HRM practices play a major role in the success of a company especially in the retail

sector. This is a sector where customer satisfaction is paramount to the success of the
company. Woolworths is one of the leading retail companies in Australia with
thousands of employees. The company has had many challenges in the HRM
department as HRM practices is a new concept in the Australian job market. This
essay looks at the HRM practices at Woolworths and offers recommendations on the
best practices that the company can apply to have an effective HRN department.

Part 1
Recruiting and Inducting New Staff
Woolworths relies on having the best employees working in its operations. To recruit
the best, Woolworths usually advertises its jobs online with the applicants required to
send their applications online. This makes it easier to ensure transparency in the
recruitment process. The aim is to treat all the candidates with courtesy, consideration
as well as fairness. Woolworths follows or abides by the Anti-Discrimination and Equal
Employment Opportunity legislation that are required throughout the process.
Besides, the company recruits based on merit to make sure that only the right person
is selected for the job. The other important concept that is followed or appreciated by
Woolworths is acting in accordance with the Privacy act when it is dealing with
personal information. After the selection process has taken place, the selected
applicants are taken through a training program where orientation takes place. This
ensures that the new employees do not spend a lot of time integrating into the
companys practices (Arli
et al 2013).
Manages Staff Performance and Engagement
Woolworths has performance and talent management systems where the employees
are analysed based on the current skills they possess, the ones they require and the
future career aspirations. This allows the management and the employees to interact
as they attempt to fill that gap in skills. The company also engages the employees in
making decisions especially those decisions that directly affect the employees. The
aim is to enhance employee participation and increase the job satisfaction of the
employees. The talent management system is used enhance better performance
through training and development of the employees. The retail sector is one of the
changing ventures, which means that Woolworths has to ensure that it is prepared for
any changes that might occur in the process (Gibert 2015).
Identifies and Advances High Performing Staff
High performance is encouraged at Woolworths with the management rewarding
those with extraordinary performance. Such an aspect goes beyond the scope of
practice or provision of an extra contribution to the business. Managers play the role
of identifying the best performing employees. There are on the spot awards for going
above and beyond that call of duty. These awards are given by the managers on
frequent occasions when they go round the company. The managers also give the
difference awards for making an extraordinary contribution. The award engages all the
employees in selecting the winner, which means that the winners feel appreciated by
their fellow employees. The award encourages the rest of the employees to work hard
and achieve the same fate in the near future. The other award for high performance is
the annual CEO award that is given to both individuals and groups in the company
(Woolworths 2017). This award has been found to provide the employees with the
desire to work hard both as individuals but also as a group. High performance is also
awarded a promotion through providing career development opportunities for the
employees working (Gibert 2015).
Safety of the Employees
Woolworths has little concerns when it comes to the safety of the employees.
However, safety is a concern in some specific areas like drivers, handlers of electrical
appliances and employees working in stores. The company has a set of rules and
regulations that govern the process of working in these departments (Woolworths
2017). For example, drivers are not supposed to work under the influence of drugs or
drive beyond a certain speed limit. This makes it easier for them to prevent accidents
from happening. Protective gear is required for employees working in the electrical
department. This does not only apply to the internal employees but also to contractors
as well. The arrangement of the stores is always done in a way that it does not
endanger the lives of other people as they work or move around the store. These
safety measures are to be observed by all the employees at all times (Woolworths
2017).
Encouragement of Staff to Stay In the Organization
Woolworths has had to deal with a high turnover of employees in the organization as
they move for greener pastures in other companies. This has prompted the
management to seek ways through which it can reduce the high rate of turnover of
employees and in the process ensure that the best and most talented are retained.
One of the ways of encouraging the employees to remain in the organization is through
the provision of career development opportunities by promoting people within its ranks.
The employees are also provided with numerous benefits such as discounts,
retirement funding, healthcare plans, educational assistance through training and
scholarships, disability benefits as well as death and funeral cover (Woolworths,
2017). Parental leave and the provision of fitness centres are some of the benefits that
are outlined by the company that helps in employee retention. The employee
engagement also improves job satisfaction and in the process ensures that employee
retention (Sawang & Kivits 2014).

Part 2
Woolworths management can address a number of issues to improve its HRM
practices. The aim of the improvement is to ensure that the management can deal with
the excess turnover that occurs in its stores. Firstly, the management can offer
competitive salaries for the employees working in the organization unlike those offered
by other companies as well. In essence, the HRM department should analyse the
payment regimes of other retail companies in Australia and improve its salaries for the
company to be competitive and attract the best talent (Mortimer & OConnor 2014).
The HRM department should also expand the number of avenues that are used
by the company in advertising for jobs. Increasing the advertising avenues means
that the company will attract a large pool of employees, which increases the chances
of getting the right or the best employees (Sablok et al 2017). Consequently, job
descriptions should clearly state the role of each employee. Research shows that
employees are organized and produce highly when their skills are well utilized. Sharing
the responsibility has been pointed as an important thing to the HR department.
Leaders should be encouraged to adopt transformational leadership at all times to
ensure that they can develop the people they manage and at the same time harness
the talent of the entire staff (Schuler & MacMilan1984).
The HRM department should understand the motivation to improve the
performance of the employees. The department should not focus on monetary based
motivation but should focus on better ways of motivating employees. One of the things
that the HRM department should do is train the managers and leaders on how to coach
and motivate the employees through transformational leadership (Theriou &
Chatzoglou 2014). Woolworths management may also provide incentives such as
lunches, better parking or discounts for the employees. These will encourage the
employees to not only work hard but also commit to the company.
Woolworths performance management system is highly underdeveloped. The
management should develop a performance appraisal system that should be
implemented annually or semi-annually to allow the company determines the various
gaps that exist in terms of skills that the employees have (Sablok et al 2017).
Combined with the talent management program, the appraisal system should stand-
in better planning of the training and development program. Specific scorecards
should be developed for every department and should be used in analysing the
performance of the employees in the organization by comparing their outcomes in
different intervals. Training and development should be based on the gaps that are
identified by the HRM department in the appraisal system. It is also important to make
sure that the HRM department does not only represent the company but also the
employees as well (Schuler & MacMilan1984).