MGT3HRD | Human Resource Development Issues in Woolworths Company

3.Use the Training and Human Resource Development (HRD) process model to outline how the training intervention will be designed and conducted. Use the modified Training and HRD Process Model template provided in LMS to complete this section.

Answer:

Introduction

Human resource is desired to be developed according to the alterations in the external environment of the business; hence, human resource development helps to accept such alterations by the growth of present human resource in terms of knowledge and skills (Swart, Mann and Brown, 2012). The report is being presented in order to highlight the issues of human resource development in Woolworths Company and how these issues affect the productivity or overall organization. Besides this, with the help of training and human resource development, model-training interventions will be framed and conducted.

Overview of Woolworths

Woolworths is a supermarket chain of Australia managed by Woolworths Limited. The company was established in 1924, along with Coles company forms a duopoly in the supermarket industry of Australia covering approx. 80% of the market share. Woolworths is specialized in vending groceries such as meat, vegetables, packaged goods, fruits, etc. (Woolworths Group, 2018)  

Issues in Woolworths

A business like Woolworths is bound to deal with numerous challenges in the management of human resource. Both employees and employers experience hurdles and these issues should be resolved at the earliest to form a strong work environment so that efficiency is not affected (Bamberger, Biron and Meshoulam, 2014). It has been analyzed that the administration of the human resource department spends a lot of time in offering training and describing the work to the employee this results in wastage of time as well as resources (Buller and McEvoy, 2012). In the sector of retail, most of the workforce comprises people who directly deal with the consumer and follow their requirements. Therefore, many times their employees are aware of their job and do not need briefing. Besides this, the selection of the employee is another issue for the department of human resource because of the high retail turnover (Hendry, 2012). Frequently, workers quit the job due to receiving better job opportunity. This results in huge losses as it has spent money and time on the training. Therefore, it is very essential for Woolworths to hold the precious employees within the organization by offering attractive benefits and incentives.

Training and Human Resource Development model

Assessment - This area of the framework development talks about the type of training is required in the business. Once it has been defined, the business can set the objectives of learning to evaluate at the end of training (Wilson, 2005). As the employees turnover ratio is high in the Australian supermarket industry, which results in wastage of money and time invested by Woolworths in the training and development of its employees.

Design - This step of the framework talks about designing the solution plan that could help the organization to deal with the problems (McLagan, 2017). In order to resolve the training issues in Woolworths, it could be suggested that company needs to properly plan a one day on the floor-training program in which employee will be provided some general guidelines and procedures followed within the organization. After this, he/she will be asked to observe co-employees working and follow the procedure. Besides this, employees will be allowed to get the procedure guidelines in written so that they must not disturb other employees and reduce the chances of mistakes. In addition, considering the employee turnover ratio the management of the company needs to frame some attractive perquisites and incentives for the employees.

For successful designing as well as the implementation of these strategies a company need not to hire an expert for training, an existing employee and store manager can provide a proper training and guidance to the hired one.

Implementation - Once the training program is developed, the next step is to consider how it will be implemented in the organization. Initially, to implement the new plans and strategies it is very essential to communicate it will staff, managers, and other departments involved in the procedure (Richman, 2015). Woolworths need to communicate with the store managers, employees, and top management of the training program design and new incentive policies. If all the employees and managers provided their positive feedback then the program can be implemented successfully.

Evaluation - Evaluation talks about determining whether the program framed for the training was worth the effort or not and what developments are needed to make it more operative (Topno, 2012). Training evaluation is very essential because observing the functions and activities of training is significant to institute its financial and social benefits. Evaluation of training at the workplace can help a trainer in learning about the influence of training. It is significant to apprehend the determination of evaluation before scheduling it and selecting approaches to do it (Topno, 2012). The responsible department in the Woolworths Company needs to evaluate the results of the training program and additional incentives to reduce the employee turnover ratio. Through the evaluation process, the company will also realize the scope of enhancement in the process for further development.   

Conclusion

From the above analysis, it could be said that Woolworths is dealing with some training and development issues that are affecting its productivity and growth in the industry. The issues such as waste of time and cost involved the training of the employees and high employee turnover are raising hurdles in the direction of the company. In order to solve these issues, the above report has suggested some strategies that will not only save the time and money of the company but will reduce the employee turnover. The strategy has been discussed through the model of training and human resource development that is comprised of four different steps and must be followed for positive results.

References

Bamberger, P.A., Biron, M., and Meshoulam, I. (2014) Human Resource Strategy: Formulation, Implementation, and Impact 2^nd ed. U.S: Routledge.

Buller, P.F., and McEvoy, G.M. (2012) Strategy, human resource management, and performance: Sharpening line of sight. Human resource management review, 22(1), pp.43-56.

Hendry, C. (2012) Human Resource Management 2^nd ed. U.S: Routledge.

McLagan, P.A. (2017) Models for HRD practice. Training and Development Journal, 41(9), 49-60.

Richman, N. (2015) Human resource management and human resource development: Evolution and contributions. Creighton Journal of Interdisciplinary Leadership, 1(2), 120-129.

Swart, J., Mann, C., and Brown, S. (2012) Human Resource Development 2^nd ed. U.S: Routledge.

Topno, H. (2012) Evaluation of Training and Development: An Analysis of Various Models. Journal of Business and Management, 5(2), 16-22.

Wilson, J.P. (2005) Human Resource Development: Learning & Training for Individuals & Organizations 2^nd ed. U.S: Kogan Page Publishers.

Woolworths Group (2018) Woolworths Supermarkets [online]. Available from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/our-brands/supermarkets/Woolworths [accessed 19 September 2018]