Evaluating a Specific Labor Market Concern in Australia - Case Study Example

Evaluating a Specific Labor Market Concern Under the New Economic Order of Australia The current economic boom in Australia is overwhelming as well as fascinating to the extent that this unique country was able to parry the blows of the global downturn.1 The influx of further dynamic intensity and development in an already stable sovereignty are not only sparsely distributed well across the whole continental vastness. Very interestingly, the growth and expansion show in almost every major industry. Tourism exhibits undeniable advancements.2 Agriculture demonstrates new potentials3 while the mining4 sector continues to be undaunted by the failures in the other parts of the planet. All these factors combined are evidence of good business that will keep on going and of a healthy national coffer that will stay as strong and full as ever. In front of these backdrops are the fruits that will be reaped at the end of the day. As a matter of course, employment and salaries will increase and consumer spending will immensely rise. The foregoing premises have to be laid down because this report will proceed with the labor market specifics of a certain business domain and it is basic knowledge that any financial dynamic moves hand-in-hand with the issue of jobs. In particular, reference is made to the Coles Supermarkets chain. For brevity, it is here referred to as Coles. Any projection presumed in the instant report is pegged constantly at five (5) years. There are two parts here which are divided into two tasks. The first one will be on labor market analysis which will comprise of the performance criteria (1) to determine predicted areas of organizational growth and downsizing and associated labor requirements, (2) to analyze the organization’s current workforce capacity to meet current predicted demands for the goods and services of the business, (3) to research and review current and predicted external labor supply, demographic and economic data, and to forecast human resources supply, (4) to determine the organizational diversity requirements in the workforce, and (5) to make the necessary recommendations for workforce planning. The second part of the report pertains to (1) succession planning and workforce plan evaluation, and (2) developing a succession plan which addresses internal labor needs in the medium to long term requirements, utilizing succession planning principles with an incorporated retention plan. Task A: Labor Market Analysis To determine predicted areas of organizational growth, downsizing and other associated labor requirements.. Coles has seven hundred forty (740) stores all over Australia. It has a workforce consisting of about ninety two thousand (92,000) employees.5 This is a relatively large organization. Naturally, the figure cannot remain stagnant, especially with the national economic growth to consider. The question is, how can the organizational growth be predicted? There is no definite and exact rule in projecting the human resources structure of a company-employer. In the case of Coles, however, it is wise to relate its expansion with the growth of the general population. This is so because being in the supermarket business, the sales of the chain traditionally relies on the thickness of the people which it caters. Let us take an example. A retail business entity is operating in a city with a population of, say, 100,000 which has not significantly changed during the past ten years. There are no signs of some economic phenomena such as to increase sales. The existing manpower set-up of the store is comprised of 20 personnel. Under these presumed circumstances, there is no reason for the entity to predict or provide for any additional worker. The population of Australia has the following data to consider. There was an increase of 13.6 per cent from the year 2000 to 2009,6 or for a period of nine years. Since this is only for a short term, it is opined that there is no need for an actuarial reckoning or other complicated calculations and the ordinary computation may be used. The rate of increase is therefore around 1.5% annually. With the personnel strength of Coles now at 92,000, it is safe to predict a yearly 1.5% growth in the organization for the next five years. Thus: 93,380 (92,000 x 1.015) for 2010, 94,760 (92,000 x 1.030) for 2011, 96,140 (92,000 x 1.045) for 2012, 97,520 (92,000 x 1.060) for 2013, and 98,900 (92,000 x 1.075) for 2014. This is actually quantified into 1,380 additional workers for each year during the period. The forecast stated above being only for five years and considering that the factors anent finance and economy are in an uptrend, there is no basis to include downsizing in the whole organization. However, the size of each department or division or segment in the company may be checked and evaluated. For instance, the fruit and vegetables department of a branch in Perth has 20 personnel and attend to only 20 customers at an average given time. On the other hand, the meat department of that same branch also has 20 personnel but attend to around 40 customers during the same average given time. Necessarily, the fruits and vegetables department has to be downsized and the proportionate variance in number of personnel must be assigned to the latter department. Of course, this rough methodology cannot be applied between the fruits and vegetables department as against the deli bar. Why? Because the time needed in serving the clients at the deli bar is not the