Contemporary Management Issues in the 21st Century - A Case Study of Tesco

This report discusses the impact of information and communication technology on the workforce of Tesco, along with the company's policies on talent acquisition, learning and development, and change management. It also provides recommendations for new initiatives and the role of leaders in implementing them.

Contemporary
management issues in
the 21st century

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Main body........................................................................................................................................4
Discuss theories helping in shaping human resource development in organization. Evaluate
the role of information and communication technology on the management of workforce.....4
Evaluate the policies of the company in terms of talent acquisition, learning and
development and change management process........................................................................5
Recommendations for new initiatives taken by the organization in order to survive and thrive
in new normal...........................................................................................................................6
Discuss the roles of leaders in terms of implementing new initiatives.....................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Human resource of the company is considered to be one of the most important resource
for the company which helps them in engaging new ideas and talent in the organization and will
also make sure that the organization is working on optimum capacity. It is important for the
organization to make sure that they are working according to the goals and objectives of the
organisation. The aim of effective human resource capital within the organisation is to create a
positive working environment which facilitates growth and development of not only the
organisation but also of the individual themselves (Chatty ed., 2018). In case of Tesco, the
company is working as a British Multinational groceries and merchandise retailers. The company
was established I the year 1919 by Jack Cohen and is currently one of the biggest supermarket
chain in UK. The company is having a significant market share in Europe and is currently
Headquartered in UK. In this report, the role and impact of information and communication
technology on the workforce of the company is provided along with the exiting policies of the
company in respect to talent acquisition, learning and development and change management
process. Valid recommendations for new initiatives and the role of leaders in implementation of
new initiative is provided.
Main body
Discuss theories helping in shaping human resource development in organization. Evaluate the
role of information and communication technology on the management of workforce.
The three key elements taken into consideration by Tesco in shaping their human resource
management including external factors are provided below:
 Recruitment and pay revision: most of the recruitment process of Tesco takes place online
and through various procedures according to the position candidate is applying for. The
company make sure that the process of recruitment is free from discrimination, biased or any
other type of inequality.
 Training and development: No matter how qualified and experienced the employee is,
once on boarding process is doe the employee have to take a training and development
session which helps them in understanding the tasks of the company and the workplace rules
and regulations (Bellace., 2018). It also helps the candidates in analyzing the expectations
that the company have from them.

 Providing healthy work environment: One of the major aim of the company is to provide
healthy and positive working environment ti their employees which can motivate them and
enhance their performance. It will be beneficial for the company to enhance the performance
of employees by providing them healthy environment which is better for their mental as well
as physical health.
Their is a high impact of information technology and communication in the management
of the workforce within an organization. The IT network of a company helps them in connecting
and communicating with the person anywhere in the world. It helps the company in making
quick decisions and also improve its performance (Greydanus and et. al., 2018). Human
resource of the company can be best utilized if it is having an access to the information
technology and can help the company in having competitors advantage in the market. It has
been observed that information and communication technology such as Internet, mobile
communication, new media and human resource systems help and contribute greatly in
fulfillment of personal policies of the organization. It allows the company in improving the
internal processes of the company and will also help in providing effective and efficient training
to the employees.
Evaluate the policies of the company in terms of talent acquisition, learning and development
and change management process.
Talent acquisition, learning and development as well as change management processes is
an important aspect of organisations which is needed to be analyzed and implemented effectively
within the organisation as it creates a direct impact on the workforce of the company. If the
implementation phase is not according to the plan then the strategy made by the company will be
a waste and the company will not be able to achieve their objectives which they want to achieve
with the help of strategy (Moura and et. al., 2019). In case of Tesco, the company uses various
processes which helps the in acquiring the talented workforce which are according to the needs
of the company and will be able to manage them effectively and efficiently. Some of the
processes and policies of Tesco Plc, is provided below:
 Talent acquisition: talent acquisition is a process through which the employers recruit,
select and onboard employees on the basis of their skills and talent. It is the generally the
responsibility of human resource department of the organisation which makes sure that the
company is not having shortage of talent and will also help the company in creating a pool

