanding and alignment from Senior Leaders and Retail Field Management teams, setting the groundwork for an onward cascade to the wider organisation.
Today, we continue to prioritise clear communication of the strategy with colleagues, helping to embed it into our culture and support with engagement at every level and location. This includes mandatory e-learning to ensure every colleague understands the business purpose, values and strategy, refreshed inductions for new starters to embed our ‘crafty, caring and can-do’ values from day one, and a new approach to performance reviews to ensure personal objectives remain aligned with broader strategic goals. We also provide quarterly videos updating on our collective progress. Together, these efforts have helped to make sure that the strategy feels relevant and personal for every single one of our colleagues.
Tyler Waite, one of our Distribution Centre Team Leaders, agrees with the relevance of the strategy, saying:
“The Works’ values aren’t just words on paper, they guide how we treat our customers, support each other as colleagues and keep creativity and affordability at the heart of everything we do.”
The impact of this work speaks for itself. With 77% of all colleagues participating in our most recent colleague engagement survey, 83% of respondents said they have a strong understanding of our strategy and how their role contributes to it, and 80% reported feeling proud of the meaningful work that they do to contribute to The Works’ purpose to inspire reading, learning creativity and play.
Colleagues at every level of the business were invited to contribute to the survey, and respondents ranged from part time distribution centre workers to Area Managers with long-standing tenures. I am incredibly proud of these results and feel confident that they are a product of the work we have put in to ensure colleague buy-in to our corporate strategy.
What’s even more compelling is that these results go beyond what our colleagues are saying: they have translated into tangible outcomes for the business. For example, voluntary employee turnover is down 6% versus prior to the introduction of the strategy. This outlines a strong correlation between a purpose-driven strategy and colleague engagement and satisfaction. I have seen first-hand its positive impact on pride in our work, and therefore motivation to succeed, and undoubtedly customers have noticed this too.
Ultimately, strategies that remain confined to the boardroom risk leaving colleagues disengaged and isolated from a company’s overarching purpose. When colleagues are brought on the journey and understand the value of their contribution within the bigger picture of the business, driven by leaders, they deliver stronger results and remain invested for the long term. We are proud of what we have achieved at The Works, and with the continued efforts of our colleagues, remain incredibly optimistic about delivering on our purpose to inspire reading, learning, creativity and play for families across the country, for years to come.
Visit: theworks.jobs
WorkLife Business News
This article was originally featured in the November 2025 edition of WorkLife Business News which you can view here!
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