The Warehouse Group & Vodafone: NZ's Primary Companies for Sustainability - Essay Sample

Introduction

The Warehouse Group (TWG) and Vodafone Company in New Zealand (NZ) are the two main companies that will be the primary focus of this paper. The Warehouse Group is a retail business that retails goods for essential use such as groceries, furniture, and sports equipment, among other non-grocery items (The Warehouse Group). TWG targets customers from various market segments, including families and businesses (The Warehouse Group). The current goal of TWG is to be the most sustainable in NZ by being environmentally conscious (The Warehouse Group). Vodafone NZ is also a retail business that retails telecommunication devices such as mobile phones, and televisions, among others (Vodafone New Zealand, n.d.). Vodafone NZ has a wide range of target markets, ranging from individuals, families, and businesses. Its current goals are to be the most efficiently run and customer-centric company in the telecommunications industry in NZ (Vodafone New Zealand, n.d).

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Introducing and Describing the Selected Leader

Nick Grayston is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of TWG, and the senior staff members include the Tania Benyon the chief product officer, Jonathan Oram the chief group financial officer, Tim Edwards the Chief sales officer and Pejman Okhovat, the chief operating officer among other senior staff members (The Warehouse Group, n.d.). The CEO of Vodafone NZ is Jason Paris, and the senior staff members include Lindsay Zwart, the business director, Carolyn Luey, the consumer director, Ross Parker, the IT, and digital director and Rich Llewellyn the head of external affairs among other senior staff members (Vodafone New Zealand).

Motivation and Employee Engagement

How the Leader's Behaviour Has Contributed to Employee Engagement and Motivation

Nick Grayston's behaviours have significantly contributed to the engagement and motivation of all employees at TWG. Nick is a leader who treats the employees with dignity and respect, celebrates the accomplishments of the employees in a way that matters to them, and follows through on his promises and commitments towards the employees (The Warehouse Group). Employee motivation and engagement are critical aspects that determine the profitability of any business. Thus, it is vital for a leader to have behaviours that encourage the engagement and motivation of the employees (Kazimoto, 2016). Nick's ability to celebrate and appreciate every accomplishment made by the employees is a significant step in enhancing the motivation of the employees. Moreover, recognising the employees in a manner that matters to them makes the employees feel valued and essential, therefore increasing their motivation to work. In addition to appreciating the employees, treating them with dignity and respect is critical in enhancing their commitment and enthusiasm in their jobs, ultimately increasing their engagement (The Warehouse Group, n.d.).

Similar to Nick Grayston, Jason Paris's leadership skills enable him to contribute to the motivation and engagement of employees at Vodafone NZ significantly. Jason is a leader who leads by example and is, therefore, able to encourage and enable the employees to be more efficient and effective in their jobs. Employees who are effective and efficient in their workplaces are often motivated and engaged. Additionally, Jason encourages the employees at Vodafone NZ to be innovative and to try new approaches in the delivery of services to the customers. The recent innovation at Vodafone NZ courtesy of Jason is the 5G innovation lab that was recently established. His ability to encourage the innovativeness of the employees allows the employees to grow tremendously in their jobs and even rise through the ranks, thereby increasing their motivation (Vodafone New Zealand).

Enhancing Employees Motivation and Engagement

For Nick and Jason to enhance the employees' motivation and engagement at TWG and Vodafone NZ, respectively, they should provide adequate training and coaching to their staff members at all levels (Panagiotakopoulos, 2014). Adopting a culture that ensures that the employees are continually updating their skills through training and coaching will give them a sense of growth and development in their career lives. Additionally, the various avenues that enhance the continuous growth of the employees communicate a critical message that the organization values its employees and believes in their abilities and potentials. Supplying the right tools to facilitate the success of the employees is yet another strategy to ensure that the employees remain engaged at all times (Panagiotakopoulos, 2014). Recognising and rewarding the employees is another effective strategy that enhances the motivation of employees. Employees who feel appreciated and valued in the organization are often motivated to perform their duties diligently. Encouraging the spirit of teamwork can potentially increase the overall motivation and engagement of the employees since peers are more likely to influence and encourage an individual to go the extra mile than the managers and supervisors can. In addition to the above strategies, Nick and Jason should create an environment that facilitates a balance between career and family for the employees (Panagiotakopoulos, 2014).

