Employability Skills and University Performance

This assignment delves into the essential employability skills required by recent graduates in today's competitive job market. It analyzes various sources to identify key skills employers seek and examines how university performance appraisals influence graduate employability. Additionally, the assignment explores the significance of effective teamwork within organizations and the factors that contribute to successful team performance.

EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Developing job objectives and a set of own responsibility..............................................1
1.2 Evaluate your own effectiveness against the objective....................................................2
Recommendation regarding the appraisal system..................................................................2
1.4 motivational techniques to improve the quality of performance of the employees ........3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
2.1 Solution for work place problem regarding the operators................................................3
2.2 communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner. Ways in which
communication can be improved in modern setting using variety of tools............................4
2.3 Identifying time management strategy and stating the reason behind it being effective 4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 The role of members in a team and how they can work together to achieve goals .........5
3.2 Explain team dynamics.....................................................................................................6
3.3 Alternative ways to complete the tasks and attain the goal..............................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
4.1 Evaluate tools or methods of finding solution to problems..............................................7
4.2 Develop a strategy in order to resolve a particular problem............................................8
4.3 Evaluate the potential impact of implementation of strategy on the business.................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills are important in order to achieve the goals of the organization. The
organization need skilled workers to work in the organization. The report will focus on Tesco.
Tesco is a retail supermarket chain based in UK. It is one of the biggest retail giants in the
nation. This report will cover the description of job in the organization Tesco and also the
development of job objectives. Moreover, the report emphasizes upon solutions to the identified
problems along with the effectiveness of better communication in given scenario (Rosenberg,
2012). Besides this, the report will suggest the role and importance of members in a team and
provided with some recommendations to enhance team performance to obtain targeted goals.
TASK 1
1.1 Developing job objectives and a set of own responsibility
Job objectives of a marketing manager is to make the strategy and plans for marketing
and promotion of the organization. Job objectives are important to mark in order to obtain the
given goal.
Objective
 To create plans and implement them to enhance the sales of Tesco.
 To find the preferences of the consumers and also the current trend of the market.
Through the collected market find a way to create demand for the products offered by
Tesco. This can be done by offering the products under attractive offers which will
develop demand.
Job Description
 My key role is to find different ways to retain the customer base and also take initiatives
to enhance the customer base of the supermarket.
There are certain responsibilities of the marketing staff.
I am responsible to make marketing strategy for improving the market share of Tesco in retail
market (Zaharim, 2010).
 I am also accountable to create the customer satisfaction through the services in provided
in the supermarket and also the products offered.
1.2 Evaluate your own effectiveness against the objective
The organization has not successfully reached the projected sales in the first quarter of
the year. Moreover, it also pointed that sales from last three years were also less than the
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anticipated sales value. The results clearly shows that the objectives were not successfully met
out and is a sign of poor performance.
 The implementation of marketing was not successful. My prime objective was not
reached which lead to lack in sales of products of the supermarket. Ineffective marketing
strategy, inaccurate forecasting and others might be the reasons for such poor results.
 The objective to enhance demand failed due to less attractive offers provided by Tesco. I
was not able to develop attractive offers which could develop demand for the products in
the market (Tymon, 2013). This lead to sales being lower than the expected figure.
 I was also not able to retain customer through superior product and service quality. The
shift of customers to other supermarket i.e. Sainsbury, Greggs Plc, Marks and Spencer
has created lower sales and also market share.
Evaluation of Tesco’s Appraisal system
The appraisal system of the company is not competent which leads to non-satisfaction
among the employees. Tesco's appraisal process is concerned with the performance of individual
performance. Individual are to suggest their goals in the start of the year and their performance is
judged keeping in mind the personal goals of the employees. The lack of details about the job
creates performance which is lower than the standards and which leads to no appraisal in the
company.
Recommendation regarding the appraisal system
 Tesco should give the individuals the information about the job description and
objectives. The company should define goals so the individual are aware of its objectives.
 The company must also define specific jobs for the individuals and also do job analysis
for the individuals so that he individuals can do their specific job and get the appraisals.
Tesco must design a clear appraisal system including both monetary and non-monetary awards
so as to motivate the workers (Wibrow, 2011).
 The company must also note the performance of the individuals on a weekly basis; this
will note the performance accurately, so that, company can reward employees.
1.4 motivational techniques to improve the quality of performance of the employees
Motivation helps the employees to boost their dedication level and enthusiasm, as a
result, they work harder. The performance of the staff is increased when they are praised by the
managers. There are several techniques to motivate the employees.
