HC1062 Group Report: Analyzing Wesfarmers Employee Performance Issues

This report analyzes the management problem of low employee performance at Wesfarmers, an Australian conglomerate. It identifies key issues such as lack of motivation, poor delegation, and insufficient acknowledgment of employee contributions, which negatively impact productivity and revenue. The report delves into the organizational, managerial, and HR factors contributing to this problem, including a lack of resources, skill gaps, and inconsistent management practices. The research questions address motivational factors and the role of training in fostering a positive workplace culture. Recommendations include improving communication, implementing Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to address employee needs, empowering employees, and providing on-the-job training. The report emphasizes the importance of clear expectations, employee development, and regular meetings to address underperformance and enhance overall company growth. Ultimately, the study suggests that appropriate training and employee motivation are crucial for identifying and resolving performance issues, thereby improving Wesfarmers' brand image and employee morale.

Running head: MANAGEMENT
Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The report has assisted in understanding the different kinds of issues faced by Wesfarmers in
managing the low performance of the employees. From the different analysis, it has been
identified that there has been lack of motivation and lack of acknowledgement that has led to
the decreased or negative growth prospects of the company and employees simultaneously.
However, with the help of the recommendations, it can be seen that there are different aspects
such as communication and implementation of the Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory that can be
adopted by the company for the growth of the company and it will be effective in improving
prospects of the company.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Overview of Wesfarmers.......................................................................................................3
Identification of the Management Problem................................................................................4
Specification of Research Questions to Address Management Problem or Decision...............6
Analysis of Recommendations to Solve Issue...........................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11

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Topic- Low Employee Performance on Wesfarmers Group
Introduction
In the complex business environment, it can be seen that productivity of the different
employees is prerogative in the corporate as well as non-corporate company as to streamline
flow of the different operations as well as services. However, it can be noticed that there are
different reasons which results to the low performance among employees and it affects the
entire productivity of the company (Závadský, Hitka and Potkány 2015). The main aim and
purpose of the report is to understand the different aspects that leads to the low employee
performance in Wesfarmers Supermarket. There will be analysis of alternatives and
recommendations which needs to be incorporated for improving the scenario and improve the
morale of the performance suitably.
Overview of Wesfarmers
Wesfarmers is one of the Australian conglomerate companies which is headquartered
in Perth, Western Australia. The company was incorporated in the year 1914 and it has been
successful in providing the different customers with the different groceries and other items
such as clothing to the different customers and it will be suitable for the growth prospects of
the company (Wesfarmers.com.au 2019). There are different areas which are served by the
company that includes India, Ireland, Australia and United Kingdom. There has been huge
increase in the revenue of the company which is amounting to A$68.44 billion till the year
2018 and the number of employees working at Wesfarmers is 223000 as per the facts till the
year 2018.

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Identification of the Management Problem
The main management problem which has been analyzed in the respective aspect is
low performance of the employees at Wesfarmers Group. As commented by Zacher,
Robinson and Rosing (2016), the performance of the employees is the confluence of proper
ability as well as motivation and the employees require to have the proper ability to perform
the different tasks along with motivation in performing the same. However, the different
employees were not receiving proper support from the management of Wesfarmers which led
to the problems in the tasks which were performed by them (Turabik and Baskan 2016). In
case of Wesfarmers, it has been noticed that there are different organizational factors,
managerial factors as well as Human Resource factors that was leading to the ineffectiveness
in the performance of employees. Due to the same, it has affected their morale in performing
the tasks and it affected the entire productivity of the company negatively.
Lack of Proper Ability
As commented by Thrasher et al. (2015), there are different factors under the lack of
ability which resulted in the poor performance of the employees. Firstly, the resources were
not available to the employees such as time or the different supplies which are required to
complete the tasks in a positive manner. It is the root cause for the declining employee
performance and it affected the productivity and revenues of the company. In addition, the
problem related to performance is lack of skills among some of the employees. It can be seen
that in case of Wesfarmers, the different employees were promoted to the next level when
they were not ready and it created the root cause of the poor performance.
Lack of Apposite Motivation
At Wesfarmers, it can be seen that the high-level management of the company are not
able to provide motivation to the employees and due to which it impacts the performance.

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The employees are burned out and it is considered as the red flag to the manager or leader of
the company that the talents of management may be underutilized. As commented by Pyc,
Meltzer and Liu (2017), the poor performance can be passive-aggressive method for the
employee for readdressing what is going wrong and it leads to the turnover among employees
affecting the overall productivity of the company negatively.
Lack of Appropriate Delegation
At Wesfarmers, it has been noticed that leaders are notorious for not being able to
delegate the different tasks appropriately. Due to the same, it has been resulting in
overburden of tasks among employees which leads to low self-esteem. From the different
surveys, it can be seen that the supervisor of the company leans constantly on one person and
when the respective has become overloaded with work, there has been inclusion of
disengagement among the other team members (Perryer et al. 2016). Due to the same
reasons, it had led to burnout among employees and affected morale of the employees in
performing and delivering the appropriate solutions within the specified time frame.
Inconsistency
The top management of the company Wesfarmers lacked proper understanding of the
role of the group or the vision of the company. When the rules are kept on changing, the
different employees working may be distracted for getting work done and the worst results
will be delivered (Nie et al. 2016). In such scenario, the vision and goals of the company y
needs to be cleared in the minds of the employees and employer which will make them work
towards the specific direction and achieve the suitable results. At Wesfarmers, the different
employees are getting distracted and it impacts the different departments.
Lack of Acknowledgment

