weight: 400;">The first local initiative is the launch of ‘
Bullying. So Not OK’, a campaign in conjunction with Headspace and the Telethon Kids Institute to offer education and support around bullying in the form of a resource kit, which is now available at schools across the country. One hundred thousand booklets are also being distributed in Supre stores from next week onwards.
“Supre talks to girls from 13 years of age upwards and 98 per cent of our team is female. We are connected to girls, we are surrounded by girls and we have a deep commitment to supporting girls,” said Elle Roseby, general manager at Supre. “If we can help even one girl, providing her with the support to deal effectively with bullying behaviour, then we’re on our way to achieving our vision.”
In addition to tackling bullying and mental health, the Supre Foundation will work with the Graeme Dingle Foundation in New Zealand to deliver a program called Kiwi Can to four schools in Papakura, aimed at helping kids build their resilience, confidence and life skills.
The Supre Foundation will also work with Dignity Dreams to deliver 1,500 sanitary packs to young girls in South Africa.
“Millions of girls don’t have access to sanitary wear and often miss out on school and work as a result. The work of Dignity Dreams means they can keep going to school, to work and ultimately continue to learn,” said Roseby.
More than just lip service
Corporate social responsibility is a hot topic for many businesses at the moment, but at the Cotton On Group, the parent company of Supre, support and awareness around mental health extends to its staff, as well as customers.
“For me, businesses today have the responsibility to be role models and change makers. We have that influence and it’s just the right thing to do. I think everything you do has to fall under the value of integrity and what’s right and what’s fair,” said Roseby.
“It can’t sit outside the business – it has to sit within the business and it needs to be at the heart it – it’s why we do things and why we’re changing things.”
At the Cotton On Group, staff have free confidential access to an independent counselling service through the business’ employee assistance program for staff and their friends and family, Roseby said. The company also employs a dedicated HR resource who is trained in mental health and whose sole purpose is to offer her help to employees.
In addition, Supre has recently rolled out bullying training for 130 store managers around the world, focusing on education and awareness of bullying both in and out of the workplace. The training offered managers strategies around dealing with staff who were suffering from bullying and how to support them in the best way possible.
According to research, millennials in particular are attracted to businesses that have a social conscience – both as employees and customers. Figures from a Deloitte report on millennials last year showed that 56 per cent said their organisation’s purpose was part of the reason why they chose to work there.
“I always ask people who have joined the business, ‘Why did you come to join us?’ And resoundingly, the answer is often: ‘Because I believe in what you’re doing. I support it and if I can be doing something about it, then that matters to me’,” said Roseby.
“You can attract staff to your business because of what you stand for, what you’re doing and how you behave. If you’re living and breathing what your business stands for, they want to be part of what you’re doing.”
Elle Roseby will be speaking at Inside Retail Live, which begins tomorrow!
