Workplace Skills and Development

This assignment delves into the critical aspects of workplace skills and development. It examines various soft skills crucial for effective collaboration, communication, and leadership in a modern work environment. The discussion encompasses individual development plans, talent management strategies, and the influence of factors like gender stereotypes and workplace culture on employee performance and career growth. The provided resources offer insights into research findings, best practices, and real-world examples to support the analysis.

Developing Relationships
and Workplace
Achievement

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
1. Evaluate the potential benefits to organization of developing individuals in the workplace..4
2. Developmental vehicles available to organisation which helps in meeting developmental
needs of individual.................................................................................................................6
3. Design a plan to meet the identified development needs and expectations of an individual10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
.......................................................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Maintaining effective relationship between employer and employee in the organisation
makes them interconnected and feels motivated which enhances them to fulfil the work
performance and achieves goals and objectives of the organisation (Dries and Pepermans, 2012).
Their are various factors in the organisation which maintains effective relationship between
employers and employees such as there should be mutual trust between all the staff members and
a proper conducive positive environment should be there to determine effective communication
all over the company. Managers and supervisors of the company can use methods which leads to
training of employees which welcomes and accepts diversity of changes and leads to work place
achievement. Good relationship and communication with the employees helps to increase the
level of productivity as well as makes the employee highly motivated in performing their work.
In this report chosen organisation is Marks and Spencer which is a British multinational retailer
headquartered in London, UK which specialises in selling of clothing, home and luxury food
products (Littlejohn, Milligan and Margaryan, 2012). The project will be going to discuss about
the potential benefits of developing individuals at the work place for the respective company as
well as the developmental vehicles which will help in meeting the needs of the individual and
helps to overcome the problem of case study analysed.
MAIN BODY
CASE STUDY
In this case study respective company is facing the problem of internationalization, company's
sales have dropped due to which its shares in the market has reduced and overseas profit have
declined. In order to overcome this problem effective employees with proper skills and
knowledge should be hired who properly understands consumer demands and provide products
accordingly. Effective training programmes should also be organised by the respective company
to eliminate the loopholes and provides better understanding of customers in various countries.

When the respective company maintains effective relationship with their employees it can able to
increase the level of productivity as well as meet consumer demands.
1. Evaluate the potential benefits to organization of developing individuals in the workplace.
Individuals at the work place are considered to be the most important valuable assets to
the organisation who are responsible for carrying out the business operations. These employees
contribute to the success of the organisation and coordinating relationship which helps in work
place achievements. Individuals in the respective organisation should be provide training
sessions in order to develop them and attains wok place achievements (Njoroge andYazdanifard,
2014). Hence, it is the responsibility of the managers and individuals to work in an effective
manner which enhances individuals skills and knowledge which in turn leads to growth of
individual as well as determines organizational growth.
Managers at Marks and Spencer should organise various activities to develop individuals
in the respective organisation in which can have proper communication between all the
employees and the managers which leads to exchange of ideas and thoughts and can also conduct
various development programmes, creates a learning environment in the respective organisation
which provides opportunities for the the employees at Marks and Spencer to develop according
to the needs of the outside macro environment and helps in achieving goals and objectives for
the respective organisation. Their are various benefits of developing individuals at the work
place which are described as follows-
 Improve efficiency in performance- When the employees at Marks and Spencer are
properly developed this creates motivation among the employees to perform work with
great dedication which in turn leads to increase in the productivity of the respective retail
company and also develops skills and knowledge of employees which directly helps in
organisational growth and development.
 Increase job satisfaction and morale among employees- Employees in the organisation
are the most important assets of the company. When specific training programmes are
provided to the employees for their development it makes the individuals feel that they
are the important asset to the organisation and works with full dedication in performing
their task in effective and efficient manner which leads to the growth and development of
Marks and Spencer. These type of practices adopted by the firm helps to motivate and
satisfies employees which enhances them to perform task in organised manner and help

