Andy
Video transcript
My name’s Andy Gissing and I work in the Partners’ counsellors’ office. The Partnership’s counsellors’ office is there to promote the spirit and the ethos of the business, as we expand, it’s there to make sure we maintain what makes the Partnership very different. So it’s there, not only to make sure the ethos of the business remains, but also to improve the democracy of our business, to make sure that every Partner, whatever position they’re in, has a say in the way their business is managed.
I joined the Partnership when I was a student doing my A levels. I had every intent to go to university. I worked at the weekends in a Waitrose branch and absolutely loved it. I liked the way that people were engaged, I liked the way the people were included in everything that was happening, and how the business really did develop people and motivate people and I decided to stay, and after 27 years I haven’t been disappointed.
As one of 69,000 Partners, I feel valued, I feel as if my opinion counts for something and I feel as if I can genuinely make a difference. People do care about me as an individual, they care about the job that I do, the way that I’m developed and that gives me a real sense of pride.
I always say, to be a Partner, you have to be able to do two things. We talk about being a Partner because it’s your business, and it truly is your business, so you have to come in and work as hard as you can every single day. Also it’s about the way that you do that. In the Partnership it’s very important the way that we engage each other. When we talk about powered by our principles, it talks about things like being honest with each other, about recognising others, and it’s those two things I think, that underpin the way the Partnership works. We don’t take a short term view, we don’t have to pay shareholders. What we do is we protect our business, our Partnership, for future generations of Partners.
There’s no question that I feel a sense of pride every day when I come in. Working in an area which really enables people to engage in their business, not just for the benefit of the business but for their own benefit, for them to be developed, gives me sense of pride every day.
