The Role of Line Managers and Leaders in Employee Development in Organizations

This research aims to identify the role of line managers and leaders in employee development in organizations, with a focus on Marks and Spencer. The research objectives include understanding the importance of line managers and leaders for employee development, identifying employee development methods utilized by them, and determining the challenges faced by them in evolving the development process of employees. The research methodology includes a survey-based approach with a sample size of 30 employees from Marks and Spencer. The findings suggest that employee development is necessary for an organization to perform effectively, and line managers and leaders play a significant role in it. The major employee development methods used by them include training, mentoring, job rotation, and 360-degree performance review. The challenges faced by them include leading a team in a quality manner, deciding employee development methods, and encouraging staff to develop professionally.

Research project
(The role of line managers and leaders in
employee development in organization)

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................3
1.1 Research aim...............................................................................................................................3
1.2 Research objective.......................................................................................................................3
1.3 Research question.......................................................................................................................3
1.4 Research rational.........................................................................................................................4
1.5 Significance of the research.........................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW..........................................................................................................5
What is the importance of line and leaders for the development of the employees?......................5
Which are the employee’s development methods utilizing by the line manager and leader?..........5
What are the key challenges facing by the line manager and leader in order to evolve the
development process of the employees?..........................................................................................6
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...............................................................................................7
3.1 Research philosophy....................................................................................................................7
3.2 Research approach......................................................................................................................7
3.3 Research strategy........................................................................................................................7
3.4 Research choice...........................................................................................................................7
3.5 Time horizon................................................................................................................................7
3.7 Data analysis................................................................................................................................8
3.8 Sampling......................................................................................................................................8
3.9 Research ethics............................................................................................................................8
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS (Data Analysis and Presentation).......................................................................9
Frequency Distribution Table............................................................................................................9
Data presentation............................................................................................................................10
CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION (DATA INTERPRETATION)............................................................................14
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH.16
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................16
RECOMMENDATIONS......................................................................................................................16
IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH.........................................................................................16
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................17

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Employees are the biggest asset for an organisation because they are those people that
are responsible for performing various activities in the workplace. Employees are the most
valuable resource in an organisation so it becomes very necessary to manage, develop and
control them in effective manner. Leader and mangers plays a vital role in developing and
training employee because by their efforts workforce performs their task productively.
Behind the success and development of an organisation the major role is played by the line
manager (Armstrong and Taylor, 2020). They are responsible to develop employee in such a
way that organisation can perform productively and efficiently. The main purpose to conduct
this research is to identify the role of line manger and their impact on employee performance.
For this research chosen organisation is Marks and Spencer. The brand was founded in the
year 1884 by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. It’s headquarter of the company is in
London, United Kingdom. Marks and Spencer is one of the leading British multinational
retail organisation which operates their business worldwide (Bhat and Bharel, 2018).
1.1 Research aim
To identify the role of line manager and leaders in the performance and effectiveness
of the employees: “A study Marks and Spencer”.
1.2 Research objective
 To understand the importance of line manager and leaders for the development of the
employees
 To identify employees development methods utilizing by the line manager and leader
 To determine the challenges facing by the line manager and leader in order to evolve
the development process of the employees
1.3 Research question
 What is the importance of line and leaders for the development of the employees?
 Which are the employee’s development methods utilizing by the line manager and
leader?
 What are the key challenges facing by the line manager and leader in order to evolve
the development process of the employees?

1.4 Research rational
The main reason behind conducting the existing research is that it will help me in
gaining a detailed understanding about the topic as well as enhance knowledge on the role
played by line manger and leaders to improve organisational performance. This investigation
will also quite significant for me as it will assist in attaining two vital objectives that is
personal and professional. With respect to the personal aim, this research will enhance my
knowledge on various method used to complete research in systematic and accurate way. On
the other hand, in perspective to professional objective, i will get to know various strategy
used by the leaders in developing organisation which i can use in my professional career
when i will work as a leader (Heidari and et. al, 2018).
1.5 Significance of the research
The current research is quite significant because it gathers out valuable data about the
role and responsibility of leaders and line manager in an organisation. This research will also
help different stakeholders such as researcher, scholar, organisation, employee, leaders and
many more. The investigation is valuable to researcher as it will use this report as a
foundation to conduct their research. Scholar will be benefited as they will use it to enhance
their academic skills and knowledge. Leader would use this to know about various strategies
and approaches for developing organisation and improving performance (Bernatek-Jakiel and
Poesen, 2018).

