Leadership and change management has a key role to play in the every business organization. The effective leadership and the change management enhances the progress as well as productivity of the business organization. This assignment highlights the gaps that have been found in the leadership and the Change management process of one of the largest retailers, Woolworths. The GAP analysis has been presented along with the change management development plan for the business organization Woolworths. Moreover, the change management plan has been evaluated against the best practices of the change management and leadership.
The GAP analysis highlights the differences in the actual performances and the desired performances in the business (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). A GAP analysis has been presented on the basis of the actual leadership traits in Woolworths along with the desired leadership traits that was expected (Bunting, 2016). The leadership traits that have been displayed by the CEO of Woolworths include the development of the long term and the short-term goals (Edger, 2016). With the unveiling of the long-term goals, the sale of the food and liquor department has been observed to rise by 4% (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). However, as the short-term goals are set, the employees need to be motivated by the leaders such that they work towards achievement of the goals set by the leader (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). As a leader, it is the responsibility of the CEO that along with the setting of the goals, it is essential that the leaders also do the Motivation And Leading (Bunting, 2016). Thus, a gap has been analysed in the present scenario of Woolworths and the best practices developed in assignment 1. The short term goals set by the CEO of Woolworths is to develop a new SAP system, such that the reduction in the sale of the products, as an adverse effect of the Chinese import restrictions could be solved (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). The CEO has set this goal most appropriately. However, along with the setting of the goals, a leader has certain other duties and responsibilities as well (Bunting, 2016). The new SAP system will be effective in reducing the levels of the out-of stock and hence will be beneficial to the organization (Mwenda & Wachira, 2015). However, in order to ensure that the employees, empowerment as well as appropriate training effectively implement the new SAP system needs to be given to the employees. The CEO of Woolworths also focuses on mitigating the issues of employee turnover rates (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). In order to reduce the rate of employee turnover, the CEO has to take various necessary steps. These include the empowerment of the employees such that they work diligently in the fulfilment of the organizational goals (Edger, 2016). Moreover, training needs to be imparted to the employees such that they are able to adapt to the new SAP systems (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). Lack of adequate training given to the employees might result in incompetency among the employees, thus resulting in frustration. Another major change that the CEO of Woolworths has been implementing is the gender equality among the male and the female employees. This is a significant change in the organization (Bunting, 2016). Thus, in order to manage this change, an efficient Change Management Development plan is to be made.
In Woolworths, transformational leadership is to be implemented and further developed. The transformational leadership is a leadership style where the leader works with the subordinates and guides them in order to achieve the organizational goals (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). The transformational leadership needs to be present in all levels of any organization (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). The transformational leadership style is much more effective in case of Change Management (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Since, in Woolworths, a major change was to be brought in, hence the implementation of the transformational leadership style is much more effective than the transactional leadership style (Bunting, 2016). Hence, in Woolworths, the transformational leadership is much more effective in incorporating the changes that the CEO wishes to bring in, into the organization (Edger, 2016).
Moreover, the leadership issues that are faced by the company cloud also be mitigated by the use of the transformational leadership. The issue of restoring the lost market confidence could be won back, only if the employees are motivated and empowered to work with diligence and perseverance (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). This change in the leadership style will ensure that the organizational changes could be brought in smoothly, along with the acceptance from the employees (Edger, 2016). However, the transformational leadership is not effective in case of change development and management (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). In this style of leadership, the empowerments of the employees are given less importance and the achievements of the organizational goals have the most importance (Bunting, 2016). This leadership style works with the theory of rewards and punishment (Mwenda & Wachira, 2015). Rewards are given to those employees who work well, however, punishment is given to those employees lacking to fulfil the organizational goals. However, this method of rewards and punishment is not always suitable in case of effective change management (Günzel-Jensen et al., 2017).
The major change that Woolworths is about to bring in is the changes in the policy of the organizational working. The CEO has decided to bring in gender equality by reducing the salary gap of 0.5% among the genders (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). This eradication of the gender inequality is a major step that needs to be taken by the CEO, in order to ensure employee retention and achievement of employee satisfaction (Bunting, 2016). The discrimination among the genders due to the differences in the pay results in lack of employee satisfaction in Woolworths. In order to retain the employees, this major initiative is being taken by the CEO of Woolworths. This is effective and has to be accepted gladly by all the employees (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). However, any change has to be given adequate time, to be practiced by all in the organization. In order to ensure that the change is managed effectively, the leaders need to practice transformational leadership and motivate the employees of Woolworths. The CEO has also aimed to recruit 3500 indigenous staffs in the company (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). In doing so, the employee retention and employee satisfaction could be achieved successfully (Vann, Coleman & Simpson, 2014). This initiative is a significant one in case of Woolworths since the employment of Australia would be significantly increased (Edger, 2016). However, the non-indigenous employees might not accept the increase in the number of the indigenous employees thus feeling endangered with the increase in the number of the indigenous employees (Günzel-Jensen et al., 2017). The transformational leader has a key role to play in this situation, such that the changes could be managed effectively. The transformational leader has to ensure the non-indigenous employees that their position will not be endangered with the recruitment of the indigenous employees (Bunting, 2016). Moreover, it is essential to motivate the employees such that they work in collaboration with the indigenous employees (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Hence, the transformational leadership has to be implemented effectively, such that the proposed changes could be made successfully, along with ensuring employee retention and employee satisfaction (Mwenda & Wachira, 2015).
