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Strategic Performance Management at Block & Quayle (B&Q)

Introduction In order to achieve these learning objectives, I drawn upon some practical work experience together with the primary and secondary research through various resources. This would primarily be divided into two segments within the domain of learning objectives as defined above. It takes the view that performance is constructed by the management system and by managers from his own experience of working at B&Q local store and taking a more macro view of the organisation. Performance management precedes performance measurement and gives it meaning. 1 Setting performance targets to meet strategic objectives

B&Q is a UK-owned Multinational (DIY) company with revenue of 4,444 million (about 161 million in
the UK) (B&Q, 2009 to 2010). B&Q was founded in 1969 by Richard Block and David Quayle in

Southampton. The store was originally called Block

& Quayle, but this was soon shortened to

B&Q. The chain quickly expanded and by 1979 there were 26 stores across the UK. By this time, the first of the co-founders had left the business: Block left in 1976 and Quayle in 1982. B&Q uses a mix of different
performance management tools. In this assignment we would be discussing score card methodology that

B&Q has modified.The objective of the team is to provide our customers with solutions to enable
them to accomplish their home improvement ambitions, in particular by removing the cost barrier to home improvement, and to create and maintain rewarding relationships for both our customers and B&Q. What this means we do is:

Identify appropriate financial services and products. Build these products. Manage them (in terms of systems and operations) and any third-party providers that sit Behind them. Ensure we are integrated with the rest of the B&Q customer proposition in particular Marketing, but also working with Commercial and Ops to identify business opportunities.

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Manage the relationship with our customers (e.g. through promotions, statement Messages, etc.).

Figure 1 Wheel encapsulates all the performance targets which B&Q needs in order to achieve its objectives. The link between team performance and strategic objectives If the team performance on the steering wheel is green then the strategic objectives would be attained whereas if it is red then it wont. The greener the steering wheel the close that Store is to achieve its objectives. The same principle is used at strategic level.

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Organisations strategic objectives B&Q is one of Britain's leading multinational DIY and home improvement retailer , with 331 stores throughout England, 57 in china and 9 in republic of Ireland. The no of stores increasing day by day due to increasing demand because we are ensuring a quality product for our customers. customers the best value for money and the most competitive prices. eeting the needs of customers by constantly seeking, and acting on, their opinions regarding innovation, product quality, choice, store facilities and service. roviding shareholders with progressive returns on their investment improving profitability through investment in efficient stores and distribution depots, in productivity improvements and in new technology. eveloping the talents of its people through sound management and training practices, while rewarding them fairly with equal opportunities for all. orking closely with suppliers to build long term business relationships based on strict quality and price criteria articipating in the formulation of national food industry policies on key issues such as health, nutrition, hygiene, safety and animal welfare. the well-being of the community and the protection of the environment. Workforce requirements that are capable of achieving the organisations objectives On the store level, B&Q uses the classical hierarchical management. Depending on the size of the store, it is divided into six sections usually they are, front end (check outs), produce and fresh, merchandising, stock control, administration, personnel and ambient. All sections have operational staffs that are supervised by a team leader. This team leader reports back to sectional manager and sectional manager in return report to store managers. Who are answerable to area managers? Operational level staff does not require any skill but training starts from there onwards. There are 29,962 B&Q employees worldwide. As B&Q is venturing out into more markets such as financials or property market, the need for expertise is ever more increasing. Tools and techniques available to set team performance targets The following core purpose has been directly derived from two resources, B&Q own website. The operational performances of B&Q stores on the wheels objectives are reported and reviewed

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quarterly at board level and afterwards a summary report is sent to the top 2000 managers to cascade to staff in the stores. It allows a daily performance measurement which could also be used for the long term strategic purposes. As a collection of individuals, the suggested measurement process
here has to do with team-based project work undertaken in the context of a specific learning intervention. For example, measuring a teams development is difficult unless the team is participa ting on the same initiative or course. Where there is a requirement for a team-based project, measurement takes the form of an assessment of the financial and non-monetary impact of the project undertaken. The project sponsor who is external to the team would be tasked with quantifying the benefits of the improvement project upon completion. Daily, weekly and monthly targets are reviewed regularly. An important consideration

is to make sure the objectives remain appropriate and robust measures of performance in the stores. The purpose, vision go hand in hand and complement each other in managing the corporate performance. Therefore, it is imperative to understand B&Q purpose. B&Q core purpose is to create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty B&Qs success depends on people. The people who shop with them and the people who work for them. The idea is If customers like what they offer, they are more likely to come back and shop with them again. If the Tesco team find what Tesco does rewarding, they are more likely to go that extra mile to help their customers. This is expressed as: No-one tries harder for customers and Treat people as we like to be treated . We regularly ask our customers and our staff what we can do to make shopping with us and working with us that little bit better. This is our Every Little Helps strategy. Shopping trip Customers have told B&Q what they want clear aisles, to be able to get what they want at a good price, no queues and great staff. A great place to work B&Q has learnt from their staff what is important for them to be treated with respect, having a manager who helps them, having an interesting job and an opportunity to get on. B&Q recognises that it helps achieve what is important to staff will help B&Q to deliver an every little Helps Shopping Trip for customers. The way B&Q works

