Leading accessible health & beauty retailer, Superdrug, has launched a new initiative to encourage team members to Unlearn negative and harmful beliefs, biases, and stereotypes and to celebrate diversity and inclusion within the workplace. Building on the existing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategy, known as Everyone Matters, and born out of the employee networks, Unlearn from Superdrug is all about educating employees on different personal experiences and identities, with the understanding that everyone is unique.
The Unlearn programme will explore several topics and employee experiences throughout the year, including Mental Health, Ramadan, Pride and Black History Month. Each of these will be brought to life through a combination of charity partnerships, staff training and events.
Everyone Matters focuses on six areas: Age, Social Mobility, Disability, Gender Equality, LGBTQ+ and Race & Ethnicity. Each has an employee network, which were consulted on the development of Unlearn to ensure that everyone was being fairly represented. The employee networks are a key part of the business, and These networks create a safe space for communities and members to discuss issues, share experiences, feedback, and provide support.
Amy Davies, people director at AS Watson Health & Beauty UK, said: “We are always learning and listening and our employee networks to help inform and guide us to be better every day. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion remain an important priority for us as a business, but we know that statements aren’t enough, and we will always have work to do. Unlearn is about every one of us taking responsibility for our own learning and education when it comes to different experiences and identities and unlearning the negative biases that exist within our society.
“We want to use Unlearn as a platform to celebrate the diversity and inclusion journey we’ve been on as a business, how far we’ve come together and what can be done next – helping employees to grow, to inspire, to understand and, most importantly, to be themselves.”
Superdrug have also invested in upskilling employees in recent months to help better support team members. In January, Mental Health Awareness training was rolled out to 1,200 colleagues to create a positive and supportive workplace culture, to remove the stigma surrounding mental health conditions and to allow managers to recognise early warning signs. This year, working with the Gender Equality network, the company will provide education, awareness, and training on sexual harassment through a partnership with Our Streets Now, which campaigns to end public sexual harassment against women.
To mark the launch of Unlearn, Superdrug has produced a video, in collaboration with its sister company Savers, featuring employees who tell their own personal stories on diversity and inclusion. To watch the video and to find out more visit https://www.superdrug.com/
