Analysis of the Wellness Strategy at M&S - Essay Example

Wellness Strategy at M&S Analysis of the wellness strategy at M&S Introduction Wellbeing at work is very important for employees and the employers in all the parts of the world. Wellbeing at work involves the quality of life at the place of work such as occupational safety and health of the stakeholders (CIPD Employee Outlook, 2013). The wellbeing of individuals may change as the working environment changes due to the technological advancement, the aging workforce, increased women in the workforce, and the work patterns. There is a great need to maintain the wellbeing of the employees to enable them spend more time at the workplace. Analysis of M&S problem Considering the case of Mark and Spencer (M & S) Company with many stores across the UK and 82, 000 employees, there is evidence the welfare of the employees is very important to ensure that the company grows. The company used to provide important service and meals to its employees to maintain their health. According to the company’s belief, a strong connection exists between employee welfare and the success of the business. Wellbeing is one of the things that impacts greatly on the employees’ engagement and the company’s productivity according to Arnold et al. (2010). The company gives health information to its employees through the companys website and advises them on lifestyle issues, and the employees’ wellbeing is on the top priority list. However, the company experienced a decline in sales and other technical challenges leading to losses. The company concentrated too much on the employees’ wellbeing regarding their health and nutrition and neglected other important areas such as employee performance in delivering the goods to the customers. Their understanding of the wellbeing was misplaced, as there are very many factors that constitute the wellbeing of employees other than just health. The problem could be due to less supervision of the employee especially in the online business on matters concerning distribution. The employees spent most of their time concentrating on their wellbeing and reading health matters on the internet rather that concentrating on the company’s activities. The retailer’s distribution centre at Castle Dominion, Leicestershire caused most of the delays and customers raised many complaints in the social media. The intervention by the company to the delivery problem was slow showing that despite the company ensuring that the employees were comfortable; there was little employee engagement in various issues. The company focused so much on the physical, social, and psychological issues of the employees and less on training, supervision, and responsibility. The company provided most of the employees’ services but forgot to review their salaries and other packages. The employees may experience other social problems and stress from financial crises especially in the tough times reducing their effectiveness. The company was unable to get all the stakeholders to work as a team evidenced by the poor performance of the staff in the e-commerce and the online clothing store in deliveries. The employees did not understand fully the meaning and purpose of wellbeing, whose aim is to improve the performance of the company and not just their health. The company did not promote the culture of the employees to work without supervision leading to the poor performance of the company. Another mistake the company made was the inability to manage the employee’s talents in the online business and identify the most talented staff for the job. If the company engaged experienced and talented sales agent in the e-commerce department, the losses could have been avoided due to high sales. The company cannot cope with the changing technology since it cannot deliver goods to their customers as agreed because of inadequately qualified personnel handling the e-commerce section. The management and the workers in the e-commerce lacked adequate training on their new roles in the online business leading to low sales and delayed deliveries. After the complaints by the Guardian newspaper, the company did not act to resolve the matter indicating their lack of seriousness in handling the problem. The other problem of the company was communication as seen from the failure of the company to respond to the complaint concerning late deliveries to customers. The issues were raised by the media after the management failed to address the clients complaints about the delays of their items. The company had not offered technical training the employees of the newly opened online business evidenced by the losses incurred and the e-commerce website that was unfriendly to the customers. The companys management did not have a good interpretation of the employee wellbeing and ignored many aspects to enable the company run successfully. There are many other aspects to increase the wellbeing of the employees and increase their productivity and the company’s growth. HR Options to Solve the Problem The main HR strategies to solve the problems include encouraging good communication as one of the approaches to the employees’ wellness in which the management, the customers, and the staff share ideas freely. Communication will help the company’s stakeholders to balance work and work-life balance as Randall and Nielsen (2010). The management of the M & S Company can do this by conducting yearly surveys of the employees to enable it responds specifically to various issues affecting the company such as the low sales in the e-commerce department. Managers will know whether they are doing the best for the company and the employees by analysing the survey responses and using the results to draw conclusions. The company can also organize regular social events for their staff and their families to promote the spirit of teamwork and openness. Individuals mental health is very important and the best approach to ensure that all employees are mentally fit is to create a good relationship between the leadership and the workers of the organization. Workplace bullying occurs in many companies and sometimes goes unreported as the individuals fail to disclose to the senior managers fearing intimidations by the bullies (Working for a Healthier Tomorrow, 2008). If the person involved in bullying activities such as sexual harassment is a manager, the person may fail to report the incidence as it might lead to the loss of the job. Good communication at all level of the company management will help solve such cases whenever they occur, in which case the management should punish the bully and advise the rest to avoid such incidences. The other action the company can undertake to promote the wellbeing of its employees if offering training services to upgrade their skills and competencies as Karasek (1979) asserts. The training will earn the employees promotion and higher pay perks, which is quite, motivating. The training will give opportunities to have good living conditions. One of the