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The way B&Q works is how it delivers Every Little Helps to make B&Q a better place to shop and work in. They use simple processes so that shopping is Better for customers, Simpler for staff and cheaper for B&Q. Processes that deliver outcomes based on organisational goals and aims B&Q uses balanced score card methodology throughout its organisational operations. Every department has tweaked the balance score card according to their needs. These performances are measured during team meetings at store level and waste is discussed at strategic level. Appropriate methods for evaluating performance Every staff has a PDP (Personal Development Planning) folder, this folder contains all the performance appraisals, the training already done and the future training needs, some departmental performance data for example if it is front end then the number of people served or mystery shopper check etc. Again, colour coding of steering wheel helps identify the progress made on people, community, and finance customer and operations level. Review capacity and capability of current workforce Using the current work force B&Q has become the largest retailer and employer in UK private sector. Despite the tough construction laws imposed, B&Q is still expanding by leaps and bounds. The UK market has enough labour to cater for the recruitment at UK level. However, for international operations, the capability to recruit from UK diminishes; the recruitment is carried out at local countries. With the current workforce of 39,000 people in UK alone B&Q is more than capable to sustain itself against any future expansion plans. Plans that meet long, medium and short term requirements Some of the B&Q plans include, moving into the property markets within the next year, plans to create 11000 new jobs within the next 5 years, B&Q plans to train its staff in Macro 4 to deliver ongoing benefits, including fewer CPU upgrades and reduced systems software, B&Q plans to centralise IT applications across...strategy which began five years ago, B&Q plans to centralise its Oracle Financials...reduce staff travel costs, B&Q plans to roll out fixed-mobile technology within the next 5 years, B&Q plans to extend its use of XML later next year to give each customer a tailored Web site that will reflect their specific needs, and eventually within the next 2 years it plans to operate its online business as a separate entity (B&Q, 2009). All of these plans meet the objectives criteria and are in alignment with the growth.

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Communicate workforce plans B&Q communicates above mentioned plans through its staff briefings, pamphlets, staff benefits periodical, staffs own website, intranet, films and advertising. The use of flexi hours is very popular in organisation at B&Q due to the nature of people doing part timer jobs at operational end therefore each department maintains a rota and extra hours available folder through which employees can communicate and leave message for each other along with using staff message boards. Improvements made are in line with the organisations vision and objectives The following figures show the improvements, which are in line with the organisations set goals and objectives.
Kingfisher had a better performance elsewhere. Like-for-like sales at its stores in France rose by 2.6pc over the ten-week period, while sales at its other international stores - which include a chain in China - rose by 0.8pc. Overall, group sales fell by 0.8pc on a like-for-like basis. Ian Cheshire, the retailer's chief executive, said that Kingfisher had put in a steady performance. "This is a solid performance in an uncertain environment for our customers right across Europe. Consumer spending remains under pressure, notably in the UK, and so we continued to focus on carefully targeting our promotions to drive profitable sales, improving our cash margins and vigorously controlling our costs. As a result our expectations for first-half cash and profit out turn remain on track," he said. He added that he remains "cautious" about the outlook for consumer spending. However he said: "We are confident that the strengths of the group and our well established self-help initiatives leave us well-placed to continue our good progress over the balance of the year."

Improvements to reduce gap between what customers and stakeholders want The success of the B&Q means that the stakeholders at all levels are very happy with the B&Q performance. B&Qs share is considered to be the most reliable on the market. B&Q rolls out cheap brands and lines monitor which keeps track and competes with the competitors on prices. Thus keeping customers happy. The gap between customer and stakeholders is substantially reduced by keeping the community and different stakeholders at the heart of scorecard where the progress is checked on recurrent basis.

