Discussion
The modern era of development and the emergence of the new marketing techniques are constantly demanding the new age of skills and talents from the new graduates passing out from the high schools. It is highly essential for the new graduates to understand the essential needs that the business firms expect from them and accordingly develop their skill set to justify their job responsibilities. This can further help them to contribute to the essential growth and development of the organization. The successful retention of the new graduates is determined by the judgement of the attributes of the new graduates and how much they contribute to the development of the company (Methner, Hamann & Nilsson, 2015). The chosen company for the discussion is the prestigious Woolworths Group, which has a large presence in the Australian retail market. The huge number of employees and the regular hiring of new candidates for the marketing and sales department helps in the proper identification of the key attributes that are required of the high school graduates. These attributes designs the various marketing and business strategies accordingly and help in the sustainable development of the organization.
The management of a retail operations firm like Woolworths has the requirements specific to their needs of operations. It is essential for the graduates who are aspiring to work or are currently working in the company to identify these needs in order understand them and develop the required strategic management models to drive the business to success.
Firstly, a renowned business firm like Woolworths requires developing a strong business model. It is essential for the managers to develop strong strategic policies to approach the present marketing conditions and determine the sustainable changes in the society. This is significant for the operations of the company as the prime motive of the company is to thrive well in the long run. The primary business model is based around the development of the stores for the development of the retail business. The stores play an important role where the managers and the other staff gets to interact with the customers (Lee, Barker & Mouasher, 2013). It is important to formulate the general rules which can help the efficient running of the stores even in the case of the absence of the managers. The essentiality of the store policies can be determined by its ability to handle the business after its initiation. The policies help to efficiently manage the instant success of the business and as the operations run smoothly, it is the policies which help to ease the pressures and take the required decision making demands for the business.
Identification of the needs of the business firm
Secondly, a retail business like Woolworths requires to maintain two kinds of business hours and store hours for the successful operation of the organization. The efficient division of the working hours can result in the efficient management of the different essential works of the retail store. The essential works can comprise of several types of activities which result in the smooth operation of business. The primary task in any retail outlet is the sale of the products. However, besides this there are several other activities such as cleaning of the shelves, preparing merchandise, tagging them and organizing the products on the shelves (Berning, 2014). These activities other than the selling part are mostly done in the store hours which are mainly maintained as flexible shift hours before or after the business hours. Besides these activities, there are also other activities such as answering customer calls, or notifying the special discount rates and several other essential tasks. The determination of the proper shift hours comprising of the business and the store hours is thus an essential requirement of any retail store.
The third need of a retail store like Woolworths is the maintenance of proper customer service policies, which are focused on the proper identification of the problems of the customers and addressing them. It is essential for the retail stores to maintain these policies in order maintain the reputation of the company and at the same time retain the loyalty of the customers. Customer service is not only to be determined by the operation of a certain department dedicated to it, but by the proper execution of duty by all the employees of the business firm. Is a retail outlet, customers play a very important part as the daily activities determine the retention of the customers in the longer run (Govender, 2017). However, the customer service starts at the moment the customer steps into the store and all the employees must be alert in maintaining a friendly approach in helping the customers select the proper products or helping them gain the proper service. The customer service policies should make it clear to the employees that the business represents a customer friendly environment and hence they are required to behave accordingly.
The final and one of the most important requirements of a retail business like Woolworths is to maintain an efficient security policy. It has been often seen that retail stores suffer huge losses of billions of dollars due to criminal loses. Robbery and theft are common aspects in retail stores and it is essential to avoid these mishaps by limiting the cash in the retail outlets (Robles, 2012). This requires regular monitoring of the cash and periodical bank deposits in order to limit the cash to a certain limit in the cash counter. This safeguards the larger amount of money as most of the cash are safely secured in the bank. Besides this internal maintenance of safety, it is also essential to determine other security measures for the retail outlet. Some of these measures are namely hiring security professionals to monitor the daily activities in the store and check the entry of any suspicious personnel in the stores. Moreover, it is also essential to install close circuit cameras throughout the different strategic places in the store in order to monitor the occurrence of any suspicious behaviour in the stores and take precautionary steps if required (Humayun, 2016). The business policies should also include the co-operation of the local police department so that they can be easily alerted in the times of emergency.
The Key attributes of Higher Education related to the needs of the business
It is essential for the high school students to have certain attributes pertaining to the requirements of the business firms as has been discussed above.