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 Positive work environment: It is responsibility of the manager to create a positive
working environment in the store. When the environment of the supermarket is healthy
and positive, the employees feel motivated and their performance increase.
 Incentives: The performance of the employees can also be enhanced by giving them
incentives over any extra work done by them. Incentives may be financial or some gift.
This act of the company increases performance of employees.
 Recognition: By recognition of the performance and giving title according to the
performance motivate the employees to work even harder to earn the recognition (Poon,
2012.). The recognising of the work and providing respect creates competition between
the employees to work harder.
 Praising: When the employees are praised by the manager for their good performance
they feel motivated to work even harder to get the praising from the manager. This
improves their performance.
TASK 2
2.1 Solution for work place problem regarding the operators
The operators are not aware of what is expected from them due to non existence of any
agreement between the management and operators. This problem creates quality rejection from
the management and the operators get frustrated. The issue can be solved by the company by
conducting meetings with the operators. The operators must be called for a meeting with the
managerial team on a regular basis to avoid any confusion. The management must tell the
operators about the standards of the quality i.e. ISO 9000, BS and others which will help the
employees to understand what they have to make in order get the quality right (Chen, 2010). In
the meeting the management must also tell operators the vision of the company and what their
goals are. This will create a better understanding between both of them. Having a clear and well-
defined goals guide the entire team to work in a right direction so as to accomplish the expected
goals and contribute towards the company success.
The management must also listen to the problems of the operators in order to understand
the problems faced by them. They must also try to find the issue behind the frustration of the
employees and the problem of their resignations from the company. This will help the
management to understand the problems faced by employees and also find a solution their issues.
The company must try to make the working environment healthy for the operators which will
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motivate them to work in the company. This move will also help the organization to retain
experienced employees and avoid the cost of training new ones.
2.2 communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner. Ways in which communication
can be improved in modern setting using variety of tools
Communication is between the employees to improve the performance of the company.
The way of interactions differs on the basis of the communication style. The company uses a
number of ways of communication on various levels of the company. The interaction has
changed in modern scenario between the employees has changed in wide way (Chattopadhayay,
2012.). With the use of different tools the communication in modern setting is broader and faster.
The decision making has become quick and the operations have become quick in the scenario.
There are various levels in the organization and each requires appropriate communication
medium as well as style. These have been discussed below:
 Strategic level: This level comprises of the top management level in an organization.
While communicating to this level, Emails, meetings and memos can be used. E-mail
serves as a very fast means of information exchange between the company executives.
Intranet can also be used for communicating information at this level. In this, a network
is created within the company (Finn, 2010). This kind of network helps the employees to
connect in different geographical places.
 Middle level: After the decisions have been made at the strategic level, the managers at
the middle level are required to implement them. At this level, there is a need to give
feedback to the senior management as well as to communicate information in the teams.
Hence, at this level, meetings and presentations can be used for communicating
information (Finn, Currie and Martin, 2010).
 Operational level: At the operational level, communication can be undertaken through
mails and meetings.
2.3 Identifying time management strategy and stating the reason behind it being effective
.
To: The Manager
Date: 12 September 2017
Subject: Time-management strategies
I hereby
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The organization needs to adopt a time management strategy to cut the under performance and
wastage of time. The company needs to make a clear time table of the coming in and going out
time of operators in the company as the time wasted from late arrival during morning and extra
time taken after the lunch. The manager needs to prepare a time schedule for all the workers to
follow and also allocate daily targets to the each worker.
The implementation of this strategy will clear the target to be achieved by the workers and also
will reduce wastage of time
Prioritising : the employees must prioritise the work, they must do the work first which is to
given first.
Scheduling ; The management must make a clear schedule will help the workers to check their
work and they can complete it on time.
TASK 3
3.1 The role of members in a team and how they can work together to achieve goals
A team is made of group of individual with having different sets of skills and abilities
which work together to reach a common objective. The goals of the team are set by members of
team and the roles are given to employees on the basis of their skills and abilities. Every member
is given a specific task to which helps the team to get to its objectives (Cornelissen, 2010). It is
the responsibility of the members to complete his task in the given amount of time.
Role of team members
 Coordination: In the team working, all the people coordinates with each other which
helps them to achieve goals within the time given to the team to achieve it. It can be
gained by the team through effective communication and time management. It is the job
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of the team leader to look upon the work of the individual and also coordinate work
between the team members. This creates effective working and the goal of expected
sales can be achieved.
 Cooperation: There must be cooperation between the team members to achieve the goal.
