Our People

Staff training and development

We are committed to staff development – giving all our employees both the skills to do their jobs and opportunities to develop their careers at Tesco. Our training programmes cover everyone from general assistants to senior directors.

Providing promotional opportunities for our staff is a key business priority. Our Options scheme is our development programme for those identified with the potential to do a bigger or different job. The programme is available for all employees. In any given year we have an average of 700 people, of all ages and backgrounds, participating in our development programmes.

Encouraging women employees to work towards management roles is another training priority, and 17% of our store management are women.

We are also looking at job-share opportunities to encourage women with families to stay on in management and other positions.

School Leaver Programme

This programme is aimed at young people who have completed their Leaving Cert within the last two years and who wish to pursue a career in retail management.

Candidates join the programme as full-time employees of Tesco Ireland and can work towards a management position within six months.

The programme is open to both existing staff and external applicants, and 73% of our current group have been recruited from within Tesco Ireland.

Graduate training programme

We launched our Graduate Training Programme two years ago, and since then have added specific modules in retail, distribution, finance, and personnel.

We currently have 16 graduates in our head office and another 10 graduates working towards becoming senior managers in retail and distribution.

Case study: FÁS/Tesco Accreditation Programme

We aim to provide a great place to work and develop staff at every level. However, we found there was a considerable gap within the Irish retail industry for a comprehensive retail training scheme, leading to recognised award and accreditation. Last year we partnered with FÁS to develop a national training programme that would offer our staff access to certified training. Two programmes, the Certificate and Advanced Certificate in Retail, were subsequently developed and FETAC-accredited. The programme has now been launched nationally, with any person working for any retailer in the country now able to participate. The Level 4 Certificate in Retail Skills is aimed at general assistants. The Level 6 Advanced Certificate in Retail Skills is for existing managers, chargehands, team managers and other staff with management ambitions. On completion, trainees receive a national FETAC Award, at either Certificate or Advanced Certificate level. The provision of these awards helps us develop talent for the future and also helps to attract and recruit.