Talent Strategies in Marks and Spencer

This report analyzes the talent management strategies used by Marks and Spencer to attract and retain employees. It discusses the basic concept of talent management, various strategies used by the company, and the challenges faced by HR managers. The report also highlights the importance of talent management in organizations.

Managing a Successful
Business Project
1

Table of Contents
Title: What talent strategies do the best companies use to attract and retain people.......................3
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1) Aims and objectives of the research................................................................................3
P2) Project management plan for the research.......................................................................4
P3) Work breakdown Structure and Gantt chart....................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P4) Small scale research with the help of qualitative and quantitative research....................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................4
P5) Analysis of the data with the help of various tools and techniques.................................4
P6) Recommendations............................................................................................................4
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................4
P7) Reflection on the values while undertaking the research.................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................4
2

Title: What talent strategies do the best companies use to attract and retain
people
Introduction
Talent management concept is related to managing the overall workforce in organisations for the
purpose of maximizing its value in terms of over organisational functioning. It is not a onetime
activity but a continuous process that involves attracting and retaining of high quality employees
development of skills and continuous motivation in order to improve their level of performance.
The primary purpose of talent management is to create a motivated workforce that can help an
Organisation in long run competitive advantage (Collings, Mellahi,. and Cascio, 2019).
Importance of talent management has grown with time because it is related to maximizing the
process of attracting and retaining of top talent. Present report is based on analysing the different
talent management strategies that are used by Marks and Spencer for the purpose of attracting
and retaining of employees. For this purpose there is analysis of different talent management
strategies basic concept and challenges that are associated with the organisation.
TASK 1
P1) Aims and objectives of the research
Aim: “To analyse different talent management strategies adopted for retaining and attracting
of competent talent.” A study on Marks and Spencer.
Objectives:
1) To analyse the basic concept of talent management in Marks and Spencer.
2) To evaluate various strategies used for retaining and managing workforce in Marks and
Spencer.
3) To identify different issues faced by the HR managers of Marks and Spencer in the
process of talent management.
Questions:
1) What do you understand by the basic concept of talent management in Marks and
Spencer?
3

2) What are some of the basic strategies used for retaining and managing workforce in
Marks and Spencer?
3) What are various challenges and issues faced by the HR managers of Marks and
Spencer in the process of talent management?
LITERATURE REVIEW
The basic concept of talent management in Marks and Spencer
As per viewpoints of Mona Momtazian (2017), talent management is related to having top
performer employees in an organisation with high level of potential. It is regarded as a process of
systematic attraction, development, identification, engagement, retention and deployment of
individuals that can help in enhancing the particular value of an organisation. This concept is
associated with having a high potential for upcoming future time because it helps in fulfilling the
requirements of critical roles in business operations. In context of large sector organisations like
Marks and Spencer human resource management is related with talent management process.
Human resource department are highly transactional and they are also focusing on
transformational aspects of employees (Maurya and Agarwal, 2018). In this talent management
concept is related to identifying the people needs as per future requirements to improve overall
business performance in long run and help in enabling a required business strategy of talent
management. There are many reasons for having effective talent management process in
organisations such as it can help in attracting top talent. Recruiters in Marks and Spencer are
willing to recruit more skilled employees by creating employer plan that can contribute to higher
level of business performance. Apart from this it also includes continuous coverage of critical
roles so that organisation is prepared for gaps in critical skills and addresses it with highly
specialised workforce.
Various strategies used for retaining and managing workforce in Marks and Spencer
As per view points of Chad Halverson (2020), in marks and Spencer being a large global
organisation there are some of effective talent management strategies that are adopted in order to
retain their workforce for longer time period (PoisatMey and Sharp, 2018). For instance the
organisation is willing to offer competitive salaries that can help employees and not willing to
make switch to any other competitor organisation. There is a balance between hiring of right
4

