Enhancing Employability and Professional Development at Harrods

This document provides insights into the process of employability enhancement and professional development at Harrods, a retail giant in the UK. It covers topics such as skill audit of organization performance, key interpersonal tools, SWOT analysis, personal and professional development, and more. The document also highlights the importance of training and developing the human resources of the company.

ESPD

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
Skill Audit of Organization Performance in Reference to HR Manager................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................8
A) Key interpersonal tools and ways to enhance these skills-...............................................8
B) SWOT Analysis...............................................................................................................10
c) Individual appraisal:.........................................................................................................12
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................13
Personal and professional development...............................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
TASK B.........................................................................................................................................16
REFLECTION......................................................................................................................16
RFEFERENCES............................................................................................................................18

INTRODUCTION
Employability enhancement is the process of increasing the potential of the employee
with some set of tools and techniques and also help to maintain the skills which are required in
an organization. These are the set of skills which are developed by the experience gained by the
employee bu their surroundings and past work they had done. Employability helps the employee
to increase their abilities by the help of interviews and test. Which will make the employees have
competent skills, soft skills, transferable skills, personal skills, generic skills and basic skills. The
skills will develop problem solving efficiency, make the employee punctual and more respectful
to the other employees.
Professional development is the process of analyzing the objectives and making the
employees develop their potential according to the objectives so that it will help the employee
achieve the objective of the organization effectively. Professional development will also help the
employee to grow in the organization by increasing job opportunities and also increase the
remuneration. The maIndividual appraisal nagers of the organization are responsible for
improving their employees' efficiency by formulating effective planing of human recourse and
development in the proper way.
This report has a detail information about the retail giant of UK, Harrods. The company
was established in 1849 in England with the aim to provide the best quality products to their
customers and increase the sales to increase the profits and grow the company further. Harrods
also have some subsidiaries which are related to aviation industry as the company own 3 airlines
company and also have the gross revenue of around 2 billion Euros and also employee more
than 12000 employees. The company have also faced many problems in the journey of growth,
and they have also analyzed to change the strategies planning to increase the company's
efficiency in achieving its objectives.
TASK 1
Skill Audit of Organization Performance in Reference to HR Manager
As HR manager I have to conduct the skill audit of my employee's skill and evaluate the
best possible options to develop their skills and help them to increase their efficiency in the

organization. Skill Audit is the process of mapping the skills set and potential of the employees
and help me to analyse the require skills in the organization so that I have to train the employees
to develop those skills or recruit new employees with better potential and new ideas to increase
the productivity of the organization ((Jackson, 2015)). The process which have to follow in
analysing the skills of the employees by setting the objectives, then appointing the best
employees for the task , then dividing the duties and responsibilities of each employee in the
team, then I will collect the data by the help of questionnaires, interviews about the thought
process of the employees about the objectives and the skills required in that task, the next step
will be giving specific knowledge and training to the employees who are not competent and then
after providing the right techniques and methods to achieve the task efficiently. The next step is
taking the feedback of the employees performance and then making the required strategy with
my collected report for the organization(Suleman, 2016.).

Need to improve the work Not 100 per cent sure Confident
TIME AND SELF MANAGEMENT
I have used the time management effectively to achieve my set objective on
time.
I know where my grievances will be solved.
I update myself with more reading the books and also go the seminars which
help me to improve a lot.
I have also effectively increased my enthusiasm in doing the task and making
my organization more productive and also help me to fulfil my personal goals.
CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING
I use my experience to deal with the problem so that I can solve the problem and
make my work more effective.
I have learned to develop my own problem solving system where I can record
all the past problems in my journal and refer to it when required according to the
problem.
The organization also helped me to develop a team coordination so that I can be
effective in achieving the objectives and increase my performance in doing the
task.

I have also learned to be more flexible and not rigid to the new strategies and
policies applied by the organization as that will improve my skills and help me
develop better.
ORAL COMMUNICATION
I have learned to be positive in listening to others and also create some
understanding benefiting my knowledge.

