Passionate Partners

Yesterday I was chatting to Ron. Ron works for the Waitrose…

In 1904 Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor opened a small grocery store, Waite, Rose & Taylor, in Acton, West London. David Taylor left; it became “Waitrose”. The company has grown and developed to become a high quality supermarket chain.

Ron explained… This year, all Waitrose employees have been trained to be ‘passionate partners’.

Passionate… Their publicity describes ‘creating truly extraordinary shopping experiences’, ‘forging an emotional connection with our customers’, being passionate about the food they’re selling, its quality, taste, ethics and value.

Partners… All employees – supermarket assistants working in store, customer delivery drivers out on the road – are partners. Each is valued for their individual contribution and seen to have a real impact on business.

Ron chats to customers, gives assistance, builds relationships. He has stickers. To encourage a customer to try a new product, one of his stickers ensures that the customer gets that item free. Discovering that one customer had recently been bereaved, he gave her a complimentary bunch of flowers with his sticker on…

Reflecting on my teaching days… I like to think that our school staff were passionate partners. Passionate about… the subject they were teaching, giving the children the best deal, supporting families. Partners… cleaners, kitchen staff, classroom assistants, caretaker, temporary cover staff… all contributors and contributions valued and valuable.

‘You can choose your friends but not your families’…  If we’re ‘passionate partners’ with both friends and families we’re proactive in promoting positive relationships, appreciating each other… showing empathy, kindness, generosity… investing our time and emotions in all.

St Paul wrote:

‘Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer…’

I pray that I shall be that sort of passionate partner in my home, with my friends, in my church.