Performance Management in John Lewis Partnership - Case Study Example

DEVELOPING STAFF Name Institution Course Date Introduction “John Lewis Partnership (JLP) is one of the UK’s top ten retail company with 27 John Lewis branch stores in addition to over 166 Waitrose stores, the up-market supermarket possessed by the joint venture, in Great Britain” (Torrington et al. 2009. 12). The earliest store was opened in Oxford Street London in 1864 with the first branch of the Waitrose chain opening in 1904. John Lewis Partnership is also the biggest example of worker co-ownership in Great Britain. All 63,000 permanent employees are partners in the company; they share in the proceeds and shape the company’s growth. It is the loyalty of the employees as partners to the company that offers a distinct source of competitive advantage that has stimulated 85 years of beneficial development as well as a reputation among clients and suppliers beyond compare in the UK retail business. John Lewis Partnership is distinguished from other businesses by its legal form. It is a business guided by a constitution; it is a business that is not dictated to by the whims of investor proceeds. On the contrary, it is founded on a series of values, of which the contentment of its members is writ large as the “supreme purpose” of the Partnership in its constitution (Baker, 2000). The John Lewis Partnership contributes to the society where it has department stores through several ways, such as promoting links with schools, institutions, local authorities as well as charities. The development of both local and global links comprise of partner volunteer work, charitable donations, and client panels among others (Bradley et al. 1990). Theories and issues related to learning and development The majority of people directly engaged in training and development lie within the business divisions and are reasonably independent in what they do. The line managers play a significant role as facilitators and providers of learning. Some of the type of training offered are off-the-job, classroom-based activities, on-the-job and one-to-one training. The line managers normally train through mentorship. The lie managers are responsible for more than half of the discussions with employees on the effectiveness of training that takes place. It is therefore of great importance that the lie managers are equipped with the necessary skills and are committed to support learning and development (Blumberg, 1968). Across the organization, training programmes are normally advertised especially in public areas or in intranets. It is usually the decision of the employees to either attend or not attend the training. Those who do not go say that the course offered is not relevant with what they are doing. The business is currently facing a number of challenges while trying to move forward. John Lewis has in the past recruited able people, but there is a lack of commercial knowledge as well as orientation in several workforce groups. This has been contributed by the organization looking inward over its history of Partnership and feeling that there is little or no new knowledge that they can learn from other organizations. There are also many gaps in the process of learning for both individuals and groups in the organization. The gaps normally remain the learning of employees and their behaviour or practice. Sharing of profit and rewards The annual distribution of profits referred to as the Partnership Bonus, has risen to an average of 15% of salary for the last twenty years. Since the shares are owned by a trust and not individual partners, member do not contribute equally or democratically control the capital. Rather, partners receive a share in profits as long as they are employed by the organization, and that share is calculated as a percentage of salary. Therefore, employees receiving higher pay receive more profits than those receiving lower salaries. Formal structures for development and performance management in John Lewis Partnership The structure of John Lewis Partnership was instituted by pioneering businessman John Spedan Lewis whose father was the founder of the business in 1864. He relinquished his rights of ownership in 1929 to permit future generations of workers to take forward his “experiment in industrial democracy”. His ideas, which aim at establishing a “better form of business”, are outlined in the constitution of the company. All of the company’s permanent staff are partners and they ultimately possess the retailer’s 35 department stores as well as the 272 Waitrose supermarkets, which create yearly sale of over £8bn. The company ensures that the partners share in the profits and benefits of a business that puts them first. The structure of the company gives that management team the liberty to be entrepreneurial as well as competitive in the manner by which they operate the business, and at the same time giving Partners the privileges and responsibilities of ownership through active participation in the business. All the Partners have a significant impact on what the company does, including assisting to shape, run and deliver the company’s sustainability goals (Bradley, and Estrin, 1986). All the permanent partners control the operations of the Partnership and have and equal share in the profits of the business. The business follows the principle of co-ownership where the partners give their opinions and views in several ways together with the annual Partner survey, which is anonymous. The Survey has a number of questions on various subjects including pay, job satisfaction, career development, their branch, management, the democratic bodies as well as the partnership as a business. The responses to these questions are processed by external company. The structure of the organization The structure of John Lewis Partnership combines business capability with a lawfully mandated obligation to co-ownership and principled structures, as well as a culture of participation and lucidity by the staff. The partnership utilizes a mixture of a trust system and corporate structures to institute a fine and skilfully balanced control system to bring together business effectiveness in the market with democratic participation along with monetary profit for employee-owners (Armstrong, 2006). The business is a mutual affiliation amongst the employee-co-owners, in the officially permitted form of companies controlled by trustees bound by trust obligations. The voting rights make sure that a majority of votes on vital judgments are held by trustees who are bound to put into effect their votes in quest of the trust goals as well as the preservation of the partnership constitution. The “key top level governing bodies are the partnership council, the partnership board and the chairman” (Foot & Hook 2005). At least 80 per cent of the council members are elected by the secret ballot after every three years by the worker partners, all of whom have the right to elect or to be voted for. The remaining members of the council are appointed by the chairman. These appointees are often the ones holding senior positions such as directors of company secretaries. These appointees are there to offer the council with specialist knowledge in addition to providing full participation by senior management (Bradley, and Estrin, 1986).  The structure of John Lewis Partnership Ltd. The Partnership Council (GA) The Partnership Board (operates in accordance with matters reserved for the Board) (MG) The Chairman (MG)   With governance and assurance from Partnership Board Committees (GA): - Audit and Risk Committee - Remuneration Committee - Chairman's Nominations Committee - Corporate Responsibility Committee delegate to... Partners Counsellor (GA) Managing Director Waitrose (MG) Manging Director John Lewis (MG) Finance Director (MG) Group Development Director (MG) Director of Personnel (MG) delegate to...   