Another significant change that is proposed by the CEO of Woolworths is the reduction in the wastage of the food products, and send the excess food products to a charity organization. thus, along with the enhancement of the business of Woolworths, the CSR activities are also given adequate importance (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). In order to ensure that the food product wastage is reduced, the employees of Woolworths need to be given the adequate training such that the proposed changes could be effectively implemented and managed (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013).
The best practices of the change management include the following stages:
This phase needs to be carried out with much importance. Before a change is implemented successfully, it is essential that it is adequately planned (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013). Thus, one of the most essential steps that needs to be taken by the CEO of Woolworths, is adequate planning. The guidelines provided by the best practices have to be followed in order to ensure that the changes are implemented successfully (Edger, 2016).
The implementations of the change managements require good governance. Efficient governance provides a framework for decision-making (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). The structure of the change management, along with the roles and responsibilities of each of the members of the organization needs to be defined at each level of the organization and support the changes, along with keeping the stakeholders informed (Du, Lindgreen & Sen, 2013).
Once the changes are to be implemented, it is essential that each of the employees are given specific responsibilities and assignment of the leadership roles are to be done in order to ensure effective change management (Maak, Pless & Voegtlin, 2016). The chosen leaders have to be reliable enough as well as committed towards the achievement of the organizational goals. If the chosen leaders are not responsible enough, then the change management cannot be implemented successfully (Günzel-Jensen et al., 2017).
While the changes are planned, it is essential that all the stakeholders are kept informed regrading the changes that are proposed for the organizational benefits. Since the stakeholders are an essential part of an organization, hence they are to be well-informed (Nicholas & West-Burnham, 2016). In case of Woolworths, all the internal as well as the external stakeholders are to be informed regarding the changes in the organizational policies (Vann, Coleman & Simpson, 2014). Moreover, the organizational changes are to be finalised, after taking suggestions from the stakeholders. Thus, keeping the stakeholders informed as well as keeping them involved in the planning has a key role to play in the effective change management best practices.
Once the changes are implemented, constant monitoring is needed. The constant assessments of the benefits of the changes along with reviewing the new policies are also essential (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). If the changes are not much effective, then it should be withdrawn. For example, if the recruitment of the 3500 indigenous employees is found to be ineffective, then the recruited employees could be deployed to other departments with lesser importance (Prabhakar & Yaseen, 2016). Thus, once the changes are made, constant monitoring and review is needed.
Since the organizational changes are effective if only the workforce is ready to work diligently, hence addressing the workforce has a key role to play. The workforce needs to be conveyed the benefits of the changes, along with empowering them (Günzel-Jensen et al., 2017). Moreover, the workforce needs to be motivated effectively such that they are able to adapt to the changes.
Conclusion
Leadership has a key role to play in any business organization. This assignment highlights the various leadership styles in Woolworths. The various decisions of changes taken by the CEO of Woolworths have been highlighted along with the gap analysis of the styles of leadership applied as well as the best practices. Moreover, the effective change management has been also mentioned in details in this assignment. The transformational leadership has a great significance in making the changes effective in any organization. Hence, instead of transactional leadership, transformational leadership needs to be used in Woolworths. Finally an evaluation of the effective change management in Woolworths is compared against the best practices of the change management. It has been highlighted that the motivation and empowerment of the employees have a key role to play in incorporating effective changes as well as its management.
References
Bunting, M. (2016). The Mindful Leader: 7 Practices for Transforming Your Leadership, Your Organisation and Your Life. John Wiley & Sons.
Du, S., Swaen, V., Lindgreen, A., & Sen, S. (2013). The roles of leadership styles in corporate social responsibility. Journal of business ethics, 114(1), 155-169.
Edger, C. (2016). Effective Multi-unit Leadership: Local Leadership in Multi-site Situations. Routledge.
Edger, C. (2016). International Multi-Unit Leadership: Developing Local Leaders in International Multi-Site Operations. Routledge.
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.
Günzel-Jensen, F., Hansen, J. R., Jakobsen, M. L. F., & Wulff, J. (2017). A Two-Pronged Approach? Combined Leadership Styles and Innovative Behavior. International Journal of Public Administration, 1-14.
Maak, T., Pless, N. M., & Voegtlin, C. (2016). Business Statesman or Shareholder Advocate? CEO Responsible Leadership Styles and the Micro?Foundations of Political CSR. Journal of Management Studies, 53(3), 463-493.
Mwenda, L. K. M., & Wachira, A. W. (2015). Effects of Leadership Styles on Implementation of Organization Strategic Plans in Small and Medium Enterprises in Nairobi.
Nicholas, L., & West-Burnham, J. W. B. J. (2016). Understanding Leadership: Challenges and Reflections. Crown House Publishing Ltd.
Prabhakar, G. V., & Yaseen, A. (2016). Decision-making styles and leadership: evidences from the UAE. International Journal of Management Development, 1(4), 287-306.
Vann, B. A., Coleman, A. N., & Simpson, J. A. (2014). Development of the Vannsimpco leadership survey: a delineation of hybrid leadership styles. Swiss Business School Journal of Applied Business Research, 3, 28-38.
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