Working for Waterstone's
Recruitment policy
Waterstone's is committed to providing equality of opportunity and to maximising the talents of our people. Our recruitment decisions are made on the basis of qualifications, skills and ability to do the job. This commitment to equal opportunities includes:
The law sets out that our policies must at least ensure that current and potential colleagues are offered the same opportunities regardless of gender, colour, race, religion or belief, national or ethnic origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, part-time or fixed term status. Our stance is that the promotion of equal opportunities is essential and therefore all colleagues should be treated with respect, whether they are specifically protected by legislation or not.
Colleague progression
Waterstone's is committed to nurturing talent and promoting from within, wherever possible. Various internal training programmes are available, as well as assistance to gain professional qualifications where relevant.
For colleagues in Waterstone's stores who wish to progress along the career ladder, fast track training programmes are also provided. Three such schemes are available; Lead Bookseller to Assistant Manager, Assistant Manager to Branch Manager, and Branch Manager to Regional Manager. All are designed to help ease colleagues to the next career phase and provide a network of support of head office colleagues and other course delegates. In 2008/09, 100 people took part in these programmes, with 73% going on to achieve promotions. Waterstone's support centre colleagues attended a variety of workshops, including managing performance, motivation, delegation and influencing skills.
Colleague engagement
The views of everyone in Waterstone's are collected through annual Colleague Opinion Surveys. In addition Waterstone's operates a colleague forum structure, allowing everyone in the Company to have their say on issues that affect or concern them.
Regular performance reviews for all colleagues ensure that our people have clear objectives and targets, covering training and career progression. Colleagues are kept informed about Company issues through a variety of communication channels, including quarterly business updates on DVD, regular publications and e-mail bulletins, the Company Intranet system and attendance at Company conferences.
We know that our booksellers feel passionately about books, and they want to share their enthusiasm and knowledge with customers and with the rest of the company. We can only encourage this, and our booksellers' voices are heard in many ways:
People benefits
At Waterstone's we believe the physical and mental welfare of our colleagues is of the upmost importance. Various schemes and initiatives run to help our booksellers get the most out of their working life:
Day for Good
Day for Good is our scheme that gives everyone who has worked for Waterstone's for at least three months the opportunity to take paid time off to carry out voluntary work. Examples of Day for Good activities include:
Hazel Cleaver and the rest of the Waterstone's IT Solutions Team did their "Day for Good" refurbishing a classroom for Dyslexia Action. And Hazel said: "We had great fun, and although the task initially looked daunting, we worked well as a team and achieved far more than we thought possible. This was an excellent opportunity to do a Day for Good with our chosen charity, and enabled us to work as a team in a completely different environment to normal."
Bookseller's Bursary

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