same as the time needed in serving the clients buying the store’s fruits and vegetables. To analyze the organization’s current workforce capacity to meet current predicted demands for the goods and services of the business As was discussed in the previous topic, the annual increase in the population of Australia is presumed to have a direct bearing on the plan to likewise augment the labor structure of Coles. Corollary to that, the demands for the goods and services being offered by the supermarket chain must also be foreseen to increase according to the same pace. In sum, the gradual enhancement of personnel at 1.5% is deemed sufficient to meet the demands for goods and services under forecast. To research and review current and predicted external labor supply, demographic and economic data, and to forecast human resources supply It is predicted that with the current statistics and with no new preparations to make, by the year 2016, some 4 million workers, nationally, will be needing skills qualifications in general. Under this assumption, there will be then a shortage of qualified laborers numbering 240,000.7 These seeming critical matters presuppose that there is an urgent need for Australia to cause massive skills development among its workers of today and its future jobseekers, with emphasis on the so-called VET (which stands for vocational education and training). Therefore, Coles, in particular, has to see to it that the stores do not have manpower shortages in the next five years. This is a big challenge and needs careful attention. With the variety of services which are offered to the public for each and every department, the skills qualifications and skills levels will be difficult to predict in number and in other variances like age and gender. As an illustration, there is no point for a training program intended for ten merchandisers when you have a pool of well-trained ones and while you have twenty neophyte waiters, the one who need some more training and skills development initiatives. The point is not only that Coles must have the numbers. It must have the right people with the right skills at the right time and in the right assignments. To determine the organizational diversity requirements in the workforce In order to determine the organizational diversity requirements in the workplaces, a realistic and effective organizational chart must be made a fixture in, and a blueprint for, each department, division or segment of each supermarket. With it, every job description can be identified and every identified job description can be distinguished from the rest as to the skills, training and qualifications which are inherently needed for the person or persons to fill that specific position. Thus, let us say that Coles has an organizational chart for its Asian food department in a Melbourne branch. One category is indicated as that of a saleslady. Whoever will be assigned to become that saleslady must have sufficient knowledge about Asian food. Similarly, somebody with a good education, skills and training background in make-up and other personal care products and beauty items and with sound leadership qualities must be assigned as the manager of a certain health and beauty department. Generally, it cannot be expected of an accountancy graduate or of a civil engineering degree holder to effectively perform in that kind of work. To make the necessary recommendations for workforce planning. An employer-company like Coles which has undisputable future potentials must design an effective hiring and manpower program. Along that line, the whole caboodle must be attractive to jobseekers in order to entice them to apply, and to the existing members of the working staff as well, to give them incentives to stay loyal and productive in the organization. It was earlier proposed that an organizational chart be made a fixture and a blueprint for every department or division in each branch. The individual position in the drawing must have the corresponding job description which outlines the duties and responsibilities of the holder of that position. The job description shall likewise indicate the required education, skills, experience and other qualifications. All these duties and responsibilities, education, skills, experience and other qualifications have to be then documented in a general human resources manual. Furthermore, another organizational chart for the whole branch is recommended. The general human resources manual must include an individual flow chart of transactions for every department or division and another flow chart for the whole branch. This will be a handy guide to check performance and lapses in the day-to-day operations of each store. With the job descriptions, organizational charts and transactions flow charts in place, the personnel files must be organized to see that the workforce structure remains stable both in quantity and quality. Aside from the present job holders, adjunct records must be kept for qualified applicants, both from inside the organization, like the reliever employees for example, and from outside the organization, like new graduates who have filed their applications for the specific job description. This way, a fallback is assured in the event of resignation or termination of the incumbent holder. For the hiring activities, the projected increase in personnel must be the primordial consideration. As stated above, it will be an additional of 1,380 workers every year from 2010 until and through 2014. It must be stressed again that the pertinent