Page 14


13,000

New Partners invited to complete our Partner Survey for the first time in 2010


(Photo of Charlie Mayfield)

Charlie Mayfield

Chairman, John Lewis Partnership

"The Partner Survey is key to understanding how it feels to be a Partner. Every Partner’s view is important. I feel sure the survey will continue to give us a clear guide for how we can make this experience even better in the future."


PARTNER ENGAGEMENT

To be a truly democratic business, we share the details of all our major business decisions with Partners. We hold AGMs, produce a range of online and printed publications, including our Partnership magazine the Gazette, and hold regular roadshows and presentations. We also conduct an annual survey (see below).

Our democratic network of elected councils, committees and forums gives Partners a real say in our decision-making processes, and allows them to challenge management on performance. These bodies include our Partnership Council, which has recently discussed managing change, the Partnership’s 2009/10 results, the impact of the recession, the Partnership’s commercial future and what it feels like to be a Partner. Three specialist groups focused on the Partner, Customer and Profit areas of our Partnership business model, as well as a fourth covering Co-ownership, update the Council on their work at council meetings (see diagram).

Partner Survey

Our sixth annual Partner Survey in 2009 gathered the views of more than 60,000 Partners (90% of our workforce) on a range of issues, from pay and working hours to personal development and job satisfaction.

The latest survey was conducted in May 2010, and featured a new-look questionnaire with fewer questions but a keener focus on what matters most to Partners. The revised survey was developed in conjunction with Partners at focus groups across the Partnership, and grouped under the three commitments of our Partner Strategy (see page 11), allowing us to measure how we are delivering a positive Partner experience against these aspirations.

For the first time, we used the percentage of Partners who either agreed or strongly agreed to each question to benchmark our results against those of other companies. The results for the Partnership overall mean that 15 questions – including ‘I would recommend the Partnership as a great place to work’ – scored in the top 25%. Five questions scored in the top 25–50% and eight questions were in the bottom 50%. The results indicate that there are some areas where our Partner experience is meeting and exceeding expectations but there are also clear challenges where we need to improve. Discussions about the survey results have started across the business and Partnership Council will discuss the results to help to determine the Partner priorities for the coming year.


Partnership Council specialist groups

CUSTOMER

The purpose of the Customer group is to work with the divisional Managing Directors to gain an understanding of their customer strategies

PARTNER

The purpose of the Partner group is to work principally with the Director of Personnel to gain an understanding of the Partner Strategy.

PROFIT

The purpose of the Profit group is to work with the Finance Director to gain an understanding of the Partnership’s financial strategy.

CO-OWNERSHIP

The two main purposes of the Co-ownership group are to work with the Partners’ Counsellor on the strategic priority of revitalising the Partnership’s democratic character and to oversee and organise the work of the Council so that it can best fulfil its responsibilities as a governing authority of the Partnership. This involves working with each of the other three specialist groups.