employee for a right job role as per their existing skill sets. Apart from this human resource
managers are working towards creating a flexible working environment so that there is
development of positive employee mindset.
The overall working culture is build up in a way that is related to positive environment so that
employees are having a balance work life (Cappelli and Keller, ., 2017). There are higher perks
and allowances that are offered apart from the monetary incentives regularly to employees who
are performing exceptionally. It gives a sense of competitive spirit amongst all the workforce
also it acts as a motivation technique to enhance the performance of low performing employees.
The organisation is also having approach towards getting a clear direction so that employees are
able to deal with the challenges. There is use of participative or democratic decision-making
style in some of the decisions that are having direct impact on the employee functioning. All
these strategies are helping in creating a satisfied workforce that is retained for longer time
duration (Machado, 2017). Employees are also offered time the training and development
opportunities so that there is various skill development processes that can help in creation of a
talented workforce. It also needs towards filling of any types of skill gaps that may arise in terms
of required workforce and existing skill level in the organisation.
Different issues faced by the HR managers of Marks and Spencer in the process of talent
management
As per view points of (2017), there are some of the challenges that are faced by human resource
managers in Marks and Spencer while their planning talent management process in the
organisation. Some of the challenges include higher compensation demands from employees
because employee sometimes feels constant pressure for higher financial incentives (Michailova
and Ott., 2019). This leads to increase in overall cost and affects the profitability position of
organisation because of a large workforce. Another challenge associated with effective talent
management is tightening of talent market because unemployment has lead to a very high rate
in recent years because of changing dynamic external environment. There is lack of talent
suitability and skill sets that are specifically required to perform some of the specialised
organisational functions. Another challenge or issue associated is an appealing company culture
because many younger employees who are millennial and unexpected different working
environment. Many times organisation is not able to offer such type of expected working
environment that leads to employee switching to other work place (Shulga and Busser, ., 2019)
5

. There is also lack of leadership because top executive positions are experiencing a very high
level of turnover which requires a lack of proper leaders who can guide employees and manage
the whole workforce across Marks and Spencer (Baporikar, 2017). Competitive scenario of other
organisation also affects negatively because many times employees are offered high salaries,
benefits, perks, allowances from other competitive brands that leads to switching very fast and
affects the high cost of employee turnover in Marks and Spencer (The 5 biggest talent
management challenges for HR in 2017).
P2) Project management plan for the research
Project management plan
Project management plan is defined as a document which works as a blueprint for
investigator and other research oriented people. In addition to this, it inform about all the
activities that will going to take place within the investigation. The project management plan
includes various strategies that are supportive in implementation of the whole project. In context
to the present study, researcher have developed project management plan for better execution of
research activities. In this regard, all the elements of plan is given below:
Cost: It is referred as the amount used for developing and implementing all the activities
associated to research. It is said that for conducting every research work requires some sort of
money so that researchers can easily conduct investigation (Kellehear, 2020). For the present
study, investigator will require $500 for executing all activities of research. The amount will
sufficient for incorporating all activities that will be supportive in attaining research outcome. It
is important for researcher to finalize the budget of every activity at the initial level so that it can
implement as per the plan.
Time: It is defined as one of the important component that is needed in order to attain
objective of investigation within given timeframe. It is important for researchers to decide the
starting and ending time of every activity in order to avoid delays and decline the level of
discrepancies. In context to the present study, the time given for this investigation is 3 months in
order to complete all the activities effectively and properly.
6

Scope: It is another vital element of investigation as it gives description about the actual
scope of investigation within the business zone as well as real life. With reference to present
study, it has been analyzed that the scope of research is wide as talent management is a broad
concept and help an organization to increase its productivity and performance level. Moreover,
the completion of this research will bring numerous opportunities for respective organization
(Dorsten and Hotchkiss, 2018). It is determined that it will also provide new direction to the
company which further leads to increase in market share and growth of an organization.
Quality: Researcher will maintain quality of investigations by taking all the data from the
authentic and reliable sources. In addition to this, it will also be done by researcher by making
use of all collected data from respondents and secondary sources (Denzin, 2017). For every
activity some quality standards are predefined and these are implemented within the
investigation so that the whole project can be managed in a significant and proper manner. In
context to the present study, all the data is gathered through valid sources which shows the
research is of high quality and will help in gaining positive outcome.
Communication: It is analyzed that the execution of research work also needs an effective
communication between the people associated (Sarvimäki, 2017). In the present study,
investigator will make use of medium such as email, oral and written presentation and many
more in order to communicate with the people associated to research and also with the
respondents. It is determined that for executing proper communication among all the participants
it is vital for researcher to assimilate input and output at one place.
Risk: one of the major risks related with the present study is misuse of participants
information which may impact on the confidentiality. In addition to this, it may also impact
reliability of research as in future the participants may ask for claims (Nielsen, 2019. In order to
decline the risk, a backup plan is needed to be made so that risk can be decline effectively. If the
risk is not identified properly then it may lead to project failure and did not meet with the
deadlines as well.
Resources: These are the aspects that are helpful in completion of projects within the given
time period. It is important for researcher to develop a resource plan that is needed to be prepared
in a manner that all the activities get appropriate resources in order to reach out at finishing
stage. Moreover, the major resources which are required in the present investigation are
7