Waitrose Management Board (MG) John Lewis Management Board (MG)   Partnership Services Management Board (MG)   Internal Audit and Risk Management (GA) Provides assurance to the Board through the Audit and Risk Committee on the Partnership's risk management and controls, and the integrity of the Annual Report and Accounts MG = Management and Governance responsibilities  GA = Governance and assurance body As can be seen from the diagram above, the structure of this company is triangulation. This structure demonstrates the utilization of the trust system and also signifies a complicated set of organs which have detached responsibilities of democratic representation along with business administration but which bond together both at the apex (in the partnership board and chairman responsibility) and at divisional level with the divisional councils (Torrington et al. 2009). Steps in recruitment, selection and retention process of employees in John Lewis Partnership John Lewis partnership’s human resource planning starts with its strategic plan, which comprises of opening a new store or reducing operational costs. The partnership board constitutes objectives together with strategic goals as well as its role of HR to plan an effective strategy in process of selection and staffing, organizational development, training in addition to development of workers to accomplish the objectives of the organization. John Lewis partnership is devoted to offering equal chances for those applying for or in employment, in spite of individual diversity like ethnic origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, disability as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, beliefs, religion or social background. Staffing is principally the responsibility of the section manager personnel acting on behalf of the branch manager. The branch manager can occasionally take part in recruitment process so as to ensure that it is being performed effectively. The business works hard to ensure that there is no discrimination during the process of recruitment. Any form of discrimination is dealt with in line with the partnership’s “fair Treatment Policy” (Addison et al. 2000). Recruitment process at John Lewis Partnership There are two main ways of conducting recruitment for external applicants. The first one is the website of the organization (www.jlpjobs.com) which is an E-recruitment process which offers the candidates an application centre which assists in modifying and checking the status of their application as well as selection of more suitable jobs and applying. The selected applicants are the notified by the section manager personnel to book an interview at their convenience. The other way is a jobcentre plus that provides various services and support to the business and it is an essential part of the staffing plan. John Lewis partnership maximizes their scope of possible applicants by making sure that all local vacancies are posted with jobcentre plus (Bradley, and Estrin, 1988). So as not to lose the applicants by delaying their response to other organizations their application are processed as rapidly and competently as possible. The applications received are normally acknowledged within seven days of receipt, by email, telephone or an acknowledgement letter to inform the applicant that the branch will contact him/her at a particular future date. The system normally has a range of standard letters and emails to select from to suit each and every applicant. There are three options that can be used in the recruitment process: “online recruitment system to promote the vacancy to the widest possible audience; encourage partners in the branch to recommend friends and relatives; and offer work experience provision to promote John Lewis partnership as a future employer for younger students” (Ackers et al. 2004, 63). Selection process in John Lewis Partnership The recruitment tools that are used to pick the suitable candidates are the job centre applicants as well as the applications received online. The shortlisted candidates are called for an interview where they have to go through a number of tests which comprise of group talks in addition to printed assessments to demonstrate their expertise. Once the suitable candidates are selected, appointment letters are sent to them as the last stage of selection. The appointment letter also includes the an invitation to attend an induction programme as well as clear information on health and safety as it is required by the law. The terms and conditions of employment are as well explained in the appointment letter. The principles followed during the selection process are: “selection of candidates should take into account only an individual ability, performance and potential and; all permanent engagements are subject to satisfactory references and medical clearance” (Ackers et al. 2006 80). The organizational culture of John Lewis Partnership When John Spedan Lewis founded the Partnership in 1920, he set the business to be operated in Constitution, a set of company principles and standards that rule and direct the business. Since it started, the partnership has developed a strong and unique culture founded on the business’s democratic structure and principles. JLP culture strengthens the respect in which their business is held, the faith the clients put in corporation as well as the organization’s reputation within local neighbourhoods. The culture of the partnership is powered by their principles and describes the expected conduct from each and every partner. There are six main elements of partnership behaviour that together form the culture which is powered by the partnership’s principles: “be honest, give respect, recognize others, show enterprise, work together, and achieve more” (Ackers, and Wilkinson, 2003, 210). How the structure and development impact the culture of John Lewis partnership The culture of JLP has huge impact on the recruitment and retention of partners. Being effective in setting and monitoring targets also plays a major role in being successful in raising the recruitment and retention of employees. The main objective of the partnership is to provide secure employment to its employees, and will thus offer all assistance available to any partner who has problems at work (Bacon, 2006). The Partnership’s plan is to employ only the candidates who share its principles and will contribute to its success. All the partnership contracts of employment have a notice period of less than 12 months, with an exception of when the partnership board agrees otherwise. The Partnership does not discriminate disabled person but rather employs them in suitable positions and offers them the necessary training and careers. A partner’s performance appraisal is done by his manager once every year. John Lewis Partnership runs a non-contributory final salary scheme, whereby it contributes about 10 percent of a partner’s salary per month to the pension. Unlike with other companies, this plan is open to all new members and is a strong contributing factor to recruitment and retention of workers (Ackers, 2001). Conclusion This paper discusses the significance of HR plan in John Lewis partnership supporting its strategic goals in addition to attaining the objectives laid down by the company. The paper also gives the structure of the company’s framework on employment of workers and the impact it has on organization culture. Human resource management in John Lewis Partnership mainly focuses on strategic goals of the company in addition to taking the required measures to offer its partners the benefits, rewards, and appraisal. It also monitors the performance of employees and takes the necessary measures if the terms and conditions of the contract are breached. 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