Planning for A Needs Assessment of Whole Foods Market: People, Places, and Artifacts

 


Background

Founded in 1980 as a local food grocery store in Austin, TX, Whole Foods Market provides natural and health foods (Whole Foods Market, 2022). Since its founding, the company has grown to become a leader in the natural and organic supermarket industry (IPL, 2022). Its mission is “to nourish people and the planet” as a purpose-driven company (Whole Foods Market, 2022, para. 1). Its motto “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole planet undergirds its culture and desire to create an experience that has garnered recognition as “America’s Healthiest Grocery Store” (Whole Foods Market, 2022). The company has six core values that further contribute to its culture and guide how it conducts business with each group of stakeholders:

·         High Product Quality

·         Customer Satisfaction

·         Employee Growth and Satisfaction

·         Effective Reciprocal Partnerships (suppliers)

·         Create Profits and Prosperity

·         Serve and Support Communities and the Environment

            The needs of stakeholders must be considered to conduct an effective needs assessment. The key stakeholders of Whole Foods Market are its employees, investors, customers, suppliers, and the communities where they are located. Consumer perception, investor confidence, and employer satisfaction are examples of how stakeholder interests impact business.

Needs Assessment

            Conducting a needs analysis requires first performing an organizational analysis to determine what training would be of interest and appropriate (Noe, 2013). Under the assumption that an environment of learning is an embedded aspect of the company culture as a contributor to achieving and maintaining the established values, it should be further assumed that training selected to deliver would need to contribute to creating experiences that support employee growth and satisfaction as a prerequisite to the remaining five core values. Gaining the buy-in of the key personnel within the organization as primary stakeholders. A review of the organizational chart (retrieved from https://theorg.com/org/whole-foods-market/org-chart), identifies those individuals as the chief executive officer (CEO), chief operating officer (COO), chief financial officer (CFO)/chief administrative officer, and chief technology officer/senior vice president (SVP) in making decisions relating to the development and delivery of company-wide training.

            A series of questions will guide the facilitation of interviews with the key organizational employees to gather background information. The goal is to gain clarity about the organizational strengths and challenges.

1)      What are the strengths of Whole Foods Market?

2)      At what level does the current market competition impact the performance of Whole Foods Market?

3)      What organizational factors contribute to achieving the desired performance?

4)      What organizational factors inhibit the achievement of desired outcomes?

5)      Where is Whole Foods Market in terms of achieving the established mission, goals, and objectives?

6)      Is Whole Foods Market product-centered, customer-centered, or proces-centered?

7)      What are the established expectations for training?

8)      How does training contribute to the culture of Whole Foods as an organization?

9)      How does management view and support the impacts of training within the organization?

The organizational framework of Whole Foods Market includes a second layer of key personnel that includes the regional presidents, and the vice president local. Completion of individual interviews at both stakeholder level will help to collect greater detail and potentially reveal unanticipated insights and aspects that may modify the initial list of interview questions (Noe, 2020). Examining previous training outcomes  may help to further reveal gaps in knowledge, ability, and/or process.

Following the completion of individual interviews with top management, a personal task analysis should be conducted via the facilitation of a series of cross-sectional focus groups with employees and store managers groups (distinctly) at the regional and local levels. The following list of questions will generally guide the focus group discussion in helping to reveal gaps in training and processes:

1)      Does the organization have the interests of employees in mind when making business decisions?

2)      Are you satisfied with the way Whole Foods Market manages business / people?

3)      Are you supported and inspired to do your best work?

4)      What level of collaboration occurs for the completion of work tasks?

5)      Are you given the information and resources needed to perform your job effectively?

6)      Does management support your preparation to advance professionally within the Whole Foods Market organization?

A fourth and final level of stakeholders includes the local customer groups. The following questions should be used to guide the facilitation of focus group sessions to gain insight into customer services processes and customer satisfaction.

1)      Does the organization have the interests of employees / customers in mind when making business decisions?

2)      How satisfied are you with the products offered by Whole Foods Market?

3)      How satisfied are you with the service delivered by Whole Foods Market personnel?

4)      What value does Whole Foods Market provide?

5)      What challenges do you have as a Whole Foods Market customer?

6)      Why do you choose to shop at Whole Foods Market over the competition?

The data would be compiled and analyzed for the emergence of themes in determining at what level services are delivered and what gaps persist (Noe, 2020). The written, detailed analysis of data as it relates to task performance and service delivery with recommendations of the type, focus, and delivery of training(s) will be presented in report form to upper management.

References

IPL. (2022). Whole foods market analysis. Whole Foods Market Analysis - 1120 Words | Internet Public Library. Retrieved July 14, 2022, from https://www.ipl.org/essay/Whole-Foods-Market-Analysis-PJQ7UXCNPG

Noe, R.A. (2020). Employee training and development (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Whole Foods Market. (2022). About whole foods market: From Austin, Texas to global. Whole Foods Market. Retrieved July 14, 2022, from https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info/whole-foods-market-history 

Comments

  1. Rachael GautreauxJuly 15, 2022 at 4:07 PM

    Angelica,
    As a customer of Whole Foods, I can see its core values coming through when shopping. Especially customer satisfaction and high product quality, they are known for being the best in the business. I bought some produce a couple of months ago, and it was already rotten by the second day. I brought it to the customer service department with the receipt, was treated professionally, and got a replacement with no issues. As a consultant developing training, it is essential to know those standards and values to incorporate into training to keep with the brand. According to Noe (2020), "organizational analysis is concerned with identifying whether training suits the company's strategic objectives and whether the company has the budget, time, and expertise for training" (p. 128). The questions included under Organizational Analysis ensure that philosophy will be carried over in training development and design a successful training.
    Rachael Gautreaux
    Reference:
    Noe, R. A. (2020). Employee training and development (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tiffany PalmerJuly 17, 2022 at 9:16 PM

    Hi Angelica,

    You raise some excellent questions that can be asked of Whole Foods’ leadership pertaining to any kind of training program. It is vital that a new program or policy be aligned with organizational objectives and culture. I also liked the questions related to how Whole Foods considers training and, ultimately, if they have or are interested in developing a culture of learning. The methodology laid out by Noe (2020) provides a framework for gathering important input related to the organization, the people, and the task or tasks that will need to be trained. If the organization is interested in investing in its people to meet its goals, that will show in the questions you have asked, and can be used to develop meaningful training programs.

    Reference

    Noe, R. A. (2020). Employee training and development (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Mel WmsJuly 18, 2022 at 6:51 PM

    Angelica,
    There are three levels of needs assessment: organizational, occupational, and individual. The combination of these three assessments will more likely indicate if anyone needs training and what training is needed. Training is not always the best solution. “Some performance gaps can be reduced or eliminated through other management solutions, such as communicating expectations, providing a supportive work environment, and checking job fit. These interventions also are needed if training is to result in sustained new behaviors needed to achieve new performance levels, for an individual, an occupation, or an entire organization” (OPM, n.d.).
    Resource:
    Policy, Data, Oversight: Training and Development. U.S. Office of Personnel Management. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/training-and-development/planning-evaluating/

    ReplyDelete

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