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Agreeing team performance targets to meet strategic objectives This sections aims to look into the team performance targets at store levels which match with the ultimate strategic gains. Required performance targets within teams against current performance It is required of local stores to engage with the community and find out about their local shopping preferences. Teams are urged to be polite, helpful and cordial. Every store has Seasonal (Christmas, Easter etc.) and weekly targets. These targets are compared with the year on year, season on seaon and like for like weekly targets. All the section managers and staff have the access to the relevant information and these targets are reiterated through an internal communication channel which is called Team 5. Every single staff working at B&Q has to sign Team 5 once every week, ultimately agreeing or not agreeing on the targets set. The type of skills, knowledge, understanding and experience required to undertake current and planned organisational activities At operational level, there is not much need for high skills required but along with the increment in the hierarchy of the management, the relevant skills are also increased. For example, sectional managers have to be versed in time keeping and management of rota, store managers are more project oriented and have to be more financially aware. B&Qs PDP help identify the training needs of its staff. As the Tesco is becoming more technologically oriented, B&Q is investing a lot in the training of XML, Macros and other systems such as self help check outs monitoring and online reporting. B&Q employees can manage their own profile these days online and have their personnel related matters sorted through this channel. All this needs to be communicated and people are trained through B&Q Academy. Systems for collecting and assessing information on the overall performance of the organisation to identify opportunities for improvement B&Q relies heavily on digital ways of collecting and assessing information. Although, it does engage with community through local leaflets and local surveys but on strategic level it engages through CSR (corporate social responsibly) initiative. It has found out that It needs to invest in greener and more fair trade products. Every transaction on B&Q front end is stored for 5 years, this hige amount of data helps analyse and compare sales data on the overall performance of the store. B&Q loyalty club card helps understand particular individual buying, shopping patterns allowing B&Q to do targeted marketing.

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Encourage individual commitment to team performance in achieving organisational objectives Every little helps motto lies at the core of gaining commitment from staff. Staffs are encouraged through motivational techniques such as staff value awards competition, employee of the month and encouragement for every staff to become team members. Such techniques help raise the staff morale ultimate resulting in getting individuals commitment. Context of delegation, mentoring and coaching to achieve organisational objectives The concept of mentoring is used at graduate training schemes where graduate recruits get their mentor for a year or so period. Operational staff tends to get more coaching and any limitations in their skills are catered for locally in the staff training room. At grass root level there is not much of delegation involved, more or less the operational teams do the jobs that they are asked to do with a very little chance of job rotation. Monitor activities to improve team performance A strategy implementation to improve team performance process has to be a top to bottom approach. Communication lies at the heart of strategy implementation. If the top management doesnt have the required motivation coupled with strong communication channels then it would be hard to monitor any strategic systems and processes. Therefore, B&Q has adopted various channels for the smooth flow of information and introduced various checks and balances so that the balance score card is measured according to the objectives set. For example, at store level, a document called plan and review is used by every staff member who enables them to think and measure their performance against the five segments of the steering wheel. This whole process encompasses the involvement of supervisors, team leaders and other managers during staff appraisals which are conducted twice a year. Employees are encouraged to take part in B&Qs development programme which is labelled as personal development planning (PDP). Every employee develops his own objectives and how he will carry these out in ways that are consistent with the needs of the steering wheel. The progress is monitored through PDP folder and staff appraisals. Identification of the work objectives, key dates and support materials are provided by the management and also at their daily and weekly staff meetings so that staff can measure their contribution. Monitoring team performance Following a resource based review of the adopted balance score card methodology at B&Q, devised a strategic performance model specifically for B&Q. It encapsulates the daily, monthly,

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quarterly and annual strategic control and the steps through which it is controlled and monitored as described in the figure 2 below.

Figure 2 According to above figure, B&Qs score card focuses on alignment and integration of the human activity factor with the operations. It conditions how people work instead of directly trying to influence people (employees and community) what they should achieve. The steering wheel helps review the objectives and progress through all structures of management and at all levels. B&Q recurring operational issues are discussed at weekly or monthly basis whereas; the strategic issues come up more often at managers meetings on quarterly basis. This is in alignment with the classical view of the balance score card evolution. From its advent in Japan to its newest models in western organisations such as B&Q.(2008) Evaluation of team performance against agreed objectives Team performances are evaluated through 360 feedbacks, team briefings and by adopting Demings PDC approach. The areas of improvement are colour coded and are communicated at

