Unlocking Employee Development through Cost-Effective Sources

The report highlights the importance of management and staff development in securing a good future for corporations. It also emphasizes the need to provide motivation to employees, address issues faced by companies, and implement training programs to meet customer expectations. Additionally, the report stresses the significance of external and internal factors in affecting company performance.

Business Health Check

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1a Analyzing the history of Shearings.........................................................................................3
1b Factors affecting the business.................................................................................................4
1c Potential improvement to the business organization...............................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2a Reviewing effectiveness of business ......................................................................................7
2b Developing plans to improve issues.......................................................................................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
3a Evaluating the current skills of management and staff ........................................................11
3 b Devising and justifying plans for the development of skills of management and staff.......12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
2

INTRODUCTION
Business health check is done in order to determine smooth flow of business operation and
gaining satisfaction among number of stakeholders associated with the same. Present report is
done on Shearings which is Europe's largest coach tour operator. This organization is specialized
in holiday packages. It consists of river and ocean cruises and short breaks as well as escorted
tours. Furthermore, report covers detail analysis of selected corporation by including its current
situation and position within the travel and tourism industry. In addition to this, evaluation has
been done for skills of management and staff. Apart from this, effectiveness of organization is
assessed with respect to products, marketing, finance and staffing.
TASK 1
1a Analyzing the history of Shearings
Shearing as tour operators is amalgamated from four different corporations such as
Shearings, National Holidays and Smith Happiways and Wallace Arnold. Here, the first
company Shearings was founded in the year 1919 and took over the Eniway Motor Tour Limited
in the year 1935. The organization taken by Shearings used to offer express coach and transport
from Manchester and London. In 1984 Shearings Holidays was acquired by associated leisure
and which was then bought by Pleasurama (Shearings Holidays, 2015). Furthermore, in 1985
Pleasurama's coaches rebranded Smiths Shearings but both were operating separately till the year
1987. After that time span, both corporations merged as Smiths Shearings.
Due to privatization of National Bus Company it was sold to Pleasurama in 1989. Owing
to this, it was re-branded by Shearings in 1989. Further, in the same year both National Holidays
and Shearings were merged together. Apart from this, it was merged with Wallance Arnold
which facilitated in making strong position of Shearings in the marketplace.
The long term objectives of corporation are to become number one escorted tour operator
and also the leading leisure hotel operator in UK. It depicts that corporation has put efforts in
bringing innovation and creativity in the products and services to meet demand of loyal
customers. Along with that, main emphasis is laid on value and high quality products in the
location where customer or tourist’s arrival is higher. Apart from this, short term objectives of
corporation are to offer activity based trips to large number of visitors so as to enhance sales
3

turnover and profitability of corporation in the marketplace. Further, great opportunities are
provided to visitors in order to meet long as well as short term objectives of the stakeholders.
Similarly, corporation is targeting on younger customer so as to enhance sales turnover and
increase the customer base.
1b Factors affecting the business
There are several internal and external factors which affect performance of corporation to
a great extent. Here, PESTLE analysis is the foremost way to analyze the impact of external
factors on performance of Shearings. These are explained as follows- Political- It is the most important factor which reflect that political situation of UK is
stable but the European union affect tour operator at extreme level. Further, war against
terrorism has direct impact on the government's political stability. Here, government of
UK is planning for taxes on fuel and VAT on ticket. These factors tend to affect the
purchasing power of customers. It generates need of change for tour operators and
provides services accordingly (European Tour Operator, 2015). Economic- The economic condition impose several types of barriers on growth and
performance of corporation. Here, the stable currency as Pound and Euro tend gives
benefit to number of customers and provide them the opportunities to access good quality
of services which are being provided by Shearings. Further, low inflation rate and high
employment rate of country facilitate in enhancing the scope of tour operators in the
country (Bhatia, 2013).
 Social- Changes in the preferences of customers or visitors also has direct impact on
travel and tourism. This is because 80% of customers of country like to prefer internet
while booking their seat or traveling to new places. Technological-This is another important factor which has impact on the growth and
performance of Shearings. This is because now a day’s technology is changing at rapid
speed and corporation is required to cope with changing scenario. For example, use of
internet marketing and online shopping has changed the life style of customers.
Accordingly corporation need to make use of internet for provide products and services
4

