Our employees
The spirit of H&M has existed at H&M ever since the days of the founder, Erling Persson. It means that we believe in individuals and in our colleagues’ ability to use their common sense to take responsibility and use their initiative. H&M’s competent and committed colleagues are one of the major reasons why H&M has succeeded in growing with good profitability for such a long period.
At the financial year-end 2007, H&M employed about 68,000 people. Converted into full-time positions the number was 47,029, 80 percent of whom were female. Of those in positions of responsibility within the company, such as store managers and country managers, 76 percent were female.
If H&M is to continue its expansion, it is essential that the colleagues want to develop and grow along with the company. It is therefore very important that H&M is and continues to be an attractive employer, since many staff will need to be recruited in the period ahead.
Colleagues must have opportunity to grow with the company
An important ingredient in creating an attractive work-place is that the staff can develop with the company. We believe in individuals and in our colleagues’ ability to use their common sense to take responsibility and take initiatives. We call this the spirit of H&M. To encourage individual development among colleagues, H&M also provides internal training – generally with the emphasis on learning on the job.
Like H&M’s concept, this approach has proved to work all around the world. Everywhere we find capable colleagues with a sense of commitment and a desire to improve the business.
Varied duties – at home and abroad
Job rotation is a good way for colleagues to develop, thereby developing the company. In a store, job rotation may mean that a person’s duties vary from customer service, the cash-desk, fitting rooms and unpacking to display and follow-up of advertising and campaigns.
When we open stores in new markets job rotation may involve colleagues from established H&M countries supporting a store manager and store colleagues on site for the intensive period that precedes a store opening. One example of this is the establishment of H&M’s first stores in Hong Kong and Shanghai. Here the new employees were supported by more than 100 store colleagues, store managers, builders, decorators and others from eight different established H&M countries. The management team received special training in the Netherlands for three intensive months before the openings.
Internal recruitment for positions of responsibility
The openings in Hong Kong and Shanghai are good examples of how H&M succeeds in transferring its knowledge and culture, which is particularly important when moving into new countries. Having more varied duties gives colleagues a greater understanding of how H&M’s approach is put into practice in different parts of the business. It also gives us an opportunity to discover new talent for management and specialist functions within the company.
At present, the majority of those in managerial positions were recruited from within H&M.
Improvement through cooperation
H&M has grown substantially for many years and has never employed more people than now. This, together with the fact that these colleagues are spread all over the world, leads to greater requirements of H&M as an employer. To meet these new demands we are working hard on preparing our global policies on diversity and equality and against discrimination. H&M aims to be a good employer even in countries where laws and regulations do not live up to H&M’s requirements. The entire business must be characterised by a fundamental respect for the individual, which applies to everything from fair pay, reasonable working hours and freedom of association to the opportunity to grow and develop within the company.
H&M has found open and constructive dialogue with trade unions a positive experience and we welcome such relations wherever we operate. Such cooperations are essential if we are to improve still further. Examples of cooperation on staff issues include our agreement with UNI (Union Network International) and the work that we carry out with the European Works Council.
Read more about working at H&M and find available positions under Working at H&M.