O2 brings in new staff bonus scheme

O2, which has 490 stores and 100 franchise shops, will reward store staff individually from July 1 on customer service, as well as for the performance of the store team as a whole. Previously, store staff were only given bonuses on the collective team performance.

The move differs from the approach taken by mobile phone giant Carphone Warehouse, which scrapped staff sales commissions last year to encourage staff to be impartial with their advice. The retailer introduced higher basic salaries and customer service-related bonuses.

Staff at O2 staff were asked via online surveys and focus groups how they wanted to be rewarded. The bonus model was tested in four pilot schemes with a mix of performance indicators in 28 stores at the beginning of the year. The retailer said it found sales performance improvements and higher customer satisfaction scores after the trial.

O2 consumer sales director Stephen Shurrock said the new scheme emphasised “the importance of each interaction with a customer”, which leads to better customer service. He added: “Staff told us they wanted a fairer and more consistently applied scheme.”