Woolworths Limited: Employee Effectiveness Project Report

This report presents a project focused on enhancing employee effectiveness within Woolworths Limited. The project's rationale centers on improving customer satisfaction through motivated and skilled employees. It explores three key alternatives: implementing employee training programs, establishing motivation forums with performance assessments and rewards, and optimizing the recruitment process. The report includes detailed estimations for each option, considering costs and benefits. It further conducts a cost-effectiveness analysis and a comparison of the three alternatives to determine the most viable strategies for improving employee performance and contributing to the company's overall success.

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PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION

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Contents
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION.......................................................5
PROJECT RATIONALE.....................................................................................................5
MACROECONOMIC AND SECTORAL CONTEXT.......................................................6
PROJECT ALTERNATIVES...............................................................................................6
ESTIMATIONS...................................................................................................................7
Option 1.......................................................................................................................................7
Option 2.......................................................................................................................................8
Option 3.....................................................................................................................................11
INVESTMENT OF EACH PROJECT ALTERNATE.......................................................13
Project Alternate 1 – Training Program.....................................................................................13
Project Alternate 2 – Combination of forum for motivation + Employee Performance
Assessment and Reward............................................................................................................14
Project Alternative 3 – Effective Recruitment Program...........................................................15
COST-EFFECTIVENESS ANALYSIS.............................................................................16
BENEFIT COST ANALYSIS............................................................................................16
COMPARISON OF THE THREE ALTERNATE PROJECTS.........................................16
DISCUSSION....................................................................................................................21
DECISION21
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................22
REFERENCES..................................................................................................................22

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PROJECT DEVELOPMENT AND OPTIMIZATION
PROJECT RATIONALE
The project for employee effectiveness in Woolworths Limited has its own
reasons for commencement. The reasons for the initiation of the employee
effectiveness is not, because of the failure of this retail company, rather it is
considered as an opportunity by the company to increase the effectiveness of the
services of the company and improve the customer satisfaction, by improving the
effectiveness and quality of the services rendered by their employees. Here,
effectiveness is very subjective and so though the present degree or level of
effectiveness of the employees is good enough, there is always a scope for
improving the effectiveness of the employees, towards improving the objectives
and missions of the company, in terms of offering the best services to its
customers.
Every business gets successful, when all the stakeholders of the company
work with and feel satisfaction. Here, Woolworths looks for the satisfaction of all
its stakeholders, like management, employees, customers, public, vendors,
suppliers, etc.
Legally and practically, the company, Woolworths Limited can set policies
directly to make the employees work with higher standard and quality of their
works, however, it makes them harder and highly stressed from the work, as it
works like a stick method. Woolworths Limited considers that motivation of the

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employees can make them to feel better and intentionally improve the quality and
effectiveness of their work.
Woolworths Limited wishes improvement in efficiency, rather than
expanding its capacity, by recruiting more number of employees, allocating smaller
tasks to them.
MACROECONOMIC AND SECTORAL CONTEXT
The employee effectiveness through motivation helps the company the
reputation of the company undoubtedly, both in macro level and micro level. When
seen in macro level, it enables it to stand as one of the best company with customer
orientation and satisfaction (Florio, 2014).
The project can address the development problem of winning the
competition in the marketplace, by winning the customer heart and customer
satisfaction. The project can solve both the development problem and works as a
great opportunity.
PROJECT ALTERNATIVES
The project of employee effectiveness is through motivation and it has three
alternatives. The first alternative is to provide training to the employees for
improving the effectiveness in their roles and responsibilities and day to day
activities in the company. The second alternative is to motivate the employees by
initiating and running motivation forum for employees and assessing the
performance of the employees and awarding and rewarding them, based on their
performance (Evans, 2006). The third and last alternative of the project is to have
the best and effective human resource personnel for recruiting the best employees,
who can directly provide their services with effectiveness and start working
immediately, as a plug and play.

