Paintpot DIY’s culture is one of friendly but professional. They focus on providing a high quality service in a friendly manner to the customer and adopt a casual/formal uniform policy.
5.0 Current Issues with Human Resources
5.1 Overstaffing is a current problem within Paintpot DIY. This is mostly due to the number of cashiers on duty that are insufficiently trained in other areas of the business. Much of their time is spent doing very little due to the staff levels outweighing demand. Targets must still be met and surpassed if possible, and would still be achievable with less staff numbers. Details of recommendations for improvements to the staffing structure are supplied below.
5.2 A current change has been identified with regards to the demand for products across the range. The most significant change was in sales within the Kitchen and Bathroom department down by 2.5%. The cause has been ascertained as the recent opening of a new Independent Kitchen Store opening up nearby, specialising in a designer range of modern kitchens. A secondary contributory factor in the loss within the department is also recognised through the number of on hand staff available to advise customers of the product ranges. Other issues with trends in the business will need addressing in the upcoming meeting.
5.3 The current revised staff structure is being co-ordinated well and monitoring staff by way of sales targets, punctuality and other aspects is proving fairly efficient, but with no commission or bonus, staff are not being rewarded for their effort in generating extra sales. Communication between departments and managers is well planned with General Managers and Managers meeting weekly on a Monday to discuss such topics as Targets, Staffing Issues and HR issues etc. Managers in turn the meet with team leaders daily to inform staff of various related issues.
5.4 The current culture embraced by Paintpot DIY, ‘friendly but professional’ is well intentioned but lacks enthusiasm in encouraging staff to succeed and generate good performance levels. Staff are indeed friendly and professional at all times but fail to have motivation or the drive to sell the product behind them.
5.4 Incentives currently in use are predominantly for loyalty to the company with gift vouchers available to staff dependent upon years of service to the company, as well as extra holiday entitlement to staff with 4 years of service or more and also a staff discount card after 6 months of service. These are all appreciated extras but do not inspire staff to better there working practice, only to sustain and remain with the company for longer periods of time. The one sales incentive applicable to staff is 40% off when a 6 monthly target is met. This is not enough motivation for staff to generate high sales figures and is an important matter to be addressed.
5.5 Outsourcing of compulsory First Aid and Health and Safety training is in operation, but training in-house is very basic and is plainly sufficient for attending the work role. In depth training of all staff areas across the business should be attended to, and be discussed within the meeting.
6.0 Recommendations
My recommendations for Paintpot DIY are as follows:
A Training Program to be brought in for all staff to attend to learn the various functions and roles within Paintpot DIY allowing staff to multi task across other areas in cases such as staff sickness or other issues that may affect the number of staff available to each department. Other training should include Sales, Cashiers and all shop floor staff should be trained to a higher standard to increase sales across the range of products. This can be done in house by the training staff in HR department.
With a decrease in demand, I believe reducing the workforce is an available opportunity. There is no requirement for 18 cashiers within the workplace. I believe this can be dropped to a total of 10 cashiers with any 6 working at 1 time. With the correct training program being put into place, this is an easily achievable target.
New staff incentives are to be created with a sales focus playing a key part. The existing company loyalty incentives are to be scrapped with the exception of the staff discount card as this is a usual perk within any business. New commission structures are to be discussed, concentrating on rewarding staff for achieving sales targets, giving the workforce enthusiasm and the drive to succeed over the competition.