to large number of buyers. This facilitates tour operators to meet the expectations of
visitors and enhance their level of motivation. Legal-The changes in the regulatory framework of country has direct impact on the
demand and supply of products and services. In this regard, corporation needs to follow
regulations imposed by the European Union (Chauhan, 2009). For example, tourism
taxation creates barriers for corporation in managing the business because high amount of
tax is paid on earned profitability. Environmental- It is the last factor which is considered by tour operators at the time of
expanding business and meeting demand of the customers. Further, several practices are
implemented by tour operators in protecting environment. For instance carbon emission
need to be reduced by corporation or tour operators in order to ensure ethical conduct of
business. In addition to this, government impose restriction of those practices which
pollute environment.
The industry analysis
The industry analysis of company is used with the help of porter' five force tool. The
following factors reflect tour and travel industry of UK. It is explained as follows- Threat of potential entrants-The risk of potential entrants is low for tour and travel
industry due to requirement of high capital investment. Further, number of corporations is
already working in the sector. It creates barriers for new corporation to enter into industry
and create good position in the marketplace (Fawcett-Tang and et. al., 2010). Bargaining power of suppliers-The bargaining power of suppliers is high only for new
business otherwise it is low. This is because European tour operators provide own
aviation services as well as other transport facilities which makes it possible for
Shearings to enhance its sales turnover. Bargaining power of buyers- For the European travel and tour industry, braining power
of customer is low because good package are provided to to number of customer.
Furthermore, tourism industry of Europe meets the individual traveling need and other
related facilities of traveling. It helps the tour operators to cater the needs of the buyers in
an effectual manner (Shearings targets the under-50s, 2015).
5

 Existing rivalry-The rivalry among existing competitors is moderate because existing
tour operators outperform in the marketplace.
According the aforementioned analysis, SWOT analysis of Shearings can be done as follows-
The main strength of Shearings is good financial position and range of products and
services for number of visitors. It proves to be effective in expanding business of tour operator at
global level and to increase the customer base in the same way (Osborn, 2008). Further, high
service quality and leading position of the firm is also the greatest strengths. On the other hand,
change in political parties and external factors like terrorism is the key issue in the long term
growth and development of the firm. Similarly, lack of specialization is also the weakness of the
corporation. Apart from this, opportunity of expansion at global level in accordance with
preference of customers is also the effective method for the upward direction of business. In
addition to this, high competition and change in the external environment are potential threat for
Shearings.
1c Potential improvement to the business organization
According the analysis of present situation of the firm, several improvement can be done
in the present position of Shearings. In this regard Ansoff matrix is used or bringing
improvement in the present situation of organization. Market penetration-It is the most imperative aspect for the improvement of corporation.
Under this, Shearings will expand in the existing market by bringing innovation in the
products and services. Furthermore, here effective marketing strategies can be adopted in
order to create strong position of company in the marketplace. This includes price
adjustment, increased promotion and product improvement as well as more distribution
channel. It facilitates to increase the level of satisfaction and increase the customer base
(Jukes, 2010). Apart from this, market penetration is low risk growth strategy because
management just need to focus on existing product and existing services. They are not
required to adopt new concept in their business so as to increase the attention of buyers. Product development-This is another effective marketing strategy wherein innovation
and creativity will be implemented by Shearings. Under this, management of corporation
launch new product in the market in accordance with requirement. It assists management
to enhance the sales turnover and meet the expectations of buyers in an effectual manner.
6

However, services for which company is getting high negative feedback can be replaced
with new services or product. It leads to increase sales turnover a well as profitability of
Shearings (Mak, 2011). This way corporation can be able to address issues which are
being faced by the firm. The product development is medium low strategy where focus in
laid on selling new products and services in the existing market. Furthermore, certainty is
assured through proper research and development in the selected market area. Market development- This is the another attractive way to determine long run growth of
corporation in the marketplace. Under this, new market will be developed through the use
of existing transportation facilities and holiday packages. For example, Shearings can
start its operation in India with huge investment. It aids to reduce the cost of production
later on and enhance the customer or visitor base for the same. This is because by
operating in India Shearing come to know about the preferences of residents of country
and accordingly provide them services. The main motive behind this strategy is to grab
the opportunity. It enables management to create strong position in the marketplace and
also increase the market share of the same (Middleton and Clarke, 2012). Apart from
this, new market can be selected by referring the online media.
 Diversified-It is high risk growth strategy wherein management of Shearings develop
new product in the new market. It is the risky concept because of high initial investment.
Also, there is uncertainty about the demand and supply of products and services.
Although, strategy will be implemented after proper research but some external factors
always affect the performance of corporation to a great extent (Puzis and et. al., 2009).
Under this, whole risk is diversified by entering into new market. This in turn competitive
edge of corporation is created in the marketplace. Furthermore, corporation need to
ensure the inclusion of high skilled employees as well as availability of proper resources.
TASK 2
2a Reviewing effectiveness of business
According to the above collected information it can be said that Shearings is capable of
meet the expectation of customers effectively and provide them rich experience. Here, the most
important factor is cooperation from EU in term of trade across several countries and full
assistance in the expansion of tour operators. Furthermore, Shearings has political stability and
7

