Effective communication is identified as a vital tool for any employer. It plays a fundamental role in all spheres of business. Thus it is a very important for both internal communications within the business as well as communication skills of personnel are effective (Karanges et al. 2015). Effective communication is highly vital for successful expansion of a business. It is a crucial determinant which facilitates managers to execute essential functions of management namely Planning, Organizing, Motivating and Controlling. Communication skills whether written or oral tends to form a groundwork of any business activity. Thus, Mishra, Boynton and Mishra (2014) have claimed that effective communication is recognized as the building block of an organization. The following essay will evaluate the way effective communication skills have been playing vital role in the business operations of Qantas airways and Woolworths.
Karanges et al. (2015) are of the opinion that improved employee communication is directly associated with the enhanced effectiveness in the organisation. Every business can efficiently exploit from the elevated great of productivity as well as effective employee communication practices which can help to attain its goal. Effective employee communication skills can facilitate leaders to realise talent and competencies of its work force and further assign them to the most appropriate roles and offer distinct direction in order to ensure productive outcome within the shortest span. Reports of Juholin, Åberg and Aula (2015) have indicated that being one of Australia’s largest retail employees, Woolworths is committed in efficiently fostering a workplace that is challenging rewarding as well as safe. As retailing is identified as a people intensive business the organisation exhibits high reliance on the competencies knowledge and service expertise of tens of thousands of employees in order to successfully serve the millions of consumers who shop with Woolworths every week. The company aims to accomplish efficient workforce through training and educational development of a thousands of employees for the enhancing the workplace safety standards as well as offering welfare and assistance program (Karanges 2014). Efficient workforce through training and educational development of its thousands of employees have been enhancing the workplace safety standards as well as offering welfare and assistance program (Woolworths.com.au 2018). However the most crucial responsibility of Woolworths line on its constant communication with its employee base in order to gain their Knowledge and feedback. Kang and Sung (2017) have indicated that at Woolworths performing the appropriate responsibility is of utmost significance. At this juncture performing appropriate responsibilities formal words indicates proper treatment of the employees as individuals and making the organisation sociable unsuccessful place to work through its sustainable policies, development opportunities, career expansion, work life balance, incentives, rewards and recognition initiatives (Slack, Corlett and Morris 2015).
Balmer, Abratt and Kleyn (2016) have identified several layers of employee communications within Woolworths ranging from store team talks to regular video conferencing meetings along with area management interactions. However it has been estimated that around 2% of the workforce constitutes a regular access to workplace email and intranet whereby major proportion of employee communications tends to occur interpersonally or through audiovisual system (Patroni, von Briel and Recker 2016). Furthermore, a significant part of the organisation’s regular documented communications involved Woolies news that is known as a quarterly magazine purposed for the employee base of Woolworths along with Norwest news that is a monthly email purposed for over 3000 employees engaged at the companies Norwest support office. It is important to note that interpersonal communication is further conducted on an official and unofficial basis whereby a monthly CEO communication discussion at the company’s Norwest Support Office offers its employees a significant chance to involve in Q&A (question and answer session) with the Woolworths’ CEO (Woolworths.com.au 2018). In addition to this Woolworths provides an annual four day conference that is typically attended by all store managers along with their partners purposed in order to evaluate organisational activities and performance of previous years and further communicate present ideas, visions, approaches and strategies for the following one year (Powell 2016). Reports of Stieglitz, Bruns and Krüger (2015) have further revealed that Woolworths intranet services (WOWnet) is easily accessible to its workforce engaged in support areas of the company’s business and is used in order to communicate executive discussions, announcements, community programs and daily news digest. Woolworths has been efficiently operating a series of formal as well as informal employee consultation strategies across its business in order to facilitate its employee base to develop feelings of significance and knowledgeable and further provide opportunities to them in order to communicate their opinions back through the business (Patroni, von Briel and Recker 2016). However when Woolworth’s consultants and leaders in the field of workplace learning and development discovered Geert Hofstede cultural dimensions certain applications initiated in several areas (Woolworths.com.au 2018). The company reportedly offers its employees who are relocating globally with an understanding of their individualistic cultural preferences with those of the country of assignment in order to enable them to function efficiently and generate productive outcomes by maintaining a significant sense of balance (Douglas and Watt 2018). However the individual dimensional scores of relocating employees of Woolworths can be compared to the country scores which are considered as lenses through which the employees’ actual business liabilities can be highlighted. Furthermore Stieglitz, Bruns and Krüger (2015) have found that Woolworths have been proficiently enhancing its relationship with suppliers’ stakeholders in order to regain the trust of consumers.
