Woolworths Limited and Employee Effectiveness

Question:

Assess the Condition in Woolworths limited Organization regarding Employee Effectiveness.

Organizations face a large number of problems and issues, which hinders their capability to increase earnings and remain among the most effective in the activities that they involve in. The majority of these issues, which are also very difficult for the organization to solve easily are brought about by the problems of effectiveness on the organizational employees. Employees of an organization determine whether the organization will offer high-quality services to the organization or not. These individuals determine the possible success that an organization can manage to attain and the means through which that organization attains that success. It is due to this reason that organizations spend a significant amount of time a and resources to ensure that employees remain effective in their activities. Despite this aspect, however, the majority of the organizations have employee effective problems, which can only be solved through the implementation of employee training and development strategies. Among the many organizations that face employee effectiveness issues is the large retail organization, Woolworths Limited Based in Australia. These paper assess the condition in Woolworths limited organization regarding employee effectiveness, its importance in increasing effectiveness and the means through which it can improve from this condition to become a more effective and better organization

Woolworths Limited refers to a major retail organization, whose main operations include the purchase of retail products from suppliers in bulk, changing and alteration of the products and branding them according to the organizational requirements and then the sale of those products to organizational customers. Each one of these processes is of significant importance in the process that the organization utilize to make sales of the products. Being a retail organization, most of its operations are based on the need to ensure that all employees are effective and capable of remaining in complete control and capability of operation. At the same time, the organization needs to ensure that all individuals are effective in the duties and roles that they carry out. The effectiveness of the employees of the organization would thus help the organization to manage to improve the quality of services that it offers its customer and thus manage to make them loyal to the products that it offers (Woolworths, 2017).

The organization has some options through which it can manage to achieve employee effectiveness and increase their capabilities and motivation to work. Each one of these options has both the benefits and the negative impact that it is likely to contribute to the organization. The first option is to establish an employee training program within the organization, where employees are trained with the aim of increasing their skills and capabilities effectively. The skills of employees in carrying out the duties and roles that they are required to carry out is of significant importance to the organization. When the organization manages to secure a large number of employees that are effective, their effectiveness will help in attracting a large number customers that will increase the organizational gains (Noe, 2017).

Options for Improving Employee Effectiveness

Establishing a training program is an option that can help the organization ensure that all its organizational employees are effective in the activities that they involve in. Its first positive impact is that the employees will have more skills in dealing with customers than they initially way. This aspect is important to consider because, to begin with, any organization obtains a positive reputation through the quality of services and products that it offers. Employees that are highly skilled have the ability to ensure that the services they offer to customers are of high quality and that they meet customer satisfaction. The other major benefit of this option is the fact that high training on employees increases their motivation towards involvement in a certain employee task. An employee that is less skilled in carrying out a certain task does not have an equal form of motivation like other employees that have significant skills. Without the required skills to carry out the tasks needed, the employees lack the ability to maintain effectiveness in their operations and the ability to help the organization achieve its set goals and targets (Noe, & Winkler, 2009).

Associated with this option is both positive and negative impacts that are likely to affect the organization after it is selected as the most appropriate option to utilize. The first positive impact, to begin with, is the fact that the organization will obtain the ability to establish standards of operations which all employees must adhere to. These standards can help the organization to determine the level of quality of service that it will offer its customers and the effectiveness of the employees. Skills that an individual have are the determining factor of the quality of work that the individual will provide. Having not helped employees to attain certain skills, the organization does not have the mandate of setting high standards of work quality and effectiveness. After training the employees on how to carry out activities effectively, however, the organization can then set standards of operations which all employees are required to meet. The other positive impact of this aspect is the fact that employees can obtain effectiveness of the work that they involved in and the fact that through this effectiveness, they can become the most appropriate individuals in all the operations that they involve in. Employee motivation helps in ensuring that they operate according to what is expected. Highly motivated employees have the ability to help an organization to meet its set goals and targets, unlike employee that are less motivated (Cook, 2004).

