Running head: FLEXIBILITY AND SUCCESS

Flexibility and Future Success:

And Analysis of Target as a High Performance Work Organization
Ruiyi Chen, Kevin Morris, Divya Selvaraj
Fischer School of Business

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Flexibility and Future Success:
An Analysis of Target as a Higher Performance Work Organization
Introduction:
What defines a companys success and continued success? This can be seen as a loaded
question, as there are countless variables that can go into defining a companys success. And still,
countless professionals within the fields of business and human resource have worked to bring
definition to the image of a successful business, referred to as The High Performance Work
Organization. Linda Holbeche describes that The High Performance Work Organizations
(HPWO) recognize the need to move swiftly into new modes of operating [they] are able to
transform their structures and working practices (2011, pg. 14). Within an HWPO, there is
heavy emphasis placed on this idea of transformation, or flexibility. Dictionary.com defines
flexible as willing or disposed to yield; adaptable (Flexible, September 28, 2016). With an
ever-evolving market, companies need to be able to re-analyze current business practices and
modify them, in order to sustain continued growth.

For Target, growth and change has been occurring since doors officially opened under the
Target name in 1962. The current retail giant has always projected this ideology providing a
quality store with quality merchandise at discount prices (Target through the Years,
September 28, 2016). However, the company has been constantly evolving this idea, from the
updated bullseye to the tagline expect more. pay less. This constant re-evolution and flexibility
with ideology has allowed Target to become a top 5 retailer and receiver of countless Best Place
to Work 2016 awards. (Fortune, The 10 biggest retailers in the Fortune 500, September 28,
2016). However, it is important to look at what makes Target tick, and interpret whether or not
this company is an HWPO functioning at complete capacity, especially in regards to flexibility.

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And so, the research within this paper delves in the defining characteristic of flexibility,
and aims to define Targets success based on three main categories. The first category focuses on
Targets Work Culture. Broadly defined, culture provides a sense of identity to employees,
supplying unwritten guidelines on how to behave (Holbeche, 2011, pg. 27). The culture of a
company helps individuals find a way to communicate and collaborate, in order to help the
company flourish. The second category of research examines is the concept of employee welfare.
Within this category, the company should be able to identify ways in which the people are clear
line of sight for the companys mission and growth, as well as the tools necessary for success of
the individual (pg.237). Finally, the third category that the research identifies, in regards to
flexibility and adaption, is the topic of leadership within a company. Within this section,
questions regarding the ability of leaders to design challenging jobs that offer people
responsibility, provide the resources to the do the job and hold people accountable are taken into
account (pg. 237). These three categories offer great insight into how a company like Target
operates and whether or not it is flexible with change and growth to the matters pertaining to
these categories.

Now, in order to gain more information on these particular categories, questions were
drawn up based on readings and general understanding of what makes up a High Performing
Work Organization. While this dissection takes some influence from measures like the STAR
model, the aim here is to identify the longevity of current business practices within Target, and
decide whether the company offers enough flexibility to continue to adapt to rapid, competitive
market. To draw a better understanding to the questions posed, those involved with the project
have spoken with two anonymous HR members within the Target firm. The views presented are
personal views, and do not necessarily speak for the company itself. Regardless, the information

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provided in the following section will be divided and dichotomized, in order to give a rating on
each of the three sections. The rating is based on a value system (Figure 1) drawn up by the
authors of this paper, the assesses current practices within the three main categories. The sections
conclude with possible recommendations that Target could make, in order to improve the
flexibility of its current business structure, for potential future growth.

Figure 1:

Exceptional

The firm goes above expectations in regards to the specific area of

performance. They can be seen as ahead of the curve with their
current strategy.

Very Good

The firm is strong in this specific area of performance. The company

is taking extra steps to achieve this category

Competent

The firm meets the basic standards for this specific area of
performance. Little to no innovation in the category is noted.

Marginal

The firm suggests to meet the standards of performance is this area.

There is plenty of room for improvement with their current strategy.

Unsatisfactory

The firm does not meet the standards of performance in the given
area. There is extreme room for improvement with their current
strategy.

