Analysis of People, Culture, and Contemporary Leadership at Woolworths

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Woolworths Supermarkets, focusing on its people, culture, and contemporary leadership strategies. It examines performance-related initiatives like remuneration, performance development, and recognition programs, highlighting their impact on employee motivation and productivity. The report delves into culture-related initiatives, emphasizing the importance of inclusion, diversity, and stakeholder engagement, particularly in relation to Woolworths' 'People, Planet, Prosperity' framework. Furthermore, it assesses engagement-related initiatives, such as training programs and incentive structures, and their role in enhancing customer satisfaction and sales. The report concludes with recommendations for improvement, including enhancing work-life balance, providing diversity-based training, and increasing employee participation in decision-making processes. This comprehensive overview aims to understand how Woolworths maintains its competitive edge in the retail industry through effective leadership and employee-centric practices.

Running head: PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................2
Performance-related initiatives......................................................................................2
Culture-related initiatives...............................................................................................3
Engagement-related initiatives.......................................................................................4
Recommendations..........................................................................................................5
Conclusion......................................................................................................................6
References......................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
Woolworths Supermarkets is grocery or supermarket based chain that is mainly
owned by Woolworths Limited. The organization was established in the year 1924 and has
been able to gain around 80% of shares in the entire retail market of Australia. Woolworths
mainly specialises in selling different types of products that include, groceries, magazines,
DVDs, beauty and health based products, baby and pet supplies, household products and
stationery based items. Woolworths operates around 1000 stores in different parts of
Australia (Woolworths.com.au 2019). The report will be mainly based on the ways by which
performance based, culture related and engagement based initiatives that have been
implemented by the organization.
Performance-related initiatives
Remuneration, performance development and recognition have been important parts
of the performance related initiatives that are implemented by the organization. The
remuneration structure that has been developed by the organization is mainly based on two
major components that include, fixed remuneration and the variable risk related components.
The short term incentive plan and long term incentive plan have been developed by
Woolworths in order to improve the performance levels of the employees. The short term
incentive plan is applied to most of the employees who are a part of Woolworths (Alagaraja
and Shuck 2015). On the other hand, long term based incentive plans are applicable to all the
employees of Woolworths. Performance development is considered to be a major aim of the
performance initiative that has been implemented by the organization. The company conducts
a review every year in order to analyse the performance levels of the employees. The Key
Performance Indicators are considered to be highly important for the initiatives that have
been implemented by the organization (Aliyu, Rogo and Mahmood 2015). The performance

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of employees is aimed to be improved with the help of proper remuneration that is provided
to them and the incentives that are provided based on their levels of performance as well. The
organization and management of Woolworths has always provided high levels of importance
to the employees or people based factor. The employees are thereby provided with effective
recognition based on services that are offered by them (Asiaei and Jusoh 2015). The
recognitions are provided to employees with the help of proper remunerations and incentives
that are offered to them. This is able to improve the performance levels of the employees and
the ways by which they are able to satisfy the customers as well. The employees are able to
play a major role in the ways by which Woolworths has been able to develop its image as a
people brand (Forés and Camisón 2016).
Culture-related initiatives
The culture that has been developed in Woolworths is based on the commitments and
goals which are based on inclusion and diversity. The stakeholders of the organization who
are affected by the cultural initiatives include, team members, customers, communities and
suppliers. The cultural activities that are implemented by Woolworths is related to the
framework of “People, Planet, Prosperity”. The People factor is related to proper
encouragement of diversity. Gender equity has been an important part of the collaborative
culture that has been developed by Woolworths (Gogan et al. 2016). The female and male
employees were given similar levels of importance by the organization and this is helpful in
increasing the number of ideas that are generated. The different types of ideas are helpful for
the organization to provide effective services to the customers and increase their satisfaction
levels as well. The organization has always aimed at providing training to the employees that
can help in improvement of the communities in the areas in which it operates. The
collaborative culture has also led to the relationship that has been developed by Woolworths
with the suppliers (Manfredi Latilla et al. 2018). The suppliers are able to play a major role in