I have learned a lot from the training myself and now I have the ability to have
creative idea which are helpful in or the organization.
It has also given me insight of sticking to my decision-making and made me
more courageous in doing the task of the organization.
I have also increased my speaking skills which helped to do presentation and
seminars which also helped me to increase the knowledge of other employees as
well.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
I can assure you that I can make assignment in paragraphs with posting of sign
language to communicate my ideas.
Ability to create notes and points from the presentation and meetings.
My written work will have no errors of spelling, punctuation and grammatical.
Ability to work with the no plagiarism with taking the reference from the other.
I write in academic style.
The content written by me will have correct format for letters and documents.
I will present my sources in such a way that my argument looks convincing and
the company will know that I am informed and aware of the topic.
INFORMATION LITERACY: READING
I can collect information from many sources such as data on internet, from
books etc.
Ability to understand the requirement of the client with the take the right step to
solve it.

I make notes when I am looking for information regarding an assignment.
I can easily look out for main arguments in the text by author and distinguish
them from example and references
NUMERACY
Ability to study the graphs and tables and analysis of the present data.
Ability to create a budget for each departments so that funding can be done
accordingly.
Task 2
A) Key interpersonal tools and ways to enhance these skills-
Time and Self Management
 It helps the employee to increase the
insight by giving more time to think
and make more effective decisions.
 The self management skills can also be
done with dividing the task and making
the schedules which can be easily
attained (Asonitou , 2015).
 Time and self management also help
the individual be more active and
attentive while understanding the task
and also help with innovative idea as a
person cannot think when he is under
pressure to complete his work because
at that time his main motive will be to
complete the work any how.
Problem Solving
 The skills will enable the employee
understand the information and work
according to it. The employee can also
give self challenges to motivate and
achieve its objectives effectively
(Collet , Hine and Du Plessis, 2015).
 Employees who are involved in the
other social activities like taking part in
the clubs and also helping them this
will also increase the experience of the
employee in solving the problem and
also increases the efficiency
(Messumand et.al., 2016).
 The employ who are participating in

quizzes and questionnaire which will
increase the capacity of thinking faster
and better will help the to resolve their
organizational objective effectively.
Oral communication
 The involvement in debates and reading
of many literatures will increase the
knowledge of the employee and also
increase the communication of the
employee.
 The employee who are very much
involved in the organization and also
treat every employee respectfully are
likely to increase the communication
skills as they will communicate with
every employee and will learn different
ideology (El Mansour and Dean , 2016).
 The employee who participate in the
events outside the organization will also
increase their oral communication as
they will gain much knowledge which
will increase their confidence in sharing
their thought to other in the
organization.
 Making teams and doing activities
together to help each other with their
work will improve their communication
skills (Cottrell , 2015).
 Reading literature will enhance the
knowledge and will also help in
Written Communication
 The feedback is the best way the
employee can l;earn and also write
their feelings and also could understand
the human behaviour (Singh and et.al,
2017).
 The information which is written by
you should be given to other for their
opinions so you can understand your
flaws and also increase your skills by
that.
 If you are provided the written project
then you should get a brief planning
before starting to write the project so
that you can know all the aspects to
cover in the communication which will
make it more effective.
 Attending seminars and solving the
value based questions will increase
your thinking capacity and quality of
writing.
 You should also know the background
and mission and vision of the company
before making the report or analyse all
the factors which will make your report
more appealing and effective for the

