Hrm598 – Case Study 1

INTRODUCTION Given nine untitled job descriptions for the Whole Foods Market corporation, my assignment was to review them, give them appropriate job titles and assign a job structure, explaining my thought process and method of analysis. I was then to evaluate the job descriptions and provide feedback on what information was beneficial and what could be improved. EVALUATION OF JOBS After reading the job descriptions I assigned a job title that I felt both represented the job duties and aligned with the other Whole Foods job titles mentioned in the exercise.

These are the job titles I originally decided on, prior to establishing a job structure. •JOB A: Deli Team Member •JOB B: Register Team Member •JOB C: Prepared Foods Team Leader •JOB D: Prepared Foods Assistant Team Leader •JOB E: Kitchen Team Assistant •JOB F: Grocery Assistant Team Leader •JOB G: Prepared Foods Associate Team Leader •JOB H: Regional Team Leader •JOB I: Grocery Team Member ? JOB STRUCTURE When establishing the job structure, I realized there was no need for the department to be part of the title.

Although the duties might be different depending on their assigned department, the level of responsibility was approximately the same and jobs could be considered one generic position (i. e. “Team Member”). Therefore, I made the positions more general in title and chose to conduct a basic ranking method in order to determine the job structure. WHOLE FOODS MARKET – STORE JOB STRUCTURE Regional Team Leader (Job H) Store Team Leader Associate Store Team Leader (Department) Team Leader (Job C) Associate Team Leader (Job G) Assistant Team Leader (Job D-Prepared Foods and Job F-Grocery) Team Member (Job A-Deli, Job B-Register, and Job I-Grocery)

Team Assistant (Job E) PROCESS, TECHNIQUES AND FACTORS In my attempt to title each of the positions, I first simply read through the job descriptions multiple times, noting the job duties, level of responsibility and decision making and relationships to other positions, if any were mentioned. These relationships helped me to decide what appropriate titles would be for Whole Foods Market. Although my first set of job titles included “service clerks” in several positions, these were eventually changed to “Team Members” because of the obvious emphasis Whole Foods Market places on the team concept.

Therefore, I chose to incorporate the word “team” into every title. When assembling the positions into an established job structure, the stated relationships between positions were key yet again. I wrote down every position mentioned, so that I could ensure my positions were accurately aligned and appropriately named in comparison to one another. I chose to look at knowledge, experience, responsibility/authority and leadership/guidance potential as the compensable factors which provide the most value. All of the positions have virtually the same work environment, which is why this factor was not considered.

Similarly, customer service related attributes were also not selected, even though it is obviously a huge priority for the organization, because there were no positions where this was not the case… all equally emphasize positive and courteous interaction with their customers. The above job structure was established by weighing the compensable factors of each position and considering any reporting relationships directly stated in the job descriptions. I believe that responsibility was the characteristic that clearly set the positions apart from one another.

As you ascend the job structure you will find that each position has more responsibility, both in depth and breadth. Because of these additional job requirements, an advanced level of knowledge goes somewhat hand-in-hand. Higher level individuals must not only have greater in-depth knowledge of the Whole Foods Market policies and procedures, but they are involved in a much wider scope of activities. Experience is a logical factor that also sets positions apart. A “team assistant” is an entry level job that requires no prior experience and is the kind of position that one expects an individual can learn as they go.

A “Department Team Leader,” however, is expected to have already put some time in. They have learned process, procedure and the organization well enough to prepare them for the advanced responsibility. Finally, it seems as though Whole Foods Market places an emphasis on providing a career path for the employees, in order to encourage long term employment. This is emphasized by many positions requiring the provision of leadership and guidance to lower level positions. They want to encourage a strong relationship between all levels, to reinforce the team environment and ensure support of all employees.

Although I have no doubt Whole Foods Market has a much more extensive job structure organizationally, this structure focuses specifically on an individual store location. Even the Regional Team Leader could probably be moved to another job structure focused more on organizational administration rather than individual store operations; however, I chose to limit the scope of my analysis to the given positions. EVALUATION OF JOB DESCRIPTIONS Overall, I think the job descriptions are fairly well written and provide a good base. They describe the scope of duties and what experience or skills are needed for each position.

However, the main thing these job descriptions lack is consistency. Some clearly reference a relationship to other Whole Foods Market positions; some do not. Some state who they report to; some do not. Some clearly supervise, train and mentor other positions; some are not as clearly defined. Additionally, job duties in one job description which should probably apply to other positions as well, are not always listed (customer service, health and sanitation compliance, good communication skills, teamwork, knowledge of corporate policy and standards, etc). Something all of the job descriptions are missing is the applicable work environment.

Although most of the positions will be performed in a similar environment, this information should still be provided. My suggestion to improve the job descriptions would be to establish a template that all positions would follow. The template would include the following categories: a brief summary of the position, the duties and responsibilities, who the position reports to, who the position supervises, the typical work environment, tools or equipment that will be used in the position, requirements for the position (knowledge, experience, education, skills, etc), and possibly a job classification.

Job classifications are not a necessity but can be a good idea to distinguish between the fundamental types of job (i. e. entry-level, journey-level, mentor, supervisor, manager, executive, administrative, etc). CONCLUSION After my analysis, I believe we have an excellent understanding of how the staff of a Whole Foods Market functions. It is clear that the organization highly values customer service and teamwork and wants to encourage “career” employees at every level.

With the established job structure and implementation of the recommendations made to improve their job descriptions, positions would be more clearly defined. Employees would easily be able to understand every position, what it does, how it interacts with other positions and how to get there themselves. REFERENCES Milkovich, G. T. , Newman, J. M. , & Gerhart, B. (2011). Compensation, 10th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Whole Foods Market. (n. d. ). Career Paths. Retrieved March 2013, from Whole Foods Market: http://wholefoods. com/