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ESTIMATIONS
There are three options to increase the effectiveness and improve the
customer satisfaction, in the Woolworths Limited. Each of the three options has its
own pros and cons. Having analysed the pros and cons of each of the options,
towards the benefit of the employees as well as the organization, one best option is
selected (EIB, 2013). However, in terms of the cost effectiveness and respective
benefit, each of the option is going to be economically analysed, so that it helps in
concrete decision making.
Option 1
Employee Training Program
The employees, who are recruited in Woolworths Limited are either talented
fresh and young force or experienced and well-built profile employees. The
freshers need very effective induction that should be able to connect them strongly
to the company. When the induction and first company experience is strong and
connecting, there would be no surprise that they get retired in the same company.
When the experienced professionals get joined in the company, they need to
explore the company they have joined now and should be adaptable to the new
culture and new environment in the company.
Woolworths Limited has an option of providing the training to the existing
employees that provide the tools and opportunities for exploring and using their
inherent skills. The training program can motivate the employees for achieving the
objective of improving the effectiveness in their services and customer satisfaction,
by committing to employee skills perpetual enhancement.
The company can offer programs of accreditation and licensing would be
effective for growing the knowledge and enhance the skills of the people and allow
them to self-motivate to grow themselves and grow the company. Such offers
improve the attitudes of the employees to the company and to the customers, as

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their self-confidence can be boasted. When the assertion is supported by the
company, it provides motivation to the employees, to learn. It is related directly to
a great extent that the participants or employees to believe the affect of training on
the career and job utility. When the skills enhanced during the training can be
applied to the work and activities on the floor, the objective of Woolworths Limited
would be achieved in improving the effectiveness in providing the services and
improving the customer satisfaction.
So, induction and training programs can be very effective to both the
freshers and experienced employees. And the company enhances the profiles and
rich work experience to the employees.
Option 2
Motivation Plan in Operation that includes
 Organizing Forums of Motivation, for Motivational Talks
 Establishing Motivational Program, by Employee Performance Assessment
and Reward Employees
Woolworths Limited is a reputed retail organization that has numerous
branches and so huge number of employees, in all these retail organizations. All
these retail branches have the employees in a large number. Though most of these
retail branches follow a common approach for motivation, there are multiple
options for the motivation of the employees that can be implemented, apart from
the two approaches of maintaining the forums and employee performance and
assessment program.
Empowerment

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Offering decision making authority and more responsibility can improve the
realms of control, over the assigned activities and tasks, for which the employees
are felt and act responsible. Such offers equip them for carrying their assigned
tasks. Offering accountability for the tasks, rather than the responsibility, can
reform the employees to fulfil the tasks as their own and personal tasks.
Eventually, the success of each and every task would be increased to a great extent
and in addition, it makes them to deserve for rewards and awarding them. This is
the empowerment and the expenses for the empowerment needs creating a detailed
and crystal clear strategy. Before the accountability is assigned to the employees, a
detailed discussion is important, with the human resource department, so that his or
her profile and experience are clearly discussed and let know, why and how the
accountability and responsibility of a certain department is assigned to the
respective person. It gives the trust and convincing logic of why and how he or she
is eligibility for the accountability of the specific task and feeling of deserving
gives him or her to fulfil the complete the tasks.
In terms of expenses, it needs an effective job from the existing human
resource department and no need for the additional human resource personal. All it
needs a clear and quality time spent by the human resource department with no
additional expenses. All it needs is allocation of the credit points and rewarding
them with additional package and preferably, promotion to the next level. It does
not give direct expense but the future package (Harrison, 2010). However, the
future package and the respective worth of expense would be obtained by the
organization, through improved sales and improved customer satisfaction, all with
the improved accountability of the employees.
The empowerment relieves the employees from the feelings of frustration
from the accidents and miscommunication or mishandling of the customers. It
improves the health, communication and coordination between the management