manpower, capital and so on. When all the resources are optimally utilized then it will lead to the
attainment of research objectives within stipulated time period.
By analyzing the above project management plan, it is determined that all these elements of
plan needed to be evaluated by project manager as it will help in implementing all the activities
properly and also assist in completion of research activities timely.
P3) Work breakdown Structure and Gantt chart
Work breakdown structure:
It is defined as a project management application which is used in order to categorize the
whole task into different activities so that it can implement out in a proper manner. In addition to
this, it mainly divide the activities of same type for attaining targets of project. It is stated that the
breaking down of project into the team members directly leads to better productivity as well as
cost effective for the organization and researcher as well. The work breakdown structure of
present study is given below:
Gantt chart
It is basically the graphic presentation of activities that can be performed within a project
against the time. It is also known as visual presentation of a project. Gantt chart breaks down the
activities of investigation that can be done by given period of time. All the tasks are shown on
the vertical axis and the time required to complete those activities is shown on horizontal axis.
This chart also shows the dependencies among different activities within the project. The Gantt
chart of present study is given below:
8

9

TASK 2
P4) Small scale research with the help of qualitative and quantitative research
Research is identified as a systematic study that can help in dealing with the issue by gathering
important information and data. Research methodology offers various techniques and tools to
facilitate the process of collection analysis and interpretation of information.
Primary data: It the first hand information that is collected by investigator in these results is
more authentic and reliable. In present report there is use of questionnaire as survey techniques
to analyse talent management strategies in Marks and Spencer (Shikweni, Schurink and Van
Wyk, 2019).
Secondary data: It the method in which there is collection of existing information and data from
online available sources or existing sources (Ferran-Ferrer and et.al., 2017). It includes
collecting of information from journal, articles, books that are easily available to have sufficient
information on the lead research topic.
In present research there is use of literature review that is developed as per specific requirements
of the aims and objectives.
The data is collected with the help of different methods that includes qualitative and quantitative
methods as mentioned below.
Quantitative method: quantitative method is a research methodology in which data is collected
and expressed in form of graphs charts (Edgar and Manz, 2017). In this information is collected
from large number of people through various methods that includes survey, questionnaire
method is used in the present research report.
Qualitative method: qualitative method of research is in which it is also sometimes regarded as
exploratory research (Lazar, Fengand Hochheiser, 2017)\. In this method there is collection of
accurate in that information where different questions are asked from respondents and their
opinions are to be collected (Lune and Berg, 2017)
In the present research was there is use of questionnaire as a technique for collecting data from
employees where there is a sample size of 40 employees who are presently working in Marks
and Spencer are considered. For this purpose questionnaire has been developed to analyse
various strategies associated with talent management process.
10

Questionnaire
Q1 Do you posses a basic understand about the talent management aspect
in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Yes 35
b) No 5
Q2 As per your view point, what are some of the effective talent strategies
for Marks and Spencer in order to attract and retain people?
Frequency
a) Offering of higher salary 7
b) Perks and allowances 6
c) higher level of commitment from top management 7
d) constant training and development opportunities 20
Q3 Do you feel that effective talent management strategies will assist
marks and Spencer for having a required competitive advantage in long
run?
Frequency
a) Yes 34
b) No 6
Q4 What are some of the advantages of having effective talent
management process for Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Having an effective competitive situation. 4
b) Managing the satisfaction level of customers 16
c) Managing present market image 9
d) Effectiveness in cost management. 11
Q5 Is there exists a direct relationship in the process of talent management
strategies & employee satisfaction level?
Frequency
a) Positive relationship 25
b) Negative relationship 10
c) Neutral 5
Q6 What are challenges that are faced by management of Marks and
spacer in course of talent management process?
Frequency
a) Dissatisfied base of customers 12
11

