The Changing Face Of Recruitment In Australia: A Report For Woolworths Group Limited

Assuming that you are a Human Resource Consultant, prepare a report on "The changing face of recruitment in Australia" addressed to the top management of a selected Australian organisation.

Your report should focus on,

• significance of recruitment to organisations,
• recruitment trends, and
• challenges and opportunities for potential employees and the selected organisation.

The Importance of Recruitment for Organizations

Significance of recruitment to the organization

The most important factor behind the success of any company is its employees. The employees give their best and work hard to achieve the goals that have been set by the company. This is why it is important that every organization should possess a good recruitment process so that they are able to employ good staff who can perform to the best of their abilities. Recruitment is the process through which a company generates a pool of qualified and skilled applicants for the jobs (Ekwoaba, Ikeije & Ufoma, 2015). Organizations should hire such people who can become an asset for the company and not a liability. Individuals with the right skill set is required in the company so that they can perform their job efficiently. Before recruiting any candidate it is of utmost importance that the skills required for the job position is explained to the candidate and then explored if the candidate possesses the same skills. The right kind of people will be able to provide the right kinds of services and contribute to the betterment and the development of the company (Saifalislam, Osman & AlQudah, 2014). When a company consists of a very strong employee then then they will be able to move forward towards their desired goals with ease. Correct recruitment of employees into the organization will lead to the achievement and success of the organization itself. Recruitment also helps to bring in a large range of talent which includes new experiences of individuals and new ideas that they possess which could be incorporated into the business (Fomunjong, 2013). Therefore, it is mandatory for the business to a form a well-executed strategy for recruitment which will align with the behaviour of the new employees so that they can be encouraged to perform their best in the company and help the company to achieve their desired goals and their aims.        

Recruitment trends of the organization

 The aim of the recruitment process in Woolworths is to recruit the right people for the right jobs at the right time. They treat their new candidates with the same fairness and consideration as their employees. There are various legislations that are kept in place by the organization for the employees that work under them such as Anti-Discrimination and Equal Employment Opportunity legislations. The company has always maintained that the recruitment that is done is solely on the merit of the candidate to ensure that the best possible individual is appointed for the job. They have the Privacy Act in place to make sure that the personal information of the employees are kept private (Moreira, 2017). They make sure that all of their employees are treated with respect and professionally. The company should make policies which would enable them to retain their employees and build relationships with the employees of their company. The company could start different activities for staff engagement which would help the employees to bond with each other. These activities could be different games or introduction sessions which would help the employees to know the management better and also form strong relationships with the other employees (Merrill et al., 2013). It is of utmost importance that the employees are kept happy and motivated so that they are able to work better and contribute more for the progress of the company. For this the company has to arrange for different benefit and incentive structures which would provide motivation to the employees. Monetary motivation is one of the most successful tools of motivation. The employees should be given proper compensation and incentives based on their performance so that they feel appreciated and valued in the organization (Dobre, 2013). These trends should be used by the company to make the employees feel at home and to motivate them so that they are able to make the use of their full potential to complete the tasks that have been given by the company.     

Recruitment Trends of Woolworths Group Limited

Challenges faced by the organization and employees

Every company faces challenges in its course of operations. In the same way there are several challenges that are faced by Woolworths Group as well as its employees. Firstly, there have been a recent occurring where Woolworths had announced that they will be soon closing or selling their Masters Hardware business. This was due to the fact that they had suffered heavy losses in this business (Bolman & Deal, 2017). This has proved to be a challenge for the HR of the company as the individual has to now think about the future of the many employees that have been working in the business. Similarly, it is also a challenge for the employees as they have been suddenly informed of the change that is occurring in the business and now have to face sudden downfalls regarding their future as finding a new job would take time. If Woolworths is able to find a buyer for their business then there might be a change that the staff will be provided with ongoing employment based on the changes that would be made by the buyer. However, this would remain to be a confusing till the time any fixed decision is made. Secondly, the shares of the organization has decreased by 9% in the recent times after they had posted a very poor trade update. This has started a war between the company and its competitors through the promotion of market shares (Fernie & Sparks, 2014). The organization has to maintain its foothold in the Australian market and make sure that they are able to ward off its competitors. This is also a deep challenge for the employees as they have to perform more and give more effort to ensure that the company does not sink further or does not suffer any more losses (Arli et al., 2013). The organization will also have to put pressure on their employees to get more work done even if they do not desire it. Even though there are many other challenges that are faced by the organization and its employees, these two are the major ones which have affected and gravely impacted the company in the recent times. In Human Resource Management, the theory of Resource Dependency states that resources are very critical for the success of an organization (Drees & Heugens, 2013). The most important resource for almost every organization are their employees, and it has become a great challenge for every company to acquire the best human resource from the market so that they can compete with the other big corporations and maintain their foothold in the market.      