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
What is the importance of line and leaders for the development of the employees?
As per the view of Hetland and et. al (2018), line manager and leaders are very
important for the organisation in developing their employee in effective way. The foremost
importance of leaders is they are those person which motivate their followers to work in right
direction which help them to attain organizational goal and objective. They bring out best in
employee which help them to perform their task in more productive and efficient way.
Another significant of line manger and leader is communicating the vision and mission in
sound manner. They with their skills and knowledge communicate the goal of the company to
employee which helps them to develop their skills accordingly so that they can undertake task
in more productive manner. One of the vital importance of line manager is checking on
regular basis employee performance according to the standard set. So if any deviation is
found out then effective measures can be take to develop their workforce in skilled form
(Ahn, Lee and Yun, 2018).
Which are the employee’s development methods utilizing by the line manager and leader?
As per the view of Mikołajczyk (2021), there are various different employee
development method used by Marks and Spencer to develop their workforce in more skilled
form. Some of them are:
Job rotation method: In this method employees are voluntary offers to raote their role with
other employee from different department or position. This will help them to gain more skills
about different job. This will help them to acquire new skills and knowledge towards other
task and activity.
Training and development session: This is the most common and oldest method that is used
by Marks and Spencer to develop their employee. In this method employee skills are being
enhanced by providing training with the help of lectures, videos etc.
Mentoring: In this method superior or experienced person is assigned which act like an
advisor or counsellor to provide guidance to supervisor. This method helps the employee to
grow in their best way by working in an organisation (Jehanzeb and Mohanty, 2018).
360 degree performance review: This is one of the vital method used in M&S to develop
performance of their employee. Under this technique feedback is being accumulated of an
employee by various people like peers, subordinates, line mangers, customer and many more.

This help in identify their skills and then take development opportunity to improve
performance.
What are the key challenges facing by the line manager and leader in order to evolve the
development process of the employees?
As per the view of Pellegrini, Rizzi and Frey (2018), there are various obstacles which
are being faced by line managers and leaders of Marks and Spencer when they try to develop
employee. The foremost challenge that is faced by them is developing strategic plan for their
workforce. As diversified employee works in an organisation which create problem for leader
to make a strategic plan according to the needs and wants of every employee. They cannot
make that decision which help them to develop their employee accordingly. Another problem
that is faced by them in providing training and coaching to each and every employee. As
some of the staff is so rigid that they did not want to take any training. This becomes
problematic as leaders are not able to develop technological skills in them as per the
requirement of today’s. Next crucial challenge that is encounter by leaders is leading a team
in quality manner. The leaders are not able to develop and manage their employee (Tse, To
and Chiu, 2018).

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research methodology refers to systematic process of collecting appropriate
information according to the aim and objective. It helps the investigator to identify, analyse
and interpret data in appropriate manner (Lai, 2018). The major advantage of this section is to
provide valuable and accurate information about the topic selected. There are various
methodologies which is used to gather and analyse data which is being explained below:
3.1 Research philosophy
There are two major type of research philosophy which is positivism and
Interpretivism. As per the current research positivism philosophy has selected to identify and
analyse quantitative data. The reason behind choosing this is it helps in identifying
information in more generalised and objective manner. More freedom to collect valuable data
is also there in positivism philosophy.
3.2 Research approach
Inductive and deductive are the two approach to test the theories based on selected
topic. In current investigation, researcher has selected deductive approach to test quantitative
theories. The benefit to select this approach is it provides numerical data as well as minimum
time is required to test hypothesis (Whicher, Philbin and Aronson, 2018).
3.3 Research strategy
There are different kinds of research strategy some of them are survey, experimental,
case study, action research etc. As per the current requirement, investigator has chosen survey
research strategy. This method is used because mass numerical data can be collected from
wider representative and to gather information least cost will be occur.
3.4 Research choice
There are two type of research method that is quantitative and qualitative. Further
they are divided into mono method, multi method and mixed method. In current research
topic, quantitative data is collected with the help of mono method. There are certain
advantage of quantitative method some of them is numerical data, low cost, least time is
required (Coombes and Ryder, 2019).

