John Lewis Partnership plc annual report and accounts 2012

Business review Resources and relationships (continued)

Partners (continued)

We aim to provide exemplary leadership that empowers Partners to deliver first class customer service in each one of our John Lewis department stores and at home stores, Waitrose supermarkets and convenience stores, online and other retail channels. Our Partners are equipped to do so through their attitude, behaviour and skills, supported by first-class training, learning and development.

Benefits

Our reward strategy aims to provide a Total Reward Package that offers competitive pay and distinctive market leading benefits, such as our non-contributory defined benefit final salary pension scheme for those Partners who stay with us for more than three years. For those in their first three years, a defined contribution scheme is available where we will match Partner contributions up to 6%.

A significant element of Partner reward is the Partnership bonus. This is shared equally as a percentage of annual pay amongst all Partners at all levels up to and including the Chairman. In 2011/12, this was 14% of pay which is equivalent to over 7 weeks pay at a total cost of £165.2m. This is a shared bonus for shared effort.

We also aim to provide opportunities for Partners to have a choice in benefits and leisure activities, recognising the growing diversity of the Partnership.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The Partnership is committed to responsible growth and conducting its day to day business in a responsible manner. The Partnership spirit, its intrinsic values and culture, allow us to balance environmental, social and ethical principles with the sound business practices needed for sustainable commercial success. This, we believe, amounts to a better way of doing business. Find out more about the Partnership Spirit at www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/about/the-partnership- spirit.html.

As the UK’s largest example of worker co-ownership, people come first. All 81,000 of our employees are Partners and they play a crucial part in the Partnership’s continued success. Partners embody the Partnership’s principles of respect, integrity and courtesy – and increasingly they help our business find new and innovative ways to make our operations, products and services more sustainable.

We retained our platinum level status in Business in the Community (BITC) 2012 Corporate Responsibility Index. We also won the CSR and sustainable construction awards at the inaugural People and Environment Business Awards in January 2012.

We remain committed to openly communicating our CSR activity, achievements and challenges. Detailed information is included within our CSR Report which can be found on the Partnership website, www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/csrreports.

Governance and risk

 Effective governance and risk management are essential to ensuring we meet our stakeholders’ needs in the long term. Our CSR governance arrangements are key to driving our CSR programmes forward and to continuing to embed CSR into our everyday business practices.

In order to decide where to focus our efforts we assess and prioritise CSR risks, opportunities and insight by engaging with a wide range of stakeholders. This process enables us to increase our responsiveness to stakeholder concerns, find new ways to reduce our impacts and maximise opportunities, balance business efficiency with economic success and, ultimately, continue to make the Partnership more competitive, profitable and sustainable.

Sustainable retailing

‘The Waitrose way’ and John Lewis’ ‘Bringing Quality to Life’ are the banners our two trading divisions use to share their CSR strategy and commitments with Partners, customers, suppliers, and other key audiences. They allow them to message their distinct and specific CSR propositions and activities while delivering the Partnership’s overarching CSR commitments.

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