welfare packages for employees is knowledge and professionalism through continuous training and involvement in the company’s top decision-makers. The company should have trained its employees in the e-commerce category to handle clients immediately and deliver goods on time. Through training, the company can advise the various staff members on the expectations of the company especially on matters concerning performance (Pilbeam & Corbridge 2010). Regular appraisals, clear terms, and clear conditions regarding their work and schedules are important in improving the wellness of the employees and the company’s performance. Through training the managers of the company, M & S will enhance supervision of its workers in all the departments increasing the performance and profitability of the company. Increasing the variety of work undertaken by the employees enhances their skills and competencies and the productivity of the company. A research by Donald et al. on 16,000 employees from 15 public and private organisations operating in the UK, found that there was an association between employee productivity and better psychological well-being (New Economics Foundation (NEF) n.d). M&S Company should provide an atmosphere with a variety of chores for the employees to engage in especially during the low season such as going out searching for newer markets. The company employees need job security as well as the physical security by providing proper working equipment and a pleasant working environment. Member of staff will always want equal treatment from their employers and supervisors, and it is the work of the company management to ensure that every stakeholder receives equal treatment. Effective methods of administering disciplinary action to the employees are very important and the company should employ the right procedures when dealing with unacceptable behaviours. Higher pay is one thing that the employees think of when describing their job security since it enables them to save for the future. A company that increases its employees pay is likely to achieve more that the one that underpays its workers. A flexible work schedule will work well for the M&S Company reducing the demand for their employees’ job so that they have time to rest and attend to their personal matters. Job compatibility is very important as it makes the workers perform their duties with little pressure, which reduces work-related stress (Juniper, 2013). Some jobs such as attending to online clients in the e-commerce department can result in high emotional or cognitive demands resulting in fatigue or mental sickness. The company can allocate jobs to employees based on their interest and compatibility to reduce the stress brought about by struggling to get the job done. Another important thing for the company to consider while allocating jobs to its employees is the feedback from the customers and employee regarding the quality and efficiency of the service. Availability of resources for each task such as computers and the right software is very important in increasing the wellness of the employees in the M&S Company. The resources enable the workers to learn as they perform their duties and reduce the pressure of accomplishing tasks. Frequent machine breakdown causes delays in performing specific functions such as bidding, which can result in loss of client trust. Organizations may face challenges that require restructuring or even downsizing to improve their performance and reduce the employees’ stress (Lamontagne, Keegel, Louie, Ostry & Landsbergis, 2007). The M&S Company can look for ways of restructuring their organization to fit in the modern day world in which technology plays a very important role in business transactions. The e-commerce and the online clothing business is not doing very well as there are several delays in delivery of the items to the clients. Restructuring and deployment of the staff to the other departments may make some difference by transferring some of the staff to other departments and bring other to take their place depending on their capability. If the changes are affecting the right way, it will improve the mental satisfaction of the workers through job satisfaction and mood improvement. Recognition and reward through acknowledgement and gratitude of the employees is a good way to recognize their efforts in increasing the performance of the company. Research shows that any inequality between effort and the reward leads to increased mental problems and reduced employee wellness (Juniper, White, & Bellamy, 2010). The same factors indicate that a gap exist between the organization culture and the employ expectations. Some employees who do a lot of work have a lesser pay compared to employees who just do a little work in some organisations. Paying workers little salary compared to the effort thy put in performing their jobs, will make them lose their morale and perform poorly. As the company provides medical and other health benefits to the workers, it should bear in mind that the employees have other responsibilities back in their homes that require financial support. A number of external factors may reduce employee wellbeing at work such as marital status, financial difficulties, and dependants, which can affect the productivity of the employee as assertd by Giga, Cooper, and Faragher (2003). The other personal challenges may include illnesses that lead to absenteeism and poor performance. Some employees may be engaging in drug abuse, having a poor diet, or limited exercise resulting in mental and physical problems. According to research, job satisfaction, support by the organization, culture, and personality can affect the performance of individuals at work (Working for a Healthier Tomorrow, 2008). The company can solve the problem by training its staff to handle difficult cases or share them with their trusted friends. Sleep is important for the promotion of the wellbeing of the employees yet many employers ignore and require some staff members to work late into the night as overtime. A good sleep ensures that workers get enough rest and enhances their performance during the working hours. In the UK, many workers report being tired and having restless sleep. Sleep deprivation decreases life satisfaction and increases the levels of negative emotions (New Economics Foundation (NEF), n.d). Employers should ensure that work does not deprive their employees’ good sleep. The employers can engage their employees in activities such staff organised walks, runs, and other outdoor activities. The management of the M & S Company can have employees alternate their working schedules to have enough time for resting before the beginning of a new busy day to enable them perform their functions with perfection. Evaluation and Recommendations Good health and wellbeing have a big positive association, which means that employers should help their staff to achieve good health through physical exercises, eating a balanced diet and balancing working and their personal