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At Wesfarmers, the top management officials of the company do not believe in
acknowledging the workers for their performance. It has been seen in many companies, the
acknowledgement plays a vital role in motivating them and they will be suitable in delivering
the positive results (Kampf et al. 2017). The motivation is the key element which is not being
offered to the different employees that will be efficient in identifying preferences of the
different employees and gain competitive aspects in the market appropriately as well (Kabir
et al. 2018).
From the analysis of the management issues, it can be seen that the major problems
which has been faced by the different employees at Wesfarmers and due to the same reason,
it has impacted the productivity and revenues of the company negatively. The
acknowledgement and training programs are required to be incorporated in the company
which will be suitable for the effectiveness of the company and it will be suitable for
enhancement of the growth prospects of the company in a positive manner.
Specification of Research Questions to Address Management Problem or Decision
From the above section, it can be seen that these are the major management problems
relating to the low performance of the employees and due to the same, it has affected the
growth of the company as well as led to negative profitability. In such scenario, for
addressing the management problem “Low Performance of Employees at Wesfarmers”, there
are two research questions generated which will be helpful in solving the problem effectively.
1. What are the different motivational factors that will be helpful in improving
performance of employees at Wesfarmers?
2. Whether training will be sufficient in contributing towards the positive workplace
culture for enhancing employee performance?

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Analysis of Recommendations to Solve Issue
As commented by Hsiao et al. (2015), the good leaders need to ensure the fact that
their team is engaged in their work, feeling satisfied and performing the different tasks with
their personal best aspects. However, when the team leaders are not effective in managing
teams, in such scenario, there are different problems related to the productivity of the
employees and the low brand image of the company as well. It has been the similar kind of
case in case of Wesfarmers which affected their growth prospects and it led to the burnout
among employees that affected the tasks which were performed among the employees. In
such scenario, there are different alternatives and recommendations provided to the different
employers of Wesfarmers to solve the issue and improve the scenario effectively.
Communicating the Clear Expectations- It is the first and foremost aspect which
needs to be incorporated by Wesfarmers which will be suitable in making sure that the work
assignments are being clearly understood by employees and in such scenario, communication
is the critical element that will be beneficial in improving scenario (Holt et al. 2016). When
the employees can explain the objectives, it is considered to be the good chance that they
know and have understanding regarding the tasks.
Making Development of Employees a Major Priority- It is the second most important
aspect which needs to be incorporated by Wesfarmers top management needs to motivate
them and it will be suitable in developing their performance and experience. With the
incorporation of Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory, Wesfarmers can manage their effectiveness
and their basic needs are being met. As per the Maslow’s Theory, there are different needs
which are required to be met appropriately as follows:

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 Physiological Needs- The basic survival requirements such as salary and stable
business environment plays a major role in making the employees feel happy (Florea
and Mihai 2017)
 Security Needs- The stable emotional and physical environment related issues such as
proper benefits and proper fair work practices such as delegation of tasks and
acknowledgement can help in managing grievances of employees (Faisal Ahammad et
al. 2015)
 Belongingness Needs- There can be social acceptance such as cooperation of the job
which can be helpful in improving the growth of company and employees
 Esteem Needs- Positive Self-Image and recognition issues such as nice work spaces
and acknowledgements can be helpful in making employees work on different
assignments effectively (Belias et al. 2015)
 Self-Actualization Needs- It can be inclusive of various achievements such as
autonomy in workplace and challenging work needs to be provided to different
employees as it will be helpful for them in growth of company and improvement in
morale of the employees
Empowering Employees to do Jobs Suitably is the other aspect which can be
incorporated by Wesfarmers as it will be suitable in allowing them to feel that their aspects
are being valued and it will help them in increasing their job prospects and their performance
will be appreciated. Through the proper utilization of different technologies, it can be seen
that there can be on-the job training programs incorporated by Wesfarmers which will be
assisting in making them understand the aspects related to job and delegate the tasks
according to their knowledge (Barry et al. 2019). In such scenario, it can be seen that there
can be inclusion of the regular meetings that can be conducted in the company as it will be

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effective in determining the effective ways in changing the underperforming team and
improve the growth of the company as well.
These are the different alternatives or the recommendations which can be provided to
the high-level management officials of the company for managing the issue which will be
effective performance of the company. Through the same, there can be improvement in the
brand image of the company and the employees will be feeling that they are precious for the
company and their work will be praised. The proper training and motivation are the two
crucial elements which needs to be involved in the process as it will be efficient in
understanding the first sign of trouble and solving them accurately.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be inferred that there are different reasons for the low performance
of the employees wherein the main reasons were the lack of acknowledgement, training along
with motivation that affected the morale of the employees. In such scenario, it can be seen
that the individualizing of the approach and the following of the Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory
can play a vital role in improving scenario and gain competitiveness in the competitive
business environment. The performance appraisals are needed to be consistent as the regular
and timely appraisals can be helpful in ensuring that the different employees that they are
valued and their way of performing the tasks play a vital role in generating positive results in
the future.
The setting of clear goals can play a vital role in understanding the grievances of the
different employees that is affecting their performance and improve the same appropriately.
The reward improvement is the other major technique which can be incorporated by
Wesfarmers for making the clear statement that the good work is recognized within
workplace and there can be inclusion of the non-monetary and monetary rewards which will

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be suitable for career advancements. Lastly, the employee performance and improving their
morale are the two main aspects that needs to be incorporated by Wesfarmers for successful
results.

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References
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Kabir, G., Sumi, R.S., Sadiq, R. and Tesfamariam, S., 2018. Performance evaluation of
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Wesfarmers.com.au 2019 Wesfarmers: Home (Online) Retrieved from
https://www.wesfarmers.com.au [Accessed on 11th September 2019]
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