Pros
Waitrose, and as such the John Lewis Partnership, take great care of their employees. Senior management provide great opportunities for employees to express their views with the yearly Partner Survey and the Partner Voice council in each store. The benefits of 12% discount in both Waitrose and John Lewis are great with up to 25% discount for high-margin goods in John Lewis. The annual bonus is a real plus which is calculated as your total pay including overtime. This was 20% in March 2008. There also loads of discounts for leisure activities and subsidy of 50% off music events and theme park tickets up to £60 per year. Good opportunities to progress to in-store management positions.
Cons
Section managers in store change often meaning that whilst one manager may be great at listening to you, the next may not. Management also always seem to have their "favourites", rightly and wrongly. As the company is quite conservative when new ideas and concepts are put forward they are often frowned upon by those in full-time positions and have been with the company for well over 5 years. Also, some people placed on in-store management schemes are clearly not up to the job from the word go. Be prepared to relocate if an in-store management position is what you want. Hourly pay is quite poor.