to achieve higher sales for the respective company (Dutton and Ragins, 2017).
Employees of the respective organisation feels highly appreciated and satisfied and helps
the organisation in achieving high revenue in turns attains work place achievements.
When employees are highly satisfied at the work place it helps to achieve high growth for
the respective company.
 Reduce employee turnover- Employee turnover is the biggest problem that an
organisation faces when their needs and demands are not fulfilled by working in the
respective organisation. In order to overcome this problem organisation should conduct
appropriate training and development programmes to reduce employee turnover and
makes them feel valuable and interested towards company (Dutton and Ragins, 2017).
Programmes conducted should be so effective which helps in retention of staff for a
longer period of time and cuts down the cost for recruiting an employee. Marks and
Spencer has properly developed activities which retain the employee in the organisation
and provides a high level of satisfaction. With this it helps in developing the individuals
and maintains high level of work place achievement and cost of recruitment also gets
down with the proper development of employees at the work place.
 Increased innovation in strategies and products- Training and development provided
to the employee helps them to sharp their skills and knowledge against performing their
work through which they are able to suggest new innovative ideas in development of
strategies which in turn develops the products with unique ideas and gives them a
competitive advantage. As Marks and Spencer is a retail company it needs lots of ideas
and suggestions for the production of consumer goods in order to attract them. Through
this training programmes it develops the skills and abilities of employees and in turn also
develops the organisation and enhances there brand image in the market. This also creates
high level of demand for the products of Marks and Spencer because of the innovation in
the products which meets the consumer demands.
 Improved risk management- Development of individuals makes them highly adaptable
to the changing situations of organisations because of the demand of the outside
environment (Rurkkhum and Bartlett, 2012) It makes the employees highly adaptable to
the changes incurred in the organisation and doesn't makes them resistance to change.
Changes are inevitable part of the organisation and managers of the respective

organisation should communicate with them the benefit of the changes and properly
manage the employees to properly implement the change and attains work place
achievements. This helps in proper management of employees to deal with the risk factor
and helps in successful business operations.
 Improve collaboration between workers- When employees are highly developed by an
appropriate training this makes the employees at Marks and Spencer to listen to view
points of other employees which improves their ability to collaborate efficiently (Ko,
2012). Listening and gaining understanding about the ideas and suggestions of other
individuals at the work place which also the help the employees to develop their skills
and knowledge and helps to attain team goals.
These are the benefits of the individual development in the respective organisation which helps
in work place achievements and develops the skills and knowledge of the employees which are
highly required by them to attain competitive advantage. Developing individuals and employees
at the work place helps to sharpen their skills and abilities which are required to achieve the
goals and improve the performance of the organisation. Developing individuals also helps them
to identify the gap in their skills an capabilities and needs efforts to overcome the problems. If
the respective organisation provides efficient training and development programmes they will be
able to retain the knowledgable employees at the work place and attract more job seekers which
in turn increase the organisational image in the business environment and satisfies employees at
large base.
2. Developmental vehicles available to organisation which helps in meeting developmental needs
of individual.
Developmental vehicles or modes are various methods adopted by organisation to
properly manage and coordinate the employees performance and activities which enables them to
enhance their skills in performing business operations. As per the case study analysed respective
organisation is facing the problem of internationalization as they are not able to properly
understand the the demands and requirements of various customers (Allais, 2012). For these
effective training and developmental sessions should be organised by the company in order to
overcome the problems and also provides motivation to employees which increases their
efficiency in performing business activities. Developmental needs are very important to the

