Training and development

Wesfarmers’ businesses have primary responsibility for training and development of their team members. This includes job-specific and career development training for full-time, part-time and casual team members.

Training programs develop team members’ technical skills, product knowledge, and customer service, teamwork and leadership capabilities. Data and digital skills have been important in recent years as our businesses have evolved. Where possible, we have continued to invest in technology to support flexible working from home and remote training and development, and we have increased training for leaders and team members on wellbeing and mental health.

Wesfarmers partners with each business to develop its executive leaders and connects all general managers with Wesfarmers’ primary objective, values, leadership model and strategic focus areas, through training that promotes collaboration.

The Wesfarmers leadership model supports self-awareness and continual learning, not perfection. We use this model for talent reviews, succession planning and development investment. For the individual leader, the model helps to focus their ongoing development. 

Wesfarmers' key Group leadership development and talent management activities are managed according to the purpose, approach and workstreams. The workstream activities and achievements are outlined below.

WESFARMERS TALENT DIAGRAM

Know

  • Twice yearly divisional succession and talent reviews, focused on leadership teams and critical roles and talent, chaired by the Group Managing Director and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO)
  • Collective Talent Roundtables held annually with the Wesfarmers Leadership Team to deepen understanding of key succession candidates, discuss opportunities for key talent and share insights on emerging talent
  • Aggregate succession planning, calibration and management of successor development
  • Assessment of candidates for selection/promotion into critical roles to add to bench strength

Grow

  • Bespoke assessments and individual development plans for our Top 30 Critical Leaders e.g. Managing Directors, Chief Financial Officers, Chief Operating Officers, Chief Information Officers and Leadership Team members, on a rotational basis
  • Biannual development reviews with each division, chaired by the Group CHRO and attended by divisional HR leaders and GM Leadership and Succession, with a focus on highest impact experience, exposure and education to accelerate critical leader development
  • Facilitating talent mobility across the Wesfarmers divisions
  • Digital insight platform; access to a digital library, curated emails on leadership challenges
  • Bespoke executive well-being assessments

Connect

  • Induction experiences for new general managers, including Wesfarmers induction workshops connecting General Managers to the Group's objectives, values and Leadership Team
  • Biennial leadership conference connecting general managers to Group leaders and each other, the Wesfarmers Way and exploring topics such as data and digital, circular economy, innovation

Include

  • Digital resource library for divisional HR team members to access Group Talent resources for developing and managing talent
  • Best practice sharing through community of practice
  • Access to shared Group memberships to leading diversity and inclusion organisations

In addition to these activities, Wesfarmers’ businesses have primary responsibility to deliver training and development for their team members. The ‘Include’ workstream reflects activities and resources supported by Group Talent. Work done in diversity and inclusion by the businesses is more specifically outlined in the Diversity and Inclusion section.

Building data and digital capability

Building data and digital talent is a key enabler to successfully accelerating the Group’s progress in data and digital capabilities. The focus on building internal talent as well as attracting the best in the market will continue to be a core priority for the Group and its divisions.

In the 2022 financial year, Wesfarmers further developed its digital and data assets by bringing together the Group’s digitally native businesses under the Wesfarmers OneDigital division, which now includes the Advanced Analytics Centre, Catch, and the OnePass membership program. This will provide benefits in the attraction and development of digital talent as well as promote the logical synergies between the Group’s shared data platform, advanced analytics team and subscription capabilities.

Our divisions are developing their own data and digital capabilities to meet the specific needs of their customers. Wesfarmers OneDigital will complement these divisional capabilities. 

 

GRI 103-1, GRI 103-2, GRI 103 -3, GRI 404-2