Establishing an Employee Training Program

For the case of negative impacts of this option, on the other hand, the first impact is the aspect of cost. Training programs require the organization to be willing to fund all the processes training that is likely to take place. With this regard, the organization would be required to ensure that it pays the individuals or organization that will be tasked with the responsibility of training its employees. Another cost requiring an aspect of consideration is a resource like venues, employee allowances and trainers’ allowances that might be necessary. The organization would need to address such costs, to ensure that the training option is implemented successfully.

The second option that the organization can take to ensure that employees increase their effectiveness in the activities that they involve in is the option of establishing a motivation plan in its operations. The motivation of employees is one of the most important aspects that organizations aim to obtain. Being the most important resource of the organization, an employee has the potential to establish forms of change that would make the organization manage to achieve its set goals and targets easily. Even a slight improvement of how employees operate is thus significantly important and can help the organization obtain many benefits. The most effective way through which an organization can manage to improve how employees operate is by helping them increase their motivation (Banks, 2012).

Increasing the motivation of employees is a goal that can be achieved through many options in an organization. The first option that an organization can take is the option of organizing forums of motivation where employees are given motivational talks. In these talks, the employees are reminded of the reasons why they should ensure that they remain in the complete effectiveness of their work within the organization, the benefits that this aspect can have on the organization and the benefits it can have on them individually. These talks help the employees to understand the need of remaining effective and thus they are motivated to be better within the organization. The other option is establishing a motivational program that will involve an assessment of employee performance individually and then reward the employees that are more effective in their operations. With such a plan in place, the organization ensures that aspects like the promotion of employees and recognition based on performance are performed according to the level of effectiveness of organizational performance. This plan helps to motivate employees, and ensure that they are completely effective in their operations. The third option is the combination of the first and the second option. In this option, employees are motivated through motivational forums, and they are also motivated through an organizational motivation program where the most effective employee is rewarded. This option helps in provided the optimum results in employee motivation, and thus it is the option that I would select for Woolworths Limited organization (Mu?ller, 2011).

Establishing a Motivation Plan

Like the previous option, this option also has both positive and negative impact in the organization. The first positive impact, to begin with, is that with the success of this plan, the organizational employees increase their motivation. Being highly motivated, they provide the organization with a chance of attaining its goals and targets easily. An organization that has highly motivated employees does not have problems of their ineffectiveness and lack of willingness to carry out their duties and roles in the organization. With this regard, the organization enjoys a high level of employee effectiveness, an aspect that helps people manage to remain in complete capability with the operations that they involve in (Lauby, 2005).

For the negative impacts, on the other hand, the first negative aspect is the cost that the organization is likely to incur in the process of establishing the motivational plan. The process of organization motivational forums, to begin with, will require the organization to fund the individuals offering the talks to the employees, offer them requirements and pay them when the need arises. In case aspects like a fee for the place where the meetings will take place are needed, the organization will also require funding the same. The other negative impact of this option is the aspect of time. When organizational employees involve in motivational based activities, they do not at the same time offer their services to the organization. With this regard, therefore, the time aspect is another major aspect that negatively impacts the organization (Luecke, & Hall, 2006).

The third option through which the organization can manage to increase employee effectiveness with is through the recruitment process. The process through which new employees are recruited into the organization determines the skills and capabilities of the employees that the organization begins to operate with. Even though individual changes depending on the environment that he or she is subjected to, people still retain their work specific identity. A good example is a case where a highly morally upright individual begins working in an organizational environment that consists of individuals who violate rules and manage to continue with their activities without facing the consequences of their actions. Operating in such an environment does not imply that the individuals will not manage to remain in complete effectiveness and that they will not be effective in the activities that they involve in. With this regard, therefore, recruiting the highly motivated employees who are willing to help the organization achieve its set goals and targets easily is among the ways that the organization can utilize to achieve the desired effect of its operation.