organisation as they enhances their skills and capabilities and helps to overcome the issues and
hurdles in performance of work.
 It increases the capability of the employee at the respective organisation to face and adapt
to sudden changes accordingly.
 It allows fair and honest communication in the Marks and Spencer company which
enables managers and employee to openly discuss their problems and gain better
understanding and knowledge in performing business operations.
 It increases the analytical skills of the employee to work in a complex and dynamic
environment hence increase the level of productivity by meeting consumer demands.
Their are certain ways which the respective company can adopt to develop the skills of
employees and enables them in meeting development needs of individuals (Goetsch andDavis,
2014). These are described below- Effective performance appraisals- It is a systematic evaluation of employees job
performance to understand the abilities of individuals for future growth and development.
When the managers of M&S company conducts performance appraisal of its employee it
can evaluates their performance against set targets and plans and provides them training
which meet required skills and capabilities in performing job effectively which in turn
increases the sales of the company. In this method it helps the employees to know their
loopholes in their performance of work and takes appropriate training to function
properly and develop their skills and capabilities in order to perform complex job
operations. Managing the performance and succession planning- It is the most effective way to
properly manage and develop the performance of employees whereas succession
planning helps to identify areas of performance where employees may be weak and
effective training could help to manage and improve performance outcomes. This enables
the manager of the respective company to assign more authority and responsibility to the
staff members which improves efficiency in performing work. It also develops
relationship among the individual and helps to achieve work place achievements. Career development strategies-These are very important strategies which are essential
for life long process of managing and learning work at respective company (Belbin,
2012). This helps in proper development of individuals by enhancing their skills and

capabilities top perform task efficiently. Employees of Marks and Spencer should
carefully asses the employees performance and identify the gap and suggest appropriate
methods to its employees to overcome the problem. This way it helps the employee to
develop their career by enhancing their skills and knowledge. This strategy also worked
in overcoming the problem of case study analysed. Timely feedback to employees- When employees are provided feedback regarding their
performance of work it provides them a great idea to know their strengths and weakness
and take actions accordingly. It helps the employee of the respective organisation to
adopt to certain strategies in order to overcome their weaknesses and perform efficiently.
In context to Marks and Spencer when they are facing the problem of internationalization
which lacks in increasing sales and profit. This problem can be resolved by identifying
the gap in employees performance and provides them feedback of the same which helps
employees to practice other methods and remove the gaps (Casey, 2013). This would be
better for employees as well as for organisation. For organisation it would meet its
objective of increasing sales and profit and for employees it would develop their skills
and capabilities to perform, business activities. Conducting workshops- It is an effective developmental vehicle which addresses
employees problems and provide them effective solution to them. It overall links to
developing individuals and helps to achieve work place achievements. In context to
Marks and Spencer, conducting workshops will also develops relationships among the
individuals thereby increasing their skills and capabilities which helps the respective
company to achieve higher sales and profit for the company. This overall helps in
development of the individual which is a betterment for the organisation. Rewarding employees performance- This is the most motivating factor which helps in
development of individuals at the work place. When the employees are rewarded for
their best performance it creates a sense of motivation and accomplishment among the
employees and makes them feel as an important part of the organisation and induces them
to work more effectively. Staff members within the respective company should be
awarded for their high performance work which makes them highly dedicated towards
their work and helps to achieve goals and objectives of the organisation. This is the most
effective strategy adopted by the Marks and Spencer to develop individual skills and

