Whole Foods Working Environment Case Study Paper Example

There are various ways through which the team-based hiring process used by the Whole Foods supermarket benefits the organization. One of them is that the process ensures the organization only hires prospective employees who are team-oriented and motivated enough to work within the supermarket set-up. All new employees are likely to be team players capable of working with others without conflicts. This approach is also beneficial to Whole Foods as an organization because it promotes the element of fairness within the entity. Both the successful job applicants, the rejected candidates, and the existing teams perceive the process as fair without necessarily raising eyebrows due to a flawed process favoring particular potential employees. The team-based hiring process also helps the chain of supermarkets to avoid any potential performance issues with its employees. They work for the company knowing exactly what to expect and the level of professionalism, discipline, and teamwork that is expected of them.

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The wide open financial system used by Whole Foods supermarket characterizes high levels of transparency that serve as a motivating factor to the employees (Fisherman, 1996). One way this motivates the employees in each team is the set performance targets which are measured against the performance of other teams within an outlet and in other outlets. The overall effect is a healthy internal competition that ensures all the teams deliver quality and high productivity in their team-specific tasks assigned to them. The employees are also motivated to work with each other within a unit to attain the overall objectives of the team. They are motivate to improve their teamwork in the knowledge that an under-performance will adversely affect the team's performance compared to other teams. The overall effect of this motivation is to give the organization a competitive edge and positive financial performance.

The store tours and customer snapshots are practical examples of extrinsic motivators to the employees which, with time, can lead to the de-motivation of workers within the outlets of Whole Foods supermarket. One way through which these extrinsic motivators can backfire is the fact that make the assigned tasks less enjoyable. The store tours are said to create confusion around the outlet to be visited where all employees are involved in hectic preparations awaiting the touring team. The teams acquire apathy for the tasks they do unless they are motivated. Extrinsic motivators are also limiting in that they offer diminishing returns in productivity in the long run. The extrinsic motivator will have to be increased for the productivity to increase once more. Lastly, these motivators are not sustainable due to the unnecessary pressure that they impose on the employees. Workers at the outlet to be visited are said to report early to start preparing for the day in an attempt to show their best side even if it is not what normally happens on other working days.

Conclusion

There are various aspects of Whole Foods supermarket that would motivate me to work with the organization. One of them is teamwork which means that employees work with each other to achieve the goals of both the organization and the individual team members. Then there is the healthy competition in which the employees strive to outdo each other to exceed the set performance targets and this helps them and the company too. The individual discipline of each employee is also impressive because no single team member would want to let their team down and so they have to maintain a professional discipline and work ethic to hit the performance targets. The open sharing policy is an attractive incentive because it promotes trust and a fair working environment.

Reference

Fishman, C. (April 30, 1996). Whole Foods is all teams. Fast Company Magazine. Raleigh, North Carolina: Fast Company Publishing Inc.