Communicating in Teams and Organization

Task Interdependence

TWG has a pooled type of task interdependence, where every unit or department in the organization perform separate tasks, which independently contribute to the overall goal of the organization (Courtright et al., 2015). Since TWG is involved in the retail of many items in various units, each unit is assigned, several employees. The employees from multiple groups have a common goal of ensuring that the company makes the targeted number of sales within a given period. Even though the various groups retail different items, a failure in one group would significantly affect the success of the overall goal of the organization. As such, while the employees in the various groups could be working independently of each other, they ultimately share a dependent responsibility for achieving the overall goal of the company. The team cohesiveness in TWG is evidenced by the timely achievement of the goals of the company. The timely achievement of goals is only possible with the help of a cohesive team.

Vodafone NZ also has a pooled type of task interdependence, where various departments within the organization work independently to achieve a common goal (Courtright et al., 2015). There is team cohesion among the different departments in Vodafone NZ, where the goals of the company are timely achieved, and every employee feels that they have played a significant role in facilitating the overall success of the company.

Team Dynamics

The aspects of team dynamics that are working well for TWG are trust, diversity and inclusion, and interdependence. Team members at TWG have trust in the leader Nick Grayston and believe that his decisions are for the good of the company and the employees. Over the years of his leadership at TWG, Nick has built a sense of accountability and openness towards the employees, which makes it easier for the employees to trust him. Additionally, the team members have trust that every team member will diligently fulfil their part and meet deadlines. The teams at TWG are diverse and all-inclusive, making it easier for the leader in enhancing innovativeness and creativity within each team member for the good of the company. Moreover, the teams at TWG are interdependent, which makes it easier for the team members to create a sense of ownership and to understand their responsibility and value towards the organization. One way in which team dynamics at TWG can be improved is by fostering open communication and making efforts to know the team better. Having an environment that allows every employee to air their opinions openly is crucial in enhancing trust and togetherness, which is essential for the success of any team.

The aspects of team dynamics that are working well for the Vodafone NZ Company are participative leadership, consensus decision making, trust and openness, and shared purpose. Jason Paris is a participative leader, which helps him to enhance the creativity, confidence, and sense of ownership to the employees at Vodafone NZ. The participative leader aspect helps to increase the employees' trust in their leader. He also believes in involving the team members in the decision-making process, which enhances the employees' sense of belonging and creates an environment that encourages innovation and creativity. To improve the team dynamics at Vodafone NZ, Jason needs to focus more on encouraging open communication within the team members and addressing problems within the teams as quickly as possible.

Current Communication Strategies in TWG and Vodafone NZ

The current communication strategy at TWG is effective because it is open, multi-channelled, and is result-driven. TWG communication strategy uses multiple channels to communicate a message to the employees at numerous times to ensure that the message being communicated is effective enough. The management at TWG believes that the more they communicate the messages to the employees, the more the employees will understand, and the more the engagement and a sense of purpose will be enhanced (The Warehouse Group, n.d.). An open communication strategy is crucial in fostering the creativity and innovation of employees in any organization. With open communication, employees can share their ideas and positively criticize other ideas to ensure the success of the organization (Jacobsen et al., 2014). The communication strategy at TWG allows the employees to air their opinions, both positive and negative, which then creates room for innovation and creativity in the organization.

Similar to TWG, Vodafone NZ also has an effective communication strategy that is multi-channelled, two-way, open, and all-inclusive. The Vodafone NZ communication strategy uses various platforms to communicate with the employees in as many times as possible. It is also a two-way type of communication strategy which captures the views and opinions of both the employees and the management. The communication strategy is open and all-inclusive, implying that the employees are free to share their ideas and feedback without holding back. Moreover, the Vodafone NZ communication strategy is inclusive and involves all employees even at the lowest level, which makes the employees feel valued and involved in the organization's decision-making processes (Jacobsen et al., 2014).

Barriers to Effective Communication

Some of the most significant barriers to communication that exists between Nick Grayston and the team in TWG are cultural differences and cultural differences and status differences. Cultural differences arise due to the inclusion of people from diverse cultures in the organization. Cultural differences may hinder effective communication because it may create a lack of understanding or personal prejudices, which may impede the effectiveness of the communication being relayed. The status difference is yet another barrier to effective communication in TWG, where the employees find it challenging to communicate to those higher than them in the organizational hierarchy or those lower than them. As a result of the status barrier, some of the critical issues are not effectively communicated either by the supervisors or mangers to the employees or by the employees to the managers. Similarly, the significant communication barriers faced by Vodafone NZ are cultural differences and status differences.

Improving Effectiveness in Communication

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