low inflation rate which help management to cope up with changing scenario effectively.
Furthermore, following points have been covered in reviewing the effectiveness of Shearings in
the marketplace- Products and services-Shearing provide wide range of products and services to buyers or
visitors. The Europe is big in term of tourism and it also provide travel realted services to
visitors. Some of the special offer of company; River Cruise Holidays, Single Traveler
Deals and Coach Holiday offers from East Midlands and Yorkshire. It aids to give rich
experience to visitors. Apart from this, company covers 170 destinations and own 52
hotels in UK which leads to meet expectations of number of visitors. Along with that
great entertainment and comfortable accommodations are the two major imperative areas
components of products and services which aid to make visitors highly satisfied
(Tripathi, Choudhary and Agrawal, 2010). Marketing-Shearing markets its products and services in very effective manner by
making use of internet as the rapid technology. It helps customers to get detail
information related to products and services. This way customer base is increased for the
organization. Apart from this, other lucrative way like special offers and discount are
promoted in both print media and via online (Vance and et.al., 2011). However, detail
information is provided on website of the company thereby customer can easily access
appropriate holiday package. Furthermore, brochures and other related strategies are also
adopted by corporation in order to promote products and services at international level.
One of the most effective methods used by company is internet. This is because it is the
only means to approach number of visitors and provide them detail information related to
special offers. In addition to this, marketing strategies are adopted in accordance with
preferences of buyers. It leads to cater need of buyers and deliver them good quality of
services in the marketplace (Weis, 2010). Finance-Shearing is operating at global level with increased rate of return. The
corporation has increased number of passenger 1.1m in 2014. Similarly, earning was
increased in 22pc on an EBITDA basis to £7.1m. Further, in 2013 earning increased to
£176.5m. Owing to this, it has good financial resources and also it access cost effective
sources of finance. It leads to reduce the cost of production and avail services to visitors
8

in less time. Wide range of services of company reflect that financial position of
Shearings is also good. It leads to explore the opportunities for the firm. However,
changes in the external factors like economy has negative impact on the performance
(Álvarez, Casielles and Martín, 2009). This is because purchasing power of customer
decreases and accordingly sales turnover also go down. Staffing-The employees associated with Shearing are highly skilled and has potential to
cater need of customers. Under this, management possess good leadership qualities which
in turn help to provide assistance among employees. Furthermore, employees tend to get
training on time to time which in turn generate positive attitude among them. Apart from
this, staffing of Shearing is maintained with respect to certain criteria like quality,
learning and customer satisfaction (Law, Cheung and Hu, 2009). It depicts that
company ensure optimum utilization of limited resources. This leads to focus on building
competitive edge of the company. A counter argument might be that company need to
hire skilled and competent workforce in order to meet future business requirement
 Business image-This is another imperative factors which reflect that corporation is
associated with several internal and external factors (Baum, 2006). It has been found that
company keep control over factors like changing preferences of buyers, internal changes
in the organization. All these aid to meet the buyers expectations and depict reputation of
company in the marketplace.
2b Developing plans to improve issues
According the detail analysis of Shearings depict that it must have control over different
business activities. The plan can take place as follows- Setting SMART Objectives-This is the first step of business plan wherein management of
Shearing will set the objectives. Under this, organization plan to address issues of
customer in an effectual manner (Hall, 2008). Furthermore, corporation also try their
best to provide good quality of services to large number of buyers. Forecasting about future position of the firm-Under this, future position of Shearings is
estimated in the light of sales, productivity and services as well as financial management
system. In this regard cost effective sources of finance are accessed along with speed up
in the flow of production (Huang, 2009). On the other hand, research and development
9

