Jumbucks Bush Retreat

Background
Located on an idyllic stretch of the Murrumbidgee river Jumbuck Bush Retreat was formerly a
working farm. Following several tough seasons of farming the owners took the opportunity to develop
a tourism operation. Over the ensuing years the tourism operation has been highly successful and
has grown from small beginnings to a substantial operation. The tourism operation now occupies 120
hectares of the property and enjoys an 800meter unrestricted river frontage. (the remaining 1100
hectares of the property continues to be run as a mixed farming operation)
The owners are now in the position to consolidate and further develop their tourism operation and
have developed a strategic plan for Jumbucks bush retreat.
Strategic Plan
Jumbucks Bush Retreat
Current situation
Location

 30km east of Wagga Wagga

 120 hectare Site
 800m unrestricted river frontage with two sandy beaches
 Section of natural bushland
 Air travel access via Wagga Wagga Regional Airport
 Highway access is a short detour from Hume Highway which is the major road transport route
between Sydney and Melbourne

Accommodation

 The current accommodation for guests includes

o 40 motel style units (31/2 to 4 star)
o 15 Glamping style Tents
o “Camping” area for caravans and Motor homes which has been planned to
accommodate up to 40 vehicles on a “short stay” basis. (less than one week)

Conference centre

 Built within the former Shearing shed the Conference centre was established in 2015 provides
conference and meeting facilities for parties of up to 100 people.
 Banquets and other events can be held in the conference facility

Restaurant and Dining

Jumbucks Bush Retreat features the following

 Jillaroos bistro

o Has seating for 70 people and is open for full breakfast, lunch and dinner
 o It has an extensive, but a moderately priced menu with dishes selected from pasta,
noodles and basic dishes.
o The menu is rotated within a four-week cycle, to ensure variety.
o Alcohol is served featuring beers from local boutique brewery and Regional wines

 Jackaroos BBQ
o Each evening from 6:00pm to 7:30pm a BBQ is cooked and served for guests featuring
local produce
o The BBQ is fixed price and has proved to be extremely popular with guests.

Employment

 As Jumbucks Bush Retreat has grown there are now a wide range of roles fulfilled these roles
include
o Management
o Reception and Front of house
o Housekeeping
o Maintenance and facilities management
o Tour Guides and recreation programs
o Restaurant and catering
 Jumbucks’ endeavours to employ locally where possible to provide employment in the local
community. Employees are a mix of Full time, Part time and Casual. In the past itinerate
backpackers have been employed but this is not a preferred option
 The current organisation chart is provided below

Jumbucks Bush Retreat has a number of organised activities to support their guests including:

 Child minding facilities

 Bush regeneration with local Aboriginal experts (the owners have recently set aside 30
hectares for bush regeneration in partnership with the local aboriginal community)
 Bush Tucker Identification and cooking
 Sheep shearing demonstrations

Future Directions
The owners of the business have allocated sufficient capital to enable a substantial expansion of the
Jumbucks enterprise.
In so doing they have undertaken a strategic plan for the next 3 Years. In the process they have
identified areas of the business to be addressed in readiness for the expansion activity
SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses
· 20 years in the tourism business · Seasonality of business
· Strong reputation with community suppliers · High staff turnover
· Partnerships with local businesses · Staff dissatisfaction with lack of career
· Valued local employer opportunities

· Partnerships with tour organisers of · Exposure to adverse climate events

International tours · Declining customer service partly due to
· Funding for growth has been allocated recent staff turnover

Opportunities Threats

· Growth of accommodation activities

· Growth of conference market
· Tap into growing awareness of aboriginal · Exposure to international travel business
culture
· Lack of availability of quality staff
· Conference and events centre is
· WHS regulatory changes
underutilised
· Dedicated and experienced but unqualified
· Greater integration with farm activities
staff
· Introduce Jumbucks branded merchandise
and produce in partnership with local
businesses and farms

Strategic Priorities
Having conducted the review of operations the Owners and management team have established the
following strategic priorities

1. Values
o Strong local business
o Demonstrate fairness in all dealings
o Customers are the centre of our enterprise

2. Financial
o Grow the business from 3.0 million (2020 forecast) to 7.5 million turn-over in 2023
o Maintain current profitability ratios of 7% net profit on revenue
o Embark on a $2.5 million capital expenditure program to support profitable growth
o Explore Government Grants and Tourism support schemes
3. Marketing
o Increase the number of guests visiting Jumbucks
o Increase average guest expenditure per visit by expanding the range of services and
products offered
 o Grow the conference centre and event market opportunity to increase utilisation of the
conference centre

4. Operations
o Evaluate the benefit or otherwise of engaging external contractors to conduct the
maintenance activities.
o Evaluate the WHS requirements for the organisation and initiate corrective actions as
required (this has been an area that has not received adequate attention in the past)
5. Human Resources
o Become an employer of choice in the area
o Improve retention of staff by reducing staff turnover from 32% to 12% by the end of
2021
o Conduct initiatives to attract more local employment
o Develop and multi-skill current staff and provide career development paths within the
organisation
o Ensure all staff have the correct qualifications and permits for the work that they
undertake or maybe required to undertake as a result of the multi-skilling initiative
6. Special Projects
o Develop stronger engagement and relationships with the local indigenous community
 Explore Partnering in bush Regeneration
 Bushwalks
 Bush Tucker


o Provide local employment opportunities for indigenous youth
o Determine the availability of Government support for indigenous employment and
training initiatives

Complete the following activities: 

Part B - Write a learning strategies report
You are required to lead learning strategy formation by researching and evaluating
organisational learning approaches, examining options for organisational learning,
including an assessment of the organisation’s strategic requirements and processes
that are in place and then making recommendations for an organisational learning
strategy.
Conduct your research, analysis and evaluation and develop a report that includes
the following:

 An evaluation of a range of models and approaches to learning and workplace

training and how they would support the company’s strategic requirements as
documented in the Strategic Business Plan.
 As a guide you should describe a minimum of three models and approaches
to organisational learning.

 An analysis of how organisational learning can contribute to a company’s

ability to grow and develop and therefore be more competitive
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326684528_Organizational_learning_and_competitive_a
dvantage

 A review of the company’s existing policies and procedures relevant to

organisational learning/training and assessment and any current gaps. These
are:
 Recruitment, Selection Policy and Procedures.
o employer of choice
o Improve retention of staff
o provide career development paths
o the correct qualifications and permits for the work
 Performance Management Policy Framework
o Correct and achievable KPI and SLA
o Bonuses and rewards
o External trainings

 A review of current best practice for policies and processes that support
organisational learning: what are they and what should they include.

https://trainingindustry.com/articles/content-development/training-best-practices-and-
organizational-success/

 Recommendations for the structure and content of the company’s

organisational learning strategy.
 Recommendations should be based on your research and the company’s
strategic requirements and policies discussed above.

https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/the-essential-
components-of-a-successful-l-and-d-strategy#

 Define the ideal technological and systems requirements for an organisational

learning strategy and compare to what is currently in place

 Define and document communication and consultation process that can be

used to support the development and implementation of the organisational
learning strategy

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/215439232_Systems_Requirements_for_Organizational_
Learning

 Recommend procedures that can be incorporated into the instructional

learning strategy to systematically liaise with educators, instructors, learners, and
others to monitor the extent to which learning strategies and learning resources
are achieving the organisational learning goals

Use the Learning Strategies report template to guide your work. As a guide your
report should be between 4 and 5 pages in length.