Great leaders tend to exemplify the standards, values and culture of the organization by incorporating the mission and vision of companies. Reports of Powell (2016) have revealed that Qantas leader Alan Joyce was identified to be among the 480 passengers stranded in Dubai following technical disruptions to one of the airline’s aircraft, the veteran airline sector executive had a significant opportunity to supervise the situation and successfully ensure Qantas brand values which until then have been communicating inappropriately. Qantas’ inappropriate leadership techniques have further led to a global decline in airfreight along with a heightened competition level for global passengers. This competition however has been identified as one of Qantas critical challenges in the market. According to Pietersen (2017), these conditions however tend to underline the significance of leaders’ continued focus on shaping the business to efficiently perform well even in a challenging market. Meanwhile, Slack, Corlett and Morris (2015) found that shareholders have been chiefly complimentary of the company’s performance that has witnessed Qantas’s increased annual revenues of around $1.55 billion and recommenced dividends. Qantas’s restructuring program had witnessed expenses reduction by $1.67 billion during the last two years and in the face of increasing fuel prices, its equivocation arrangements which guaranteed that fuel costs will be restricted at a level similar to last year’s estimation (Qantas.com 2018). However, regardless of the return to dividends along with an exceptional profit, Qantas stakeholders showing several queries which includes big remuneration and incentive payments for its CEO Alan Joyce who has been benefitting from customer loyalty program with a significant decline in service standards.
However, Stieglitz, Bruns and Krüger (2015) have emphasized on Qantas CEO to show greater degree of inclination towards an alternative option rather than focusing on the company’s ‘nuclear option’ that is grounding the leaders’ entire fleet without notice. Patroni, von Briel and Recker (2016) have claimed that Qantas could have exhibited greater level of importance to these stakeholders as the government, passengers and the personnel (Qantas.com 2018). Qantas’s inappropriate leadership techniques have been observed where Joyce showed greater importance on the interests of shareholders rather than those of the company’s stakeholders. Thus, Qantas must employ an improved view of corporate social responsibility. Meanwhile, Karanges (2014) have stated that Qantas shareholders have recently promoted management strategies with significant remuneration increase for its CEO Joyce.
Further, Douglas and Watt (2018) have noted, that Qantas is in severe conflict with many of its chief shareholders namely, government, passengers and significant sections of workforce. Thus, in order to improve its employee communication skills must offer a symbolic ‘olive branch’ to its employee base who perceive that Qantas leader is implementing double standard approach and ill-treating the company’s workforce by waiving his current huge remuneration increase (Kang and Sung 2017). Instead Qantas leadership approach must recognize similar level of pay increase which the company is currently offering to its workforce (Powell 2016). Emphasizing in mitigating the wide gap in employee salary level will illustrate a varied form of leadership which will sustain with the notions of equality, integrity and democracy that pervade the broader society in which Qantas operates. Qantas must endorse an opinionated workforce which will have greater propensity in offering improved service to its customers (Patroni, von Briel and Recker 2016). Thus Qantas in order to provide efficient services, CEO must strive to accomplish the involvement to employee base. Such strategies will primarily engage medium to long term commitment resulting to successful revenue growth (Balmer, Abratt and Kleyn 2016).
Conclusion
On a concluding note, Qantas must obtain insights from one of its rivals, Southwest Airlines in terms of establishing relations with its workforce as well as customers by offering low fares and treating its employees as a vital source of value instead of perceiving them as costs to be reduced. The paper provided inclusive insights of the way Australia’s major retailer Woolworths’ culture radiates team performance and two-way engagement between the company and its employee-base. Thus, Qantas must learn from Southwest if the company seeks to enhance its employee as well as industrial relations.
References
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