The team members and leader must be aware of the skills of the individuals and tasks
must be assigned to the members according to their skills. Also, the members must help
each other in the completion of task, this creates friendly behaviour and helps the team to
fill the lacking 30% in the sales.
3.2 Explain team dynamics
Team dynamics is defined as the psychological factors that affect the performance of
team. These factors include the environment in which the team works the different individuals in
the team, nature of work, relationship between team members.
 Personalities of members: The most effecting factor of team dynamics is the member of
the team. The team is made up of various individuals with variant attribute and
background (Hayes, 2010). These differences often create problems within the team. It is
important for the team members to respect the variance in their background. This effect
the working of the team in a wide way as any conflict in the team give rise to inefficiency
in the team.
Relationship between the team members: The relationship between the team members plays a
major role in the efficiency of the team. The performance is highly effected by the relationship
between the team members, if they carry healthy relationship the coordination between the
members is good. They also have appropriate communication. Thus, it leads to effective
performance and unsuccessful plan
Nature of work: The nature of vary the team and the team dynamics. The team is prominently
effect by the kind of work they do. When the work done by the team is complex it effects all the
members (Braun, 2013). The psychological state of the members is not same and there can be
difference in opinion between the members and this will increase differences in the team and the
implementation of marketing plan will be unsuccessful.
 Environment of workplace: The environment of the marketing department must be
healthy and friendly otherwise members of team will get frustrated and demotivated
which will decrease their performance.
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3.3 Alternative ways to complete the tasks and attain the goal
The goals can be achieved thorough working in group and sharing work within the team.
This can be implemented with various ways to ensure success in performance and team
solidarity.
 Brainstorming: This process includes hosting meetings with the team in order to share
ideas and creativity. The trainee manager should call meeting for the for planning and
preparation of strategy, this will enhance connectivity and motivate the employees as
they will feel valued (Cordery, 2010). This session will also benefit the planning process
as the new ideas and innovation will be shared by the team members.
 Focus: The team must decide their course of actions and the working schedule. The team
leader must make a proper course for implementation of marketing plan and this course
must be strictly followed to enhance performance. This way the team will reach the
desired goals in time.
 Measuring success : The best way to measure success is to set expectation on the basis of
statistical data and decide standards for the quality of the activities. For the measurement
can be done with by comparing of the actual performance with those set points of
success.
Allocation of compatible duties: A team can attain its goal when the given task is performed by
the expert in the field (Galegher, 2014). The trainee manger is the one who allocates duties to the
team members, he must ensure to give the task to the personnel who is expert in the field or
attributes required to complete the task. This will ensure success in the completion of the task
and overall team goal.
TASK 4
4.1 Evaluate tools or methods of finding solution to problems
There are several tools and methods which can be used to solve problems in the current
situation. These tools help to reach conclusion or solution with various approaches towards the
issue.
 Inductive reasoning: This tool of problem solving focuses on observation of the solution
and finds the solution through reasoning process. In the process of finding a solution or
conclusion every outcome, event, idea and observation is studied and put together and a
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simplified conclusion is found. The study includes evaluation and reasoning of all the
factors and outcomes to identify a unified solution that is best for the business.
The problem arises when the reasoning part is based on data which is faulty or other factors
influencing the reasoning, if the reasoning is not done properly then the solution will be
unsuccessful.
 Problem can be solved through step by step method of problem solving.
Identify the problem: In this step the issue is identified by finding the flaws in the process and
asking the staff about the issues faced by them (O'Connor, 2012)
◦ Evaluating the problem: Once the issue has been identified, the manager evaluated
the problem which is causing the lack in performance. In this process the root cause
of the problem is found and also the factors effecting it are identified.
◦ Alternate solutions: Many alternate solutions are drawn to the identified problem.
◦ Selecting alternative: In this step the evaluation of the alternatives is done in order to
find the most suitable alternative. The solution which is most suited to address the
problem is selected.
◦ Taking action: After the solution is selected. Action is taken according to the selected
solution.
The issue faced in this method is that the problem may not be solved if any of the step is not
followed correctly. The main problem faced by the company is the lack of sales due to under
performance by the employees (Wibrow, 2011). This can be solved by these method by identify
the cause of the under performance and then finding alternative to it.
4.2 Develop a strategy in order to resolve a particular problem
The organization is facing a serious problem of not meeting the sales expectation. The
company is facing the issue regularly and the sales target is not being met by the marketing
department. An effective strategy needs to be developed to address the problem.