3.5 Time horizon
There are two way to invest time for collecting information which is cross sectional
and longitudinal. In present investigation, investor has select cross sectional time horizon to
complete research in shorter period. This time framework takes minimum time to gather and
complete report (Fidahic and et. al, 2020).
3.6 Data collection
Data collection is the process of identifying and gathering data for the selected topic.
Data collection method is divided into two parts that is primary and secondary data. In
current investigation, researcher has selected primary data. The reason behind choosing
primary data collection technique is that fresh data will be collected directly from the
respondent. Data will be gathered in low cost and reliability can be maintained. The research
instrument used for gathering data is questionnaire (Pagany, 2020).
3.7 Data analysis
Frequency distribution and thematic are the two data analysis technique. As per the
current research frequency distribution is used to inspect and evaluate data. The reason
behind selecting this method is that it will analyse numerical data in more quicker and
accurate manner.
3.8 Sampling
There are two methods of sampling such as probability and non-probability. In
present research, researcher has selected probability sampling. Further in that random
sampling is used to select the sample in equal and fair way. The sample size is 30 employees
from Marks and Spencer (Berndt, 2020).
3.9 Research ethics
It is researcher duty to follow certain ethics and norms so that they cannot hurt
anybody sentiments and feelings. Ethical consideration helps the investigator to complete the
research in valuable way. There are certain norms and belief that is needed to be obeyed
which are honesty, integrity, transparency, openness and many more (Barrow, Brannan and
Khandhar, 2021).

CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS (Data Analysis and Presentation)
Frequency Distribution Table
Q1) Do you think employee development is necessary for an
organisation to perform effectively?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
Q2) As per your perspective, do line managers and leaders play
significant role in employee development?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Q3) As per your opinion what is the importance of line manger and
leaders in an Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Providing guidance to followers and supervisor 15
b) Communicating organisational vision 7
c) Developing skilled workforce 5
d) Regular checking of employee performance 3
Q4) As per your knowledge, what are the major employee development
methods used by line manger and leaders in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Training method 8
b) Job rotation 3
c) Mentoring 10
d) 360 degree performance review 9
Q5) According to your experience in the Marks and Spencer, what is the
greatest challenge faced by the line manager and leader in order to
evolve the development process of the employees?
Frequency
a) Encouraging staff to develop professionally 7
b) Leading team in quality manner 11

c) Deciding employee development method 8
d) Raising standards for work performance 5
Q6) As per your opinion, what is the impact of employee development
method on Marks and Spencer organisational performance?
Frequency
a) Positive impact 15
b) Neutral impact 10
c) negative impact 5
Data presentation
Q1) Do you think employee development is necessary for an
organisation to perform effectively?
Frequency
a) Yes 25
b) No 5
a) Yes b) No
0
5
10
15
20
25
25
5
Employee development is necessary for
an organisation to perform effectively
Q2) As per your perspective, do line managers and leaders play
significant role in employee development?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10

a) Yes b) No
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
20
10
Line managers and leaders play
significant role in employee development
Q3) As per your opinion what is the importance of line manger and
leaders in an Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Providing guidance to followers and supervisor 15
b) Communicating organisational vision 7
c) Developing skilled workforce 5
d) Regular checking of employee performance 3

a) Providing
guidance to
followers and
supervisor
b) Communicating
organisational vision c) Developing skilled
workforce d) Regular checking
of employee
performance
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
15
7
5
3
Importance of line manger and leaders in an
Marks and Spencer
Q4) As per your knowledge, what are the major employee development
methods used by line manger and leaders in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Training method 8
b) Job rotation 3
c) Mentoring 10
d) 360 degree performance review 9
a) Training
method b) Job rotation c) Mentoring d) 360 degree
performance
review
0
2
4
6
8
10 8
3
10 9
Major employee development
methods used by line manger and
leaders in Marks and Spencer

Q5) According to your experience in the Marks and Spencer, what is the
greatest challenge faced by the line manager and leader in order to
evolve the development process of the employees?
Frequency
a) Encouraging staff to develop professionally 7
b) Leading team in quality manner 11
c) Deciding employee development method 8
d) Raising standards for work performance 4
a) Encouraging
staff to develop
professionally
b) Leading team
in quality manner c) Deciding
employee
development
method
d) Raising
standards for
work
performance
0
4
8
12
7
11
8
4
Challenge faced by the line manager and
leader in order to evolve the development
process of the employees
Q6) As per your opinion, what is the impact of employee development
method on Marks and Spencer organisational performance?
Frequency
a) Positive impact 15
b) Neutral impact 10
c) negative impact 5

a) Positive impact b) Neutral impact c) negative impact
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
15
10
5
Impact of employee development method
on Marks and Spencer organisational
performance
impact of employee development method on Marks and Spencer organisational performance