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once through Team 5 exercise. Mystery shopper findings are of real importance as this is the ultimate test of customer satisfaction and the helpfulness of the staff. Contribution of influence and persuasion to team dynamics Since the evolution of different management theories, the modern business world uses a mix of all these. Employee motivation through monetary means is still a bigger factor behind better labour output. The contribution of these motivational techniques to influence the team dynamics is measured in this section. Methodologies to gain commitment to action B&Q management uses a combination of Taylorism and Maslow theory of need such that it enriches the job satisfaction by really involving its staff into decision making allowing them to become a part of the organisation and by giving them monetary incentives through bonus and other performance related pay increments. This is a proven methodology to gain B&Q Staffs commitment in achieving the targets. B&Q employs over 39,000 and all of them take part in Staff Question Time Sessions which enables the B&Q management to obtain a valuable feedback about the work conditions (Talking B&Q, 2009). This is a 360 degree exercise such that it not only gives feedback to employees but also enables staff to share their experience and opinions to help serve customers better. Staff Training and development is another successful tool that B&Q uses to engage with its staff and to enrich their experience of working with them. A good CPT programmed such as B&Qs own PDP (Personal Development Programme) is highly effective in experienced staff retention. Staff retention and loyalty is a trademark of every successful organisation. B&Q motivates its staff through profit sharing and ownership sharing through subsidised share schemes for employees such as Save as You Earn and Buy as You Earn. B&Q pays the double of the amount that the staff contributes. Such schemes allow employees to regard highly of their employer and become a loyal staff. Impact of individual dynamic on securing commitment to action The impact of the chief executive on securing its staffs commitment to action is distilled at all levels of B&Q organizational structure. For any strategic action has to be channelled through effective top level management. B&Qs current boss has earned industry as well as its employees respect by achieving various awards and taking B&Q success to an unprecedented level.

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Perhaps the most significant decision ever made by a retail giant has been the introduction of loyalty card and loyalty schemes. Before this, B&Q used to trail behind Sainsbury and Marks and Spencer (B&Q, 2009). Introduction of a scheme which was never used before in B&Q organisation required a lot of influencing and persuasion skills. It is not only that but the securing or commitment of its entire work force is an uphill task altogether wonderfully. These efforts were duly recognized by CMI (Chartered Management Institute). Conclusion The above assignment has tried to explore B&Q within four learning outcomes as specified above and has found that due to visionary leadership and innovative performance management measures, B&Q has secured a top notch in the retail industry and continues to grow to date. The four learning outcomes inspected setting of performance targets through the purpose and balance score card methodology adopted by B&Q. B&Q further uses various controlling and monitoring mechanism together with its Steering Wheel to help implement its objectives. Different motivational techniques are used to build up the morale and generate higher labour output by the team members. These teams include enrichment of employees experience through training and development, sharing of success through shares and profits incentives. And eventually, the all important strategic leadership has been discussed. It is argued that without the visionary leadership of management B&Q would not enjoy the benefits that it is enjoying today. Despite being the leading supermarket, B&Q continues to expand into more diversified portfolio and the author of this article, having worked in one of the stores, feels confident that the trend would continue in the future.The Quality Assurance team sits within the overall Commercial department and is responsible for ensuring all products purchased and sold within B&Q meet and comply with regulated safety and quality standards. Furthermore, they ensure that factories used to manufacture our products meet specified Health and Safety standards.

References:
: "Company information" B&Q. Retrieved on 23 August 2011. B&Q Plc B&Q House Chestnut Avenue Chandlers Ford Eastleigh SO53 3LE". : Interest rate worries cloud kingfisher. Reuters. 31 May 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2011 . : B&Q online: from kitchens and bathrooms to sheds and paving; plus planning tools. : The Woolworths virtual Museum - the acquisition of B&Q Retail Ltd.

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: Kingfisher plc: Home investors press releases. : B&Q sets its sights on ambitious store rollout - Shanghai B and Q Building Material Supermarket Co International Pages - Brief Article | Home Channel News | Find Articles at BNET.com : Fletcher, Richard (2007-12-18). "Kingfisher sells B&Q Taiwan stake". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2010-04-26. : "B&Q firm upbeat but profit falls". BBC News. 2007-03-29. Retrieved 2010-04-26. : Killgren , Lucy (2009-03-26). "B&Q closes a third of stores in China". Financial Times. Retrieved 2009-0326. : Company Information: China Store List : B&Q won a Diamond Award for Vision & Commitment on Disability after entering Disability Standard run by the Forum on Disability. Results found can be found at disabilitystandard.com : Kingfisher Annual Report 2010 Financial Review Other International. : Kingfisher Annual Report 2010 Financial Review UK & Ireland. : History of B&Q: Wind save Wind Turbine System WS1000PS T2 now at B and Q DIY Stores. : Kingfisher plc: Home - Media - Press releases. : "Official Top 500, 2008" (PDF). Super brands . Archived from the original on 2008-05-28. Retrieved 200802-25. : Western influx underscores potential | Home Channel News | Find Articles at BNET.com
: Sawyer, Miranda (2004-07-17). "Fear of diy-ing". The Guardian (London) . Retrieved 2010-04-26.