capabilities. When employees are rewarded it makes them to develop more skills and
knowledge and earn profits for company as well as earn more rewards for their effective
performance. Job rotation- This method helps to develop and enhance individual skills and capabilities
of performing the work effectively. Employees skills can be enhanced and developed
when their job duty is changed within the organisation. In context to marks and Spencer
manager should change the job duty of employee working in the production department
should enhance their skills and capabilities to start their job performance in marketing
department (Connor and Pokora, 2012). It will allow the employees to gain more talent
while performing complex job duties which would enhance their skills and positively
contribute to the organisation. Professional training- Employee training helps to meet the developmental needs of the
individual by ensuring them to work with competency and excellence. In context to
marks and Spencer, it provides the employees a proper knowledge and best practices to
work effectively and understand consumer demands internationally, thereby increasing
the sales of the product. Effective training helps the employee to adopt to best practices
and methods and helps to attain work place achievements. Certain training and
developmental needs makes the work place environment a reliable place and provides
employees with various opportunities to properly collaborate with other team members.
It also develops task related skills with other employees suggestions and ideas and makes
them to work together more effectively.
 Effective coaching and mentoring- Proper coaching and mentoring should be provided
to the employees to develop and enhance their skills and capabilities. In context to Marks
and Spencer it provides good opportunity to the employee to ask effective solutions to the
problems they are facing off when performing the work. When the employee are facing
problem in analysing the different demands of the customer, through effective and
coaching and mentoring managers of the respective company can provide greater insights
to the problems and suggest suitable methods which develops the skills of the employee
in performing the work and also helps in attaining business objectives (Garavan, Carbery
and Rock, 2012).

When such developmental vehicles are adopted by the business firms it enhances
employees skills and capabilities at a large scale. It helps the employee to develop a greater
understanding of customer needs and preferences and achieve higher productivity for the
organisation.
3. Design a plan to meet the identified development needs and expectations of an individual
For the development of an individual every organization design and develop plans so that
staffs can enhance their knowledge and skills which leads to increase in productivity and growth
of a firm. Individual development plan which is designed by management of a workplace is
based on values, reflections, learnings, awareness etc. which help an individual to enhance their
educational knowledge, career, social status, relationship and many more (Heilman, 2012).
Personal develop plan is another known word for the individual development plan. Which
showcase the needs and requirement of individual development or improvement. Developing an
individual also help an organization to enhance their business in international market and some
other benefits of individual development for workplace and employees are describe below:-
 By getting individual development session an individual feel confident and they feel
motivated and encourage while participating in decision making session.
 It help an individual to select appropriate job according to their ability such as enhance in
confidence, quality of work and skills and so on.
 Through individual develop session individual feel motivated to compete with their co
workers for the job or work.
 By this there is enhancement in individual skills and ability such as problem solving and
decision making.
 When an organisation provide individual development they feel motivated and satisfy
towards their job and workplace which leads in increase in productivity and growth.
For Mark and Spencer individual development plan is beneficial because through it they
motivate their employees and enhance their skills which help them to achieve their goal of
increasing business at international market (Holmes and Stubbe, 2015).
In context to Marks and Spencer, they should create individuals development plan to identify
needs and expectation of the individual and plan strategies accordingly as mentioned in case
study. Plan of the company to meet the identified developmental needs of the individual-

Establish the purpose or direction- This is the first step where the respective company
identifies the purpose of developing individual plan. It includes certain factors such as current or
future prospects of the company, identify and evaluate activities in which individuals are
interested at good at, link and connect the plan with goals of organisation. With these factors
they are able to identify and appreciate purpose of individual development.
 Identify developmental needs- After deciding the purpose of individual developmental
managers of the respective organisation should communicate with all its employees the
actual task and responsibility assigned to them as well as identifies dissatisfaction among
employees and plans strategies accordingly. Developmental needs of Marks and Spencer is
dependent on career goals and for individuals it is required for promotion, next job, new career
or self employment. Look at developmental opportunities- After deciding the purpose of individual
development, Marks and Spencer should assist developmental opportunities for its staff
members which enables them to enhance their capabilities and also helps to remove

