Essay On Leadership Speech For 'Shopz For Us' Annual Roadshow." (70 Characters)

Question

‘Shopz for Us’ is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), with a turnover in excess of AUS$1bn and profit in excess of $200m. It operates in the retail industry and has a large number of geographically dispersed retail stores across Australia. The organisation is a men’s and women’s clothing retailer which sells its own branded labels as well as being a distributor for other brands.

The company’s head office is based in Sydney with a total manpower strength of 6500 employees out of which 500 are employed in Sydney. The rest are based in stores across the country. In 2016, a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) was appointed to succeed the current CEO who had been with the organisation for over twenty years. During his tenure, the business had grown exponentially and had a strong reputation for quality stores, service and product far superior to that of its competitors. ‘Shopz for Us’ had also delivered financial returns to shareholders in excess of the market average.

The incoming CEO had identified a number of specific strategic growth initiatives such as introduction of designer labels, an online store, franchise partnerships, but both he and the Chief People Officer (CPO) in a risk assessment viewed the internal organisation as a potential inhibitor of future growth.

They had identified siloed functional behaviours and a leadership team that were determined not to be fully engaged and had historically been encouraged to compete rather than collaborate in the way in which they operated.

They also highlighted some of the operational strengths the organisation had which included a ‘can do attitude’ and a strong ‘attention to detail’. To be successful in the future required enhanced internal relationships, a greater level of constructive behaviour and transformational leadership.

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) is responsible for all of the stores and the 6,000 casual andbpermanent staff that work in them. In a recent employee engagement survey engagement levelsbwere shown to be 61%, in contrast to 69% in 2014. Staff turnover in the stores was also at itsbhighest level ever of 28%. While the organisation produced strong financial results, these arevunlikely to continue unless some significant initiatives are put in place to improve staff engagement.

The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) has recently joined the organisation having been appointed to revamp the organisation’s brand proposition that had been severely impacted by adverse media about sexual harassment in stores and poor buying choices by his predecessor. Marketing and operations do not operate in harmony and the CEO has been that the Chief operating Officer(COO) and the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) are aligned and work in collaboration across the operational side of the business. The upcoming roadshow will be the first time the majority of staff have met the CMO.

The Chief People Officer (CPO) is to roll out a new performance management system at the roadshow. For the first time, performance is to be linked to reward. The leadership of the organisation see this as a critical part of driving employee engagement through a targeted reward system. 

You are each to assume one of the roles of CEO, COO, CPO, and CMO in an annual roadshow where, as the senior leaders of ‘Shopz for Us’, you are to present the strategy of ‘Shopz for Us’ for the forthcoming year ensuring that you address the key organisational issues.

Your leadership speech should include:

• A clear articulation of the role you are taking.
• A brief overview of the key strategic issues that as a leader, you are responsible for.
• An explanation of the initiatives you intend to drive for the forthcoming year.
• A compelling and engaging style, with clear language delivered in an inspirational way that is uplifting for the audience.

Organizations function when there is a collaboration between the top leaders, tactical leaders, operational leaders, and employee. This collaboration will ensure a good flow of information that is required for decision-making purposes. The top leaders in an organization comprise of the following.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for supporting us all then times. From now onwards, I am the new CEO who will work tirelessly to propel the company to greater heights. I am responsible for formulating a clear action plan that the company must follow to ensure the company objectives are achieved to ensure the growth of the company (Fitzgerald, et al.2014, p.1). I have to provide resources that will ensure that operations of the company are effective and efficient so that customers get the products that satisfy their tastes and preferences (Krause, et al.2014, p.270). Due to your continued support, I have more initiatives which the company will pursue to ensure you receive quality services from the company.

The initiatives include ensuring that the leaders in the organization cooperate to ensure all customer issues are addressed effectively. As the CEO, the company will also introduce designer labels in the fourth coming year to keep up with the current industry trends.  The company is also going to open an online store to facilitate e-commerce and ensure customers can purchase their products of choice from the comfort of their homes and offices. A big franchise partnership is also on the way. Let’s support each other. Thank you.

