Schoenen Torfs is Europe's Best place to work

Schoenen Torfs has been voted “Best workplace” with more than 500 employees. For the Belgian shoe store chain this is a step up after four consecutive second places.

“Human and authentic”

CEO Wouter Torfs received the award in Stockholm and stressed how special the award is for the company that is still owned by the founding family: he sees the need for a human and authentic approach grow in the middle of the digital revolution. Schoenen Torfs, founded in 1948, has altered its mission statement into “striving to be an optimistic and surprising retailer”, with core values like entrepreneurship, adaptability, innovation – but also real contact, a family feeling and honest appreciation.

HR manager Els van Keymeulen says Schoenen Torfs, where more than nine of every ten employees is female, is a true “female power company”: “Our core belief is that happy employees lead to happy customers and stimulate everyone to work with their talent and passion.” Every employee gets a day off on his or her birthday, for example.

The Great Place to Work organisation says a ‘Best Workplace’ is about the “level of trust that employees experience in their leaders, the level of pride they have in their jobs, and the extent to which they enjoy their colleagues.” The awards were part of the sixteenth edition of the event. 125 companies from 19 countries were eligible for the award, but it was one of the only five retailers represented who won the award.