problems addressed in case study. Respective company can provide training and
developmental needs to the individual, mentoring and workshops to the employee in
order to motivate them to do work efficiently and effectively. This would help the
employees to increase theirs skills which would increase their market share by
generating huge level of profit and revenue for the company (Robles, 2012). It will also
assist open and honest communication between employees and manager at a great level. Formulate action plan- Above identify skills and knowledge by Marks and Spencer
management are directly related to the development of objective. The plan which is
developed by organisation must be SMART- specific, measurable, achievable, realistic
and timely in nature. Plan developed should be challenging in nature which sharps
employee skills and abilities and comes up with new ideas and strategy which helps the
organisation to goal efficiently. Management of respective company should develops
such plans which is measurable and achievable in nature and should be understood to all
its employees.
 Undertake development- In this organisation should keep their developed plan into
action plan and decides what and how to do which is the choice of management. It could
be done through professional training programmes, conducting workshops, job rotation of
employees and gives multiple project to the staff members of the respective company
which enhances the involvement of employees and helps to develop relationship in the
work place and helps to attain workplace achievements. This also helps the employees to
enhance their skills and perform the business operations effectively and helps to achieve higher
sales for the company. It is an effective way of providing training on the job and off the job
which also provides high level of motivation among the employees and encourages them to work
in efficient manner (berg, 2013). Record the outcomes-Keeping record of the outcomes help an organisation to remind
their potential and effective employees or individuals and their effectiveness and
dedication towards work and workplace. The record also helps a firm to identify the
activities which are needed to be develop or get innovate, so that management can focus
on that and make plan and strategies accordingly. When the respective organisation
records data and information, its outcome will help them to develop or create new

strategies for the future growth of the firm. It can also easily compare the past outcomes
with the current one and makes appropriate strategies in future time.
 Review and evaluate-After formulating the plan, last step is to evaluate and identify the
reviews. Review and evaluation is the stage which reflects on two issues whether the
activity they have implemented is appropriate or not or if there is need of improvement in
individual behaviour or not. When the respective company evaluate and review their
plans it helps them to properly formulate effective strategies or update the plan in order to
meet the organisational goals and objectives.
The Mark and Spencer conduct evaluation on basis on Theory X and Theory Y which help them
to overcome the issues that is describe in case study, below is explantation of theory:-
Theory X:- The specific characteristics of an individuals who fall in this criteria are they
required close supervision, they didn't like to do work and get responsibilities they try to avoid it
when possible, they only desire for money, they always required push to do nay work and many
more. So Mark and Spencer develop certain plan and strategies for them which motivate them
and encourage for work and responsibilities (Dane and Brummel, 2014). They do it by
organizing motivational activities and sessions, provide training according to requirements,
motivate them from monetary awards and so on.
Theory Y:- The special characters of these individuals are they are motivated toward
works, they seek and grab responsibilities, they are self motivated, they desire to do work, they
drive themselves to perform etc. The plan or strategies design and develop by management of
Mark and Spencer for these type of individuals are provide training which they required, reward
them, encourage them, provide responsibilities and so on.
By adopting Theory X and Theory Y Mark and Spencer able to understand their
employees and plan strategies and training sessions according to the requirement and through it
they able to overcome and avoid problems which is mention in case study and capable to
increase their business in international market. Through it employees feel motivated and
connected to the company and leads to increase in profit and growth in international market.
Above described points are used to design a plan that meets the identified developmental
needs and expectations of the individual which helps the organisation in achieving goals and
objectives. This individual developmental plan will develop the skills and capabilities of the

individuals in an efficient manner and also helps the organisation in achieving their goals and
objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above covered topics it can be concluded and analysed that enhancing
relationship between the employees at a workplace help an organisation to increase individual
skills and ability at workplace which is essential for effectively intergeneration and coordination
in the work environment. Through it a firm also able to analyse the various drivers which help an
organisation to develop employees skills and knowledges in proper manner according to the
requirement. It is the responsibilities of the management of a firm to develop and maintain
positive environment at workplace with considering staff members and requirement of skills
development. The development plan of individual is also made to evaluate and analysis the
needs and expectations of the employees and then develop strategies accordingly. It is analysis
that when an organisation develop and maintain appropriate relationship between customers it
help them to perform operations and functions in more effective and efficient manner and help
organisation to enhance their business in global basis and operate function in successful manner.

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Online
Individual Development Plan, 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-bank/personal-development-planning>