Waitrose was initially launched as a supermarket in 1904, under Waite, Rose & Taylor, which later became popular as Waitrose. The John Lewis Partnership formally acquired the group in 1937. As it is known today, it has 332 shops across the UK, which includes 65 small Waitrose convenience shops.
Waitrose, an upmarket grocery store reputation, is one of the official grocery, wine, and spirits suppliers to Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles.
One of the key principles that Waitrose has worked on since its commencement is treating every staff member as a partner and co-owner. It is one of the first companies to have a written constitution that governs its business and relationship with customers, associates, and employees.
The Waitrose mission is to put its team members and their satisfaction first; it will achieve its basic business premise of providing customers with the highest quality products and service levels.
The vision of its founder, John Lewis “To be a successful business that its people and principles power”, shows the level of trust and confidence he had in his people and the business principles he followed.
Waitrose has a set of five values that its partners have created for the partners. These five values lay out the expectations from every partner and how the organization will help them be successful.
The company has chartered a strong growth path for the days ahead. In 2020 the company launched a five-year plan to grow the business and achieve a profit of 400 million pounds by the end of the fifth year. It will also be a major effort to cut on wastage and achieve net-zero carbon status.
Waitrose has laid down a well-thought-out mission statement and considers it one of the company’s most important guiding principles.
The mission statement states, “The happiness of all its members, through their worthwhile and satisfying employment in a successful business. Because the Partnership is owned in trust for its members, they share the responsibilities of ownership as well as its rewards – profit, knowledge and power.”
By emphasizing the relationship between a company, its employees, and customers, Waitrose focuses on achieving the best and highest customer satisfaction levels. A detailed breakup of the statement helps us understand the principles and meaning behind the mission statement.
Ensuring the happiness of all: Waitrose believes in ensuring the happiness of all its team members through gainful employment. It wants to give them equal opportunities to succeed while also helping the business grow and succeed.
Profit, knowledge, and power: The John Lewis business model gives employees part-ownership and profit share that enhances work efficiency. In other words, every employee is entitled to a share of the profits as a co-owner, based on his work and performance. The organization’s sole objective is to extend premium services to all while ensuring the complete satisfaction of the people who work with Waitrose.
Waitrose also believes in giving them the freedom and power they need to help the business grow and make it a success so that they too can benefit from it.
Waitrose Vision Statement
The vision statement of Waitrose “ To be a successful business powered by its people and its principles defines our unique company today. All our Partners share the profits and benefits created by our success.” It highlights the deep thinking and philosophy of its founders when they launched the business. A detailed analysis of this statement offers us a better insight into it.
To be a successful business: This shows Waitrose’s ambition and desire to be a successful business in the fields it operates and services it provides, with the help of its team.
High principles: Waitrose believes in the power of its people and their ability to make the business successful against all odds. At the same time, it shows confidence in its principles and business ethics that it has developed over time to help it remain competitive and grow successfully.
Culture of diversity & inclusion- The company envisions creating a workplace where people from different cultures are welcomed and embraced. It helps the company understand the diverse needs, thereby guaranteeing the happiness of its clients and partners.
Environmental sustainability- Waitrose has always emphasized following ethical practices. From having the best products, to ensures lesser waste and create minimal environmental impact.
The Waitrose vision applies to the company even today. It achieves successful growth in all the markets it is present in, with the profits and benefits being shared with all the employees, i.e. co-partners in the company.
Waitrose Core Values
Waitrose believes that every employee of the company is its co-owner, and as such, needs to work together with others to provide the highest customer satisfaction level. To guide its partners on their business journey, it has created a set of five values that it expects each and everyone to follow diligently.
The five values developed by the partners also reinforce Waitrose’s commitment to help its partners grow and be successful along with it, no matter which business product or service they are associated with.
The five core values of Waitrose are:
Do right: Every partner is expected to do the right thing with complete integrity and honesty, whether towards a customer or another partner, no matter the circumstances.
All or Nothing: Every partner shall put in his best efforts, no matter how small the task may seem or be.
Give more than you take: All partners shall work towards the greater good and ensure they do not put in lesser efforts than required to ensure maximum gains for everybody.
Be Yourself. Always: All partners shall be free to make their own choices and work practices, as long as the results are the best for the organization.
We not me: Teamwork is the essence of all the work that partners do at Waitrose. Teamwork is appreciated and expected from all the partners.
Conclusion
Waitrose is a successful company today because of the strong business values and vision of its founders. The company expects to take forward Waitrose mission and vision of providing all its partners equal work opportunities and responsibility while also sharing its success.
