Businesses Better off in Employees Hands?
Many of us know John Lewis as a reliable, friendly and respectable retail shop. It is known to be a customer favourite and is a store that has not only survived the credit crunch, but even when some of its rivals have gone bust it seems to be thriving.
How is this possible? Some people believe this is due to John Lewis’ policy of giving all its employees a certain stake in the company’s ownership. There are currently 75,000 partners in the ownership and each employee has a joint ownership, with a partial say over how the company is run.
But what compelled the company to work this way? Because all employees have a vested interest in the company and its continued success, it is generally believed that enthusiasm and morale throughout the company is very high and consistently remains as such.
Other companies have looked at John Lewis’ success and considered doing the same. Baxi Partnership Healthcare has thrown caution to the wind and announced a similar challenge to themselves to become the first dental company to attempt the policy.
The challenge has been accepted and a model for an employee owned system was announced at the British Dental Association Conference in May of this year.
The thought process behind this move could be due to the generally declining morale of the dental community.
As well as appeasing disillusioned dentists who feel their practices have been turned into businesses where they are unable to fully care for their patients, many of the top brass in dental companies are also excited about the idea. Amarjit Gill, President of the British Dental Association believes, “in a new age of morale, this concept will suit dentists fed up with bureaucracy and who want to focus on good patient care.”
The practices that will partake in the scheme hope that the corporation style that has dominated the private dental sector can be compromised, keeping the benefits, while allowing dentists to have more control of the companies they work for.
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