Human Resource Management - Woolworths

This paper analyzes and examines the Human Resource Management of Woolworths Groups, a retail chain industry. It identifies three critical challenges: service process design, forecasting issues, and demand and capacity management. The report explores the impact of these challenges on the future implementation of Woolworths' HR program and concludes with recommendations for strategic applications.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT - WOOLWORTHS
Human Resource Management - Woolworths
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The main aim of the given paper is to analyse and examine the Human Resource
Management of a retail chain industry named as Woolworths Groups. To fulfill the purpose
of the paper, the report is focused on providing background about the concerned company.
Further, the report is focused on the identification of the three critical challenges that the
company under discussion has to face. In this connection, the report examined that the three
problems are the challenges of service process design, forecasting issues and the issue
concerned to demand and capacity management. In connection with the challenges
recognised the report is further concentrated on the examination of the impact of the
investigated challenges on the future implementation in the prospects of the HR program of
Woolworths. Finally, the report concludes with the recommendation of the strategic
applications that the concerned organisation and the HRM can use to resolve the challenges
they have to face in the working condition and sustain itself in the long run of the business
market.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Identification of the three Critical Challenges...........................................................................3
The impact of the challenges on the future implementation of Woolworths HR program........4
Recommendations......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
As critically stated by Blythe & Martin (2019), Woolworths Group is recognised as a
significant retail chain company that deals with sizeable retail market concerning the global
market. Woolworths retail chain is recorded to be considered as the second largest business
entity in terms of earning revenue after the Perth-based retail company. Moreover, in addition
to this, the concerned company under discussion is recorded as the most significant industry
of taking away the liquor retailer shop in Australia (Johnston et al., 2017). This Australian
grocery store is known to be owned by the Woolworths Group. It was debuted in the year of
1924, dated 5th December. The same is also known to account for almost 80% of the complete
Australian supermarket. The specific product the company deals with the sale of grocery
products, magazines, health, beauty and personal care, baby care, pet care and even
household products (Jary & Wileman, 2016). Alone in the region of Australia, the company
is known to own over 1000 stores across the province of Australia that indulges of 976
supermarkets and the addition of 19 convenience metro stores. In this connection, the given
report critically investigates the challenges the company has to face in consideration of its
business plans and proceedings.
Identification of the three Critical Challenges
As opined by Bason (2018), any productive entity in order to sustain in the business
environment is accountable to face several challenges and issues, and that is what helps the
same to gain a better competitive advantage in comparison to its potential customers. As
examined by the help of the study, the critical challenges faced by the Woolworths group are
specified as below (Flax, Bick & Abratt, 2016).
 Service Process Design
 Forecasting Issues

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 Demand and Capacity Management
The impact of the challenges on the future implementation of Woolworths
HR program
As opined by Laffy & Walters, (2016), Woolworths is known to establish its
operations in the sector of retail outlet that leverages quality goods and services to the
customers and the market. The management of a company is a complete set of marketing and
advertising activities a company has to go through. It contains both the current position of the
market as well as the future predictions in order to retain their place in the market. In this
connection, the Human Resource of the organisation is responsible for carrying up the plans
and processes of the organisation and deal with the issues and challenges as well (Berman et
al., 2019). Thus, the impact of the above mentioned challenges in the future implementation
of HR program of Woolworths is described below.
Service Process Design
According to the viewpoint of Fernie & Sparks (2018), the retail chain industry of
Woolworths is known to provide its customers with a combination of both goods and
services. Every individual customer is not concentrated on a particular market to purchase
their goods, and they generally buy in a lower volume. Concerning the nature of the products
of the Woolworths, they are considered to be tangible and in contrast to this, the service is
recognised to be intangible in the environment (Matos Silva & Costa, 2018). In this
connection, the Human Resource of the business entity is held responsible for having a prior
look after the challenges the company has to face. The handling of the inventory, the display
of the good shelves as well as helping and assisting the customers are all the responsibilities
of the employees and the lookout of the managers whether the activities are carried
effectively by the employees or not (Richards, 2017).

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However, the new technological advancements in the course action of Woolworths
concerning the design of the service to the customers are innovated to self-checkout systems
that allow the customers at various outlets of Woolworths to cut down the need of assistance
from the staff of the Woolworths and makes the work easy and convenient for the customers.
Although there are a considerable number of staff that are available for providing services to
the customers. The process of production, packaging and distributing are mainly dependent
on the technological factors (Pigott, 2017). Efficient technology provides efficient production
and active supply. The technical factors require colossal investment and maintenance.
Everything from production till supplying requires proper technique in it. This gives the
customer a better level of satisfaction but makes it difficult for the Human Resource
Management connected to the organisation to measure the performance level of the
employees who are concerned to work with the service base of the company. The Human
Resource Manager cannot deal with the performance level appraisal of the employees, which
creates a conflict in the working environment and making it a huge challenge for HR.
Moreover, as discussed in the report that the technological advancement of self-checkouts
was done only in few outlets of Woolworths, the lack of the same in all other retail outlets of
Woolworths results to services discrimination in the different sectors of Woolworths
(Govender, 2017). Thus, there comes the challenge of poor service quality and decline in the
satisfaction level of the customers shopping from different outlets of Woolworths. Therefore,
this turns out to be a matter of enormous challenge for the future implementations of the HR
program in the concerned program. This is because it becomes difficult for HR to make a
decision about the technological innovations and the performance level of the employees.
Forecasting Issues
As critically discussed by Olins (2017), the ideology of forecasting is considered to be
the most vital factor concerning the organisation of the retail sector. This is because the same

