WOW need to reinvest money into it's staff. More staff on the floor to assist shoppers and maintain the fresh departments that was once the chains pride and joy ' "The Fresh Food People" are now overworked and under paid who have been this way for a number of years.
I am not sure if you are aware of this but, ALL Woolworths department managers who are entitled to a bonus for this coming financial year will NOT be receiving their bonus due to the Masters debacle.
Imagine exceeding your targets (achieving higher than proposed KPI's) knowing that you are going to receive a bonus in the vicinity of 10-20% of your annual wage (you can monitor your KPI's on a monthly basis) then being told only months away from maturity of bonus time that "You will not being getting a bonus regardless of your performance" which is the first time that I am aware of, it ever occurring.
"Staff morale is at a all time low, department managers who have been working for WOW for decades are looking for alternate employment, most are disillusioned with senior management, unhappy in their jobs and under increased pressure to spend less in wages and work even harder than they are currently working.
I am aware of managers using their sick pay, to pay for themselves on given days so that they save money on their wages budget, (sick pay is a separate component) just to try and come under wages KPI. They will turn up for work, not clock on and put themselves down as sick. WOW is a sad and sorry state at the moment, and they really need to invest money into wages to bring up shop standards, take some pressure off management and focus on what they used to do so well "Fresh food". Stores need to once again be micro managed, not the one recipe fits all model that is clearly not working and has not worked for a number of years. What works in Toorak(Vic) as a store is not going to work nearly as well in Box Hill (Vic) 2 very different socio economic and cultural polar opposites. 10+ years ago they did micro manage these sorts of stores with great success but lost focus and direction after Tom Flood's reign. Can they turn it around.....Yes by reinvesting into the core component of the business, it's staff.
Re-branding packages of home brand groceries is like putting a band aid on a open gash requiring 10 stitches.
Who would I have as CEO of WOW....someone in senior management at any of the major retailers who once worked at WOW in it's heyday 10+ years ago. The likes of Bernie Brooks,Roger Corbett etc. Who am I? if anyone is asking...an ex manager from it's heyday who saw the light and left retail many moons ago to pursue a life worth living
I still have many great friends working at WOW and this is how I am aware of it's current "on the floor" state, and I must say I am stating Victorian "on the floor" knowledge, I have no idea what the other states and territories are going through, but I doubt it would be much different.
(20min delay)