How are you doing? It feels good to see the people behind our success. I am the chief operating officer (COO) of this great company and I am in charge of all the retail store and responsible for ensuring that they operate effectively (Summers, 2014, P.70). I also ensure that the workers perform their roles so that the operations of the company can be effective. I am responsible for ensuring that the strategies formulated by the CEO are implemented (Nath, and Mahajan, 2008, P.67). I am also responsible for overseeing the workers of this companies to ensure that they execute their duties well. The other task I perform is to ensure that the initiatives undertaken by the company are in line with company culture and core values.

In the forthcoming year, initiatives that will help to improve employees’ engagement level by developing their career through training so that they can feel valued as perform their duties well to serve you well and improve the reputation of your company. The other initiative is to minimize the employee turnover which disrupts our operations and prevents us from delivering quality services by ensuring we hire the right employee for our company. Are you going to support us to ensure these initiatives are possible? Thank you.

How is everyone here? It is such an honor to meet you. I am the chief marketing officer (CMO) of your company. I am responsible for conducting product marketing to ensure you are aware of our new products in the market and where you can get our products from (Nath, and Mahajan, 2011, P.66). I also ensure that the adverts you see on your television and magazines are successful. I also ensure that our stores are strategically placed to ensure that you can access our products easily (Hirt, and Willmott, 2014, P.1). The other task I perform is to ensure that the products we offer you are fairly priced for the benefit of us all.

The initiatives I have in store for you is to ensure that I work hard to position our brand back to where it should because the sexual harassment claims in our stores and poor buying choices as reported by the media have affected our brand. The other initiative is to work with the coo to ensure the strategies formulated by our CEO are well implemented. There will be effective advertisements to ensure that customers are aware of our new stores, new products and even when we are giving you special offers and discounts.

How are you doing good customers and potential customers?  I am the chief people officer of this great company as the name suggests, my duties involve ensuring that people who work in our company are satisfied (Schuler, and Jackson, 2014, P.42). My responsibilities involve ensuring that workers perform the duties assigned to them effectively. I am also responsible for ensuring the company has effective human resources who can help the organization to achieve its objectives (Sheehan, et al.2014, p.200).

The initiatives that will propel the company to greater heights in the forthcoming year include introducing the performance management system that will ensure that employees are rewarded according to their performance. This will help to improve the employee engagement level which has gone down when compared to previous years. This will ensure that employees perform their duties effectively to be rewarded and this will improve the operations of the company. The other initiative is to train employees to improve their performance and this will help the company achieve its goals. Thank you for your time. God bless you.

References

Fitzgerald, M., Kruschwitz, N., Bonnet, D. and Welch, M., 2014. Embracing digital technology: A new strategic imperative. MIT sloan management review, 55(2), p.1.

Hirt, M. and Willmott, P., 2014. Strategic principles for competing in the digital age. McKinsey Quarterly, 5, p.1.

Krause, R., Semadeni, M. and Cannella Jr, A.A., 2014. CEO duality: A review and research agenda. Journal of Management, 40(1), pp.256-286.

Nath, P. and Mahajan, V., 2008. Chief marketing officers: A study of their presence in firms' top management teams. Journal of Marketing, 72(1), pp.65-81.

Nath, P. and Mahajan, V., 2011. Marketing in the c-suite: a study of chief marketing officer power in firms' top management teams. Journal of Marketing, 75(1), pp.60-77.

Schuler, R. and E. Jackson, S., 2014. Human resource management and organizational effectiveness: yesterday and today. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 1(1), pp.35-55.

Sheehan, C., De Cieri, H., Cooper, B. and Brooks, R., 2014. Exploring the power dimensions of the human resource function. Human Resource Management Journal, 24(2), pp.193-210.

Summers, L.H., 2014. US economic prospects: Secular stagnation, hysteresis, and the zero lower bound. Business Economics, 49(2), pp.65-73.