b) Higher turnover of employees 10
c) Negative mind set of employees 18
Q7 What are the various talent management strategies required to deal
with the issues in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Improving TQM 20
b) Participative decision making style 10
c) Collecting timely feedbacks from the employees 10
Q8 What are some basic ideology of managing talent management aspect
in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Effective communication channels 13
b) Faster process of decision making 10
c) Enhancing employee commitment level 17
TASK 3
P5) Analysis of the data with the help of various tools and techniques
Analysis:
Theme 1: Concept of talent management
Q1 Do you posses a basic understanding about the talent management
aspect in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Yes 35
b) No 5
12

Interpretation: It is interpreted from the above presented graph that while it was question to 40
respondents about understanding the basic concept of talent management in Marks and Spencer.
35 respondents had a positive view point while five others replied in a negative answer.
Theme 2: Some of the effective talent strategies for Marks and Spencer
Q2 As per your view point, what are some of the effective talent strategies
for Marks and Spencer in order to attract and retain people?
Frequency
a) Offering of higher salary 7
b) Perks and allowances 6
c) higher level of commitment from top management 7
d) constant training and development opportunities 20
13

Interpretation: It is interpreted from the above mentioned graph that while it was question to
respondents about effective talent management strategies for attracting and retaining people. 7
employees felt that there can be offering of higher competitive salaries 6 employees felt that
there can be better perks and allowances other 7 employees felt that there can be hire
commitment from top management and remaining 20 felt that there has to be constant training
and development opportunities that are to be offered by the organisation.
Theme 3: Eeffective talent management strategies
Q3 Do you feel that effective talent management strategies will assist
marks and Spencer for having a required competitive advantage in long
run?
Frequency
a) Yes 34
b) No 6
14

Interpretation: From the above mentioned graph it is interpreted that when it was questioned to
40 respondents about effective talent management strategies and its impact on competitive
advantage for Marks and Spencer. 34 respondents at a positive view point and remaining six
respondents replied in a negative manner.
Theme 4: Aadvantages of having effective talent management process
Q4 What are some of the advantages of having effective talent
management process for Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Having an effective competitive situation. 4
b) Managing the satisfaction level of customers 16
c) Managing present market image 9
d) Effectiveness in cost management. 11
15

Interpretation: From the above-mentioned graph while it was question to some of the
respondents about advantages of having effective talent management process in Marks and
Spencer. 4 respondents put of 40 felt that there is requirement of effective competitive position
16 respondents felt that it helps in managing the satisfaction level of customers also. 9 out of 40
felt that that it leads towards managing the present market image and 11 respondents felt that
there is effectiveness in the overall process of Cost management.
Theme 5: Direct relationship in the process of talent management
Q5 Is there exists a direct relationship in the process of talent management
strategies & employee satisfaction level?
Frequency
a) Positive relationship 25
b) Negative relationship 10
c) Neutral 5
16

Interpretation: From the above graph while it was questioned to 40 respondents about direct
relation between talent management strategies and level of employee satisfaction in Marks and
Spencer. 25 respondents felt that there is positive relationship 10 respondents felt there is
negative relationship and other five had a neutral point.
Theme 6: challenges that are faced by management of Marks and spacer in course of talent
management process
Q6 What are challenges that are faced by management of Marks and
spacer in course of talent management process?
Frequency
a) Dissatisfied base of customers 12
b) Higher turnover of employees 10
c) Negative mind set of employees 18
17

Interpretation:
From the above mentioned graph it was questioned about the different challenges that are faced
by Marks and Spencer in the course of talent management process. 12 respondents out of 40 felt
that there is dissatisfied customer base, 10 respondents out of 40 that there is higher employee
turnover and remaining 18 employees out of 40 had a view point that there is development of
negative mindset of employees.
Theme 7: various talent management strategies
Q7 What are the various talent management strategies required to deal
with the issues in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Improving TQM 20
b) Participative decision making style 10
c) Collecting timely feedbacks from the employees 10
18