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the ways by which Woolworths offers its valuable services to the customers. The customers
are considered to be the most important part of the culture that has been formed in
Woolworths. The organization provides opportunities to the employees to do the right thing
in order to ensure that the culture is maintained and the customers satisfied as well. The
Employment Parity Initiative is based on the ways by which Woolworths has developed a
diverse and inclusive culture within the organization (Odle-Dusseau et al. 2016). The
employees are provided the amount of remuneration that they deserve irrespective of their
cultural backgrounds. Woolworths has currently acquired more than 2000 members in the
culturally diverse teams. The organization also includes 528 Indigenous members who are
provided major This initiative is considered to be an important part of the cultural activities
that have been performed by Woolworths in an effective manner (Pokharel and Ok Choi
2015). The culture that has been developed in Woolworths can affect the ways by which
Woolworths can maintain its position in the retail industry. The team members of the
organization have been able to provide the best levels of services to the customers of
Woolworths with the help of their different and diverse ideas (Ramdhani, Ramdhani and
Ainissyifa 2017).
Engagement-related initiatives
The training that has been provided to support staff of Woolworths in order to
improve their relationship with the customers. The incentives that have been provided to the
store managers and executives is a major employee engagement based initiative that has been
implemented by Woolworths. The major aim of employee engagement based implementation
of Woolworths is related to the ways by which customers of the organization can be satisfied
with the experience that is provided in the stores. The food based division of Woolworths is
considered to be a major part of the revenue generating businesses of the organization (Ullah
and Ahmad 2017). The voice of customers is considered to be highly important for proper

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development of the services and the products that are offered in the stores. The incentive
based initiative that had been implemented by Woolworths had supported in increasing the
sales by around 2.6%. The feedback of customers is collected and changes in services have
been implemented accordingly. The highly engaged employees are able to provide best levels
of services to customers of Woolworths that is further able to play a major role in
improvement of sales and developing sales momentum (van Scheppinggen et al. 2015). The
increase in employee engagement has been a part of the turnaround strategy of Woolworths.
This strategy is able to affect the ways by which Woolworths has been able to develop its
position in the retail industry. Woolworths has a team of highly engaged employees who are
capable of providing high quality services to the customers. The customer first policy of the
organization is supported with the help of engagement of the employees and their high levels
of productivity as well. The requirement of employee engagement in the organization is
considered to be quite high in order to develop a sustainable competitive advantage in retail
industry (Ramdhani, Ramdhani and Ainissyifa 2017).
Recommendations
Performance related initiatives – The performance related initiative that has been
implemented by Woolworths is only based in monetary benefits. The organization can also
implement some other initiatives that are based on the improvement of work and life balance
of the employees. This will help in improving the levels of performance and productivity of
the employees in an effective manner. The improvement of work life balance of the
employees will be able to play a major role in the ways by which the performance can be
improved (Manfredi Latilla et al. 2018). The motivation levels of the employees will also be
improved with the help of proper work life balance. This will help the organization to
enhance the performance levels of the employees and the productivity as well.

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PEOPLE, CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Culture related initiatives – Woolworths has implemented diversity based initiatives
in order to improve the culture. The culture related initiatives of the organization can be
improved with the help of proper diversity based training that can be provided to the
employees. The training will be able to play a major role in the ways by which employees can
interact with each other and use the ideas that are provided by them in order to develop
decision making process (Aliyu, Rogo and Mahmood 2015).
Engagement related initiatives – The engagement related initiatives that have been
implemented by Woolworths in the retail industry can also be improved. The enhancement
will be based on the ways by which the employees can take part in the decision making
process of the organization. The decisions based on products that will be showcased in the
stores will be based on the participation of the employees along with the store managers. The
major reason behind the development of a relationship that has already been developed by the
organization with employees (Alagaraja and Shuck 2015).
Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating Woolworths has developed effective
initiatives based on different aspects or departments of the business. However, the
improvements that have been recommended can help Woolworths to maintain its position in
comparison to the competitors that operate in retail industry of Australia.

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References
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Woolworths.com.au 2019. [online] Woolworths.com.au. Available at:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2019].