department of company work with integrity which leads to meet expectations of buyers in
right way. Provide training among existing staff-This is the next step of business plan under which
employees are provided training as per the estimation. It assists corporation to explore the
skills and knowledge of workforce and accordingly provide them training. Assigning duties to staff-This is the next step where emphasis is laid on assigning duties
among staff members. It assists corporation integrity workforce and put them into action.
This phase proves to be effective in boosting morale of workforce and communicating
regarding the aim and objectives of company (Vance and et. al., 2011). Performance management -According the assessment of personnel criteria are set for the
performance management. Under this management of Shearing can adopt effective
strategies like 360 degree appraisal and feedback from customers. This provides right
information related to work done by employees and accordingly bring modification in
their performance. Apart from this, good performance of workforce is appreciated by
monetary and non-monetary rewards. This in turn corporation ensure inclusion of highly
competent workforce. Compliance of regulatory framework-there are several rules and regulations imposed by
government of UK and EU which need to be considered by Shearings. It enables them to
cope take into account employment law other related of taxation etc (Bhatia, 2013). Information handling and administration-Under this, Shearings need to communicate
with its employees and visitors in right manner. Furthermore repeat purchase is also the
part of information handling because it enables management to stay in touch with
customer (Chauhan, 2009). On the other hand, data of customer are stored with
confidentiality to ensure their security and rights. Therefore this business plan helps to
overcome issues faced by Shearings and determine its competitive edge with increased
rate of return.
Plan for development
The following development plan depicts that future development of organization which
leads to carry out all business activities and create competitive edge of Shearings.
Objectives Motives Recommendation
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To increase the profitability
of company
Improve the financial
condition of corporation
Cost of production should
be reduced by following
effective process of
providing services.
To create competitive edge
of the firm
Providing good quality of
services to number of buyers
Quality of products and
services should be improved
by following the standards.
To provide training among
staff members
Enhance the level of
confidence among workforce
Knowledge and skills of
workforce should be
enhanced so as to increase
their level of confidence.
To apply different strategies
for performance management
Retention of employees for
longer time span
Employees should be
motivated to perform better.
TASK 3
3a Evaluating the current skills of management and staff
The management and staff of Shearings possess good quality of skills and enough
knowledge in order to meet the expectation of customers. It assists overall corporation to work
with integrity and create competitive edge of the company in the marketplace. They are able to
assess the need of customers and take feedback from them so as to meet their expectations
effectively. Furthermore, managerial staff of company is highly experienced and they are able to
address issues faced by employees. Employees are provided special training program as per the
change sin the organization structure or technological changes (Fawcett-Tang and et. al., 2010).
It assists them to produce the product as per the requirement of visitors. For example, change in
technology also bring change in nature of staff. Current scenario of internet market generate need
of change in working of staff. In this regard corporation provide training among staff to work on
internet and update the latest information about promotion offer over the internet. Owing to this,
they plan their marketing strategies in different manner so as to attract buyers towards the same.
11