Culture: Introduction

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The culture of a company defines the behaviors and beliefs that contribute towards a
healthy interaction between the firms employees and management outside business. Culture
cannot be created within a day, but should evolve within time and depends upon the traits of
every employee working in the firm. The key to create and maintain a positive culture in the firm
ensures employee retention and productivity thereby reducing employee turnover which leads to
a successful company. To report a firm as a High Performance Work Organization the firm has to
offer a flexibility in the workplace. These days majority of employee population are millennials
and the best way to attract and retain this group of employees is to provide a flexible work
culture. Organizations can promote flexibility in ways such as flexible time, extra vacations,
flexible work locations thereby fostering a proper work life balance, which is the most essential
need of an employee. A successful company maintain transparency with its employee thereby
rendering a trustable work culture to its workers. Research shows that (Flexible work culture:
Leading the new balance - ETS Inc, 2016):

Job (63%) and career changes (57%) are the most common sacrifices workers have made,
or would be willing to make, to better manage work and family/personal responsibilities
in the US.

Full-time employees (54%) have, or would be willing to, give up an opportunity for a
promotion to manage work life.

Therefore, it is vital for an organization to embrace a flexible work culture not only to increase
productivity but also to retain top talent.

Culture at Target:

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At Target employees can look towards enormous opportunities. Teamwork is key to
meeting challenges and having fun at the same time. They are ahead in todays ultra-competitive
market and are more efficient in providing their guests with best shopping experience by
providing a friendly atmosphere. Our SMEs say that every member in the team is encouraged to
innovate and contribute ideas thereby discovering solutions to problems in their own ways
(Personal Communication, September 14, 2016). For example, an employee is given his/her
prerogative to set up store themes during seasonal and holiday events. Employees receive
planograms in setting up stores but freedom to make adjustments are given to the employees.
Target follows a culture of Huddles for communication where in employees form a group to
talk about nature of work and take decisions on who will perform what job. Aside from
distribution of daily tasks, huddles also provide a time for employees to recognize team members
for doing a great job, as well as provide input or feedback to certain processes. This form of
communication promotes organic information sharing among employees at the store level.
Otherwise the communication is mostly top down from management to stores, in terms of
changes and rollouts. This provides a mixed form of approach within the organization. Every
store of Target is universal in culture. They are very independent in nature wherein the culture
shifts based on the team members working in the store, the volume and the guest base. Target
provides plenty of room for growth and opportunities. If people would not like to take up
leadership positions, they have other opportunities in the same area of expertise to develop
themselves.
The employees can also develop their skills with cross functional training or can engage
themselves as backroom team leaders. Managers have one-on-one in regular basis to give
feedback and also listen to employees concerns. They are very open to employees feedback and

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at the management level they follow an open-door policy to encourage transparency and
openness with the employees. They provide workers with Hotline methods of communication in
case of emergency when they are unable to contact their HR. Employees are recognized for the
work they do and also provided with opportunities for advancement in their work. Target has
some realistic goals that are achievable by employees. In reference with Glassdoor reviews,
employees feel that target provides them with great culture and many advancement opportunities.
They work with great people around (Glassdoor, 2016).
Reviews:
Based on the Flexibility value system, our team decided to give a 3 for culture category.
Target is doing a great job in terms of growth and opportunities and is open to feedback from
employees. Target insist on team leaders identify future leader from within the team. However,
target still has a traditional approach of communication and decision making wherein it follows a
top-down method. Whilst this seems to be working so far, there are some constraints and
limitations in information sharing and creativity from an employee perspective.
Recommendations for the future:
Give more space to influence employees by re-organizing change at the store level.
Motivate employees by giving the freedom to innovate and room for creativity. Impose strong
decision making rights to employees at the store level. Also, we recommend target should
improvise more on the Huddle ideology. At the moment, both HR members discussed that
huddles are often placed on the backburner. Seeing as this is one of the more opportunistic
moments for employees to provide suggestions and feedback, it is important for Target to
institute greater emphasis on huddles from all levels. This increased emphasis will instill a