Recruiting Process

For the case of this option, the organization requires to increase and improve the skills of the employees in the human resource department, who carry out the roles of hiring and recruitment within the organization, these are the individuals who determine whether any individual is skilled enough to become an organizational employee. With this regard, therefore, the organization should formulate the standards that are necessary and needed for every employee to have. With these standards, a training program should also be implemented in the organization, to train the individuals that involve in the activities of hiring and recruiting organizational employees and inform them on how to manage to recruit only the highly skilled employees to the organization. This option would help the organization manage to ensure that all its employees are highly skilled and motivated (Jex, & Britt, 2008).

Like all other options, this option has both positive and negative impacts, which it causes to the organization. The first positive impact of this option is the fact that the organization would manage to have employees that are highly skilled and capable, an aspect that can make it very easy to obtain its general goals and targets, without having to pay a significant cost. Unlike the other options, the organization does not require to establish a plan of attaining employees with a high level of effectiveness and incur the cost from the same. For the negative impact, on the other hand, the organization still incurs the cost of establishing a training plan through which all the hiring and recruitment team members of the organization can be trained and help them attain the ability to determine the employee who is most skilled and highly motivated. 

Each one of the three stated options is appropriate and can help the organization to manage to increase the effectiveness of its employees over time. Due to the aspects of cost and time that the organization would require investing when implementing any of the three options, the interest of the organization is to implement only a single option. With this regard, therefore, a certain criterion is of significant importance. Through the criteria, I can manage to determine the most appropriate option that the Woolworths Limited organization can utilize to determine the most appropriate option that will help most in increasing the effectiveness of its employees. The important aspects that make the organization require these options are the level of effectiveness that the employees are likely to obtain. With this regard, therefore, the first aspect of consideration in the three options is the level of effectiveness that the options will increase in every organizational employee. This can be assessed through research on other organizations that have implemented similar plans with an attempt of establishing effectiveness. The second aspect that should be included in the criteria is the cost. The lower the cost that the organization is likely to incur in the process of implementing any option, the more preferable that option is. The other aspect that is in the criteria is the time it is likely to take to manage to implement the option and obtain results of its impact in the organization. Some options might take longer than others to implement and obtain resources, with this regard, the option that is much faster to cause the change in the organization is the most preferred option (Debrincat, 2015).

From the provisions of this criteria, the most appropriate option for the organization is the second option, which requires the organization to establish a motivation plan in the organization. From the first criteria aspect, this option helps employees to be highly motivated, and thus they are likely to increase their effectiveness significantly. For the second criterion aspect, this option has a much lower cost with the option of training employees to increase their effectiveness. About the third criterion, on the other hand, this option is likely to reveal results much faster compared to all other options. With this regard, therefore, the option of establishing a motivational plan within the organization is the most appropriate plan through which the Woolworths limited organization can utilize to increase the effectiveness of its employees effectively.

References

Banks, L. (1997). Motivation in the workplace : inspiring your employees. West Des Moines, Iowa: American Media Pub.

Cook, S. (2004). Measuring customer service effectiveness. Aldershot, Hants, England Burlington, VT: Gower.

Debrincat, G. (2015). The effectiveness of performance appraisal systems : employee relations and human resource management. Hamburg: Anchor Academic Publishing.

Jex, S. & Britt, T. (2008). Organizational Psychology : a Scientist-Practitioner Approach. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Lauby, S. (2005). Motivating employees. Alexandria, Va: ASTD Press.

Luecke, R. & Hall, B. (2006). Performance management : measure and improve the effectiveness of your employees. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.

Mu?ller, C. (2011). Employee motivation an incentives at Apple : do incentives really help to motivate employees. Norderstedt: GRIN Verlag.

Noe, R. & Winkler, C. (2009). Employee training and development : for Australia and New Zealand. North Ryde, N.S.W: McGraw-Hill.

Noe, R. (2017). Employee training and development. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Rossi, A., Perrewe, P. & Sauter, S. (2006). Stress and quality of working life : current perspectives in occupational health. Greenwich, Conn: Information Age Pub.

Woolworths, (2017). Woolworth’s Management Structure. Woolworths Limited. Retrieved from https://orreconomics.weebly.com/management-structure.html