 Finding cause of problem: In this step the cause of low sales needs to be found in order to
find the solution. After evaluating the problem it was found that cause of degraded sales
is the under performance of the staff members. The employees were not performance up
to their full potential due to the demotivating factors of unsatisfying appraisal system and
low unhealthy working environment in the department.
The manager needs to make a strategy to resolve the problem.
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Drawing up solutions and taking action:
 Mangers must make changes in the appraisal system of the company. The system must
focus on individual performance and note the activities which are performed by the
individuals (Poon, 2012). This will motivate the employees and they will work harder to
improve their performance.
 The manager should organise a meeting with the staff to gain knowledge about the need
and issues faced by them in the workplace. Then the needs of the employees must be
fulfilled by the manager, this will create a positive environment in the workplace and
enhance motivation to give performance up to full potential.
4.3 Evaluate the potential impact of implementation of strategy on the business
There was a positive and negative impact of the implementation of strategy on the
business.
 Change in the appraisal system had a turning impact on the business operations as the
employees stated working hard to increase their performance which accumulated the
sales in the quarter. The expected sales were reached and the revenue enhanced due to
increased sales. But due to this the competition within the employees for the appraisal
increased, this lead to unfriendly behaviour and also conflicts in the department. The
unhealthy competition degraded the performance of some employees and they felt
unsatisfied with the change.
 The change in workplace environment created a positive affect on workers which helps to
maximize staff performance (Hayes, 2010). This lead to increase in the sales figures of
organization. Healthy working environment increased the working capacity of the
workers as they felt valued and motivated.
CONCLUSION
The report concludes that the roles and objectives of the employees in the organization
affect the working of organization in large way. Moreover, it is inferred that effective.
Communication between employees and the management leads to successful operation and high
performance besides this, time management is important to in order to finish work on time.
Lastly, it concluded that team work can be achieved by sound cooperation and coordination. In
addition to this, team dynamics advantaged the firm and also provide hindrance in achievement
of goal.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Rosenberg, S. Heimler, R. and Morote, E.S. 2012. Basic employability skills: a triangular design
approach. Education+ Training, 54(1). pp.7-20.
Zaharim, A. Yusoff, Y.M. Mohamed, A. Omar, M.Z., Muhamad, N. and Mustapha, R., 2010,
April. Practical framework of employability skills for engineering graduate in Malaysia.
In Education Engineering (EDUCON). 2010 IEEE (pp. 921-927). IEEE.
Tymon, A., 2013. The student perspective on employability. Studies in higher education, 38(6),
pp.841-856.
Wibrow, B., 2011. Employability Skills. At a Glance. National Centre for Vocational Education
Research Ltd. PO Box 8288, Stational Arcade, Adelaide, SA 5000. Australia.
Poon, J., 2012. Real estate graduates’ employability skills: the perspective of human resource
managers of surveying firms. Property management, 30(5). pp.416-434.
Chen, J.K. and Chen, I.S., 2010. A Pro-performance appraisal system for the university. Expert
Systems with Applications, 37(3), pp.2108-2116.
Chattopadhayay, R. and Ghosh, A.K., 2012. Performance appraisal based on a forced
distribution system: its drawbacks and remedies. International journal of Productivity and
performance Management, 61(8), pp.881-896.
Finn, R., Currie, G. and Martin, G., 2010. Team work in context: institutional mediation in the
public-service professional bureaucracy. Organization Studies, 31(8), pp.1069-1097.
West, M.A., 2012. Effective teamwork: Practical lessons from organizational research. John
Wiley & Sons.
Cornelissen, J.P. and Clarke, J.S., 2010. Imagining and rationalizing opportunities: Inductive
reasoning and the creation and justification of new ventures. The Academy of Management
Review, pp.539-557.
Hayes, B.K., Heit, E. and Swendsen, H., 2010. Inductive reasoning. Wiley interdisciplinary
reviews: Cognitive science, 1(2), pp.278-292.
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Braun, S., Peus, C., Weisweiler, S. and Frey, D., 2013. Transformational leadership, job
satisfaction, and team performance: A multilevel mediation model of trust. The
Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), pp.270-283.
Cordery, J.L., Morrison, D., Wright, B.M. and Wall, T.D., 2010. The impact of autonomy and
task uncertainty on team performance: A longitudinal field study. Journal of
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Galegher, J., Kraut, R.E. and Egido, C., 2014. Intellectual teamwork: Social and technological
foundations of cooperative work. Psychology Press.
O'Connor, R.V. and Basri, S., 2012. The effect of team dynamics on software development
process improvement.
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