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enables the Human Resource Managers to undermine and foresee the future needs and
demands of the organisation that is related to the functions as well as the performance of the
organisations accordingly. Take, for example, forecasting the needs of the next order supply,
the management of the inventories, the staffing requirements and the changes in the
technological advancements. It was examined with the help of the study that the qualitative
approach of the concerned retail business is highly dependent on the basis of the level of
forecast the company can do in terms of their working activities. In this connection, as was
stated by Stacey (2016), in the world of the modernised era of business where business and
market conditions are unstable and frequently fluctuating, the ideology of effective
forecasting becomes difficult and turns out to be a challenge for the Human Resource
Management of the concerned company. Studies show that few of the branches of
Woolworths are considerably known to face problems regarding the condition of forecasting
(Fernando, 2018). The primary reason behind the same was found to be the lack of the
countable performance of the store grocery manager. A business firm has both internal and
external factors which affect their work process and system of running and retaining the firm
for a long-term basis. These market factors and strategies play a significant role in business
for its sustainability and proper working environment. It helps them in retaining both their
employees and end customers. The team of Human Resource is crucial for the business to run
smoothly. The HR at Woolworths are responsible for proper recruitment, selection, training
and development of the employees and maintaining a healthy and friendly working
environment without biasness. These factors affect the work scenario to a greater extent
because no employee would be comfortable working in a firm where they are not
satisfactory.
In this connection, as stated by Gilchrist (2016), the retail chain industries at the
current date must be responsible enough to satisfy each and every demand of their potential

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customers. The days when the mass market was termed to be a single assortment market with
the ideology of standard pricing and the forecast of a single average location was helpful in
satisfying the demands of the customers are gone passed away. In today’s market generation,
the business entities have to fight for the effectiveness in the ideology of forecasting. In this
connection, it was examined that to be effective enough in the field of business today, the
component of forecast accounts to the demand differences amongst the stores of Woolworths
in operation as well as its geographic and product lines. Concerning the organisation of
Woolworths, the store manager of the same is also recognised to be incapable in the synergy
of providing the required and the significant performance to the organisation (Frigerio, 2017).
The primary reason behind the same was found to be the lack in the interest of the managers
as well as the availability of the required resources and working procedures in the
organisation. The managers at Woolworths claim that they are not provided with sufficient
and adequate amount of resources, and thus, this lack of evidence results in their lack of
performance. The managers are known to be utterly dependent on the quantitative approach
that includes the past data and information about the causal variables that helps in the demand
forecast of the market and the qualitative method of the same. The incorporation in the
factors of the decision making emotions and the personal experience values the system of the
working organisation (Romiszowski, 2016). Thus, the same becomes a challenge for the
Human Resource Management of the Woolworths organisation to build an effective and
efficient research and development team that would foster the need of forecasting the market
activities and changes which keeps on changing on a frequent basis.
Demand and Capacity Management
In the viewpoint of Tidd & Bessant (2018), a business industry works with the
concept of scheduling customer demand management and the service industry management.
It is critically stated that demand management, as well as the scheduling of the labour

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workforce, is termed to be the agility of the organisation towards capacity management.
Specifically, demand management is the attempt of a business entity to influence the
behaviour of the customers by providing service to them and attracting the same to the
organisation. The capacity management is the ensuring of the capability of the business to
meet the desires and demands of the customers.
In this connection, it can be clearly stated that in the concern of the operations of the
concerned retail chain industry, the demand management is created with the component of
the goods as well as the services that are available at the store. The intention of the customer
to purchase the products and services offered by Woolworths is based on their tastes and
preferences (Rosenbaum-Elliott, Percy & Pervan, 2015). Thus, the planning and providing of
the goods and services to the customers on a timely basis is the responsibility of the managers
and is termed to be the capacity management of the concerned organisation. Several numbers
of customers are recorded to visit the store on a daily basis and also purchase their desired
goods and consume the needed services as per their choices and wishes. Thus, the staff at the
concerned retail chain industry should be competent enough to handle the needs and demands
of potential customers. However, the study shows that the team concerning the Woolworths
Company fails to meet and manage as well as understand the sufficient market of the
customers and thereby fails in the delivery of the same. As stated by Wild (2017), analysing
and understanding the demand of the customers is not enough; meeting them at the right time
with sufficient and adequate supply is also essential. This is because the demand of the
customers and the market keeps on fluctuating on a frequent basis.
Moreover, it becomes imperative for the business organisation of Woolworths to
examine and understand the capacity constraints of the time, labour, equipment as well as the
facilities the organisation indulges of (Beech & MacIntosh, 2017). This is because the
managers of the organisation in order to work with complete efficiency will require the

