Paste ySummary:
The purpose of this proposal is to determine whether retention of permanent staff is affected by offering Personnel Development(PD) opportunities and enhanced training and development.
The objectives of the proposed research are:
• To identify the current training and development programme for employees at Morrisons and
to explore the current retention levels
• To analyse whether PD program will increase employee productivity and help in controlling employee turnover
PD programs are designed to benefit both the employee and the employer. Research says that employees prefer PD over career progression. They are more likely to stay in an organization if given the opportunity to develop. Training and development enhance the organizational performance (Apospori et al., 2008, p.1187).
Introduction
Morrisons is UK’s fourth largest retailing service provider. Morrisons has expanded from a one-man business to hundreds of stores spread across UK with thousands of employees. Morrisons focuses on its Market-Street and is differentiated from other retailers because of its approach to fresh food. The increase in number of stores and employees has increased the needs of organizational management and created new challenges for the HR management.
The organizational management realizes that enhancing skills, improving staff needs and increasing job satisfaction of employees is crucial for the growth of business. It is very important for Morrisons to maintain its image and keep up to its mission of “Being different and better than ever”. To achieve this Morrisons focuses on departments like Bakery, Fish, Meat, Fresh prep and Deli. It is very difficult to meet the high recruitment demands for these skilled departments. It requires special skills and knowledge to perform in these departments and provide the best customer service to customers.
The skills required for adapting to the changing consumer attitudes and needs, and handling diverse consumers, needs to be addressed for which the employees should be trained.
Currently all employees are provided with basic Department and Food safety training which is essential for employees to perform their daily job. Different methods such as Job Shadowing, Coaching and Mentoring and Job rotation are used to facilitate the basic training. Only management employees are given the opportunity to self-evaluate and attend training courses to fill their skills Gap.
For the sustainability of business and gaining competitive advantage, the businesses need to have a developed and well-trained workforce which is capable to handle customers in the best manner, adapt to changes and deliver outstanding performance. Providing Apprentice schemes for Bakers and Butchers and Management training program for other department members will help them gain in-depth knowledge in their field as well as provide them with a recognized qualification. It will help them develop themselves for the next level as leaders.
We will analyse the financial impact of the training programs on the company as well as the participation levels of different departments in gathering information by issuing questionnaires and conducting interviews. This will help to identify whether Apprentice and Management training programs would increase uptake, thus affecting retention levels of permanent employees.
Literature review
Global competition is the fundamental element which defines the firm’s strategies in today’s world. The efficiency and leading brink can be achieved through efficient utilization of trained human resources. Managing human resource is necessary for the success of any business today and to achieve a competitive advantage (Plessis et al., 2012).
Research indicates that more than 60% of UK based Retailers eg Marks & Spenser offer PD training programs to their employees in order to motivate and engage them (Conrad S 2013). By providing such training the organization can benefit by meeting the needs of their employees and sustaining retention levels. Employees feel more valued and gain the confidence to solve problems on their own and serve the customers efficiently.
Regardless of this, the commitment towards such programs can differ between different departments and individuals. Therefore it is very essential that a strategy is in place to promote the programme. Less flexible strategies and weak human resource may put organizations in dire consequences as the competitors may outplay in strategic employment of human resources (Husain, A. 2010). A positive approach to communication by HR marks employees being highly involved thus having an impact on retention within an organization. Different approaches can be adapted like mentioning the programs during recruitment process on adverts, having posters in stores, informing employees during induction.
It is not always the responsibility of HR to promote such schemes, senior managers can also play an important role in promoting information-(Appraisals). A poor communication could lead to low level of employee participation in the program. It cannot be always assumed that effective communication will lead to high participation level, as we know that some employees will not be bothered to find out about the program however some will not be interested due to their age and some could be afraid of the Language barrier situation that may arise.
Research says that, many HR departments only see career development as a way to get the most value from employee’s talent while ensuring they stay loyal (Roberts, H 2014). It is difficult for employers to retain control over employees as they attempt to free themselves from the strangling employers if they see no opportunity of career autonomy. Almost 46% of the employees say that they are bound to move to another employer as they see no training support from their current employer.
In the past ten years, the average tenure for a UK worker increased from 8.2 to 9.4 years. This ties in with the fact that 88% of workers now say there is nothing wrong with staying in the same job for long periods if there are opportunities to develop within the role. This is an increase from 80% in 2007(Roberts, H. 2014)
It is clear from this research that a large proportion of organization provides career progression opportunities which has increased the span of employees staying within the organization for a longer period of time. The proposed research will attempt to ascertain if this is the case with Morrisons.
Methodology
Different methods have been used to conduct research study for this report.
The research will be carried out in 5 stores in the North of London. Firstly a report will be run to identify the current retention level in Market-street department and other departments in stores. Also a financial report will be run to find out the recruitment and basic training costs in each store and comparing it with the additional costs that the company will incur to facilitate these PD programmes. Once these have been identified subject to the approval of Area managers, the HR manager will issue Survey questionnaires to employees.
