BSBHRM513: Workforce Planning and Strategies at Woolworth Supermarket

This report provides an executive summary and detailed analysis of workforce planning strategies implemented by Woolworth, a leading Australian supermarket. It examines the dynamics of labour demand and supply within the Australian retail industry, considering factors such as technological advancements, economic changes, and government initiatives. The report evaluates Woolworth's current organizational strategies, including staff diversity, alignment of workforce plans, and staff turnover management. It assesses the company's strategies for recruiting skilled labour, addressing future workforce needs, and communicating changes to employees. The report also includes an analysis of the company's current workforce capacity to meet predicted demands and offers recommendations for future workforce planning. The report is based on secondary research and focuses on the Murray Street store of Woolworth.

Manage workforce
planning
Assessment 1

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report is focusing on various Planning and strategies followed by Woolworth, the
Australian leading supermarket. It has analysed the demand and supply of labour in retail
industry of Australia. Moreover, the report emphasized on strategy and plans of company for
recruiting skilled labours, changes required in firm to modify or retain workers. It states that
trends of labour market in Australia keeps on fluctuating with the environmental changes.
Further, the report focused on Woolworth strategy of aligning workforce which aims at every
possible changes which can impact the organisation performance like, work environment for
employees, friendly relation with staff members. Thus, the report examined the need of staff at
Australian retail store of Woolworth which Murray street.
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
PART A Current Situation of industry............................................................................................1
1. Explain the factors which can affect the supply of labour in industry...............................1
2. Research and explain factors which are currently affecting the demand of labourers.......2
3. Discuss the government initiatives which can affects labour demand and labour supply. 2
PART B Current Situation of organisation......................................................................................3
1. Evaluate and comment upon whether staff diversity meets current organisational
requirements...........................................................................................................................3
2. Discuss whether the current organisational strategy and workforce plans are aligned......3
3. Discuss staff turnover and whether the turnover is acceptable. Also, identify the strategies.
................................................................................................................................................3
4. Assess the strategies to find skilled labour from external sources.....................................4
5. Evolve contingency options to deal with extreme situations in the company....................4
PART B Future Analysis.................................................................................................................5
1. Analyse organisational strategies and explain the changes required for modification......5
2. Asses organisation’s workforce needs for one to two years in the future..........................5
3. Evaluate the companies current workforce capacity to meet predicted demands..............6
4. Analyse the strategies to address gaps or oversupply of future required staff...................6

5. Evolve options for communicating strategies to employees affected by the change.........7
6. Recommendations..............................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Demand and supply of labour, work as a tonic for industries and organisations, as labour
plays a major role in functioning activities in the firm. This report will evaluate the demand and
supply of workers in supermarket industry. Further, it will emphasis on the current situation of
Australian leading retail and grocery entity-Woolworth. The organisation since 1924 is
holding the top position by expanding its market in new area with new strategies. Moreover, the
report will analyse the strategy and plans of company for recruiting skilled labours, changes
required in firm to modify or retain workers. Hence, it will evaluate demand and supply of
labourers in industry of super market and the leading company of supermarket. The organisation
aims at delivering the best quality grocery products and services to its buyers, The report will be
based on secondary research which will focus on job out of austral which assists the Australian
industry in analysing the labour demand and supply.
TASK 1
PART A Current Situation of industry
1. Explain the factors which can affect the supply of labour in industry.
Demand and supply of labour in Australian retail industry depends on the factors which
are as follows:
Demand
 Demand of the labour in supermarket industry depends on the productivity level of
activities which requires specific type of workers.
 Demands also fluctuates with the advancement of technology.
 Moreover, changes in need of labourers in industry fluctuates, when updated technology
requires new or more skilled labourers.
Supply
 Supply of workers depends on the working condition of supermarket industry like
location, risk etc.
 Further, supply depends on the skills, qualifications, and experience required by the
particular industry.
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 Supply of labourers in supermarket industry also depends upon strengths of labourers or
on the bargaining power of their trade unions (Esper and et.al., 2010).
 It also depends upon workers talents needed in supermarket operations and activities.
Labour supply in Australian retail industry is limited because the population has been
divided into males and females where two third numbers of individuals are qualified and have
post school qualification.
