Work highlight / 27 Sep 2021

Year on year cost reduction for a major high street retailer

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Gateley Legal

We worked with a major high street retailer using our services to provide early resolution of issues which led to a reduction in claims. When we started this service our client operated with 400 stores in the UK, but were on the point of acquiring another retail business with an additional 250 stores.

They recognised that their HR support structure, based on an internal central telephone helpline service staffed during office hours only, would be unable to give the business the HR support it would need. They also realised that the same HR problems occurred time and again but they had no strategic approach to eradicating them.

How did we help?

We agreed with our client that the entire helpline function would be outsourced to us with additional out of hours cover.

Working with the client, we designed IT based pro formas which were completed by our team to capture the details of each call and enable us to create a periodic report on current HR issues which is provided in graphic form.

Our system provides reporting on issues in real time via a secure Extranet enabling our client to draw down excel based reports for internal use and team meetings. The information provides an overview of where particular issues occur, how often and how they are dealt with. This enables us to work with our client to implement strategies and cost reduction exercises. These include policy development and review and directing training towards the highlighted issues. Through this, we have been able to help our client improve their HR service delivery and achieve uniform responses to recurring issues in a strategic manner.

The immediate costs savings were a direct reduction of personnel costs. The real saving as a result of the strategy was a significant reduction in the number of claims issued against the company (irrespective of merit) to an annual average of up to 4 per year across over 15,000 workers in a volatile industry.

Do you require HR and employment law support?

We regularly advise our clients on what to do to avoid issues escalating, including clearer communication and delivering training to line managers and operational teams. But if the situation does not improve or you receive a formal Employment Tribunal claim, we can support you at each stage of the dispute process. Please contact our expert below for more information or visit our HR and Employment Law support for retail and hospitality businesses service page.