program must incorporate the appropriate and correct training and skills development. One way for this is a training and skills development program for those workers holding lower positions but who may be considered for promotion. Another scheme may be the hiring of apprentices for each particular job assignment. Task B: Succession Planning and Workforce Plan Evaluation Succession planning and workforce plan evaluation, Just like in hiring, succession planning in employment jargon depends on the nature of the position. Does it require a set of specific skills, educational credentials and/or experience? Does it pertain to a supervisory or managerial position where leadership qualities and trust factors are to be considered? Or is it just an ordinary kind of job which vacancy can be filled up with not much difficulty? Whatever it may be, the supermarket chain must adopt a workable and effective succession planning program. It must be such that each one of the positions in the organization has a corresponding succession plan. Hence, there must be a succession plan for the position of the master plumber. And a separate succession plan for the sales secretary portfolio. In the case of the master plumber job, the assistant master plumber may be the best candidate to succeed the incumbent. Upon the other hand, this approach may not necessarily apply in the case of the position of sales secretary. Another illustration is the case of a merchandiser post which may only need a simple succession plan like picking up a wise choice from among the data bank of applicants for that position. In another note, this cannot be true in the case of the salesperson assigned to the Mexican groceries section. There must be a separate file for applicants who have special knowledge of Mexican grocery items. Workforce plan evaluation is another significant aspect of good human resources management. Jobs and the holders thereof must be evaluated from time to time. Performance levels must be checked and reviewed. These factors have a direct connection to the smooth and sound operation of the stores. A sales personnel in the toy department may lose excitement and enthusiasm after a while and, in the process, becomes ineffective. What can be the possible remedy? Rotation to, say, the body-building department might work. The chef at the deli park may have vast experience and exposure to the kitchen world but his age may be taking its toll. The possible solution is to train his assistant and give him an attractive retirement package. Why? The retirement offer may be expensive. But what is the use of retaining the old cook, now a lame duck, when he no longer delivers what he should deliver? Developing a succession plan which addresses internal labor needs in the medium to long term requirements, utilizing succession planning principles with an incorporated retention plan Succession planning has already been discussed above. It must be stressed though that it will be a kind of planning that specifically addresses the internal labor needs of Coles. Thus, if the turn-over in specialized fields like deli park food preparation is high, a well maintained data bank of good applicants must always be readily available. If such turn-over, however, is low, then the attention for concern regarding succession may be reduced. To illustrate further, if the turn-over of salespersons is very fast, which usually is, then the records of available replacements have to be currently updated in brief intervals. How to consider a succession plan one of short-term or one of long term likewise depends on the nature, characteristic and responsibility level of the position. A store manager is more likely expected to stay long in the company, even maybe for a lifetime. Accordingly, the succession plan for that designation has to be long-term. On the other hand, the delivery and handling guys usually do not stay in their jobs in length as they only have these as stepping stones in the adventure for greener pastures; hence, the respective replacement studies and schemes must also be short-term. The accompanying retention plan must be divided into levels taking into account the hierarchy in the corporate framework. Store management staff members must be perceived to be retained for long. Retention policies for the supervisors may be categorized in medium range. Rank-and-files need to be considered for retention on short-term basis. Hiring people and retaining them are two different things. No matter what, these are always both taken into account in the decision-making process by those in the field of capital human management.8 Business without people is nothing. And people is the most important investment in the world of entrepreneurs. Coles is a part of it – a big part, indeed. Works Cited Chris Zappone. Australia dodges recession. Business Day. theage.com.au. June 3, 2009. Accessed June 19, 2009. Coles. About Coles. Accessed June 19, 2009. < http://www.coles.com.au/about/> Dinah S. Ventura. Consider South Australia. The Daily Tribune. August 8, 2008.Accessed June 19, 2009. Hope Hamashige. National Geographic. National Geographic News. June 18, 2009. Accessed June 19, 2009. Qualifications and future labour market in Australia. Acernews. ACER. Australian Council for Educational Research. Accessed June 19, 2009. Retention and Succession in the Corporate Workforce. Retaining Talent. Human Capital Institute. Aberdeen Group. Accessed June 19, 2009. Tourism Australia. Tourism Info. Accessed June 19, 2009. Wikipedia. Accessed June 19, 2009. Read More