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and employees, in the organization. It results in diversion of energy from the self-
preservation towards improvement of the accomplishment of the tasks.
So, it needs only future expense, not immediate expense.
Creativity and Innovation
Woolworth Limited is a large and reputed company that hires eventually
talented people with creative and good life skills. The inherent skills of each
employee have to be identified and the respective tasks are to be assigned to the
respective people. When the power is offered to the employees to create motivates
the employees and new minds show different dimensions of improving the
effectiveness and improving the customer satisfaction of the Woolworths Limited.
It needs offering flexible workforce, by making use of the employees experience
more wisely and exchange of ideas and information can be increased, among the
employees as well as the departments. The organization allows the working
environment with friendly and openness, to allow change. Such friendly
environment and openness among the employees and department allows it to adapt
to the market changes, easily and quickly and will be able to sustain to become
first mover advantage, won in the marketplace.
Creativity and innovation is one of the ways of motivating the employees
and it demands no expense, except giving additional freedom to the employees and
willing to listen to them, for their view of solving the existing problems and
exploring the new opportunities to develop the organization.
Quality of Life
Employees get motivated, not only by improving the environment on the
floor and within the workplace, but also, by improving quality of their personal
lives, off the work. So, Woolworths Limited can offer certain benefits for
motivation. The daily working hours are to be set very strictly limited and if there

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are any excess working hours are worked by the employees, they should be offered
with appropriate compensation.
All the employees should be offered various other benefits like, coupons,
paid holidays with paid tourist packages. These benefits can be offered commonly
to all the employees, however, certain additional benefits are to be offered to the
employees, who perform better.
Option 3
Improving Recruitment Process
Estimation of expenses
1. Employment advertisement
The employment advertisement has multiple expenses including in it. The
costs related to the employment advertisement are, advertising in the print media,
electronic media initially and advertising through the consultancy portals and
platforms.
2. Employment agency
There are many employment agencies available, which offer skilled human
resources, who have relevant and rich experience in the retail industry. It includes
the fees for the search to the employment agency. It also includes the fees to the
agencies of employment, recruitment consultants and search firms.
3. Internal referrals
Internal referrals also are found to be important aspect of improving the
recruitment processes. It is because, each of the employee in the organization,
having known the processes and the skills and knowledge required for the same
processes, can refer the people, who have relevant skills and knowledge, from their
own networks.

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Internal referrals include the costs for bonuses, gifts, etc. The employees,
who sponsor important referrals can be awarded, based on the level of the
employee, referred.
4. Applicant expenses
When the employment advertisement is published as a public call, the
number of applicants become huge and numerous. It is important for the
recruitment team to explore each and every profile that they have received and has
to filter at each stage and each round of interview. These expenses become huge, as
the number of applicants is huge.
5. Travelling expenses
The recruitment personnel have to keep moving to the nearby cities to cover
wider range of applicants, by increasing geographical area
6. Recruiting Profound Recruitment Personnel
Highly experienced and skilled recruiting managers
In order to improve the recruitment process, the human resource department
has to be well equipped with highly skilled and experienced recruitment personnel.
So, experienced and skilled professionals are to be recruited initially, with much
higher packages and additional expenses are to be incurred, for recruiting such
highly experienced profiles.
7. Recruitment Staff Compensation
Since the process of recruitment has to be refined and scaled up, the number
of staff in the human resource department has to be increased. Eventually, the total
amount of salaries, bonuses and benefits of each of the recruitment
8. Other Employment Expenses
There are other employment expenses, like the expenses of telephone,
consultants and other facilities.
9. Orientation and Training

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Other expenses, for better recruitment process, are materials, trainer fees,
management time and for induction and training for the new recruits.
INVESTMENT OF EACH PROJECT ALTERNATE
Project Alternate 1 – Training Program
The training program is designed and strategized to conduct for three day
session, for 8 hours continuously. The total employees are divided into four groups.
Each group attends for the training, with the period of four months. As an
alternative, the four schedules of training for four groups can be conducted in
continuous four months. Or, if the same training is expected to be conducted in the
same month, each three days of session can be conducted in the same month.
However, the total expense for the training would be the same (Hagan, et al, 2012).
So,
For the first alternative project, which is the training program, the
investment is given as the following.
Investments are,
1. Trainer package = $200 per hour
So, for each group of employees, the total training expenses would be 3 * 8
* 200 = 4800
And for the four groups, total expenses = 4800 * 4 = 19200
2. Other expenses related to facilitations = 3000 per training session
Facilitation expenses for four groups = 3000 * 4 = 12000
Total expenses = 19200 + 12000 = 31,200