Leadership Practices at Whole Foods - Research Paper Example

Task: Leadership Practices at Whole Foods Whole Foods is a retail outlet based in Austin. It focuses on natural as well as unprocessed goods. The first outlet opened its doors in 1980 under a different name. Expansion out of Texas began four years later. The expansion that followed was fast. This was due to the purchasing of other organic goods outlets in the areas they sought to expand (Jones and Hill 288). This trend has continued up to today. By 2004, Whole Foods had lengthened its operations outside the US, first, into England. The company, which entered the stock market in 1992, has undergone numerous tests, including lawsuits and natural disasters but has remained highly competitive. Its distinguishing niche, which also doubles as its competitive edge, is the emphasis on foods, which have not been processed in any way. The company ranks third in terms of preserving the environment. This is due to their concern for a cleaner environment (Edwards 64). This award is among several that the company has received. Despite these accolades, it has faced accusations of using its ‘natural’ slogan just for marketing. Such achievement in a company is because of first-rate leadership by the management and other positive qualities among the management and staff. Leadership styles can affect the working environment, which then affects the efficiency of the business. If the workforce feels that their opinions are of no value or their contribution is insignificant, the jobs may lack satisfaction, and consequently, results to poor performance. This and other scenarios are dependent on the style, structure and practice of management (Kouzes and Posner 23). Kouzes & Posner identified five practices of exemplary leadership. These included leading by example, inspiring others, questioning the status, empowering others to do and encouraging the heart. The first practice emphasizes the need for leaders to show the way to the others. It underscores the importance for leaders to portray the values they advocate for, in both word and deeds. They should be at the forefront in the battle they are fighting (Kouzes and Posner 23-42). Inspiring others connote that leaders should light up the passions of their followers. The convictions they have about different issues in the company should be communicated well to the constituents. All means should be used to make sure they hold these convictions as their own. The course of the leader should be the course for all constituents (Kouzes and Posner 43). They should share in the enthusiasm of the leadership. It is also required of leaders to invent and adopt new strategies for dealing with problems. Great achievements have always followed creative thinkers. Leaders must be innovative in their approaches to problems. Leadership also requires decentralizing of capabilities (Kouzes and Posner 173). The achievement of the goals of the company should be met by involving all the constituents. Everyone should be viewed as part of the future of the company, and everyone’s idea should be acknowledged. Finally, leaders should be able to strengthen the weakening wills. They should instil perseverance and dedication in the face of tough times. They should uplift, for example, by rewarding variant effort (Kouzes and Posner 315). Leadership practice: Empowering people to act Execution The leadership of Whole Foods has employed several of the above leadership practices in different times, and to varied degrees. The most conspicuous of these practices is its emphasis on empowering people to act. The employees at whole foods are the main custodians of the company’s processes towards it goals and objectives. The company organises its staff into teams. These teams are responsible for the development of the company (Jones and Hill 288). Each retail outlet has about eight teams on charge of the various departments. The leadership emphasizes this in the process they use to hire new staff. To ensure that the new employees to be hired are of the best quality, they are first become attached to the groups. Once in the group, they undertake a four weeks test interlude. During this time, the team members evaluate the performance and appropriateness of the recruit in the team. At the lapse of the period, two thirds of the team must vote for the candidate; otherwise, he/she risks elimination. Additionally, the small teams have the responsibility of making critical decisions concerning the running of the company. These responsibilities include deciding the price, ordering and promotion. The leaders of the teams in liaison with the store manager can decide to stock a certain product they think will attract customers. Effects: long-term and short-term By putting the process in place, the company stamps the independence of the teams in deciding the present and future of the company. On the contrary, the common practice among company leadership is that interviews, taking utmost several hours, decide who to be hired or not. Employees’ assessment of the suitability of a candidate ensures that the opinions and views of the staff become useful. This means that the management decisions do not only run from peak to ground, but also from the ground to the top. The impact of this practice is tremendous, and the impacts are both instantaneous and long lasting. In the short term, the practice ensures that the employees own the development process. They have the motivation, and, therefore, they are productive. Productivity of the employees ensures increasing profits for the company. This is quite in line with the constraints theory; that the primary function of a company is to make a profit. On the long run, the practice ensures the company’s dedication to consistency and quality products are not privy to a single person’s performance. This ensures that the company’s promise of quality products is every employee’s personal promise. With such a culture, the company could run for a long time, even in the absence of the founder. Recommendations This collective ownership of leadership can be improved by awarding some amount of normal