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.
Next
Learn moreThe 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
Learn moreWith 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
Learn moreWe 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
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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.
Global People Leadership Executive
World Wide Amazon Stores, Amazon
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