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What can Woolworths teach us about employee engagement?

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On this first anniversary of the demise of Woolworths, a number of ex-employees have been interviewed in the media. I was struck by the enthusiasm they showed for their previous employer; how positive and engaged they still were despite having lost their livelihoods.  These people were proud to have worked for Woolworths.

It suggests that whatever may have gone wrong at the firm, its managers did a great job of creating an engaged workforce.  And I guess it suggests that engagement on its own is not enough, you need the right strategy, cost structure and processes as well.

In support of this, many of these past employees now seem to be working in stores that offer a similar proposition to that offered by Woolworths, even down to their names - Wellworths being one that springs to mind.

Well done guys and all the best

 

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Editor's Welcome

 

Hello! I'm a great believer in the power of stories, whether they be folk tales, novels, films or TV dramas.
 
They have a wonderful ability to get complex moral or social issues over to us in a palatable, easy-to-understand way and can provide many lessons if only we care to look just a little bit below the surface.
 
But they can also act as a fun starting point for discussion and debate on rather more serious topics that are all too often brushed under the carpet and ignored.
 

Hence our decision to start up a Review slot on the site to look at those everyday stories that are all around us from an HR perspective.

Although we've been publishing book reviews (take a look at our Book Club list of suggested possible non-fiction works for evaluation here) for some time, you may also have noticed that we've been running a weekly home page blog on The Apprentice courtesy of The Chemistry Group for a while now.

And Pauline Wood, managing director at specialist retail headhunter, court & spark consulting, was likewise kind enough to write our first film review on the Headhunters movie.

But the big question is, why don't you give it a go yourself? There's a world of choice out there and I, like the rest of the community, would love to hear your thoughts and insights.

So next time you watch a movie, see a TV drama or read a novel that you think has an HR message worth sharing, send your review to me at cath.everett@siftmedia.co.uk or post it directly to our blogs section at www.hrzone.co.uk/blogs.

So get critiquing and look forward to hearing from you very soon.....

Cath Everett
HRZone Editor 
 
 
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