Retail

A holistic approach to conflict management training and wellbeing support that joins the dots for your team members

retail and hospitality

Retail

Violence against retail and hospitality workers has skyrocketed since the pandemic. 70% of retailers now say it’s the number 1 threat to their business.

All too often we hear that it is now ‘just part of the job’ with businesses assuming their people have the appropriate life experience and communication skills to diffuse and manage conflict. But the reality is…they don’t.

Being threatened or assaulted is not a part of anyone’s job. It’s a serious risk to an employee’s physical health and mental wellbeing. Furthermore, it is leading to serious mental health issues, an increase in stress-related absence and, for a growing number, a decision to leave the retail sector altogether.

We believe many situations of violence and abuse might be avoided completely with a better understanding of how to prevent and manage conflict. We are unique in being able to present a more holistic training package that joins the dots between conflict and wellbeing. Conflict can impact our wellbeing, but our state of wellbeing can also influence our response to conflict.

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The training gave delegates the confidence to recognise some of the symptoms of mental health and a desire to do what we can to help people through periods of mental ill-health.

Lord Simon Wolfson

CEO, Next

AS Watson Group

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With violence and aggression on the rise in retail, Oakwood helped us to give our colleagues the knowledge and tools needed to diffuse a potentially intense situation.

Claire Reeves

Reeves People Development Content & Design Manager, Superdrug / AS Watson Group

Halfords

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We needed a partner that has experience in delivering services to large complex retailers and needed to be confident that the services would deliver the right level of impact across our workforce.

Graham Stapleton

CEO, Halfords

1,300

1,300 incidents of violence or abuse against UK retail workers every day

70%

70% of retailers see violence against their staff as the number 1 threat to their business

65%

65% of staff turnover is driven by poor mental health

1st

Management style is the most common cause for stress at work

50%

Stress, depression, or anxiety accounted for 50% of all work-related ill health cases

Our latest case studies

— Latest projects

Selected case studies

Nike

LKQ Corporation

Amazon

AS Watson Group (Superdrug/Savers)

Colgate-Palmolive

Sainsbury’s

Halfords

A Wellbeing Partnership

Hear what our clients have to say

The training was engaging, accessible, informative, important and mind-broadening. We came away with a much clearer picture of how mental health issues affect people at work. The training helped to dispel the stigma and fear of mental health - giving delegates the confidence to recognise some of the symptoms and a desire to do what we can to help people through periods of mental ill-health.

Lord Simon Wolfson

CEO, Next

I’ve worked with the Oakwood team on multiple projects. It’s a sad fact that violence and aggression is on the rise in the retail sector and AS Watson wanted to be proactive and give our colleagues the knowledge and tools to diffuse a potentially intense situation that could put our teams, colleagues, or visitors at risk.

Claire Reeves

People Development Content & Design Manager, Superdrug / AS Watson Group

Oakwood have completed many sessions for us since engaging with them in 2019. All course delegates praise the trainers for their professionalism, experience, and informative style; making the course easy to digest and changing their outlook on mental health. They have commenced some conflict management training, which we know will be delivered to the same standard.

Tommy Kelly

Group Health and Safety Manager, Matalan

The Oakwood team offer amazing support and guidance when needed. Oakwood were the expert friend that helped us springboard to where we are today, introducing wellbeing champions, Mental Health awareness modules, resilience content and listening groups. We have seen much stronger engagement in wellbeing content specifically and expect that to continue to grow.

Chris Britton

Head of Learning and Development, Carpetright

We were seeking a training partner with experience in delivering services to large complex retailers and one able to deliver the right level of impact across our workforce. We see great potential in using Oakwood’s services to enhance the wellbeing and care of our colleagues; making them feel more confident and able to raise issues they have in the workplace.

Graham Stapleton

CEO, Halfords

We had an amazing meeting with the Oakwood consultancy team exploring all things wellbeing and working through our wellbeing focus and strategy for the future. We are looking forward to working more deeply with the Oakwood team, commencing with a set of wellbeing events for our leadership team and managers.

Caroline Cording

Group HR Director Mamas and Papas

An exceptional applause and thank you to Terry and the Oakwood team for delivering meaningful training around wellbeing. I highly recommend Oakwood Training to my business colleagues looking to engage.