On the other hand, management changes their pricing strategies and produce holiday packages in
different manner. It facilitates them to present the corporation at workplace in unique way.
The current skills of employees may not consists of the appropriate abilities to assess the
anticipated change. This factor may affect the progress of corporation because customer can get
dissatisfaction at certain point of time. It has direct impact on the demand of services and such
kind of situations generates need to switch visitors from one to another brand. However,
management take feedback from customer for the further change sin the existing services. Apart
from this, newly hired employees may not be so active like experienced workforce due to lack of
motivation and confidence among them (Osborn, 2008). It generate need of time and proper time
and resources to sharpen their skills and make them capable to work in the direction of growth
and success of the corporation. Furthermore, it depicts that current level of skills and experience
and abilities must be brushed up so as to increase customer base and create distinctive identity of
Shearings at marketplace. In case of absence of these abilities employees cannot cope up with
changing scenario. This is because they need to assess the need of customer and accordingly
make efforts to to make customer feel happy and satisfied (Jukes, 2010). Apart from this,
current level of managerial experienced is not sufficient to cope up with changing scenario. It is
because there are several competitors already working in UK and Europe like Thomas cook.
However, at present company is easily meting the requirement of visitors and providing them
rich experience in term of services quality like transportation and hotels services.
3 b Devising and justifying plans for the development of skills of management and staff
According the evaluation of current skills and experience of workforce as well as
management of Shearings development is required in several areas. Here the first method is the
brush up the skills of employees is to provide them training by hiring expert in the field of travel
and tourism. It will have direct impact on the sales performance and level of satisfaction among
customers. Further, cost benefit analysis can be done by corporation in order to assess the
utilization of current manpower in term of benefit (Mak, 2011). It helps to reduce the addition
cost and ensure right use of resources in several business activities.
In case staff will organization the vacations in India then following skills need to be analyzed in
order to improve the performance of corporation.
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List of skills
 Good communication skills
 Leadership skills
 Presentation skills
 Stress management
Desirable skills
 Team work
 High level of confidence
 Ability to influence people in
positive way
 Time management skills
Support and advice is also the effective method for development of skills of management
and staff. Under this guidance is provided to employees to improve their sales performance and
achieve the target on right time. In this regard plan can be prepared to by identity the goals and
skills to be developed (Baum, 2006). It is also important that whether the services are rendered
in free of charge of paid for help only. Here, the free services can be avail only in case of
personal contracts. It will assists employees to attend the session of expert and follow their
guidelines to enhance the level of satisfaction of customer (Vance and et. al., 2011). This is
because development session will be brush up their presentation skills and explore their qualities
to achieve desired performance in Shearings. Apart from this, record keeping is also the effective
method wherein information related to each employees is stored and accordingly performance of
checked. This prove overview that how the performance has been impacted from the training
sessions.
The other method for development is link between skills targets to business targets. It
serve as the direct motivation among workforce and they get power to move ahead with zeal and
enthusiasm. Apart from this, making informed judgment is also the effective way which could be
adopted by management of Shearings. This is because it will generate positive attitude among
employees and both management and workforce will work with collaboration. It depicts that
organization should focus on development skills through cost effective sources as employees are
already skilled enough (Huang, 2009). Through, development of skills of management and staff
helps to secure the good future of corporation. In addition to this, personal and professional
development can also be implemented so as to bring professionalism among newly hired
employees. Apart from this, workforce should be provided motivation as per their need which
easily put them into action (Álvarez, Casielles and Martín, 2009).
13

CONCLUSION
The report concludes that external and internal factors both affect performance of
company to a great extent. It facilitates organization to give upward direction with increased rate
of return. It can also be said that, business plan is done to address issues which are being faced
by company. Further, the current manpower skills of company need to be brush up to get
competitive edge over other rivalries. Apart from this, employees of Shearings are provided
training at all level such as technical, operational and managerial and thus expectations of
customers are met. In addition to this, development plan need can be implemented for employees
of company so as to achieve the long as well as short term objectives of the same.
14

REFERENCES
Journals and books
Álvarez, L. S., Casielles, R. V. and Martín, A. M. D., 2009. The Role of Commitment Perceived
by the Consumer in Service Industries. Management Research: The Journal of the
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Bhatia, A. K., 2013. The Bussiness of Travel Agency and Tour Operations Management. Sterling
Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
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Guide to Brochures, Catalogs, Bags, Labels, Packaging, and Promotion. Rockport
Publishers.
Hall, C. M., 2008. Tourism Planning. Policies, processes and relationships. Pearson.
Huang, S., 2009. Travel motivation: linking theory to practice", International Journal of Culture.
Tourism and Hospitality Research. 3 (4). pp.287 – 295
Osborn, 2008. The Type of Calligraphy: Writing, Print, and Technologies of the Arabic
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China: The perspectives of e-buyers and e-lookers. International Journal of Contemporary
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Mak, B. L. M., 2011. ISO certification in the tour operator sector. International Journal of
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Middleton, V. T. C. and Clarke, J. R., 2012. Marketing in Travel and Tourism. Routledge
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Tripathi, G., Choudhary, H. and Agrawal, M., 2010. What do the tourists want? The case of the
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Vance, C. and et. al., 2011. Building global competencies through experiential coursework in
international travel and tourism. Journal of International Education in Business. 4 (1).
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Vance, C. and et.al., 2011. Building global competencies through experiential coursework in
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