Hello friends & family,
I had to share this with you because I am super excited, my master's thesis on Whole Foods Market was not only published in a Scholarly journal but it was downloaded almost 3,000 times in the last few months! A special thanks to everyone who participated in the interview portion and allowed me to pick their brains :)
It was the first class of Research & Analysis when my Professor explained what the term project would entail, we could either work in groups or individually to accomplish the goal of identifying an industry related issue and detail proven solutions or strategies implemented by prosperous companies. He continued to explain that although not mandatory, if you work individually and do a stellar job that students could have the opportunity to try and publish our research through an academic online journal. My first thought was, should I really take on all this extra work- at the time I was working a full time job, planning a wedding and also enrolled in the Entrepreneurship course in which I was elected the company CEO and led a team in the completion of an extensive business plan- or could I take the easier route and work in a group submitting only what was expected. I pondered this decision for a few days and ultimately decided that if I ever planned to pursue a doctorate or conduct any future research this would give me great practice and expand my resume, academically. Although it seemed and realistically was ambitious for me to pull this together, looking back I am glad I stepped up to the plate.
Over the following ten weeks, I buried my head in the research and put my analytical skills to the test. When I started the thirty something page paper, I didn't realize how much I would enjoy the actual process of research; observing, interviewing and sifting through endless publications to extract only the information that was pertinent to my topic. The gratification when you finally find the excerpt that clearly explains and supports your point of view is similar to the feeling you get when shopping at TJ Maxx, Marshalls, an antique shop or stop by a yard sale. You spend all that time rummaging through endless items and eventually you find that something special that makes it all worthwhile. Not to mention, most gratifying of all is when you successfully publish something worthy to others, it gave me confidence that someday I just might have what it takes to pursue a career as a teacher.
I hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed compiling it:
Abstract
Employee retention can be a challenge for Human Resources in today’s business climate, especially in retail food service occupations due to long and sometimes unpredictable hours, limited benefits, and growth potential to name a few. Despite the obstacles, Whole Foods Market has been able to overcome such limitations allowing employees flourish and as a result have set an industry benchmark for reducing voluntary turnover. This case study research is an examination of Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey and his modern approach to leadership and its effect on employee retention. The purpose of the research is to examine the association between employee retention and modern leadership practices. Primary data was collected from observational field research and qualitative interviews with six Whole Foods Market personnel whom currently or have previously held positions throughout various departments within the company. To identify the perceptions of employees, detailed notes were transcribed, collected and evaluated. The study provided a number of key findings of successful practices: (1) establish a mission and values driven culture; (2) provide a thriving environment in which your employees can be their true selves; (3) empower employees by encouraging innovation and dispersed decision making; (4) offer individual and team incentives for ideal behavior and performance; and (5) promote growth opportunities both vertically and laterally within the company. The conclusion answered the primary research question and argues for emphasis on the role of modern leadership approaches such as servant, values and decentralized leadership theory to improve retention efforts.
Employee retention is of growing concern for Human Resources regardless of business initiatives to reduce turnover costs and strengthen competitive advantages. Due to the nature of food service, hospitality and retail industries including low wages, long working hours, unfair healthcare, inadequate benefits, insufficient training & development in addition to limited job growth, employee dissatisfaction and voluntary turnover is on the rise. The importance of this subject is to be able to provide collected qualitative data in the form of best practices in support of foodservice retail companies so they too are able to retain valuable human capitol in a similar fashion as Whole Foods Market has been able to do. This case study research investigation will evaluate the effects of John Mackey’s approach to reduce voluntary turnover and improve employee retention at Whole Foods Market as seen through the eyes of current and past employees of the company.
The objectives of this case study research are:
· Review and dissect literature on employee retention, turnover and job satisfaction
· Examine the non-traditional leadership concepts, culture and philosophies of Whole Foods Market, honing in on Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, John Mackey
· Interpret observation and qualitative results of interviews conducted with current and past employees (Team Members) of Whole Foods Market
· Study factors that contribute to a sustainable work force and strong organizational mission, values and culture
To read the full copy of my research paper, you may download it here:
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<3 Kristin
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