of talent. In case of Tesco, the most important policy of the company is to acquire talent
which can be proved as an asset for the company. The first step in the talent acquisition
process of the company is to made an online applications and the chosen application then
have an interview which is then followed by the final stage where the candidates ave to
attend assessment center for selection process. It is a process for managerial positions
whereas for stores based jobs the candidate can directly approach the store.
 Learning and development: It refers to the training processes of the company in order to
improve the skill set and workings of the employees and to make them more efficient and
effective (Minasny and et. al., 2020). In case of Tesco, the company is making sure that
their employees are getting opportunity of on the job training as well as off the job training.
On the job training methods of the company includes mentoring, shadowing, coaching, job
rotation whereas off the job training includes training for specific skills such as team
building, planning, organizing and planning.
 Change management process: It refers to the process followed by the company in order to
implement change in the organisation effectively and efficiently. The workforce of the
company may not respond to the change as they restrain from change so the policy adopted
by the company in order to implement change is Lewin’s change model which consists of
three stages which are unfreezing, change, refreezing. In this policy the company have an
open communication about change with its workforce and help them in analyzing by
providing actual benefits reasons to the employees and by providing reasoning which help
them in avoiding confusion as well.
Recommendations for new initiatives taken by the organization in order to survive and thrive in
new normal.
The new initiative that the company must take in to consideration is to provide as much
contact less services as possible to its customers. As the customers are not really comfortable in
stepping out of their houses the company can provide home delivery and online services which
helps them in attracting potential customers in the times of pandemic (von Devivere and von
Devivere., 2018). It is important for the organization to create a strong online presence or store
which helps them in reaching out to a wider audience and will make sure that they are working
according to the needs and preferences of the market. In order to survive and thrive in the new
market the company must take support of online marketing which helps the company in

connecting with wider audience and will also make sure that they are working according to the
goals and objectives of the company even at times of pandemic and after pandemic.
Discuss the roles of leaders in terms of implementing new initiatives.
Leaders plays an important role of management of the company as they help the company
in managing their workforce. The aim of the leaders is to influence the workforce of the
company and help them in working effectively and efficiency (Matson, Daou and Soper., 2019).
It is important for the leaders to make sure that they are aligning the aims and objectives of the
company with the objectives of the workforce so that they can perform with motivation and with
optimum capacity. In the new initiative of the company, the leaders must make sure that the
employees of the company are having appropriate skills which help them in providing contact
less services an must also ensure that the team handling the marketing processes of the company
are working according to the trends.
Conclusion
From the above report it is concluded that, it is extremely important and beneficial for
companies to make sure that they are having an effective human resource capital which helps
them in adopting new ideas and efficient ways of dong work within the organisation. It is
important for the orgaisations to make sure that they are attracting talent in the organisation
which can help them in gaining competitors advantage as well in the market. It a company is
having effective workforce management in their organisation then they will be able to work
efficiently and effective with greater productivity.

References
Books and journals
Bellace, J.R., 2018. Back to the future: workplace relations and labour law in the 21st century in
the Asia Pacific context. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 56(4), pp.433-449.
Chatty, D. ed., 2018. Nomadic societies in the Middle East and North Africa: entering the 21st
century. Brill.
Greydanus and et. al., 2018. Pediatric obesity: Current concepts. Disease-a-Month, 64(4), pp.98-
156.
Matson, J.V., Daou, S.F. and Soper, J.G., 2019. Effective expert witnessing: practices for the
21st century. CRC Press.
Minasny and et. al., 2020. Global soil science research collaboration in the 21st century: Time to
end helicopter research. Geoderma, 373, p.114299.
Moura and et. al., 2019. The legacy of colonial fire management policies on traditional
livelihoods and ecological sustainability in savannas: Impacts, consequences, new
directions. Journal of environmental management, 232, pp.600-606.
von Devivere, B. and von Devivere, B., 2018. Initiating the Copernican Turn: Answering the
“What for”. Meaningful Work: Viktor Frankl’s Legacy for the 21st Century, pp.139-
146.