Challenges Faced by the Organization and Employees

Opportunities of the organization and employees

Despite its challenges there are many opportunities that the organization possesses for itself and for its employees. These opportunities help the employees to grow and perform better and plan for their future in the organization. Career growth is the most desired thing by an employee when they enter any organization. If an employee does not find opportunities to grow in the organization then they leave (Wilson, 2014). Therefore, the opportunities that Woolworths Group offers their employees is the reason that they are able to retain so much of their staff. Firstly, the organization supports employees from all backgrounds and diverse cultures regardless of their gender, religion, race and disability. This attracts a number of candidates for their organization as they are able to create a workplace which is favourable to all types of employees (Jacobson, Cornish & Sedaca, 2014). Secondly, the salaries of their employees depend on the working hours that they provide in the company and the type of their jobs. Hence, the salary is decided completely on the contribution and the merit and is fair to everyone who works in the company as there is no biasness. Thirdly, the organization provides various career opportunities to their existing employees based on their performance and helps them to grow in their field of expertise so that they can contribute more for the betterment of the company (Atapattu & Sedera, 2013). Proper training is also provided to the employees to enhance their skills further and to develop themselves so that the employees can also learn new things in their field of expertise.  

Conclusion:

It can be concluded that the company’s recruitment process is very beneficial for hiring new and skilled employees. However, they should adopt more recent trends so that the recruitment process can become smooth and fast. This would also save a lot of recruitment cost and help the company to hire more skilled and expert people in much less time. There are many challenges which are faced by the organization which also has a great impact on the employees of the company. These challenges should be handled properly by the organization so that they are able to retain their experienced workforce. However, the company also provides an array of opportunities which would prove to be beneficial for the employees and shape their future within the organization. Thus, the organization should try to adopt the changes so that they are able to align themselves with the changing scenario of recruitment in Australia.

Opportunities for the Organization and Employees

Woolworths Group Limited was earlier called Woolworths Limited. It is an Australian company which operates in the retail sector. The segments of the company are Australian Food and Petrol, Endeavour Drinks Group, New Zealand Supermarkets, Hotels and BIGW. The mission of Woolworths Group Ltd. is to deliver the best value, quality and convenience to their customers. They have over 205,000 employees who cater to the needs of almost 29 million customers (Woolworths Group, 2018). They are a trusted business partner to numerous manufacturers and local farmers. Being the Human Resource Consultant, this study is addressed to the top management of Woolworths Group Limited on the changing face of recruitment in Australia. The report will discuss about the significance of recruitment to the company and the recruitment trends that the company follows. The report will further analyse the challenges and opportunities that are being faced by the organization and the employees followed by conclusion.   

References:

Arli, V., Dylke, S., Burgess, R., Campus, R., & Soldo, E. (2013). Woolworths Australia and Walmart US: Best practices in supply chain collaboration. Journal of Economics, Business & Accountancy Ventura, 16(1).

Atapattu, M., & Sedera, D. (2013). Agility of the firm: customer's perspective.

Bolman, L. G., & Deal, T. E. (2017). Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons.

Dobre, O. I. (2013). Employee motivation and organizational performance. Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, 5(1).

Drees, J. M., & Heugens, P. P. (2013). Synthesizing and extending resource dependence theory: A meta-analysis. Journal of Management, 39(6), 1666-1698.

Ekwoaba, J. O., Ikeije, U. U., & Ufoma, N. (2015). The Impact of Recruitment and Selection Criteria on Organizational Performance.

Fernie, J., & Sparks, L. (2014). Logistics and retail management: emerging issues and new challenges in the retail supply chain. Kogan page publishers.

Fomunjong, M. G. (2013). Recruitment & selection. Lap lambert academic publ.

Jacobson, D., Cornish, M., & Sedaca, S. (2014). Situational Assessment on Aid for Trade, Public-Private Partnerships and Inclusive Business Opportunities in Australia. Prepared by CARANA Corporation for the Food Systems Innovation Initiative. Report, (0054-20140924).

Merrill, R. M., Aldana, S. G., Pope, J. E., Anderson, D. R., Coberley, C. R., Grossmeier, J. J., & Whitmer, R. W. (2013). Self-rated job performance and absenteeism according to employee engagement, health behaviors, and physical health. Journal of occupational and environmental medicine, 55(1), 10-18.

Moreira, T. C. (2017). The Digital To Be or Not To Be: Privacy of Employees and the Use of Online Social Networks in the Recruitment Process. GSTF Journal of Law and Social Sciences (JLSS), 2(2).

Saifalislam, K. M., Osman, A., & AlQudah, M. K. (2014). Human Resource Management Practices: Influence of recruitment and selection, and training and development on the organizational performance of the Jordanian Public University. organization, 3, 1-08873.

Wilson, P. (2014). The Twenty Second Kingsley Laffer Memorial Lecture Sydney University Business School University of Sydney 26th November, 2014 “Australia in a Globally Competitive Workplace–Challenges and Opportunities”.

Woolworths Group. (2018). About Us - Woolworths Group. Retrieved from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us