Question

"Your family runs a successful food retail business and have to adapt to the new business environment in Riyadh. Saudization is an important part of getting the business in line with Vision 2030, and it’s a difficult "nut to crack" because young Saudi graduates wants management jobs [even with limited experience], demand high salaries and often leave to join the competition after only a few months of service.

At the same time, the COVID-19 virus resulted in a 24hr curfew in most of the neighborhoods where your stores are located. Your business is deemed essential. It stays open, but with restrictions on the number of customers allowed in the store at one time. The on-line part of the business grew 500% in 2 weeks, and continues to row rapidly.

How can you apply the theory learned in "Training and Development" to suggest policies and practices that will keep the business competitive now and in the future?

essay"350 words, in your own words"

Answer 1

The given case scenario represents a high turnover, high pay demand labor market conditions along with localization factors to be kept in mind. The situation warrants crafting a training programme which will produce committed and hardworking employees for long term commitments, bearing in mind the local conditions and the growth of online business of the firm in times of COVID-19.

Based on the situation analysis and theoritical guidance on ways to deal with the situation, following objectives are identified for a training and development programme to develop a  committed and dedicated human resource pool-

1.Cognitive restructuring of the employee's to change their mindset from high pay demand to focus on high future growth prospects.

2. Building resilience in the new joinees to continue working with the company in the difficult times of COVID-19 pandemic.

3. Focus on team building and converting human resources to a strategic asset for competitive advantage.

4. Demonstrate the career opportunities and growth prospects to the new employees of the organiztion.

5. Reinforcing a feeling of service to society as a purpose of work than to mere earning higher pay rewards.

The policies and practices to be adopted accroding to the above stated objectives are as follows-

1. Offering internships and apprenticeship trainings to the undergraduates and graduate students and promoting them to the regular positions rather than graduates. This will help to identify the right kind of employees with a persistent attitude and willingness for long term commitments.

2. Sensitivity training to the employees to orient them towards the need of the society and understanding of the need to behave in a positive manner towards all internal and external stakeholders of the organization.

3 Instilling confidence in employees by designating them as business associates and equals rather than uneqaul employee-employer relationship. This will instill a feeling of ownership amongst the employees. This may be done through redesignating some position names such as delivery manager to customer service associate.

4. Promoting team oriented working culture to provide a clear guidline on how acting in unison matters and helps the individual in her/his personal progress.

5. Delineating a promotion policy with greater weightages given to persistence, team spirit and other behavioral factors than just target achievements.

5. Promoting organizational citizenship behavior amongst employees through co-learning, value consensus and team development.

These, along with an in house technical training will help to retain the workforce for a longer period.