The study would utilize qualitative as well as quantitative primary research methods by conducting interviews with the professionals working in Morrisons and some of its stakeholders to produce qualitative information. The survey would be carried out from employees amounting to nearly 1200 and the focus would be on the age group from 20-55 years as they constitute major part of workforce. For the quantitative results, the employees of Morrisons would be provided survey questionnaires which would portray their views regarding the human resource practices, training and development needs and their satisfaction working in the organization. There will be 2 questionnaires: one for employees working in Market-Street (54%) and the second for employees working in other departments (46%). The survey will also focus on retention levels within organisation.
The electronic questionnaire will be sent via email to employees explaining the purpose of the research and include a deadline (approx. 3 weeks) along with a disclaimer advising that responses will only be seen by the researcher.
Interviews would be conducted with top management in order to match their perception with staff. Collis and Hussey (2009) suggest that taking face to face interviews provides clear and better response from the interviewees rather than conducting interviews online or just providing the questions. However this method of research is quite expensive and time consuming.
For interviews, the researcher would select quotes which are caustic or those which represent the research findings most. The interviews will be presented in a summarized way since large portions are tedious for the readers. The overview of interviews will have the interviewee name at the end of his statement. A summarized form of these interviews would be provided to the stakeholders. Moreover, the survey would provide information about the demographics of Morrisons employees which can help them in designing further required training programs.
The research constitutes a related literature review which would be discussed through the help of secondary sources of research that are the articles, books, e-journals from ProQuest, etc. from where the literature and relevant studies would be collected. The authenticity of secondary data sources has to be assessed and is an important aspect (Minocah, 2006, p.221). It plays a key role in binding the different aspects of organization with each other. Here, primary and secondary data collection and presentation sources will encourage the management strategists to develop a strong and vibrant picture.
After obtaining results through various methods findings will be presented using graphs and diagrams. The pictorial and illustrative representation will assist the management to portray the factors of competitive advantage, which make the stakeholders more committed and bring more opportunities of financial investments.
Discussion
Through composing a research proposal, the analyst can exhibit their capacity in recognizing issues that influence their association and demonstrate a proactive approach in proposing suggestions to enhance the effectiveness and proficiency of an organisation.
Various elements require to be considered when composing a proposition including the cost and time of undertaking the research and actualizing the suggestions made, alongside proper study of statistics, the correct access to get the information and the morals included.
Preceding starting the work, a researcher must ask for consent from the proper individuals within organisation and make sure that the data required is accessible to them. When this has been arranged, it is imperative that the researcher makes the members mindful of their rights such as anonymity, withdrawal at any time and requesting a copy of the finding of the research.
Due to the different stores participating and a large number of employees involved it would be beneficial to use questionnaires and interviews as a time and cost effective process. Questionnaires can accumulate a great deal of information rapidly, making it a compelling utilization of time. Sending these by email will be financially beneficial as it will cut down costs on ink, paper and postage. However there is a risk of low response rate as questions may be misunderstood and employees may provide invalid answers. By Simplifying the format, minimising the difficulty and length of the survey, ensuring questions are not confusing and have clear instructions can overcome this problem.
Carrying out interviews permits extra subjective information to be acquired – giving the researcher more detailed data as compared to set questionnaire. However normal issues with interviews incorporates over the top talking, misconception of answers, influenced interviewees, etc. therefore, it is essential to have a set structure itemizing the key focuses that the researcher needs to cover.
After finishing the primary research, a suggestion report would be incorporated for the Area Manager and the Regional HR Manager, itemizing the discoveries of the research with the point of figuring out if investment in PD programs will be fruitful to retain employees. This report may show that more extensive advancement of these plans, may enhance employee satisfaction therefore employee turnover would decrease.
Results can be introduced in both diagrammatical and narrative configurations. The utilization of pictures and diagrams permits the reader to see the findings at a glimpse. They are a powerful method for providing information with breakdowns and indicating data as opposed to having a lot of information hidden within the text.
An option strategy for exhibiting the findings for all stakeholders would be by setting an outline page on Morrisons Intranet system. This would ideally expand mindfulness and direct staff to where they can access data and see the advantages accessible to them.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Carrying out this research will highlight the potential areas for improvement and the need for reconsidering and redesigning strategies. The research will provide both qualitative and quantitative information and will determine whether PD opportunities will affect retention of permanent employees within Morrisons. If the opportunity helps to retain staff then it will help in increased productivity, confident staff and less recruitment costs which lead to financial benefit.
Using different research methods like interviews and questionnaires with employees and management will help to get the view point from two different levels in the hierarchy structure and will reduce any possibility of being biased. It will also focus on current retention levels and the training and development provided to employees, as well as producing details which may link to retaining staff and increase productivity.
Succeeding the approval of the proposal the following points need to be addressed:
• Carry out research in a systematic manner as discussed in the Methodology and discussion section.
• Identifying whether wider promotion of such programs may result in attracting the good quality of employees.
• Determining gaps in any in the current training and development programs offered to employees.
• Making sure the new programs are mentioned during induction and there is a note about it on Company’s website under career’s section.
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