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greater sense of collaboration and value within the employees, which can help to push out greater
productivity.
Employee Welfare: Introduction
Employee welfare not only includes monetary terms but other benefits that provide
employees the comfort to work in the firm. A healthy welfare helps build employee morale and
motivation. It also includes safe working conditions, industrial harmony by providing with good
health care benefit plans such as insurance against accidents and diseases, that is something more
than the employee wages. Labor welfare means to provide with a good life and health to the
employees which makes the worker happy and satisfied. It also helps relieve workers from
industrial stress which in turn improves cultural and intellectual conditions of workers. An
organization can keep its employees happy by providing them with their needs. Nurturing happy
employees leads to high productivity among employees thereby increasing employee
engagement at work. Providing the right benefits can also attract and retain top talent.
Employee Welfare at Target:
When referencing employee welfare, most jump immediately to the idea of making the
employee feel comfortable at work. While that is certainly a component, employee welfare also
incorporates the success and growth of the employee (Holbeche, 2011, pg. 317). And so, the
questions discussed in this section look to break down Targets current ability to stay relevant on
the promotion of health, well-rounded individuals. The answers and information gathered on
these questions were quite commendable. For instance, in response to the question regarding
employee wellness initiatives, both HR members discussed the tuition reimbursement program
and promotion of healthy living conducted by Target. Specifically, with regards to healthy living,
Target has set up periodic on-site visits from nurses, as well as online health tracking

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components, that offer rewards for continuing to eat and live healthy (Personal Communication,
September 14, 2016). This significance on supporting employees to focus on their personal wellbeing is vital to instilling a sense of value within the employees. In addition, we have employees
gaining a sense of integration and confidence within the culture, through Targets training and
onboarding. During this time, new-hires begin with a 3-hour day that discusses typical policies
and procedure, and provides insight on what it is like to help guests. This is followed by a 1-2
week training period, where schedules are aligned with mentors, in order to gain a better
understanding of the specifics to the new-hires role.
Finally, HR connects with the new-hire on numerous occasions throughout the two
weeks, in order to receive feedback on the process and help the new-hire continue to mesh with
the culture (Personal Communication, September 14, 2016). This constant upkeep with newhires aims to continue to create and grow new talent with the company, in order for Target to
maintain a constant state of success in guest services. By instilling these individuals with
confidence on the job, it allows Target to hand over the control to employees, in regards to guest
service. Moreover, the employees gain a deeper respect and connection with the Target mission,
when they realize how their actions impact the success of the mission (Holbeche, 2011, pg. 217).
In addition to the wellness initiatives and training that the employees receive, there is also the
matter of traditional benefits. Target offers its employees to receive multiple discounts from
various companies, regarding topics of cellphone bills to clothing. With regards to healthcare,
there are varying levels of coverage based on status within the company (Personal
Communication, September 14, 2016). Through the combination of the wellness initiatives,
training procedures and benefits, Target aims to dismiss the necessity of unionization among the
employees. Explicitly for some, Unions are viewed as necessary in times of extreme

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dissatisfaction, and Target aims to continually focus on their employees so that level
dissatisfaction is never present (September 14, 2016).
Reviews:
Interestingly enough, there are some issues regarding some of the employee welfare
components that were discussed with the HR members. First, on the discussion of healthcare
benefits, there is record of disgruntled employees regarding the value of the health care options
available. Some of these employees explained that the options of healthcare available were high
for lower-level employees, and the coverage provided did not equate to the cost of the plan
(September 14, 2016). Consequentially, issues like this undermine Targets mission to
continuously promote the health and success of employees. During the interviews, there were
concerns raised for the question of non-traditional forms of work, aka telecommuting. While
the idea of telecommuting certainly does not mesh with the guest-focused, entry-level positions,
there is cause for concern regarding upper managements inability to telecommute. One HR
member explains, The reason for this is because Target wants to create a healthy work-life
balance, and working outside of traditional work hours disrupts that (September 14, 2016). This
provides a respectable counterpoint to the lack of telecommunication, as work-life balance is
essential for a company to retain its top talent in a prime market (Holbeche, 2011, pg. 345).
However, this specific promotion of work-life balance goes unheard by some in upper
management, leading to discord and disparity between management and corporate. These
specific grievances do set Target back in the category of employee welfare, warranting the
company a 4, upon review.

