John Lewis staff will receive a bonus worth 15% of their salaries – which is up 2% on the previous year.
At the employee-owned businesses, all the 70,000 staff will share in the £151.3m bonus pot, with payments amounting to about eight weeks’ salary for each employee.
The employee partnership model at John Lewis means profits go to staff in the form of bonuses rather than going to shareholders.
The bonuses follow a 9.7% rise in pre-tax profits to £306.6m for the year to 30 January, the BBC has reported.
Charlie Mayfield, the chairman of John Lewis, said: “Today’s results reflect the collective hard work of our partners [employees].”
He added that the John Lewis co-ownership model “while not a universal panacea, clearly underpins the partnership’s performance”.
Meanwhile IT giant Cisco has published its own research into the link between employee engagement and customer services.
David Critchley, head of SME and commercial for Cisco UK and Ireland, said John Lewis’ business model would have helped to attract and retain the best staff, boosting customer service.
He said: “Being able to attract and retain the best staff is absolutely essential for businesses looking to keep customers and boost their bottom line.
“Our research has shown that the quality of employees is crucial, with 67% of businesses identifying it as vital to business success. It is therefore no surprise to see a company reaping the benefits of putting employees at the centre of their customer service strategy. We are likely to see more businesses following the example set by John Lewis as British businesses emerge from the recession.”
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