Tesco works in a competitive market where
products, stores, tastes and even the way
customers shop are constantly changing. Diverse
communities mean that it needs to recruit and
train people who reflect this diversity, so that all
sections of society are included. Tesco’s policy is
to ensure that its workforce has a balance of
different people. It is keen to search for talent
wherever it lies. Diversity, inclusion and equal
opportunities are so central to the workplace that there are laws to ensure fair treatment. For
example, it is against the law to make unfair choices against people on grounds of age, race,
disability, gender or sexual orientation. This is called discrimination.
Tesco has established a number of networks to ensure that it engages with all its people. Its four key
networks are:
• Out at Tesco. This group represents those with different sexual orientations
• Women in Business. There are a number of branches supporting women’s issues, raising the profile
of women in the business and supporting them to develop their careers.
• Tesco Asian Network. This helps to raise the profile of careers at Tesco to Asian groups
• ABC Network. Its aim is to make Tesco the employer of choice for African, Black British and
Caribbean colleagues and to provide training and development opportunities which will enable more
black people to reach senior positions within the business.
Tesco also has strong links with many organisations representing disabled people, such as WhizzKidz.
It also has its own Diversity Council. The Council sets the diversity strategy for Tesco. The
business also works with a number of diversity partners. These partnerships help Tesco to build and
improve its diversity strategy. These partners are:
• Stonewall. Tesco is a ‘Diversity Champion’ member of Stonewall, a charity which exists to ensure
equal rights for lesbians and gay men in a society.
• EFD (Employers Forum on Disability). EFD is currently working with Tesco to help it to do a better
job for disabled colleagues.
• Opportunity Now. This group offers support for gender equality in business.
The importance that Tesco places on diversity is shown by the detail of its strategy. The key aspects
are that ‘everyone is welcome’ and the aim is to ‘raise the bar on talent’. Tesco has a dedicated talent
and diversity team. Tesco recognises that within each person there is raw talent, ideas and energy. It
sees that everyone is an individual who is seeking a good work-life balance and aims to help all
employees to be the best that they can be. By ensuring that the best people are in the right jobs,
Tesco is able to compete in a highly competitive market.
Tesco’s diversity strategy brings many benefits to the business. It means, for instance, that Tesco is
always aiming to recruit from the widest possible talent pool, helping it find the best person for the job.
The workforce will have a better understanding of customer needs as it reflects the same diversity as
the customer base. It also opens up new ideas and opportunities that may arise from different
cultures. The mix of young and older people brings a broad range of knowledge, experience and
social skills to the company. A diverse workforce is more flexible, since it consists of a wide range of
people from all walks of life, all able to work together to deliver the best service in all circumstances. It
also leads to better performance and lower costs, since employees are able to offer a variety of
expertise that enables jobs to be done effectively, improving productivity and reducing waste. A key
part of the strategy is Tesco’s aim to employ people from disabled or disadvantaged groups. Tesco
offers an interview guarantee to candidates from Remploy, Shaw Trust and Whizz- Kidz – three
organisations that work with disabled people. This guarantee means that where Tesco has a vacancy
and any of these groups has a suitable candidate, he or she must be interviewed. The interview
guarantee does not mean a job offer will be made, but in many cases applicants from these partners
get the job as they are the best candidate