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Recommendations for the future:
Of course, there are improvements that can be made within this category, to allow Target
to stay successful and continue to become more appealing to prospering candidates of the
company. On the issue of benefits, Target needs to reanalyze its offerings, and possibly create a
survey for current employees to discuss the pros and cons of the current healthcare options. This
way, employees gain a say in the benefits that they are offered, which creates a more
personalized benefits package. Ultimately, this will only reinvigorate that idea of valuing the
employee, as Target opens itself up to the idea of change. As for the telecommunication response,
communication is essential in clearing up the confusion and frustration that employees might be
feeling when they are unable to access work-based platforms outside of office hours. Holbeche
notes that companies often times let information like this go unannounced, creating a disparity
(2011, pg. 135). Instead, by creating continuous communication on every issue, employees will
carry a constant understanding of any changes to procedure that might come down the pipeline.
As for the wellness initiatives, Target supplies a respectable number of offerings for employees
to flesh out various aspects of their being. By continuing to stay current with volunteering
options and tailoring initiatives to individual needs, Target will continue to move well beyond the
competition on this front. The same can also be said for the training and onboarding procedures,
which already do an outstanding job of empowering the employee. This empowerment causes
people to be proud to belong to the organization (2011, pg. 223). By soaking in the feedback
taken from employees, Target may continue to tweak its onboarding system, in order to retain the
top talent that makes the company so successful.

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Leadership: Introduction
What is leadership? Leadership is defined as the ability to lead a group of people or an
organization which involves establishing a clear vision for the organization, sharing that vision
with others so they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge and methods to
realize that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members to
reach the goal. A leader needs to steps up in times of crisis, and must be able to think and act
creatively in difficult situations. (Ubben, 2016) Leadership is of crucial importance to any
organizations development, and a capable leader is vital to an organizations success. For
leaders, good leadership is the positive influence they can bring to an organization which would
deliver a huge benefit to the organization and all the employees. Good leadership implementation
determines how well the organization can perform currently and how far a business can go in the
long run. For any organizations, a good leader is the decisive force driving the direction and
development of an enterprise. If a business leader is incompetent to make good decisions, then
the company's future development will be in doubt. Good leadership will lead to well-trained
employees, which will ultimately lead to good services and producing good products. Good
leadership will also allow for a cohesive team and productivity can increase as the consequence
of collaboration. In contract, bad leadership would lead to increased turnover rate and
inefficiency in production.
Leadership style may need to be changed to suit specific situations such as aligning the
leadership with the companys goal and strategy. It needs to be switched from time to time if a
company is going through change. (Chand, 2012) Being flexible with leadership is very
important to allow for constant and improved success for an organization. According to
Holbeche (2005), employees are encouraged to come up with new ideas - a sign of being flexible

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with leadership in a high performance organization. This enables employees to become more
engaged with high anatomy, responsibility and strong drive to deliver. (Holbeche, 2005) In this
way, developing flexible leadership practice is a priority for organizations to achieve high
performance.
Leadership at Target
1.Empowerment
Employee empowerment at Target provides team leaders the freedom to do what they
think is the best for the company and its customers. At store level, employees can meet guests
satisfaction through trainings that promote the delivery of exceptional shopping experience and
development of brand loyalty from the customers. One example of employee empowerment is
that employees at Target service desks are given the ability to make quick decisions on their own
following the companys policy and implementing the companys mission to fulfill the needs
and fuel the potential of our guests.(Target, 2016). Employees feel very empowered to be given
such trust by the company; this provides employees with a better sense of independence and
responsibility, which will lead to higher job satisfaction and exceptional customer service.
Empowering employees will also make them more enthusiastic about their work, and their
positive attitude will lead satisfaction and brand loyalty from their customers.
2. Feedback and coaching
Feedback to employees at Target is very blunt and honest and is attempted to be given on
a daily basis. The HR currently believes giving direct feedback has more of an impact to the
employees because they can better understand the issues and that they can learn from their
mistakes. There are monthly attendance reviews and annual reviews conducted in regards of

