In praise of John Lewis
A very good friend of mine works for the John Lewis Partnership at their head office in London and we meet regularly for lunch or dinner and a chat. Last night, we had dinner together. Earlier that day, John Lewis had announced that every one of their 70,000 partners (that is, staff) is to receive a bonus for the past year of 15%. For my friend, that means around £10,000 – so I let him pay for the meal.
In percentage terms, every member of staff in the company from the Managing Director down receives the same bonus. Meanwhile banks are awarding their senior managers millions in bonuses when the same banks almost brought down the economy and had to be bailed out by the taxpayer. Meanwhile many public sector workers are facing a pay freeze, let alone a bonus for their hard work.
In such an unjust world , the John Lewis Partnership stands out as a model of equity and fairness that treats its staff and its customers with dignity.