Interpretation: From the above mentioned graph find it was questioned about different and
management strategies that are required to deal with issues in Marks and Spencer. 20
respondents had a view that it can help in improving the total quality management aspect. Other
10 respondents had a view that there can be use of participative decision making style and
remaining 10 felt that there can be collection of timely feedback from employees.
Theme 8: Ideology of managing talent management
Q8 What are some basic ideology of managing talent management aspect
in Marks and Spencer?
Frequency
a) Effective communication channels 13
b) Faster process of decision making 10
c) Enhancing employee commitment level 17
19

Interpretation: From the above mentioned graph it can be interpreted that while it was
questioned about the basic ideology for managing talent management process in Marks and
Spencer. 13 respondents felt that there can be development of effective communication channels
as talent management aspect. 10 others had a view that there can be used a faster decision
making process and remaining 17 respondents out of 40 felt that there can be increase in the
level of employee commitment for the process of effective talent management effect.
P6) Recommendations
There are some of the recommendations that are crucial for the purpose of having effective talent
management process in Marks and Spencer. Some of the recommendations that are drawn from
the above made analysis from primary and secondary collected information are mentioned
below:
 Training and compliance: It is very important for having a training programs regularly
held in organisation. Certain job roles in Marks and Spencer demand official training
certification that is very important to help employees in having individual career
development.
 Discrimination and diversity: It is suggested that in organisations like Marks and
Spencer having a diverse workforce it becomes very important to manage this diversity
without having any type of discrimination practices. In this situation there is requirement
to value each culture and background of employee it can help in having higher Innovation
and creativity in the process of regular functioning.
20

 Participative decision making: In large sector organisations where there are several
channels of decision making it becomes very important to have a proper systematic
procedure in the course of decisions that are affecting the employee functioning. When
employees are given opportunities to participate in decisions it increases their level of
satisfaction. Employees also feel associated with the organisation that helps in managing
their performance in a positive way.
 Dealing with Employee queries: Generation of employee queries is very common in
organisation because of regular function may affect their working. It is very important for
organisation to have a timely feedback procedure in which if employees are having any
types of queries that can be dealt an effective solutions can be developed.
 Improvement in on boarding process: It is important for organisations to have an
effective process of recruiting a new employee based on effective on boarding process.
The key to a successful on boarding process is capturing new employee excitement about
starting a new job and minimising all other challenges or issues. It can help employers in
creating a program about integration of new hires in the company culture.
TASK 4
P7) Reflection on the values while undertaking the research
I am glad that I got the chance to conduct and complete the research on the topic talent
management. During the research, it is analyzed by me it is important for organizations to
have effective talent management strategies so that they can retain and acquire talent for
longer time period. My knowledge as well as understanding of the research helped me to
make appropriate choice and methods that is used for collecting valid and reliable data
which further leads to development of valid conclusion. Moving along, while I conducted
the study it is analyzed by me that my communication skill is ineffective as I am not able to
interact with people in order to gather data about research topic. it is important to have good
communication skills so that effective information is gained according to the research topic.
With the help of my mentors and friends, I developed confidence to interact with people and
conveyance them to fill questionnaire properly which is important to gain reliable
information and develop conclusion. The other weakness that is explored by me is lack of
21

presentation and creativity skills because of which I was not able to work innovatively and
presenting it properly. It is analyzed by me that my time management and decision making
skill is good due to which all the activities of project is implemented timely. Therefore, the
overall project was a success and is completed on given timeframe. It also improve my skills
such as communication, data analysis, data interpretation and so on. All this will help me to
conduct future studies systematically and gain effective opportunities as well.
Conclusion
It is concluded from the above made discussions that in every organisation there is requirement
of effective talent management process for the purpose of managing the existing workforce.
Retaining employees for long term is very important for organisations to manage the cost of
higher employee turnover. Apart from this there are also issues associated with employee
dissatisfaction levels that have to be dealt in order to maximize the employee contribution and
minimise the employee dissatisfaction from the organisation. For this purpose there is need to
formulate some effective talent management strategies that can assist in maximizing the
employee value towards laid organisation vision and mission.
22

REFERENCES
Books & Journal
23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30