life (Nielsen, Randall, Holten & Gonzalez, 2010).. The employers should also ensure that their employees have enough sleep by allocating them work according to their competences and interest, which reduces stress. A stressed person cannot sleep well and will not be effective during work. Paying the employees well increases the wellbeing of the organization especially where the wage gap is small. Some companies have very high pay for the top managers and very low pay for the junior employees, a factor that leads to lack of morale, strain, and stress related to financial strains. Research shows that companies that maintain fixed salary budgets rather than casual wages perform better due to the increased wellbeing of their staff (Juniper, White, & Bellamy, 2010). Job security and a safe working environment offer a higher level of morale to the employees and higher job satisfaction. The company under the case study should, therefore, pay their employees fairly and have all of them on a permanent payroll to improve their performance. Facilitating the utilization of the employees’ skill leads to high levels of job satisfaction for the employees and a feeling of wellbeing at their place of work. The management can create time for helping the employees to have full control in the work they do will enhance the staff morale and create a good work relationship with the managers Working for a Healthier Tomorrow, (2008). The action will lead to higher life satisfaction by the staff and other stakeholders. M & S Company management has a role to play in assisting the staff members to work with minimum supervision to enable them learn new skills during the course of their work. Communication in which employs air their views concerning the company operations help to solve some of the organizational challenges and increase its performance. For a company such the M & S, the stakeholders should collect information about the company from both the employees and the managers and analyse it for management purposes. Training for managers and other staff should be in the form of inspirational and motivational rather than transactional styles to enable them feel part of the organization. Employees who do the jobs that match their skills and desires have a higher feeling of well-being compared to those that do a job that is completely different from their desire (New Economics Foundation (NEF), n.d). Underutilization of skills leads to low job satisfaction and diminishes the well-being of the individual, as the individual does not enjoy the work that he does. The company should give new employees jobs that match their skills and provide training in case of skill deficit to the successful candidate. The company should also appreciate the effort of the employees and offer opportunities that help in developing the employees’ skills. Trusting relationships between managers and the employees help the staff members have control over their duties and responsibilities. Managers of the M & S Company should allow employees to contribute ideas to the running of the organization and consider their feedback for implementation. A good co-worker relationship enables the staff to work as a team on various projects, as they discuss ideas and share their skills that are vital for the company’s growth (Changing work environments and employee wellbeing, 2012). The company managers should always provide a forum in which members of staff come together and share their different ideas and skills, which will create a good relationship with the managers. The wellbeing of employees is possible through the provision of a danger-free and comfortable physical environment according to research (Berry, Mirabito & Baun, 2010). The management of a company should make sure that the working areas are secure and furnished with all the resources to allow employees do their job effectively. The social perception of a job is also important for improving employee’s job satisfaction. The management should always arrange for their employees social benefits to enable them feel secure and wanted. Work-life is good for employees to enable them have time to rest and enhance vitality at work. Poor work-life is one of the causes of stress at work especially when people work long hours to a threshold of 35-55. The company should set conventional hours without overtime and always re-evaluate working hours with the staff for the best time that they desire. References Berry, L., Mirabito, A. & Baun, W. (2010). What’s the hard return on employee wellness programs? Harvard Business Review, Vol. 88 (12) CIPD Employee Outlook, (2013). Focus on employee wellbeing, Oct 2013 Egan, M., Bambra, C., Petticrew, M. and Whitehead, M. (2009). Reviewing evidence on complex social interventions: appraising implementation in systematic reviews of the health effects of organisational –level workplace interventions. Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. Vol 63. 4-11 Giga, S. I., Cooper, C. L., & Faragher, B. (2003). The development of a framework for a comprehensive approach to stress management interventions at work. International Journal of Stress Management, Vol 10, 280–296. Juniper, B., White, N. and Bellamy, P. (2010). A new approach to evaluating the well-being of police. Occupational Medicine, 60, 560–565. Juniper, B. (2013). Reaching the right staff with workplace health promotions, www.XpertHR.co.uk Karasek, R. A. (1979). Job Demands, Job Decision Latitude, and Mental Strain: Implications for Job Redesign. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 24. Lamontagne, A, Keegel, T., Louie, A., Ostry, A. & Landsbergis, P. (2007). A systematic review of the job-stress intervention evaluation literature, 1990-2005, International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health, Vol 13, 268-280. Changing work environments and employee wellbeing, (2012). International Journal of Manpower, Special Issue: Vol. 33 (7). Arnold et al. (2010). Work Psychology, 5th Edition, FT Prentice Hall. (Chapter 12) Nielsen, K., Randall, R., Holten, A-L. & Gonzalez, E.R. (2010). Conducting organizational-level occupational health interventions: What works? Work & Stress: An international Journal of Work, Health and Organisations, Vol 24 (3), 234-259 New Economics Foundation (NEF). Available at http://b.3cdn.net/nefoundation/71c1bb59a2ce151df7_8am6bqr2q.pdf Pilbeam, S. & Corbridge, M. (2010). People Resourcing and Talent Planning , FT Prentice Hall (Chapter 14) Randall, R., & Nielsen, K. (2010). Interventions to promote well-being at work. In S. Leka, & J. Houdmont (Eds.), Occupational health psychology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Richardson, K., & Rothstein, H. (2008). Effects of Occupational Stress Management Intervention Programs: A meta- analysis, Journal of Occupational psychology, Vol 13 (1). Working for a Healthier Tomorrow, (2008). Dame Carol Black’s Review of the health of Britain’s working age population (March 2008) http://www.workingforhealth.gov.uk/Carol-Blacks-Review/ Read More