The Role of Line Managers and Leaders in Employee Development in UK Retail Industry

PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM
Student Name
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Proposed Title The role of line managers and leaders in employee development
within UK retail industry
Section One: Title, aims, objectives
Title:
The contribution of leaders and line managers and in developing employees in UK retail industry
Introduction
Talent management is the process used for retaining talented or knowledgeable workforce within a
working environment. in talent management, leaders and line managers are played various roles that are
training and development, motivation, developing flexible working environment, and providing rewards
and benefits (Al-Hussaini and et. al., 2019). Within this research, Next plc is a chosen fashion retailer that
was founded in 1864 by the Joseph Hepworth. Talent management at workplace is more beneficial for
Next plc in retaining finest talent, helps an organisation in accomplishment of vision, improves customer
satisfaction and many others (Next plc - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History,
Background Information on Next plc, 2022). There are several initiatives or actions that would be taken by
Next plc while managing and developing talented employees at workplace. These are; succession
planning, relationship management, training and development, job rotation, role design, providing
opportunities, recognition and reward, maintaining individual identity etc.
Aim:
“To identify the roles played by leaders and line managers in talent management and development within
a working environment of an organisation”: A study on Next plc
Objectives:
 To determine the roles played by leaders and line managers within Next plc
 To ascertain the responsibilities of line managers and leaders in talent management and
development within Next plc
 To identify the significance of talent management and development for Next plc
Questions:

 What roles played by leaders and line managers within Next plc?
 What are the obligations of line managers and leaders in talent management and improvement
within Next plc?
 How talent management and improvement helps Next plc in improvement of its business
performance?
Section Two: Reasons for choosing this project
The reason behind conducting this study is to identify the role of line managers and leaders in employee
development within UK retail industry. Current study is significant for various stakeholders that are
managers, leaders, employees, researcher and students. For managers and leaders, this research helps them
in identifying their roles and responsibilities in context to talent management and development. In context
to the students, this research assists them by enhancing their knowledge regarding the role of line
managers and leaders in talent development and management within UK retail industry. For employees,
this research facilitates them in increasing the motivation at workplace. My person interest regarding
selection of present investigation is to improve my research skills including data collection, decision
making, time management, presentation and many others. My future plan behind doing this research is it
helps me by providing employment in retail industry.
Section Three: Precedents and sources
What are the roles played by leaders and line managers within Next plc?
According to Alves and et. al., (2020), Leaders and line managers within a company played various roles.
The main or important role of leader is to give accurate direction to workers so that they can achieve
vision and goals of business. Leaders generally act as a motivator, mentor, learner, communicator and
navigator.
As per the opinion of Bonneton, Festing and Muratbekova‐Touron (2020), Line manager also plays a
significant role in organisation as they encourage employees to perform best and give their productive
outcomes in accomplishing the goals and objective of business. The main role of line manager is to plan,
organise, staff, lead and control the activities of organisation in order to succeed in market. Line manager
generally hire and recruit the talented employees and also deploys the resources in order to achieve
business goals and objective.
On the other hand, Boselie, Thunnissen and Monster (2021), there are also various roles played by line
managers and leaders within Next plc. These are explained below;
Training and development: This is one of the main roles played by line manager at workplace. This role
helps managers in increasing employees’ knowledge about the business that turn to impact in increased

employee engagement.
Motivation: This is an important role played by leader within a workplace of Next Plc Leader at
workplace motivate their employees by providing accurate guidance regarding business activities.
What are the responsibilities of line managers and leaders in talent management and development within
Next plc?
As per the opinion of Dries, Marescaux and Van Zelderen (2021), responsibilities of line manager are to
engage the employees in business activities and implement the tools and process of talent management.
When it comes to talent management, the responsibility of manager is to identify and provide training
opportunity to them in order to improve their skills and knowledge. It is important for Next plc to focus on
identify the best talent according to their expected qualification and experience. They are responsible to
manage daily operational activities, communicate with staff, plan activities, set goals, motivate staff and
evaluate the performance of staff.
As per the opinion of Dzimbiri and Molefakgotla (2021), leaders also play a significant role in talent
management as they determine the skills and competencies which are required among staff for gaining
company's success. They are responsible for supervising the daily activity, encourage subordinates,
manage conflicts, mentor the subordinates and also communicate clearly. It is important for leader to focus
on improving the performance of employees and also encourage them to participate in business activities
by sharing their opinions and feedbacks.
On the other hand, Kabwe and Okorie (2019), there are various responsibilities of leaders and line
managers in talent development and management within Next plc. These are defined below;
Developing flexible working environment: This is main responsibility of manager within Next Plc.
Developing flexible working environment is important in increasing employee motivation that resulted in
development and management of talented employees at workplace.
Providing rewards and benefits: This is another responsibility that done by the line managers and
leaders of Next plc. This responsibility helps managers in increment of employee satisfaction that turn to
impact in management and development of talent.
How talent management and development significant for Next plc?
As per the viewpoint of Meng and Berger (2018), talent management plays a vital role in improving the
performance and efficiency of business as they engaged, skilled and motivate employees to give their
productive output in accomplishing the business goals. Next plc must have effective talent management
team that provide direction to company's business goals and also increases customer satisfaction. Talent
management team is important in Next plc as it helps in delivering better business value and outcomes.
They generally focus on attracting, developing and retaining the top employees who give their productive
output in improving the performance of business.

As per the opinion of Merlevede (2018), Next plc needs to build viable workforce by capitalising in
continuous learning as well as skill development and managing and optimising performance. The main
motive of talent management team is to optimise employee performance, increase productivity, lower
recruitment cost and enhance the level of staff engagement.
On the other hand, Ott, Tolentino and Michailova (2018), there are various benefits of talent management
and development. These are;
Improved business performance: Talented employees at workplace work effectively that resulted in
improved business performance and growth.
Strengthens human capital structure of an organisation: Management and development of the talent
strengthens the organisational structure by developing strong human capital.
Research gap: It is identified from the above mentioned literature review that there is a research gap i.e.
lack of information regarding roles played by leaders and line managers in talent management and
development within a working environment of an organisation. In previous studies, there was lack of
information about the roles of line managers and leaders in talent development. This is a main gap that
will be addressed within research report by using research questions.
Section Four: Activities and timescales
Activities to be carried out during the project
How long this will take?