AO World boss may have overheated his electrical appliance targets
About 15 months ago John Roberts, the founder, 23%-owner and chief executive of online electricals retailer AO World, did a fine thing. He created an all-staff incentive scheme that is very different from other companies’ executive-only affairs. It was, he said in his folksy way, one he’d be “proud to tell my mum about”.
Senior executives at AO would still shoot for multimillion-pound rewards (capped at £20m) but lower-paid workers would chase meaningful sums rather than “a round of drinks”. There was talk of AO’s warehouse workers, on £18,000-£20,000 a year, being awarded £30,000 bonuses if maximum targets were reached.
This admirable venture, however, always looked vulnerable to an overdose of optimism. The share price targets just seemed a
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