EVEN before sharing $15million in bonuses, Grenda Corporation's staff held their boss Ken Grenda and his family in the highest esteem, says Rowville bus driver Des Goodridge.

Mr Goodridge, who has worked at the company's Dandenong depot for almost nine years, pocketed a windfall of several thousand dollars last week.

He was sad the bonus amounted to a parting gesture from the Grenda family, which last year sold the business to Ventura for about $400million. "If we could keep the family here, we'd give the money back," he said.

He said Mr Grenda, 79, was the type of boss who knew all his employees' names. "He'd ask how was the family and he always had time for you. It means a lot to you."

Soon after Mr Goodridge moved from Perth to start work at the company, he was touched by how well he was looked after when his 'nana' died.

"I hadn't been there long enough to be entitled to leave but Ken said take the time you need to go back to Perth and sort it out."

He said staff were floored by the massive bonuses - up to $30,000 for the longest-serving staff.

"There had been rumours of a Christmas bonus of $500 which would have been fantastic. People were saying to each other 'did you get it? This can't be right. There must have been a big mistake'."

Mr Goodridge has some grand plans including putting the cash towards a home deposit. "We've had a rough time. We've got three children, with one just starting kindergarten. This [bonus] just pumps you up. It makes you feel like you're achieving something."