Table of Contents
Introduction
For my ethnographic study, I decided to observe Boots in Buchanan Galleries. I was interested in the overall workplace of a retail setting. Boots has roughly 2500 stores ranging in sizes. The company are very passionate about their mission which is “To be the first choice for pharmacy, health and beauty – caring for people, customers and communities everywhere” (Boots UK, 2019). In observed in store and took notes on some of the norms that happened and how the customers and staff interacted. When talking about workplace culture, this can be referred to as the environment of the workplace itself along with any norms which will be suited to each organisation. Not every workplace has the same culture (Heathfield, 2019).
Context
Situated in one of Glasgow’s biggest shopping centres, Buchanan Galleries, which is home to over 80 well known retailers providing many different goods and services (People Make Glasgow, 2019). The shop is located in the centre with two floors, meaning it is one of the largest stores alongside John Lewis and Next. Upon entering the store, you are masked with the different fragrances sold in the shop. The bright lights take over and the white walls reveal a sense of cleanliness.
The décor could also be described as a plain or bland as there isn’t much to it other than the white and blue colours. Although to give some colour there are hanging signs regarding offers within the store, this is a good way to promote as it is enticing to the eye and they are all very clear to see which will encourage the customers to buy these products. The shop itself is large in size with all the products spread out into different sections therefore making it easy to navigate. On the bottom floor are all of the day to day toiletries from shampoo to makeup, this takes up roughly half of the shop floor, the other half is taken up by beauty counters such as No 7, Clinique, Benefit and many more.
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These brands are more luxurious, which is why they have separate counters with their own advisors and experts, this will make customers enjoy their shopping experience more if they are greeted by a friendly employee at these counters. Additionally, in the back corner there is an electrical section selling hairdryers, electrical toothbrushes and more. As you take a trip up the escalator, you will come to the pharmacy where again there are many employees who are happy to help. This is what we would traditionally think of boots as, although as time has progressed, Boots has become much larger than just a chemist. Furthermore, on the second floor there is a baby section, an opticians, photo kiosks and a food area. This floor also includes seasonal things which often change e.g.
Christmas items or holiday/travel items which takes a large amount of floor space. From my observation, I would say that the bottom floor is busier than the second floor with many people asking questions about different products. I also noticed that there was not any music playing, which is unusual for a retail setting, this made the shop feel a little less welcoming. From previous studies, it has been found that music in the workplace will increase the productivity and shorten the length of time taken to carry out tasks which means music playing in the workplace is a positive aspect (Lesiuk T, 2005).
Culture
Culture cannot be seen, but it is the that we feel in a workplace (Heathfield, 2019). The shop is open for many hours of the day with many different people coming in and out. When you walk in you can hear the self-checkouts ramble away with instructions on how to pay alongside the tills with employees serving customers. The different routines in the shop seem very structured as there were employees who worked on tills, who greeted every customer with a smile, this in turn makes the customer feel welcome and happy about their experience.
There were a few staff on the shop floor filling the shelves and making the store look tidy while answering any questions or queries customers may have. These members of staff were very cheery and were quick to communicate asking if any help was required, this seems to be a trait had by many of the staff in store as they were happy to help at anytime during my visit. The staff had different ways of communicating with each other as some had phones and other times you would hear different things through the tannoy such as “code 1 to cash and wrap” or “code 2 to cash and wrap”.
This is an effective way of communication within the workplace so that everyone can hear it. The staff work exceptionally hard to make the shop happy and friendly with their excellent customer service. I feel like if you were to be an employee in Boots you would need to learn how to deal with the situations they face on a daily basis and would need to be able to provide excellent customer service as I feel like this is what they pride themselves in.
Behaviour
During my observation I noticed many different jobs being carried out in different ways, with different behaviour required for each. The employees interacted well with each other as well as with the different customers. The staff were dotted around the shop which is essentially teamwork as everyone has their own little bit to make look tidy, therefore in the grand scheme of things this will all be brought together to make the shop well presented. It is clear that there are strong relationships between staff and that they all get along well.
When entering the shop, you can tell who the customer assistants are and who the managers are due to their contrasting uniforms. The customer assistants were dressed in white tunics with blue trousers, this gives off the idea of a traditional pharmacy and the colours demonstrate freshness.
Whereas the managers mainly wear a rich blue top/shirt which distinguishes between the roles. This demonstrates a sign of leadership which is needed in a workplace to get tasks completed, all managers have different styles and different workplaces will also have different styles. Many leaders will adopt a style whether it be autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire etc which will shape how they get things completed. Within Boots, the managers will have to go by several principles such as making decisions, looking out for the best in employees or making sure that takes are understood this will result in a smooth running of the shop making everything efficient (Amanchukwu, R.N., Stanley, G.J. and Ololube, N.P., 2015).
It was good to see the managers on the shop floor interacting with both customers and other employees, this reveals that the managers also have an interest in what is going on instead of in some shops where there is no manager to be seen. From what I observed, the employees seemed happy in their jobs and knew exactly what they were doing this gives off a sense of success. In this setting, it made me feel positive as everyone surrounding me was happy and upbeat this will attract many more customers and help gain repeat customers.
