88% of colleagues agree Specsavers is a great place to work

VANCOUVER, BC, April 24, 2024 /CNW/ - Specsavers was recognized in Canada's Best Workplaces™ List for 2024 by Great Place To Work^®, the global authority on workplace culture. The Company is proud to rank as the highest optical retailer in the medium-sized company category after entering the Canadian market only two years ago. Earlier in April, Specsavers was recognized in the 2024 Canada's Best Workplaces™ for Women List by the same awarding organization. This is the first time Specsavers has participated in Great Place To Work^®.

"We are very proud that Specsavers has been recognized as one of Canada's Best Workplaces™. This significant achievement reflects Specsavers' commitment to putting its people first, which has been foundational to our successful growth in Canada," said Bill Moir, Managing Director, Specsavers Canada. "From day one, we set up our colleagues and partners for success and the results are consistently high customer satisfaction scores and strong customer growth. We're pleased to see our team recognize the impact they make in safeguarding the eye health of Canadians with 90 per cent saying they feel a sense of pride when they look at what they accomplish."

The privately-owned optical retailer entered the Canadian market in November 2021 and has since grown its network to more than 1,200 colleagues and eyecare professionals including more than 200 independent optometrists and 250 opticians. With the fastest growing network of eyecare professionals, Specsavers is on track to care for 1 million Canadians a year by 2025 and locations are averaging more than $1.5 million in revenue during their first twelve months of business.

Specsavers stores are locally co-owned by an Optometry Partner, who is a practicing optometrist, and a Retail Partner, who is an optician or an experienced retail professional. Specsavers comprehensive clinical and retail support allows partners to focus on creating an exceptional environment for their teams, resulting in great customer care.

"The competition to achieve the designation of Best Workplaces™ in Canada is fierce, with over 900 companies competing. The only way to be recognized is to invest in an exceptional employee experience, and have this focus permeate every part of the organization," said Nancy Fonseca, Senior Vice President of Client Services, Great Place To Work^® Canada.

Specsavers teams are empowered to deliver an exceptional customer experience through new clinical and retail equipment, highly competitive customer offers, comprehensive training and a large range of high-quality frames with exciting new eyewear launches throughout the year. Ninety-one per cent of survey participants said that they are proud to tell people that they work at Specsavers.

"Specsavers has always been a company with its people at the heart of the organization. Recognition on Canada's Best Workplaces™ List is an important benchmark for Specsavers but it has also been a wonderful opportunity to listen and learn more about our diverse and fast-growing network of colleagues and partners," said Shiah Bazeley, People Director, Specsavers Canada. "These insights inform future people and development strategies as we empower our network and grow our strong culture."

The 2024 Best Workplaces^™ in Canada list is compiled by the Great Place To Work^® Institute. The competition process to be ranked on this list is employee driven and represents multiple industries and sizes of organizations. List rankings are based on employee feedback, which is analyzed to determine the extent to which this experience is shared by the full workforce. Great Place To Work^® measures the differences in survey responses across demographic groups and roles within each organization to assess both the quality and consistency of the employee experience. The Trust Index^™ employee survey measures the core of what creates great workplaces – key behaviours that drive trust in management, connection with colleagues, and loyalty to the company. Statements are weighted according to their relevance in describing the most important aspects of an equitable workplace.

Specsavers is an optometrist-owned and -led business that entered the Canadian market in late 2021. Canadians have access to comprehensive eye exams at more than 100 independently owned optometric practices located within Specsavers locations in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, with stores set to open in Manitoba in the summer of 2024.  As part of Specsavers' commitment to accessible eyecare, Specsavers equips every location with Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technology. OCT technology helps optometrists to detect sight-threatening conditions in their earliest stages. Specsavers has a range of high-quality eyewear, including over 1,000 frames, lenses and contact lenses starting from $69 for a complete pair of single vision glasses.

Founded in the UK 40 years ago by optometrist husband-and-wife team, Doug and Mary Perkins, there are now more than 2,600 Specsavers healthcare businesses across 11 countries serving over 42 million patients and customers. Specsavers is driven by its purpose of "changing lives through better sight" and aims to transform the way Canadians experience eyecare by offering exceptional service, advanced clinical equipment and affordable and quality eyewear.

Great Place To Work^® is the global authority on high-trust, high-performance workplace cultures. It is a global research and consulting firm with a mission to build a better society by helping companies transform their workplaces. Great Place To Work^® provides the benchmarks, framework, and expertise needed to create, sustain, and recognize outstanding workplace cultures. In Canada, Great Place To Work^® produces both industry and demographic specific Best Workplace™ lists. This is part of the world's largest annual workplace study, which culminates in a series of national lists in over 50 countries, including the study's flagship list of 100 Best Companies published annually in Fortune magazine.

Globally, this survey represents the voices of 11 million employees, which are the primary determinant used in selecting winners. There's only one way to get on this list – your employees have to put you on it.

SOURCE Specsavers Canada