You’re Hired!

16 million customers now shop with Sainsbury’s on a weekly basis, and the company’s success over the past year is in no small part down to getting the basics right — reviewing price, product range, quality and service — and recognising that in the world of the supermarket the tiniest things can have a huge impact.

For no one is an understanding of this key message more important than Sainsbury’s graduate trainees, who are after all the company’s managers of the future. Sainsbury’s provides fantastic fast-track schemes — in Supply Chain, Finance, Customer & Marketing, Human Resources, Information Technology, Product Technology, Product Development, Property, Buying and the Fast Track to Store Manager Programme — and graduates on all of the schemes play vital, hands-on roles in every aspect of the Sainsbury’s operation, as well as gaining singular insight into the great significance of tiny things.

Sainsbury’s introduces graduates to the schemes through an induction week consisting of talks, activities and discussions, and this year CentreStage was asked to help deliver something a little bit different. A fearsome entrepreneur awaited new graduates this year. Dressed in black and armed with an icy glare, it wasn’t Anne Robinson but Dame Alana Sugar — a fictitious iron lady created by CentreStage (also known as actress Jill Williamson!).

Graduates were tasked with designing an innovative biscuit product. Working in teams they had to decide on the name, the cost and profitability. Using information supplied by Dame Alana, they chose preferred suppliers and ingredients, and had to identify and target their core market with an innovative, cost-effective TV advertising campaign (which they had to act out!). And in a final showdown, each team faced probing questions from the lady herself in a bid to be ‘hired’.

Of course, no one’s job was actually on the line, but the activity was successful on many levels. Not only did it serve to inject a great sense of fun into the event, it got graduates to think about every function within the business, not just their own. It raised awareness of how closely linked the functions are and how much each relies on the others to perform.

CentreStage also provides roleplay services for Sainsbury’s graduate recruitment. Visit Sainsbury’s online at www.sainsburys.co.uk.