providing innovating ideas and new
vocabulary will also be developed.
 The recreational activities will keep the
employee stress free and that will also
help them to increase their decision-
making with clear mind and that will
also be effective.
 The employees should also indulge
more in group activities and also should
have a proper knowledge of the new
trends of the communication like non-
verbal communication, like gestures
which doesn't speak a work and means a
lot to the other person.
organization.
Numeracy
 The employee must have a brief
knowledge about the number and figure
to solve the problems.
 The person should also challenge itself
to remember all the data so that will
help the employee to increase the
efficiency In solving the required task
easily.
 You should also know all the aspects of
management so that it will help you to
arrange all the data systematically so
you can access it easily and solve it.
 The employee must also learn to be fast
in the mathematical areas to calculate
the numbers accurately as it will impact
the organization objectives directly.
B) SWOT Analysis
Strengths
My strengths are basically I am good at planning long term goals of our organization, I
always remain updated with the current issues the company's workforce is facing and always try
my best to recruit the most talented applicants and retain those employees. I have strong
communication and interpersonal skills, confident and dynamic with presenting my personality. I
strongly think that I am good at working under pressure and meeting the deadlines. I have

completed my MBA in finance and I think can manage my team well and I also believe in my
leadership skills to influence people and motivate them to work with me and so, the people
working under me are completely satisfied with the way of my working. I will also increase the
efficiency of the organization by contributing in it by improving my skills to create the better
workforce of the organization. Harrods have also analysed the importance of training and
developing the human resource of the company which will increase the potential of the
employees and also provide better performance.
Weaknesses
I think I am not good with managing the freshers, I am more comfortable working with
experienced employees Also, I am not comfortable at handling long meetings because of my low
sitting power. I think I generally take a lot of time in planning my work as I want it to be as
appropriate as possible, so this takes me more time. I m not good with cross questioning, and I
am little hesitant while asking questions. I am a little short tempered if things are not completed
at the required time. I think I need to improve my time management skills on planning my work.
Also, I need to work upon my questioning skills and ask my juniors about their mistakes. As the
Harrods lack in creating innovative ideas and also have many drawbacks which the company
have analysed. The company lack the motive of competition as they are settled only in one
market and are lacking the proper market trends which is not effective in modern strategies'
formulation of the company. The company must also increase the services online as they lack In
systematic delivery of their products to their customers creating a bad image in the market and
lowering the customer preferences in the company.
Opportunities
Mainly all the opportunities for me is any governmental changes which will positively
affects the company's recruiting policies. Any government contract which will bring a significant
revenue increase. I always look for these opportunities to gain this and be the first to grab these
opportunities to get the benefit of the first mover advantage. My opportunities also includes the
wide variety of applicants I get recruit the best employee for the required work, this is my
greatest opportunity as the people I recruit help our organization to grow. Other opportunities for
my advancement include event planning, compensation and benefit management, and training
managers. I have also suggested my supervisors that there is a huge demand of online business
and people are very keen to buy their products online which will also help my company to grow

and increase their profits, another opportunity which I analysed was that the HR manager should
hire more new talents which will help the company to accumulate new ideas and help them to
make new effective strategies. One aspect which will help the company to grow rapidly which is
aggressive marketing and promotion of the products and services and also attract customer with
new technological advancements which will also help the company to increase the sales and
achieve the set objectives earlier.
Threats
The greatest threats for me includes any interdepartmental conflicts of employees as this
will lead to the work not completed in time and will affect the entire organization, so this must
be resolved for the effective and efficient completion of work. Another potential threat is
improper resource planning may lead to over staffing or understaffing, this can be mitigated by
building a recruitment program to hire the right people, also the unethical behaviour of business
leaders lead to employee leaving their job, so I must take the responsibility to educate all
employees of the company’s culture, beliefs and values, while training those who manage others
in their leadership skills. I need to ensure that third-party resources are carefully managed as
misclassifying workers could subject the business to audits and penalties, this could be mitigated
by understanding local and the relevant international labour laws to follow the basic principles
correctly. There are many threats which I have analysed in the process of making new strategies
as the company is facing a huge competition in the market o retail chain in UK and the world.
The company I have also analysed that the customers are more attracted to the different e-
commerce shopping stores than my company's as they are finding their products more innovative
and in low prices and the company should also increase the efficiency and invest in research and
development more to lower the products prices and increase the sales by attracting more
customers.
c) Individual appraisal:
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
Quality of work: effective quality of work refers to the increase in the productivity of the
company. The sales of the Harrods will also increase if the company provides the b est quality
products to their customers if the quality of the work is effective then the customer needs and
wants will be satisfied. The customer will purchase if the company will provide the quality
products and services to their customer. The best quality products helps to maintain the image

of the Harrods and good reputation in the markets.
Productivity: the productivity will increase of the company in the with the better and effective
marketing strategies in the business. The Harrods have the best marketing policies nd the
strategies that will helps to increase the productivity of the business. The effective quality of the
products increase the productivity of the business. Efficient and effective technology helps to
improve the productivity of the business in the competitive markets.
Knowledge of job: for the effective and successful business the company the better knowledge
of the job it will help to improve the reputation of the business in the current and future
environments (Fulgence , 2016.). The Harrods will improve their skills and knowledge of the
employees so that every employee have the full and perfect knowledge of the job and perform
their activities tp reach their goals. The perfect knowledge of the job will helps to achieve the
goals of the company and expand their business in the future.
Decision making: the decision-making skills is low so it will create problem in the functioning
of the business. The perfect decision-making skills will leads to the success and growth of the
Harrods. The manger of the Harrods have loses in giving the perfect decision to their employees
because of that the speed to reach the goals of the company is slower. The effective decision
power will makes the company best in the competitive markets.
Technical skills: the technical skills of the Harrods is bad sometimes so it will reduce the
company strength and increase the weakness of the company. This technical skills is the
weakness for the business operations of the Harrods. There is need to improve the technical
skills of the Harrods because it will help in the faster and easy success and growth of the
business (Tsitskari and et.al., 2017). It will make the business operation easier and achieve the
goals of the company at the faster rate.
Task 3
Personal and professional development
Key Skills Activities Duration Development Assessment of Detailed

to be
developed
Required For
Development
Monitoring
Approach
Development Evaluation
Decision
Making
Always be aware
with full
information
2
months
Decision-making
skills is very
essential in the
organization as it
help In creating a
better will improve
after taking bad
decisions (Overton
and McGarvey ,
2017.). skills as he
would not make the
same mistake again.
Goal is to reduce the
risk of these external
factors and their
consequences that
Individual appraisal
comes from taking
bad decisions.
The supervisors
are supposed to
give them the
task and
challenges to
analyse the
development
progress of the
employee and the
person can also
give them some
hypothetical
situation and see
weather he is
performing good
or not.
As this skill
is very
important in
every aspect
of the
organisation
from
managemen
t that is
planning,
organising,
directing,
staffing,
motivating,
controlling.
The
employees
who have
better
decision-
making
abilities will
be more
efficient in
doing their
task and
help the
organizatio
n to be

more
productive.
Individual
appraisal
Technical
Skills
Knowledge of
Technical
resources
6
months
There are many
approaches which
will help the
employee increase
their technical skills
and some of them
are by learning
about the
environment and
analyse the trends in
which the skills will
be used the
employee should
also be having
knowledge about the
technological
changes and learn
them to increase
their personality.
The supervisor
will analyse the
employee by
giving them task
which involve the
technical skills
and also help
them to
understand the
skills so that they
can use them
more effectively
(Quendler and
Lamb , 2016).
The
organizatio
n should
make new
policies
which will
train their
managemen
t and
employee
about the
importance
of technical
skills as
technology
is changing
rapidly and
to compete
in the
market the
company
must also
acquire this
knowledge
and increase
their
effective.

CONCLUSION
From the bases of above study it has been how much employability skills and
professional development skills are important in the organization. In this study has been
concluded skills audit in the context of personal roles and responsibility of the employees and
also describes various objectives of the organization. In this study has been also included
interpersonal and transformable skills and also provides some tools and technique's. In this study
also included the SWOT, Harrods and the employee's employability skills and the performance
development skills. In this study has been also included the personal and professional
development plan which include clear aim, objectives and area of development. This study is
completely is base on roles of employees their responsibility and the performance in the
organization. By using this effective tools and technique's organization can also enhance
employability skills.
TASK B
REFLECTION
According to the SWOT analysis of Harrods. As a HR manager I have gone through
various situations for the company in which my prior focus was always to help and coordinate
my team with providing a consistent training and development. To earn my place at the company
I have improved my skills and knowledge and the way I complete the task I have found multiple
and improved ways to do it. I have improved my decision making skills so that my career at
Harrods will be developed. I work on providing new ideas and skills and new ways of method to
complete the process as it helps Harrods to achieve their organizational objectives and prepare
them for future opportunities. I have developed my communication skills instead of speaking
harshly and in a orthodox way now I talk softly with the team and make them understand things
in a simple way. It has also helped me as I remain calm now it has helped me develop my
thoughts to come up with new ways to help the team and motivate them. It has helped Harrods a
lot to grow and evolve in many ways. I have learned many things while working at Harrods for
instance I have developed skills such as time management so that I can mange the work in time.
At the time of work load how to delegate the work among employees and how to manage the
time in relation with completion of work. I have had practice of improving the managerial skills
so that work don't get messed up and gets completed efficiently and I deal with the measures

which concerns to different business environment. I have developed my motivational skills
earlier I was not good with it and the employees was not satisfied with me and the company
which affected the work but now I have improved them now whenever a employee performs
good I appreciate them and tell them how valuable they are to this company and the company
needs them. I motivate them towards achieving a common goal. There is no 'I' in the company
there is only place for 'we' in the company. I have developed my leadership skills now I assign
work according to their designation and potential so that they don't have to work under pressure
and spoil the work which will result in loss of the company and loosing of client. That is why I
don't put anyone under pressure and treat everyone equally so that anyone doesn't have a sense of
brassiness. I always plan before assigning the work and in an effective way which will help the
managers, employees various departments and the company. I have developed and improved my
attributes in order to get a career in Harrods and be a part of their team. I have always wanted to
work for the company and work as their HR manager which now I have achieved by improving
my skills and attributes. I also had some problems and weakness while I was developing then I
examined them and improved it. At times, I was of no use to them and was not able to help them
during the time of achieving organizational objectives. The main problems were sometimes I
noticed there was a problem related to awareness and collection of data in the company.
Sometimes information was not provided to employees and this was the biggest problem. I faced
many difficulties in resolving that problem. Problems of skilled employees was there because of
them I was not able to understand what the customer wants and what the company wants. I was
not able to crack the specific purpose for this and more problems I faced. This was a genuine
problem that I analyzed at the time of SWOT analysis the data the company get from its sources
plus the data that employees of the company has been not at all accurate. I faced problems on the
issues which were related to confidence I lacked in it I also had a problem to look out for the key
elements such as strength, weakness, opportunities and threats and key opportunities that would
boost the company in terms of sales and increase the growth and development from it. I faced
problem in controlling the work and controlling the department. At the time of work load I could
not understand what to do to handle the situation and what measures to take, so I can neutralize
it. I was not even able to control the changes such as changes made by the government when
they change the rules and regulations like inflation in the market rates of products which comes
in consumer goods. According to the things and weaknesses I analyzed I had to improve my

skills and I have worked on them where I was lacking so that I could be a better manager for the
Harrods. After analyzing my objectives strength and weakness I know what my goals are and I
was able to see clearly the opportunities and weakness of the organization and where the
company was lacking behind where it needed improvement. As a HR manager I need to utilize
my every minute to focus on the growth of the company and also to influence the staff towards
attaining a common goal for the company. I also intend to motivate the employees at every stage
when they deserve it and never scold them or discriminate on the basis of any kind of role they
play. All the things I mentioned was needed to develop my career as a HR manager and also to
help the company grow in every department. Putting more efforts in work and completing it on
time will reflect my name when the company achieves success for the organization.

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