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mentioned components in every step of the work process of the business. In this concern, it
can be stated that the significant challenge that is faced by the Human Resource Management
of the company is the lack in the management of the capacity and making the customers wait
for the services is a lack in the management of the company and thereby losing its brand and
customer loyalty. This also creates a decrease in the competitive advantage of the company as
compared to its competitors. In this connection, the study tends to state that the gap that lies
between the demands as well the capacity management of the concerned retail chain industry
becomes a challenge for the Human Resource Management of the same and the implications
of the future program of the company as well. The Human Resource Management are the
ones who are liable to deal with the demand and supply sector of the organisation and ensure
that the customers remain satisfied with the organisation and do not shift to other retail
companies to fulfil their daily needs (Emmett & Crocker, 2016). If the customers changed,
then the Woolworths Company would have to deal with a considerable loss and reduction in
the revenue level.
Recommendations
Based on the above shreds of illustration concerning the challenges the Human
Resource Management has to face, the report critically tends to state that HR is the most
crucial part of a business organisation. This is because HR is considered to look after every
single concern and work of the business (DeCenzo, Robbins & Verhulst, 2016). The same is
accountable for the company under discussion here in the paper. The HRM at Woolworths
has to face several kinds of issues and challenges to keep the working of the company at the
desired level. A minor of the negligence and mistake in the same leads to a disastrous
downfall in the company. The financial, operational as well as the departmental sector of the
business is all affected at once if the HRM fails to fulfil the duty at time and also to make
sure that the employees working in the organisation are also performing their responsibilities

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and activities on time or not (Meredith, Mantel Jr & Shafer, 2017). Moreover, the
maintenance of the ethical standards, as well as the cultural prospects in the work
environment, also comes under the duty of the HRM. Fostering a healthy and human-friendly
environment of work that would keep the employees motivated to work with their greatest
zeal and enthusiasm is also a unique challenge for the HRM. This is because no employee
would be comfortable in working in a business environment where the same is not suitable
for working and not motivated at the same time. In this connection, the given report tends to
suggest few strategical recommendations to the HRM of Woolworths that would help the
same to gain practical and efficient competitive advantage concerning the ability to take up
with the challenges that come up and resolving the same (Klikauer, 2019).
 To consider the potentiality of every single employee working in the organisation and
motivate them to work with the greatest zeal through fulfilling their demands and
listening to their feedback.
 Ensuring that the skills and talents of every employee are used at best possible level.
 Ensuring that the employees are comfortable while working in the organisation and
the pressure of work is not over-exerting them.
 Fostering the paying out of variable payout schemes and incentives that would
motivate the employees to work harder to meet the demand of the customers.
 Ensuring a discrimination-free environment of work for the employees.
 Fostering fair means of recruiting the employees and recruiting the best of the talents
for the organisation's betterment.
 Ensuring that the business communication is compelling enough that allows smooth
flow of the required information to every level of the employee and no disputes occur
in the efficiency of the same.
 Providing security benefits to the employees.

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 Fostering the ideology of self-management and productive teams.
 Providing required training and development programs to the employees.
 Creating as well as maintaining a flat as well as an egalitarian business entity.
 Ensuring that the employees are working under complete ethical standards and are
not practising any unfair means of performing their duties. Also, to ensure that the
employees are not into any unethical practice that would harm the image of the
company.
 Developing and updating the changes in the business on a timely basis.
 Developing and maintaining a proper performance evaluation program and process
that would motivate the employees.
Conclusion
Hence, to conclude, the given report tends to state that the concerned company is
although making a considerable profit in the retail business market of its operation region and
has also gained a compelling competitive advantage in the market but fails to maintain the
same. The primary reasons behind the same are found to be the challenges and issues the
company has to face and the failure of the company to manage and resolve the same. The
study critically investigated that the Woolworths retail chain is facing some considerable
challenges in concern with its Human Resource Management. The critical challenges that the
HRM of the company faces need positive and immediate changes in order to retain back the
paradigm of the business and improve its profit earning capabilities. The improvement in the
conceptualisation of the HRM will strengthen the whole and soul of the organisation and will
help the same to retain itself in the business market for a more extended period of time and
gain better competency level as compared to its competitors.

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