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attendance and productivity. For new team members, there are two kinds of feedback within the
first 2 weeks.
1. HR sits down and gives feedback to them and employees are also required to sit down
with team lead directly above the team members to recognize areas of improvement.
2. On-the-spot feedback, in which mistakes and questions are addressed right on spot will
likely reduce the probability of the same incident happening again by giving employees
on-the-spot tips on how to avoid the mistake.
3. One-on-one feedback that involves serious matters, and was conducted in a private
setting to re-establish expectations.
Those are good examples of providing feedback to employees. Company does a great job in
fostering potential leaders and providing these individuals an opportunity to create solutions to
their mistakes. On a leadership front, the top-down information structure does limit leaders
abilities to express creative freedom at times, which leaves even less decision making power for
the employees. However, there are certain jobs within Target that are more open to creativity and
decision making, in order to improve the guests experience.
Target just revamped a new coaching model. An example while interviewing the HR is
instead of bluntly approaching a problem performer with hey I see you are doing this wrong, it
should be done like this, a softer and more constructive approach should be given which
motivates independent thinking and self-correcting such as What do you think can be done
differently to solve this dilemma .(HR member, Personal Communication, September 14, 2016)
This gives a sense of how Target conducts feedback and coaching on a regular basis which shows
their way to improve employee work productivity and accuracy.

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3. Leadership opportunities
Target believes in the philosophy of creating leaders from within the organization. There
are designated Leadership opportunities offers at Target which is described by the HR as very
easy to gain leadership opportunities in Target. (HR member, Personal Communication,
September 14, 2016) Team Leads are asked to identify potential leaders and provide them with
projects that will foster leadership attributes. Everything starts with a conversation, potential
leaders are asked to have conversations to figure out what their goals are. Then they can be
helped to plan out a career path to become team leaders. employees are always provided with
additional tasks occasional leadership role to help them become future leaders.
The process of promoting leaders begins by identifying employees with leadership
potential. Then those employees will be provided with projects to better stretch their skills and
further assess their capability as leaders. Lastly, they will be given an interview, and those who
passed the interview will be given the opportunity to select a location which they are willing to
relocate to. Target is reforming the model of leadership, promoting the idea of employees
answering their own questions. Ultimately, Target aims to develop leaders that can recognize
mistakes and independently find solutions to these mistakes.
Reviews:
Through the above aspects about leadership in Target, we give them a score of 4. The
firm does a great job in fostering potential leaders and providing these individuals an opportunity
to create solutions to their mistakes. On a leadership front, the top-down information structure
does limit leaders abilities to express creative freedom at times, which leaves even less decision
making power for the employees. However, in order to improve the guests experience, there are
certain jobs within Target that are more open to creativity and decision making.

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Recommendations for the future:
The recommendations we have for Target to reach a high performance working
organization is to have more focus on the projects that have great emphasis on building
leadership. However, some individuals may not be leadership-oriented but have great talents and
creative ideas. Target could potentially benefit from creating new projects that foster growth in
these individuals. Lastly, Target should continue to promote their employees problem solving
skills.

Summary:

In conclusion, in order for Target to reach a high performance organization, they need to
undergo many changes in regards to the areas of work culture, employee welfare, and leadership,
which we all discussed above. For example, one of their priority is to develop open and
democratic leadership, and to empower employees at all levels. Given the changes coming from
internal and external environment, they need to keep innovating and adapting to new changes in
all three areas mentioned above and to go above and beyond with expectations in their
performance. Undertaking these steps will transform Target from good and competent to
becoming exceptional in the business world.

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References

Chand, S. (2012, July 8). What is the importance of leadership in an organization? Retrieved
October 1, 2016, from Business Management,
http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business-management/what-is-the-importance-ofleadership-in-an-organization/2542/

Flexible. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2016, from http://www.dictionary.com/browse/flexible

Flexible work culture: Leading the new balance - ETS Inc. (2016, March 3). Retrieved October
3, 2016, from Insights, http://www.etsjobs.com/2016/03/flexible-work-culture-leadingthe-new-balance/

Holbeche, L. (2005). The high performance organization: Creating dynamic stability and
sustainable success. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

[Personal interview]. (2016, September 14).

Target. (2016). Target corporate: Social responsibility, careers, press, investors. Retrieved
October 1, 2016: http://corporate.target.com

Target through the Years. (n.d.). Retrieved September 28, 2016

https://corporate.target.com/about/history/Target-through-the-years

The 10 biggest retailers in the Fortune 500. (2015, June 17). Retrieved September 28, 2016, from
http://fortune.com/2015/06/17/fortune-500-retailers/

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Ubben, J. (2016). In. BusinessDictionary.com. Retrieved
from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/leadership.html

Flexible Work Culture: Leading the New Balance. Retrieved from

http://www.etsjobs.com/2016/03/flexible-work-culture-leading-the-new-balance/