Needs Assessment: Example approach for Whole Foods Market
- Liz Malagisi
- Nov 9, 2023
- 2 min read
The challenge for this blog is to review an organization online and then present my approach to a needs assessment. Since I am a frequent in-person and online grocery shopper, I have chosen Whole Foods Market.
About the Company
Whole Foods Market has been a leading natural and organic grocery retailer for 40 years. The first of their six core values is to set industry standards for quality. Quality standards include ensuring certified organic products, banning over 260 food ingredients, and sourcing seafood only from sustainable and traceable suppliers. A second organizational value is to work with suppliers and partners to combat food waste, support sustainability, reduce carbon footprint, and create win-win relationships (Whole Foods Market, n.d.a.).
Current Goals:
An annual impact report is released that tells the story of the retailer's efforts to positively impact the global food industry (Food Industry Executive, 2023). In this vein, Whole Foods released its 2023 top 10 Food trends, which includes products from suppliers who are finding ways to upcycle by-products like nut pulps from making nut milk. Finding and supporting suppliers who utilize creativity to help the environment is a continuing part of the Whole Foods strategy (Whole Foods Market, n.d.b.).
Whole Foods Market has over 500 stores in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. According to a recent article in Business Insider, the organization plans to increase the number of stores they open yearly from 11 to 30. Part of their expansion is experimenting with new store formats, sizes, and shapes (Bitter, 2023).
Culture
A third essential consideration of the needs analysis is the climate for training, which is the company's view on learning and growth (Noe, 2020). Whole Foods includes designing a safe, empowering environment where motivated employees can reach their potential as one of their six core values. In addition, the company lists leadership principles on its website, which state that leaders take their responsibility as mentors and coaches seriously. Leaders are also encouraged to invest in their personal growth. (Whole Foods Market, n.d.a.).
Investigation
The table below includes the stakeholders and questions to ask for organizational, person, and task analysis (O, P, T). Possible techniques are also given for acquiring the information.
Stakeholders | Questions to Ask | Techniques and Documentation |
|---|---|---|
Company Leaders | O: Can you share the 2023 performance goals targeted at the new store openings? How do you see training as a way to help you meet these goals? P: Which employees working within the new store formats need training? What will be the most challenging part of the new format for employees? T: Are there new departments in the store formats that require upskilling of existing employees? Will new subject matter experts be brought in? How will managers participate in or encourage training as part of the leadership goals and principles? O: How could training aid the team in partnering with new suppliers to promote a positive global impact? P: What pace of knowledge acquisition is required of employees when a supplier's product is added? Are employees able to meet this pace today? T: What type of training most impacts your customer service goals when new suppliers are added. | One-on-one interviews with additional follow-up. (face-to-face or telephone). Company leaders are not likely to have time to sit and complete a survey. They would be more likely to speak during a scheduled event on their calendar. In addition, they provide the high-level perspective necessary to link to business strategy (the what) but may expect the detail (the how) to come from others. Additional documentation could include statistics and measures related to previous store openings and performance. Historical documents about how the organization has utilized training (success or failure) could also be helpful. |
Suppliers | O: How can training help you to partner with Whole Foods to ensure a win-win situation? How can training of Whole Foods employees help to meet your business goals in sales for the year? P: Do your product SMEs have the time and ability to participate in training? What basic knowledge and skills do you believe a customer service person may need to help promote your product? T: Do you have specific requirements for the display and freshness of products on the shelves? | Focus groups and interviews. Each supplier creates a unique relationship with Whole Foods, so handling it with a personal touch is essential. Interviews can allow for nuanced communication that is hard to achieve with surveys (Noe, 2020). In addition, focus groups allow multiple stakeholders at the supplier to participate. Documentation: Suppliers may already have documentation about their products for their distributors. |
