We believe motivated and engaged employees are the key to C&A’s success. Our store staff are the ones who create special relationships with our customers. We need to understand what makes employees feel valued and motivated, so that they can play their part in creating great customer experiences and engaging them in the issues that move them.
Many employees – especially those from younger generations – want to feel a sense of purpose from their work. In addition, our 2018 consumer survey shows that globally, ‘treating employees well’ is a reputational strength for C&A and that our performance in this area is perceived to be strong.In 2018, we continued focusing on employee engagement as a key lever for sustainability at C&A and beyond.
Continue to roll out C&A Employee Code of Ethics across our global retail markets.
Ask employees to rate C&A on our contribution on the community, society, and environment via the employee engagement survey.
Engage employees worldwide through the Inspiring World campaign.
Employee engagement remains high
Involving employees in sustainability takes many forms in our four regions, but generally includes information, training, or direct engagement opportunities. The first step, of course, is listening to them.
Inspiring first-year outcomes for Inspiring World
In 2018, we launched our next campaign, Inspiring World, encouraging employees to share their input and stories of a better world, and partnering with C&A Foundation to donate over €1 million to charities chosen by employees. The objective of this campaign is to build C&A employees’ capacity to support our 2020 sustainability goals by engaging them over three years on campaigns aligned with Sustainable Lives, Sustainable Products, and Sustainable Supply. During its first year, the campaign involved:
Although our successful, multi-year campaign Inspiring Women has evolved, we remain committed to improving the situation of women worldwide: in our own company, in our supply network, and in communities around the world. Women are the driving force behind the apparel industry and our brand. Just as the majority of our customers and employees are women, so are most of the people making our clothes. Yet around the world, women have less access to education, earn less money and are more at risk of violence. But it doesn’t have to be this way. When women are educated, healthy and economically empowered, families, and communities can thrive. Through partnerships with C&A Foundation and others, as well as diligent programmes to ensure safe and fair workplaces throughout our supply chain, we are working to lift and empower women throughout the apparel industry.
Who we’re working with
Engaging employees to make sustainability the norm
We want employees to be empowered and motivated to build sustainable practices into their day-to-day roles. We believe in bringing out the best in us all, so that together we can bring out the best in our customers, their families, and their local communities. By engaging employees through our sustainability initiatives, giving back, and assisting in our work on strengthening communities, we can make the most of these opportunities.
Contracts and terms of employment
At C&A, our all employees are provided a contract where the terms and conditions of employment are clearly defined. Each employee has the opportunity to review and understand the implications of thier contracts prior to signing. Our contractual process follows the local labour laws in the countries that we operate and contains important information related to type of employement, working hours/rest breaks, effective dates, benefits provided to the employee, termination conditions, disciplinary actions, notice period, disciplinary actions and the dispute process. Learn more about C&A as an employer here.
Brazil: Engaging employees in #WearTheChange
Making sure store employees are familiar with and excited about #WearTheChange positions them to be sustainability ambassadors with our customers. In Brazil, a multifaceted employee engagement campaign introduced employees to the platform and kept momentum going throughout 2018. Activities included: