NewFoods is a (fictional) food retail company operating in Newcastle, Australia. Since opening its doors in...

  

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NewFoods is a (fictional) food retail company operating in Newcastle, Australia. Since opening its doors in 2018, the company has established a good reputation in the local market and has enjoyed modest but steady revenue growth. NewFoods employs 12 full-time permanent staff members and another 30 part-time casual workers in its store. Elise Murray, the Managing-Director, is proud of her company's success and contributions to the Hunter community. But growth, combined with changes in the wider business environment and labour market, has created a range of new and unforeseen management challenges. As an employer of mainly students and young people, NewFoods has begun to attract outside interest and attention, including from the Newcastle City Council, Business Hunter, and Hunter Workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has made trading conditions unpredictable in recent years, with lockdowns negatively affecting performance. Fortunately, conditions have now started to stabilise and improve. Yet NewFoods still faces strong competition from other (often larger) retailers - including competition for staff. Finding and keeping good workers has never been more important for the company. In leading NewFoods through challenging business conditions, Elise Murray must monitor a range of performance indicators to decide whether the company is well positioned for success. Recently, she has noticed some worrying trends in the company's workforce metrics. A few of the original NewFoods team members have quit, and staff absenteeism rates are up. Elise is also concerned that more of her employees seem disengaged and unsatisfied with their jobs. More than once, while walking through the store's aisles and staff areas, Elise has overheard her staff talking quietly about not feeling valued and how people are treated better' elsewhere. Elise is especially concerned about the increasing visibility and assertiveness of trade unions at NewFoods. Until recently, the store operated essentially as a 'union free zone' - her staff seemed happy enough, and Elise made sure that her office door was always open' if problems arose. Lately though, the general mood of the workplace seems to have shifted and, in Elise's view, gotten worse. Representatives from the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA), and the Retail and Fast-Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), have increased their presence in and around NewFoods. Flyers for both unions have appeared on noticeboards in the lunchroom at the store. Union delegates have even been calling Elise, suggesting that she should arrange meetings with them to deal with what they say are urgent problems of 'workplace disharmony' at NewFoods. Elise's concern has increased further in the last week, after two casual workers made allegations of 'wage theft' and threatened to contact the Fair Work Ombudsman. task is to investigate and advise Elise Murray, in the form of a written report, about how to understand and respond to the emerging problems of workplace disharmony at NewFoods - and offer her potential solutions. Take account of the following points when conducting your research and preparing your report: 1. Causes / contributing factors a The relevance of Context - take note of the industry setting and other details in the case. b The impact of Unions - generally, and for this specific industry. 2. Responses / possible solutions a The relevance of Conflict - how is it understood in employment relations, and how can the theory be applied to this case? b The role of Perspective (or 'frames of reference') - what approach does Elise currently adopt? Are there alternatives that might work better in her situation? NewFoods is a (fictional) food retail company operating in Newcastle, Australia. Since opening its doors in 2018, the company has established a good reputation in the local market and has enjoyed modest but steady revenue growth. NewFoods employs 12 full-time permanent staff members and another 30 part-time casual workers in its store. Elise Murray, the Managing-Director, is proud of her company's success and contributions to the Hunter community. But growth, combined with changes in the wider business environment and labour market, has created a range of new and unforeseen management challenges. As an employer of mainly students and young people, NewFoods has begun to attract outside interest and attention, including from the Newcastle City Council, Business Hunter, and Hunter Workers. The COVID-19 pandemic has made trading conditions unpredictable in recent years, with lockdowns negatively affecting performance. Fortunately, conditions have now started to stabilise and improve. Yet NewFoods still faces strong competition from other (often larger) retailers - including competition for staff. Finding and keeping good workers has never been more important for the company. In leading NewFoods through challenging business conditions, Elise Murray must monitor a range of performance indicators to decide whether the company is well positioned for success. Recently, she has noticed some worrying trends in the company's workforce metrics. A few of the original NewFoods team members have quit, and staff absenteeism rates are up. Elise is also concerned that more of her employees seem disengaged and unsatisfied with their jobs. More than once, while walking through the store's aisles and staff areas, Elise has overheard her staff talking quietly about not feeling valued and how people are treated better' elsewhere. Elise is especially concerned about the increasing visibility and assertiveness of trade unions at NewFoods. Until recently, the store operated essentially as a 'union free zone' - her staff seemed happy enough, and Elise made sure that her office door was always open' if problems arose. Lately though, the general mood of the workplace seems to have shifted and, in Elise's view, gotten worse. Representatives from the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association (SDA), and the Retail and Fast-Food Workers Union (RAFFWU), have increased their presence in and around NewFoods. Flyers for both unions have appeared on noticeboards in the lunchroom at the store. Union delegates have even been calling Elise, suggesting that she should arrange meetings with them to deal with what they say are urgent problems of 'workplace disharmony' at NewFoods. Elise's concern has increased further in the last week, after two casual workers made allegations of 'wage theft' and threatened to contact the Fair Work Ombudsman. task is to investigate and advise Elise Murray, in the form of a written report, about how to understand and respond to the emerging problems of workplace disharmony at NewFoods - and offer her potential solutions. Take account of the following points when conducting your research and preparing your report: 1. Causes / contributing factors a The relevance of Context - take note of the industry setting and other details in the case. b The impact of Unions - generally, and for this specific industry. 2. Responses / possible solutions a The relevance of Conflict - how is it understood in employment relations, and how can the theory be applied to this case? b The role of Perspective (or 'frames of reference') - what approach does Elise currently adopt? Are there alternatives that might work better in her situation?

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Based on the information provided Elise Murray of NewFoods is facing emerging workplace disharmony and weve been asked to investigate and advise on potential solutions Heres a structured approach to t... View the full answer