Specsavers – Dignity at Work

Enabling a culture of belonging across a global team

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Specsavers is a global enterprise employing around 45,000 people. In every part of the business – from manufacturing to retail teams – there's a commitment to a ‘culture of belonging’. And as in any business, there are also policies around inclusivity and diversity, which enable belonging.
 

Our approach

The Worker Protection Act (2023) places a duty on employers to do what’s reasonable to prevent bullying and harassment. Specsaver’s culture of belonging has created a strong foundation for that, but there was now a need to set out and share something tangible and practical. 
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"Our ambition for ‘Dignity at Work’ goes beyond mere policy. We are dedicated to creating a workplace where we fully embrace ‘belonging’ and are committed to eliminating bullying and harassment. It was important for us to reinforce our core values by developing a learning experience that emphasises why this matters. Collaborating with DESQ was fantastic; they brought the learning to life through engaging animations and regular learner user group insights, ensuring we worked closely throughout the process. This approach supported our team and made the learning experience truly impactful."
 
Jenny Clifford, Global Learning Experience Design Lead at Specsavers
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What we created

We designed a simple 30 minute elearning solution with content chunked into three 10 minute modules, each with clear focus – recognising harassment and bullying, reporting it and the Specsavers response to it.

But there was a need to give the content a hook, and a human heart – we knew that it would cut through more effectively if this was a relatable story of people, not policy. So we fronted each of the three modules with a short animation, telling a story that would bring the content to life.

‘Growing Excellent Managers’ – is M&S’s new approach to nurturing line management skills, centring on people skills, managing a team and showing care. It makes a clear connection between those skills and team morale and performance, customer satisfaction and commercial impact. This project was to be a testbed for encouraging a ‘bigger picture’ approach from line managers across M&S’s operations, and a test of how professional development was delivered, too. 

“Although it was a new approach for us, the animation plays a crucial role in highlighting the importance of preventing harm to our people. By illustrating the real consequences of what might be considered ‘harmless banter,’ we took the right first step in explaining the policies and processes designed to protect everyone here at Specsavers.”  

Barry Davison, Head of Learning & Development at Specsavers

The 90 second animations tell the story of Alex, Taylor and Andre. Taylor’s comments soon become regular ‘banter’, victimising Alex but getting a laugh out of colleagues.
 
Over time, the situation escalates and Alex begins to shrink away from work and life, until Andre witnesses something he can’t ignore and steps in. He shows us how to recognise bullying and harassment, what it means to be an ally and then we move into exploring the experience of reporting it and the response that comes. 

From there, the modules invite reflection, posing provocative questions - ‘should Alex report this?’; ‘is Alex being overly sensitive?’. The content and interactions are designed to blend policy with personal experience and views, inviting learners to think about their own perception, and how they might respond in a whole range of situations.
 
 
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“It was great to work with Specsavers staff to develop content. We interviewed people who had experienced, witnessed and reported incidents, for their firsthand insight. And a working group supported the development, with regular check-ins to test content and approach. So it felt like a joint effort and really helped to keep a balance of policy, and the ‘human’ angle that makes it compelling and engaging.”
 
Heather Ditch, Head of Client and Creative at Desq
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We created two versions of the final module on responding to reports – one for all staff and one for line managers who would have to manage reports and make the first response.

Both are accessible to all, so the process is transparent. We also created a second version of the whole resource branded for Newmedica, part of the Specsavers Group. Dignity at Work will be accessible across Specsaver’s different learning platforms internationally to reach all territories and work settings, including retail, manufacturing and distribution.

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Marks & Spencer

Growing Excellent Managers

A sim-game designed to give line managers ‘time to think’ about their people skills.
 
‘Growing Excellent Managers’ – is M&S’s new approach to nurturing line management skills, centring on people skills, managing a team and showing care.
 
View Case Study