Thus, according to the data it has been identified that the company demands for skilled labourers
which are majorly employed in manufacturing industries which is leading to undersupply of
labourers.
2. Research and explain factors which are currently affecting the demand of labourers
Trends of labour market in Australia in supermarket industry keeps on fluctuating with
the environmental changes. The trends keep on changing because of increasing competition and
effectiveness of the industry. The factors which are currently affecting the market of workers are
as follows:
Technological Change: Advancement in technology has majorly affected the demand
and supply of labourers in industry as goods and services are produced and sell by the use of
updated trends of technology. Due to updation in technology the demand for manpower is
decreasing and also company needs to recruit more skilled labourers which impacting the labour
demand.
Economic change: Further, from the last few years the economy of Australia has faced
many structural changes like the decline in tariff protection, changes in financial system like now
the foreign owned banks can carry out their own business, have majorly affected the demand and
supply of workers in supermarket industry.
Changing training patterns: Training patterns of industry is aiming at strict guidelines
and their motive is to improve and develop multi-skilling in staff members for the industry.
Globalisation: The emergence of new markets in the industry across the globe has
affected the demand and supply of workers in Australian grocery industry.
Thus, the demand of labour in manufacturing industry of Australia is impacting the
labour supply in all the other industries like Retail, supermarket etc. Because the innovation and
up-gradation demands the skilled labour and for which the organisation stared retrenching its
unskilled manpower. Moreover, according to the facts it has been identified that future growth of
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food trade workers will decline, for sales it will be stable and for retail buyers the growth will be
very strong.
3. Discuss the government initiatives which can affects labour demand and labour supply
The demand and supply of workers in Australia is affected by government initiatives
which are as follows:
Young people participation in education: Government of Australia is launching
programs which aims at educating young generation of country for free. Hence, which assist the
central system in development of the country and will decrease the full-time employee's
participation of young staff members.
Working hours: The working hours scheme by Australian central government which
aims at workers’ right, states that if the labourers are working more than 49 hours a week then
the industry have to pay them over time wages which further affect the demand and supply of
labourers in grocery industry. National 38-hour working week was introduced in 1981 which
reduced the working hours by 37 and aims at two criteria which are the standard timing for
labourers will be from morning 8 to evening 4:30 whereas for office the timing should be 9:30
am to 5:30pm including lunch break.
Women: The government has launched the scheme for increasing the participation of
married woman in the grocery industry laid a positive impact on supply of workers. The industry
has faced a rapid increase in involvement of women in workforce of supermarkets. Office for
Women is the policy introduced by Australian government to improve the lifestyle of Australian
women which aims at strengthening women and supporting women empowerment.
The ultimate step taken by government is organising training and development session to
make labourers skilled and to increase their market demand and supply. Moreover, organising
camp with the help of recruitment agencies assist the government in making easily supply of
skilled labourers. Moreover, the influence of government policies is impacting labour demand as
it is focusing on providing benefits to unskilled labourers.
PART B Current Situation of organisation
1. Evaluate and comment upon whether staff diversity meets current organisational requirements.
It is necessary for Woolworth to manage staff diversity in order to meet organisational
goal in time. Further, to analyse diversity in employees’ company carry out few steps which are
described under:
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 Manager of the company focuses at scanning and monitoring the changes in environment
on regular basis in order to stand out in super market industry which are migration rate
and patterns, retirement age of employees, training and developmental facilities, demand
and supply of labourers and updation in technology.
 In order to manage and deal with workforce diversity the manager of Woolworth focuses
on reviewing the internal policies and programs designed for staff members such as,
characteristics of employees, equal opportunities, follows the discrimination and
disability act, monitor over skills, wages and salaries and also checking the increment of
staff member according to the performance measurement.
Staff diversity assist the company in meeting goals, as it helps the manager in monitoring and
evaluating the performance of employees on regular basis which establish control over every
staff member. Further, staff diversity is maintained by, measuring efficiency and effectiveness of
policies, opportunities and by designing appropriate cultural audit of the firm which includes,
strengths, climate issues, challenges and obstacles. The male and female staff members in
Woolworth are almost equal because the company aims at equality therefore the board is split
between 50 50 where 39 percent of women's are at management positions.