shares to all employees. In this situation, they would perform better knowing that their activities and decisions will influence the value of their shares, and, therefore, their wealth. This would also ensure employees’ loyalty to the company because it would be their company too. Satisfied and loyal employees would translate to rapid growth of the company. This could also be achieved by delegation. Delegation natures trust between the employer and the employee. It also allows the leadership to concentrate on higher priority issues. Workers are able to develop their skills, making the job more meaningful and interesting (Marturano and Gosling 36). Leadership practice: challenging the status- quo Execution Another leadership practice in Whole Foods is the deviation from standard procedures. The first example of this is in the hiring of new employees. Their method deviates from the normal employee selection process. Instead of using interviews like other companies, the company uses their employee teams. This is a notable deviation from established procedures. Nevertheless, one of the most significant examples of this practice is in the making of executive decisions. In a past interview, the CEO of Whole Foods acknowledged that the advancement of the company has not relied on his contributions alone. Though he is the outward look of executive command of the company, he does not have the final word. In the past one decade, the CEO has been a cohesive team of several senior executives. This team is what could account for being the CEO of the company. In standard procedure, the CEO is the top man or woman in a company whose decisions are final. The management practice in general has not changed much in the last twenty years. The changes are dismal compared to the changes witnessed in other fields, especially, technology. This means that the roles of a CEO have remained unchanged for the last two decades. Neither the style nor the method has changed in any significant detail (Bass and Riggio 224). In this light, the current organisation of the company at the executive level is a notable divergence from the norm. The CEO can be lauded for being the few who are setting the pace for revolutionizing management practices and style. This group leadership is a rare practice in both the US and the world as well. In recent times, the CEO promoted one member of the group to the post of co-CEO. He also announced his intention to keep the group as the executive arm of the company. Effects: long-term and short-term The benefits of this style of management are numerous. Most importantly is the utilization of the power of the group mind. Instead of approaching a problem with only one perspective as an individual, the problem approach in cooperates numerous perspectives utilizing the intelligence of several highly qualified individuals. In the short term, this means that the leadership makes superior decisions for the day-to-day running of the company. Analyzing complex business scenarios become easy, and, therefore, effective decisions emanate from the leadership (Bass and Riggio 224-235). In the long-run, the company has a better chance to survive in the absence of one of the members of the team. In recent time, the demise of Apple’s CEO left speculations on how the company will run. It would have been different if a group of executives had been running the company rather than an individual. Recommendations This style of management can be improved by ensuring the executives bond even outside the office. Cohesiveness, both outside and in the job, would ensure more confluence of ideas. Developing the spirit of the community would make the members feel a part of a bigger entity (Kouzes and Posner 351). This would translate to even better decisions, which in turn affect the growth of the company. Leadership practice: Encouraging the heart Execution Another management practice at Whole Foods is the encouragement of the heart. All the employees of the company receive a bonus. These bonuses are dependent on the performance of the team that one belongs. The employees receive the bonuses every month together with the salary. All members of the teams know these bonuses so that they can evaluate how their contribution to the group affected their earnings. Effects: long-term and short-term The bonus scheme ensures that a team member will extremely hard because he/she knows her earnings depend on the group earnings. It also means that no employee will watch another laze in the job because it will affect his or her earnings too. This ensures the employees are highly motivated, creating a strong commercial environment. Recommendations Other forms of rewards can be considered to enhance the motivation of the workers. This may include salary increments, paid for vacations and job promotions. Creating a spirit of the community would also affect positively on the performance of employees. Conclusion The practice of management is not an easy task, but following certain theories and guidelines makes it to be possible to manage even gigantic corporations. Nevertheless, managers must dedicate their efforts to not only follow existing theories and principles, but also try to reinvent management. This would improve the relevance of management theories and practice in the face dynamic business environment. There must be a deliberate movement towards the improvement of leadership skills and practices. Works cited Lane, Patricia and Daft Patricia. The Leadership Experience. London: Cengage Learning, 2007. Print. Bass, Bernard and Riggio, Ronald. Transformational Leadership. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006. Print. Kouzes, James and Posner, Barry. The leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2003. Print. Hill, Charles and Jones, Gareth. Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. London, Cengage Learning, 2007. Print. Marturano, Antonio and Gosling, Jonathan. Leadership: the Key Concepts. New York: Routledge, 2008. Print. Edwards Andres. Thriving Beyond Sustainability: Pathways to a Resilient Society. British Columbia: New Society Publishers, 2010. Print. Read More