Case Study – NatureCare
NatureCare Products is an Australian company based in Brisbane. The company commenced business in 1996 and manufactures and eco-friendly, high quality beauty skin care products. The business was established to cater for a growing demand for skin products that contain eco-friendly and natural ingredients. There is also an emphasis on eco-friendly packaging.
The company sells its products in health food shops across the country, as well as on-line through its own web site. The company targets customers that want high quality, eco-friendly products. Market research and NatureCare’s basic customer database has identified that around 70% of customers are professional women aged 25 to 55 (a total of 120 customers).
The company currently has a small range of products that include:
Cleansing creams to soothe skin during make-up removal. Primary ingredients include Shea butter to nourish the skin and plants extracts that are also rich in essential oils with regenerating and anti-inflammatory properties. This product will be for delicate and mature skins and could also be used as a baby cream.
Multi Protection Day Moisturizing Creams for dry to normal skin types that help protect the skin during the day and includes Shea butter and extracts from fragile green algae that provides hydrating and protective properties.
Regenerating facial scrub to clean off dead skin cells to promote regeneration of healthy new cells. This product will be used for most skin types.
Information relevant to identifying, developing and managing organisational change
The strategic goals and objectives of the company are to:
increase profitability by 10%.
expand the product range by 15%.
Shareholders have confirmed that banks are willing to finance 70% of any ventures established to achieve the objectives. The shareholders will find the remaining 30%.
Currently the company employs the following staff: Human Resource manager, Accounts Manager, Marketing Manager, Marketing Assistant, Sales Manager, four customer service representatives, Office Manager, Administration Assistant, Operations Manager, Financial manager, Payroll administrator, Finance assistant (accounts payable and receivable etc.) as well as the CEO and two shareholders as indicated above.
As Human resource manager, you are responsible to plan, coordinate and direct the administrative functions of NatureCare. This includes:
overseeing the recruiting, interviewing, and hiring of new staff
consulting with top executives on strategic planning
serving as a link between NatureCare’s management and employees.
The CEO has asked you (in consultation with the other managers) to lead and manage any changes required to achieve NatureCare’s objectives and make the most of the online retail opportunities brought about by COVID-19 pandemic. At a recent online CEO networking event, a guest speaker provided the following information about the demand for hand sanitising products:
Manufacturing cost (per bottle)
$1.50
Sale price (per bottle)
$4.50
Demand
10 bottles per customer per month
Advertising costs (per bottle sold)
$0.20
Past experience has shown that the cost to develop a new product is approximately $20 000.
The CEO would also like to see changes to automate internal business processes. He believes that automating processes such as invoicing, supplier payments and payroll will reduce the amount of internal errors made in the organisation and over time improve profitability. The CEO would like you to submit a written change management project plan for his approval.
A recent staff survey about employee’s attitude towards change showed the following results:
Many staff expressed their fear of robotics and how Robotic Process automation is affecting job security.
In the past, changes have been implemented at NatureCare without involving and considering the input from a variety of staff members. This has led to a lack of trust in management.
As a result of the survey, the CEO has advised you to consider the needs and input from all personnel when developing a communication/education plan to communicate the required organisational changes. He has also approved $10,000 for a change management consultant to advise you on any proposed changes.
Information relevant to developing a communication or education plan:
After consulting with relevant personnel, you received the following feedback regarding the learning preferences and motivation factors of NatureCare staff:
Staff member
Learning preference
Intrinsic motivation
Extrinsic motivation
Marketing Assistant
On-the job training
New challenges
Financial reward
Customer service representative 1
Dedicated training sessions
Learning new skills
Promotion
Customer service representative 2
Reading information to self
Learning new skills
Promotion
Customer service representative 3
Dedicated training sessions
New challenges
Work/life balance
Customer service representative 4
On-the job training
New challenges
Promotion
Administration Assistant
Dedicated training sessions
Job security
Recognition
Payroll administrator
Mentoring
Learning new skills
Work/life balance
Finance assistant
Coaching
Job security
Financial reward
Information relevant to evaluating organisational change
Assume 3 months has passed.
An invoicing RPA system was implemented in the finance department. There have been no invoicing issues since it was implemented. Since implementation of the RPA system, the finance administrator has taken seven days of sick leave (as opposed to an average of 1 per month in the past). When questioned about the leave, the finance administrator admitted to feeling overwhelmed by the new technology even though they considered their job secure and understood the benefits of RPA.
All other changes were made without any resistance or complications.
Internal Communication Policy and Procedures
NatureCare aims to enhance and streamline communications (internal and external) to reinforce the vision and strategic priorities. As such, we will continue to develop and trial new communication platforms, channels, and tools to improve information sharing and collaboration between all staff members.
This policy is to be implemented in a way that ensures compliance with relevant legislative requirements and standards of best practice.
NatureCare expects that staff will use the channels and for business purposes only and comply with all relevant policies and procedures, the Code of Conduct.
Communication channels
NatureCare has a number of internal communication channels available, including:
Channel
Purpose
Project or action plans
All plans should be communicated in writing to those responsible for steps in the plan (via email). Action plans must be updated to show completion of each action/process or task.
Executive team meetings
Information relevant to all line managers should be discussed at the weekly executive team meeting and a summary report of the issue provided to each line manager. (If urgent, an email should be sent instead).
Team meetings
Information relevant to a specific team should be discussed at the weekly team meeting (If urgent, an email should be sent or a telephone call made instead).
Staff bulletin
This contains Information from the executive to staff which is important and relevant to their interests, including training, employment vacancies and important announcements.
Contributions for the Staff Bulletin must be approved in advance by the contributor’s relevant manager before being sent to the communications officer for review and inclusion.
Staff surveys
These are used to gather information and feedback from all staff members. Surveys should be sent to staff via email link.
Enterprise social networks (e.g. Yammer, Facebook)
These may be used by groups of staff to collaborate and communicate on projects online (e.g. to share and comment on work-related ideas, news and activities). Personal use of these platforms may not be used during work hours. Use of these networks must comply with the Social Media Policy.
All Staff emails
Emails are used for messages to and between staff. Staff are required to read all their work-related emails.
Email distribution lists
Email distribution lists may only be used by the executive team and should adhere to the Privacy policy.