2. Discuss whether the current organisational strategy and workforce plans are aligned.
Woolworth sets its strategies and work force plans in order to accomplish organisational
goals on time. The few strategies of the company are as follows:
 The firm aims at ensuring that all the staff members are treated equally which will motivate
them to work as a team
 The manager of Woolworth aims at behaving professional and personal both at a same time
to establish friendly relationship with its employees.
 Manager of the entity clearly knows the methods and strategies to resolve the disputes among
staff members.
 The company make strategies which will help the manager in quick decision making.
 The organisational strategy to manage workforce and to align them according to
accomplishment of organisational goals is developing communicating skills.
Woolworth strategy of aligning workforce aims at every possible changes which can impact the
organisation performance like, work environment for employees, friendly relation with staff
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members and employee participation in decision making process. Moreover, the strategies used
by the company to plan workforce is complies with business plan of the organisation like,
 Defining the ultimate goals and objectives.
 Identifying competencies required to meet goals.
 Evaluating employee population with the company.
 Examining labour-market, that is supply and demand.
 Recognising gap between current skills and capabilities of workforce.
3. Discuss staff turnover and whether the turnover is acceptable. Also, identify the strategies.
The staff turnover of Murray Street of Wool worth keeps on fluctuating with the industry
demand and supply of labourers. Moreover, the manager evaluated the requirement of at least 20
employees for different jobs. The strategies of managing employee turnover is very adjustable.
Moreover, the employee turnover of the company is increasing rapidly with the increasing
demand of good and services. Hence, the firm aims at the strategy of recruiting and retaining
staff members with environmental changes.
Staff turnover is a natural process because it can happen due to various reason such as:
1. Good opportunities
2. Discrimination at work place
3. Fewer wages
4. Issues like, conflict with management or other co worker
Employee turnover can be reduce by the company by following 8 major steps which are
as follows:
1. Retrenching Dead staff
2. Recruiting right staff
3. Providing appropriate compensation and benefits
4. Encourage generosity and gratitude
5. Performance evaluation and reward system
6. Prioritizing employee happiness and comfort area of workplace
7. Establishing opportunities for growth and development
8. Healthy and safe work environment
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Hence, due to retrenchment, good opportunities, fewer wages of 120, almost 24 workers left the
Murray store of Woolworth therefore the company need to plan the recruitment of skilled and
capable workers accordingly.
4. Assess the strategies to find skilled labour from external sources.
There are various external sources used by Human resource manager of Woolworth
which are as follows:
Media Advertisement: This the most common and majorly used method by the HR, this
is done through giving advertisements in televisions, newspapers, radio, magazines etc. Furthe,
the manager mentions all the necessary information like, job position, skills and qualification
requires, and expected experience (Obizhaeva and Wang,2013).
Campus Placements: It is another source through which HR manager of Woolworth can
recruit skilled labour in cited firm. Furthermore, Woolworth can also promote them for
internship programs in which candidates those who have great knowledge about this field can be
able to get practical work life experience and company will be able to get skilled employees.
E-recruiting: It is another external source of recruitment in which Woolworth can hire
candidates through electronic medium (Verdouw and et.al., 2010). By this way people those
who are eligible for particular designation can apply for the same. HR manager of Woolworth
can filter resumes of those applicants those who are suitable for the entity. After that selected
candidates can be called for interview. It is the great and cost effective technique through which
gap of skilled labour can be filled in the organization.
5. Evolve contingency options to deal with extreme situations in the company.
Training is the main solution through which Woolworth can minimize its labour gap. The
major reason of lack of people in the organization is that employees are unable to understand
their duties well. Woolworth should train its staff members so that they can enhance their skills
and can retain in the workplace for longer duration. By this way cited firm will not have to hire
new candidates in the organization (Verdouw, and et.al., 2010).
Apart from this, firm can analysis skills of the candidates at the time of recruitment
properly. It will help in selecting the right person for the right post. This will support in getting
talented people in the organization those who will be able to perform well. Company should give
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them monitory and non monitory rewards so that they can retain in the workplace for longer
duration. It will minimize issues of lack of skilled labour in the corporation.
