Importance of Communication in Workplace: A Case Study of Woolworths Supermarket

This essay analyses the importance of communication in the workplace using Woolworths Supermarket as a case study. It highlights the negative impact of poor communication on employee morale and productivity. The essay recommends effective communication as a solution to improve business operations and gain a competitive advantage.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
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Author note

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In the business environment, there are different kinds of management problems which
are affecting the growth of the companies negatively. The problems include poor
communication between the parties, constant change and poor morale among employees
when they are not being involved in the process. In the different workplaces, the main issue
which is being faced in the current scenario is related to the lack of communication and due
to the same, there is high level of turnover which affects the productivity of the company.
The main aim and purpose of the essay is to analyse the importance of the communication in
the workplace which plays a critical role in effectively implementing the strategy in
workplaces.
In the respective essay, the main aspect is to understand the issues faced by
employees at Woolworths and recommending an appropriate solution for improving the
scenario. Woolworths Supermarket is one of the Australian supermarket or grocery stores
which is owned by the Woolworths group. It was being incorporated in the year 1924 and
both Coles as well as Woolworths cover more than 80% of the market share suitably
(Woolworths.com.au, 2019). It is headquartered at Australia and there are more than 115000
employees working in Woolworths across different branches and there has been huge level of
increase in revenue which is A$56.726 billion till the year 2018.
In the Woolworths Supermarket, there was a restructuring of the entire company
wherein the management officials of the company introduced the “Self-Check-out System”
for making the shopping easier for the different customers and improve their effectiveness
(Rojas, Rojas, & Villamizar, 2017). However, the respective restructuring of Woolworths
Supermarket raised different concerns regarding the potential redundancies and is being
challenged under Fair Work Commission. The higher level of management officials did not
convey the same restructuring aspects to the employees and it affected their morale (The
Sydney Morning Herald, 2019).

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While the change management was helpful for the customers to gain a new and
effective shopping experience, however it is different in case of the internal organizational
structure which includes employees. During introduction of the self-check-out system, there
were high level of turnover among employees of Woolworths as there was closed
communication (DeBenedectis et al., 2017). The CEO and the other committee members did
not allow the open line of communication which led to low morale among employees. It made
the different employees feel like they are being kept away from communicating with their
different leaders affected their morale and it led to turnover among the employees which
affected the entire productivity of the company (Ganea et al., 2018).
Additionally, it was being noticed that the change management process was being
incorporated by the company Woolworths without prior notice provided to the employees.
The change in the goals as well as steps taken by management for eradicating employees
without any prior notice (Linton et al., 2016). It extremely disappointed the union of the
employees and affected the growth of the company in an adverse manner (Boissy et al.,
2016).
While analysing the problem which was being faced by the different employees and
the unions of the employees of Woolworths, it was noticed that the lack of communication
between the higher level of management and the employees affected the entire process
adversely. In such a scenario, the communication is the most crucial element which will be
effective for various reasons which are follows:
With effective workplace communication, it will be improving the productivity of the
workers as the different researches have shown the fact that effective and lateral kind of
communication leads to overall improvement in the performance of the company and the
employees will be satisfied with the overall behaviour of the top-level employers (Lin et al.,

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2019). In case of Woolworths, the restructuring of the company aspects could have been
communicated to the different employees as they are the major asset of the company and they
have the right to understand the different kinds of viewpoints suitably. It would have reduced
the grievances and it could have created more effectiveness (Levy, Sordi, Rodrigues, &
Carneiro, 2018). While the different employees are receiving specific guidance, there can be
proper guidance provided to them by their superiors which will allow them to create designs
efficiently and quickly (Arvanitis & Loukis, 2015).
Workplace Communication can be helpful in increasing the job satisfaction among
the different employees wherein the employees will be feeling empowered for showcasing
their viewpoints and completing the tasks appropriately (Moore et al., 2018). In case of
Woolworths, it can be seen that the CEO and the top management of the company can
incorporate the empowerment to employees which could have been made the employees
happy and it will be leading to the employee satisfaction (Karanges, Johnston, Beatson, &
Lings, 2015). The best managers of Woolworths need to understand and analyse the
requirement for building alliances as well as communicating throughout each and every
level of the company as the effective skills related to communication will be apposite in
breaking down the barriers and promotes the collaborative kind of atmosphere that the
company needs to thrive (Gartmeier, Gebhardt, & Dotger, 2016).
Lastly, through the efficient kind of communication, it will create positive impact on
reducing the turnover among the employees. Woolworths need to make the employees feel
that they are important and their values needs to be incorporated while making the decisions
effectively (Bonaccio, O’Reilly, O’Sullivan, & Chiocchio, 2016). The flow of
communication is the critical element that can be incorporated by Woolworths Company that
will be enhancing the situation and it will be suitable in thriving the employees.

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Therefore, it can be concluded that communication is the most critical element that is
effective in managing the decisions which are being taken in the workplace. In case of
Woolworths, it can be seen that due to the restructuring of the company, wherein the
employees were not involved in the process, it creates chaos in the productivity of the
company and led to high rate of employee turnover. However, with the implementation of
proper and effective communication, it will be suitable for improving the business operations
and gain competitive advantage in the market appropriately.
Through workplace communication, it will be improving the productivity of the
workers and it will be efficient in generating high level of employee retention and growth of
the company in contrast to companies which are major competitors. The employees are
required to be treated as the asset of the company as it will be enhancing the decrease of the
turnover rates of employees and improve their morale in performing the activities more
efficiently as they feel valued and they like to perform for the benefits of the company.

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