Store and Department Managers | O: With so many new stores opening over the next year, what are some of the most essential skills you believe your department will need to meet the business goals? How does adding a new supplier affect your team's ability to meet customer service goals? P: Who should have supplier training in your department? Is it possible for your employees to attend training off-site? What effects would time off for training have on your department? T: Which job tasks are the most changed due to the new store formats? What challenges do you face when a supplier's product is added to your department? | Focus groups, surveys, documentation. Focus groups could allow multiple departments to participate, identifying cross-departmental needs and concerns. Surveys with multiple-choice and open-answer questions can help gather department-specific requirements. In addition, common themes can be identified from many people taking surveys (Noe, 2020). Department heads may have existing training documentation they use. In addition, historical documentation on department performance and expectations may help to link new objectives to previously achieved or in need of achievement objectives. |
Employees | O: What are your concerns about adopting a new store format and layout? Do you feel your manager will help you to train in the new departments? How does the organization typically deliver training on new products? P: How easily can you learn about a new product and supplier? Do you see new products as a way to improve customer service? How do you feel about training you've received or attended in the past? T: What are your biggest challenges when a new product is added? What are some questions you have that affect your ability to do your job if the store changes its format? | Observation, surveys, interviews. Observation of employees at work can clarify process improvements or needs that are hard to express in words. Norms can also be observed per area of expertise. Norms are often unspoken expectations (Noe, 2020). Surveys that allow for anonymous answering can aid in gathering concerns not readily divulged outwardly. Interviewing a sampling of employees can help to add clarification and provide nuanced information to provide detailed task expectations and concerns (Noe, 2020). In addition, current job aids can provide a better understanding of the help given today to maintain knowledge on the job and over time (Stolovitch & Keeps, 2002). |
Thoughts on this week's learning
Breaking down a needs analysis into stakeholders, questions, and techniques at each level of organization, person, and task helped me better understand how the needs differ and build on each other. Although I didn't have a specific problem handed to me to solve, I could see how company objectives and goals can spur the need for training and input about training at all levels. In addition, this up-front information gathering can feed into the instruction's design, evaluation, and return on investment.
References
Bitter, A. (2023, Jan 18). Amazon is rapidly opening new Whole Foods stores after halting Amazon Fresh's expansion, in a troubling sign for online grocery sales. Business Insider.
Food Industry Executive (2023, July 26). Whole Foods Market unveils latest impact report on nourishing a more sustainable global food system [Press release]. https://foodindustryexecutive.com/2023/07/whole-foods-market-unveils-latest-impact-report-on-nourishing-a-more-sustainable-global-food-system/
Noe, R. A. (2020). Employee training and development (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Stolovitch, H. D., & Keeps, E. J. (2002). Telling ain't training. Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.
Whole Foods Market (n.d.a). Our Values. https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/mission-values
Whole Foods Market (n.d.b). The next big things: Our top 10 food trends for 2023. https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/trends/top-food-trends-2023
Liz your approach to the needs assessment for Whole Foods Market is thorough and well-structured. You have effectively identified key stakeholders at different levels of the organization and provided insightful questions for each category (organizational, person, and task analysis). Additionally, the techniques and documentation methods you have proposed are appropriate and considerate of the unique dynamics within each stakeholder group. The emphasis on personalized interactions, such as one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and supplier interviews, reflects a nuanced understanding of the diverse relationships within the Whole Foods ecosystem. The inclusion of various data collection methods demonstrates a comprehensive approach to gathering information.
Overall, your approach demonstrates a thoughtful and strategic mindset, and it seems well-suited to address the dynamic challenges faced…
Hi Liz,
I too chose to use Whole Foods for this task. I think it was one of the more familiar companies listed. I enjoyed reading your post. The use of the table really added more organization to the reading and carried over a clear idea to the reader. I also related a lot to your initial thoughts on the needs assessment. As you stated, although we were not given a specific problem to analyze and solve, just basic research can lead to some possible needs for improvement. Great post!
Liz,
I must be one of the only people that didn't choose Whole Foods! I loved how you organized your information into a table. This made it very easy to digest. Also, the question regarding if there are any new departments opening within the company is very important and something I didn't think about! :)
Liz,
I enjoyed reading through your approach to needs assessment at Whole Foods. Quite detail and thorough. Greta job!