Contingency plan is the strategy used by the company to overcome its extreme situation
which can lead to losses. Contingency options to deal with loss of numerous retiring personnel
due to some heath issues can be overcome by an organisation by providing them, healthy and
safe work environment, health insurance policies, adequate medical facilities, flexible working
hours and making differentiated sick leave policy which will encourage the workers to work for
the firm. The company can also increase the working hours for the workers who are willing to
work. Moreover, the manager can shift the staff in to various department who gave multi skilling
ability or it can recruit part-time workers from other industries who are willing to put their best
effort in order to help the firm.
PART B Future Analysis
1. Analyse organisational strategies and explain the changes required for modification.
The company need to hire more employees according to the increasing demand of goods
and services. The Murray Street Store of Woolworth is lacking the number of employees so the
company need to recruit more workers which will ensure the proper functioning of store. The
managed analysed the changes like the company need to fill up positions like customer care
executive, sales representatives which will assist the proper sales operation so that the company
will attain its customer satisfaction (Lee, Gereffi and Beauvais, 2012).
Moreover, except for recruiting new employees for the store the manager of Wools worth
need to retrench its dead staff in order to create efficient and effectiveness in work. The firm can
also focus on analysing the performance of the employees so that instead of external recruitment
company can promote is skilled and capable employee at good position which will benefit the
overall performance of Murray Street.
2. Asses organisation’s workforce needs for one to two years in the future.
The Woolworth Murray Street store located in Australia needs to plan workforce needs
for 1 or 2 years, in order to manage the gap which can arise in the future. Right now the Murray
Street has 55 employees but the demand of employees can be determined with changes in
environment and with the sales of goods and services. So the manager planned a change in
workforce which is described in table below:
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Extra number of employees required for the
post
Number of employees
General Manager 2
Assistant manager 3
Cashier 3
Sales representative 4
Customer care executive 2
Stock manager 2
Other employees 4
The manager of Murray Street Store has communicated this future demand of employees to HR
manager of the company who will further analyse and examine the store needs and will continue
the recruitment process.
Thus, with the increasing demand of products sold by retail sector, manager need to
forecast its workforce in order to deliver appropriate facilities to customers therefore according
to the present need it can be determined that Woolworth may be need to increase its number
employees which are described in the table below:
Extra number of employees required for the
post
Number of employees
General Manager 2
Assistant manager 3
Cashier 5
Sales representative 6
Customer care executive 4
Stock manager 2
Other employees 6
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3. Evaluate the companies current workforce capacity to meet predicted demands
The planning of workforce for Murray Street is to predict the future demands which are
as follows:
Employment forecasting: This the most important factor in human resource planning,
with the use of this technique the manager estimates the number of employees needed to
accomplish organisational goals. It is an internal process which deals with demand for products
and services, analysing distribution channel, and budgeting (Putman, 2012).
Demand forecasting: It is the assumption made by the firm for its products and services.
Woolworth uses this method to understand consumer demand which helps the firm in evaluating
the fluctuation in demand which assist the production department so that the entity do not lack
goods and services. Demand forecasting of Murray street store of the company includes, ratio
trend analysis, managerial judgement and budgeting (Cachon and Lariviere, 2011).
Scenario Planning: This is used by store to adjust and manage according to the long
term goals set by Woolworth. It focuses on learning impacts which can affect the functioning of
stores located at different location. Scenario planning helps the manager in improving knowledge
about business environment.
4. Analyse the strategies to address gaps or oversupply of future required staff.
Manager of supermarket company aims at analysing gap because it helps to evaluate the
skills and capabilities of team and preparing the staff members according to the future demand.
Further, strategies of addressing gap is used by Woolworth when there is a technological
updation, in case of extended growth periods, and when the stores are suffering from low number
of employees turnover.
Hence, identifying the gap and oversupply of required staff in future for Woolworth is
important to increase the efficiency and effectiveness at work environment. Moreover,
recognizing the future demand of workers help the HR manager in creating the employment
plans. Further, finding out the gaps helps the entity in analysing the internal weakness of
organisation which will assist them to overcome the future threats and risks from external
environment.
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