The first attribute that the high school graduates need to have in order to work in the retail firm of Woolworths is a critical and analytical approach of thinking. This attribute is highly recommended in the students because in order to develop the business policies for the smooth operations of the business. The critical thinking can enable the students to have an in-depth knowledge about the business problems that the firm can face and the remedies that are possible for these problems (Barrie, 2012). However, the most important part is the analytical thinking ability which can help the students to analyse the situations of the business and tactically form policies or strategies that can be applied for addressing the problems. This is a critical approach which can benefit the firm by developing new strategies which can help in the growth and development of the firm.
The second attribute that is essential for a high school graduate to possess is the ability to learn and work hard. This ability is essential for the new professionals as the retail outlets like Woolworths have very flexible shift timings which include the business hours and store hours. The store hours are the timings when the actual business interactions happen between the customers and the employees. Though the primary importance of the store hours cannot be denied, the more importance in the retail stores are given to the business hours where the preparation for the store hours is done (Centurion, Campbell & Munyai, 2016). These work hours require doing a miscellaneous set of activities, which are related to the proper presentation of the items for sale. These activities require a considerable amount of hard work and commitment. Students who are naturally willing to work hard and adjust to the odd hours of shift timings can perform well in this sector and prosper in the long run.
The third attribute that should be possessed by a high school graduate for the needs of Woolworths is to have a good ability of oral and written communication. As has been discussed earlier, customer service is one of the primary objectives of Woolworths as a retail business firm. The executives should be confident while handling customer problems and should be aware of the different policies to address the customer grievances. Moreover, the executives should also have a wide approach and should help the customers in the selection of the items. It is the responsibility of the executives to help the customer to identify the different items and make them aware of the different offers that are running upon the items so that they can be encouraged to buy the products (Dos Santos, 2012). Hence, it can be seen that the students should have a very eloquent style of talking and a confident attitude while dealing with the customers in order to avoid any confusion and help them get the proper service from the organization.
The last attribute that should be incorporated into the high school graduates to fulfil the requirements of the Woolworths business firm is to have a clear knowledge about the different laws related to the business and be technically advanced (Luiz, 2016). The security concerns of the firm can be addressed by this attribute. A person with knowledge of modern technology can help the firm to install the latest monitoring and alarm systems to help them prevent any untoward situation like robbery and theft. Moreover, a person with a sound knowledge about the different laws of the area can help to take action against any offender. It is also essential for the executive to maintain a good relation with the local police in order to inform them in the case of any mishap and loss of property.
Conclusion:
The above discussion highlights several problems and requirements that can occur while running a retail outlet such as that of Woolworths. These requirements include activities such as building a proper business model, maintain flexible business hours for the effective running of the business, and maintain efficient customer service policies which can help in the better service of the customers and at the same time also maintain a well maintained security policy. From the above discussion it can be concluded that in order to fulfil these requirements the high school graduates of Australia need to have a versatile approach which includes having a critical and analytical approach towards the situations. Moreover, the attributes that are similarly important are having a desire to work efficiently, having excellent communication skills and having a sound knowledge about the modern laws and technology.
Reference:
Barrie, S. C. (2012). A research-based approach to generic graduate attributes policy. Higher Education Research & Development, 31(1), 79-92.
Berning, A. (2014). Sustainable supply chain engagement in a retail environment: the case of Woolworths food suppliers (Doctoral dissertation, Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University).
Centurion, G., Campbell, H. M., & Munyai, T. (2016) The impact of Technology in improving productivity and cost serve in Supply Chain: Case study-Woolworths Jan Bopape Woolworths Distribution Centre Woolworths Supply Chain.
Dos Santos, M. A. (2012). Global warming mitigation promotes corporate entrepreneurship within Woolworths supply chain. African Journal of Business Management, 6(31), 9151-9160.
Govender, S. (2017). How social media can be used to engage and interact with consumers in the retail industry: an analysis on Woolworths’ online strategies (Doctoral dissertation, The IIE).
Humayun, S. H. (2016). Merchandising operation of Woolworths Global Sourcing.
Lee, K. H., Barker, M., & Mouasher, A. (2013). Is it even espoused? An exploratory study of commitment to sustainability as evidenced in vision, mission, and graduate attribute statements in Australian universities. Journal of Cleaner Production, 48, 20-28.
Luiz, J. (2016). Woolworths South Africa.
Methner, N., Hamann, R., & Nilsson, W. (2015). The Evolution of a Sustainability Leader: The Development of Strategic and Boundary Spanning Organizational Innovation Capabilities in Woolworths. In The Business of Social and Environmental Innovation (pp. 87-104). Springer, Cham.
Robles, M. M. (2012). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s workplace. Business Communication Quarterly, 75(4), 453-465.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
