Careers & Development Manager

Careers & Development Manager

Responsible for our High Street & Travel Stores and Online Brands
London based with regular visits to our Swindon & Bristol offices
Our colleagues are at the heart of our business and are critical to our customers’ experiences and perceptions of WHSmith. We are committed to being an inclusive employer where everyone is treated fairly and respectfully. We want to attract, motivate, and retain the best people to deliver great customer service and help our business grow.
At WHSmith, we create opportunities for people to reach their potential. Value our people, customer focus, accountability, and drive for results are integral to the business.
The Careers & Development Manager for our High Street & Travel Stores and Online Brands has the opportunity in this role to identify and build the capabilities and skills for the future and career pathways and development where our employees can thrive. Moving to an agile internal talent marketplace is designed with the employee experience and needs at its heart.
This role requires a proactive and highly competent individual who can operate in a fast-paced environment, add value, and wants a career in the Careers & Development specialism.
Primary Responsibilities
Reporting to the Group Head of Careers & Development and supporting the People Directors, you will, from day one, hit the ground running as the Careers & Development Manager for:

Careers

• Optimising Performance
• Contribute to evolving our performance practices and processes to align better with our company goals, capabilities, behavioural indicators, purpose, values, and culture.
• Analyse data from the performance module of the dayforce system to provide regular reports for stakeholders on progress, risks, and opportunities for goals, personal development plans, and continuous conversations

• Assessing Potential
• Measures to ensure that succession, talent pipelines, talent pools, and career planning are inclusive and free of bias
• Driving succession plans for all leadership roles and advising the risks, including the risk of leaving/impacting the business
• Regularly review with Senior Leaders and HR Leaders that the roles of succession planning and talent pools are still relevant and required by the business
• Maximise utilisation of Succession module in Dayforce HRIS
• Career Pathways
• Develop People Managers to have regular career and development conversations with their team members
• Working with stakeholders to create career pathways including carefully designed development steps—including pieces like professional qualification or certification, people and leadership skills, digital development plan, coaching capability, and secondments in preparation for their next role and/or where there is an increasing demand in the business
• Collaborate with Recruitment team to review workforce planning and internal marketplace capabilities and skills required
• HR Tech
• Analyse the data for the Performance, Succession, and Learning modules in the Dayforce system to provide stakeholders with a quarterly report including risks and recommendations for improvement.
• Development
• Team lead for inductions at all levels including design, delivery and employee experience
• Working with stakeholders and people strategy, identify the development required to increase capabilities and skills, and solutions to any risks
• Team lead for the standards for the retail employees development at all levels
• Design and delivery of strategically required development for the High Street and Travel Stores; collaborating with Careers & Development International Partner to ensure consistency across the divisions
• Design and delivery of development required for our online brands
• Digital Learning Plan
• Working with the Careers & Development team to assess and build individual digital development plans for new starters, required (mandatory), DEI, Wellbeing, ESG, role
• Analyse data quarterly to understand themes, trends, and risks and advise relevant stakeholders accordingly

Professional Qualifications & Certifications

• Together with stakeholders, assess the professional qualifications or certifications required to increase capabilities.
• Feed this data to the Early Careers Managers so that they can utilise the Apprentice Levy for funding the identified qualifications or certifications requested for an individual
• Leadership Development Contribution to the analysis for the design of leadership development
• Contribution to the programme management of leadership development programmes
• Coaching Culture Contributing to the promotion of the benefits to the individual, team, function, and WHSmith of a coaching culture
• •Developing People Managers' coaching capability, including career conversations, feedback/feedforward
• Values in Action Promote and embed the WHSmith values in action in all processes, procedures, communication, performance, potential, and programme design
• DEI and Wellbeing Support and provide feedback for the DEI and Wellbeing teams. Ensure that neurodiversity is considered and included in aspects of deliverables

Essential Qualifications / Experience

• Business international level of English - both written and oral
• Proven experience in a similar role in either retail or FMCG industry, providing support to multi-site locations and stakeholders, leadership development and coaching
• Demonstrable experience in development course/programme design and delivery
• Coaching certification or qualification preferred.

Applications from current residents in the following city will be considered:
London based with regular visits to Swindon and Bristol
Disclaimer: When applying for this role, please ensure you are legally eligible to work/live in your location. Visa sponsorship or relocation costs are not provided.