CHAPTER 5: DISCUSSION (DATA INTERPRETATION)
Theme 1: Employee development is necessary for an organisation to perform effectively
Interpretation: From the above assembled data it is interpreted that there are 30
employees from Marks and Spencer out of which 25 participants have answered yes that
employee development is very necessary for an organisation to perform effectively because it
helps in aligning work in more productive manner and the rest 5 has answered no that it is not
necessary for the organisation to have developed employee.
Theme 2: Line managers and leaders play significant role in employee development
Interpretation: From the above interpreted information it is analysed that 20
respondent have answered Yes that lie manger and leaders plays a significant role in
developing employee to its full potential. They perform the role of motivating employee,
communicating information and providing necessary training to them which help them to
attain goal and objective. The remaining 10 participants answered no that there is no role
played by line manger and leaders to develop employee for improving organisational
performance.
Theme 3: Importance of line manger and leaders in a Marks and Spencer
Interpretation: With the above accumulated piece of information, it is analysed that
15 participants is of the view that the importance of line manger and leader in the
organisation is to provide guidance to their follower and supervisor to perform in specific
direction. 7 fell they are important for communicating the organisational vision in effective
and efficient manner. 5 says the importance of them is to develop skilled workforce within
the organisation and the rest 3 feel they are important as they check the employee
performance on regular basis.
Theme 4: Major employee development methods used by line manger and leaders in Marks
and Spencer
Interpretation: With the above recorded data it is being analysed that 8 respondent
have said that the major employee development method acquired by Marks and Spencer is
providing training method to their workforce in order to enhance their skills and knowledge.
3 is of the view that they took the method of job rotation in which employee are shift in other
department or in other job which help them to gain additional skills. 10 says that they use the
method of mentoring where leader and line manger act as mentor to guide employee and the

remaining 9 is of the view that 360 degree employee development method is used in which
feedbacks and review are taken from peers, manger about employee performance.
Theme 5: Challenge faced by the line manager and leader in order to evolve the
development process of the employees
Interpretation: With the assemble data it is interpreted that there are various challenges faced
by the line manger and leaders in order to develop employee. 7 employees answered that the
major issue encounter to them was encouraging staff to develop professionally. The other
11participants answered that leading team in quality manner was the main challenges. The
other 8 is of the view that deciding employee development method according to their need
was the major issue. The rest 4 participants feel that raising standard for work performance
was the biggest problem that line manger face.
Theme 6: Impact of employee development method on Marks and Spencer organisational
performance
Interpretation: By the assemble information it is analysed that out of 30 employee 15
participants feel that employee development impact the organisation in positive manner. The
other 10 feel that there will be neutral impact of employee development o organisation and
the remaining 5 is of the view that it will create stress on employee and will impact
negatively on organisation.

CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION AND
IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
CONCLUSION
From the above research topic it is being concluded that employee development has
proving out to be the most effective concept for an organisation. Marks and Spencer gain lot
of advantage with the role played by leaders and line manger to develop their workforce in
more skilled manner. Some of the benefit that is acquired by them is international expansion,
enhance profit, attracting many talented pool of candidate and many more. The role of lime
mangers in the workplaces help the employee to get training through which many new skills
and knowledge can be acquired. The leaders and line managers also help Marks and Spencer
to design many innovative and creative designs with the help of their developed employee.
RECOMMENDATIONS
From the above research topic it is being recommended that it is very important for
line manger and leader to play a significant role in improving organisational performance by
developing employee. It is also suggested that if organisation want to gain competitive
advantage then the line manger need to perform their duty in effective manner. Leaders help
the employee by guiding and motivating them which help in increasing performance and
productivity. It is also recommended that if companies want to reduce their cost then the line
manger and leaders need to build a strong workforce for their organisation.
IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
The existing investigation is based upon the different roles performed by leaders and
line managers in the order to develop employee. This research will be useful for conducting
study on the same topic in future as this research will act as foundation for many other
research works. Researcher will also gain knowledge and skills about assembling information
for attaining objectives. Hence, the current investigation holds great importance in future
research or investigation

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