People

We're committed to increasing diversity and inclusion, creating safe workplaces, and contributing to our local communities.

Our ambition is to ensure an inclusive work environment where people from all backgrounds are given the opportunity to succeed. This involves:

  • Collaborating with public and private actors to help more people enter the workforce.
  • Being an attractive employer through learning and training, value-based trust management, clear communication, and good working conditions.
  • Aiming for full equality in leadership groups and among franchisees and our employees.

Examples of steps we've already taken

Experience and development

Our stores are the first employer for many people, and we're committed to giving everyone a chance to grow and develop. That's why we're especially proud of stories like that of Sabeehi Ul Hassan Khan at Reitan Convenience. He came from Pakistan without knowing Norwegian or anything about the retail industry, yet he became the franchisee for three Narvesen stores in Oslo. In 2023, he was named Sales Leader of the Year by the financial publication E24.

In Sweden, we are passionate about giving newly arrived immigrants the best possible start in working life. We have committed to teaching Swedish through practical work in the service office or stores, and the internships give interns an insight into Swedish work culture and references for their CVs.

Diversity and inclusion

We strive to create an inclusive working life that reflects the diversity of society. Many of our franchisees have taken responsibility for people in their local community by being a door opener for those who have fallen outside of work and education. In 2023, REMA 1000 Denmark received the FINANS IMPACT Social Responsibility Award for the franchisees’ work to include people that are on the fringes of the job market.

In 2023, REMA 1000 Norway received the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise's (NHO) Rings in the Water award, given to companies that have excelled in inclusion. The reasoning was that REMA 1000 sets the standard for tomorrow's working life – a recognition we will continue to live up to.

In Latvia, Reitan Convenience was awarded The Diversity Award 2023 in the Diversity Excellence category. The award is given to companies that have been nominated and publicly assessed by experts in diversity, anti-discrimination, and sustainability.

Collaboration with MOT

Uno-X Mobility and Reitan Convenience have collaborated with the awareness-building organization MOT (meaning "courage") since 2010, and REMA 1000 Denmark entered a MOT collaboration in 2014. Our values meet in our belief in the individual, and together, we work with three core values: courage to live, courage to care, and courage to say no.

Like MOT, we find value in being inspired by role models with good attitudes and values – to build an even better society. We are happy to contribute to MOT's work in developing resilient youths who include everyone.

Culture and leadership

Our management philosophy is value-based trust leadership, which entails building great people who create dynamics through trust. We want value-based leaders and employees, and we have value training and courses at all levels of the organisation. All leaders receive training in RTKO (Recruitment, Training, Communication, and Care), and we are constantly working to develop and strengthen our leadership tools.

Additionally, we have REITAN's Value Academy, our internal leadership training. Here, we will raise awareness, explore, and train on our philosophy and value-based trust leadership. All content in the Value Academy is based on our values and aims to contribute to making us the most value-driven company.

Gender equality

By 2025, we aim to be gender balanced, with at least 40 per cent of each gender in management, among franchisees, and on the boards of all our companies in all countries. To gain a scientific perspective on what may hinder and promote inclusion and diversity, we are conducting a study through the independent research foundation Fafo. The results will be presented in 2024.

In 2023, we also started an extensive effort to map the various job categories and link them to salary data. This will be used to explore the background of wage differences between genders and continue working for equal pay and equal opportunities for everyone.

Developing countries

Since 2016, REMA 1000 Norway has sold "responsibility roses" in all its stores. For every bouquet sold, we contribute to development projects in the community around rose farms in Kenya. We collect about two million Norwegian kroner annually, which goes to projects that make a difference for those employed by the rose producers and for the community.

In 2019, we were also part of opening a school and a health clinic in Kenya, and together with the coffee supplier KAFFA, Kolonihagen has established a coffee fund that gives back to the workers who produce the coffee sold at REMA 1000 in Norway.

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