Personal Development Plan for HR Manager at Tesco

This report discusses the goals and strategies of the human resource management of the largest retailer in The UK, Tesco. It further highlights the job role of Human resource manager at Tesco and the key strengths and skills the company is looking for that position. The report explains the level of difficulty, the responsibilities, the strengths and other relevant qualities the company seeks from an individual for the position of an HR manager at Tesco. It also includes an action plan for the development of employment skills.

Running head: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Personal Development Plan
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Executive Summary
I have analysed the key responsibilities of an HR manager of a multinational retailer
organization in this report. The chosen organization is Tesco and job role of my choice is HR
manager. With the help of this report I have highlighted my strengths, weakness and the key
requirements for the role and how I can achieve those for my successful selection for the
position in Tesco. I have further designed a basic action plan for the development of my
employment skills in the conclusion part of the report.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Background of the organization.................................................................................................3
Area of activity...........................................................................................................................4
Functions of the role advertised.................................................................................................5
Personal strategies and knowledge.............................................................................................6
Strengths and Weaknesses.........................................................................................................7
Gap between company's need and personal strengths................................................................7
Identification of areas for development.....................................................................................9
Formulation of the action plan.................................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................15
Appendix..................................................................................................................................18

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Introduction
The effective management of people working in an organization is known as the
human resource management. In a broader sense, it includes organizing, controlling and
planning for the development and integration of the human resources so that the targets of the
organizations are met and satisfaction level of the employees are attained. This report
discusses the goals and strategies of the human resource management of the largest retailer in
The UK, Tesco (Tesco.com 2018). It further highlights the job role of Human resource
manager at Tesco and the key strengths and skills the company is looking for that position.
The report explains the level of difficulty, the responsibilities, the strengths and other relevant
qualities the company seeks from an individual for the position of an HR manager at Tesco
(Otaye-Ebede, Priola and Yerby 2014). In this report, I mainly focused on the key strengths
and skills that need to be acquired and developed to become an HR manager at Tesco. My
goal is to understand the organization, its culture and the functions and responsibilities of the
job role I want to apply for and how I should target my weakness to achieve an effective
development of my personal action plan for improvement.
Background of the organization
Currently, Tesco is the largest and a highly significant retailer in the world market. It
is operating in 13 countries throughout the world and there are more than 7000 Tesco stores
in the global market (Tesco.com 2018). Tesco has its global market on its core business in the
grocery sector. Besides that, in the recent years, Tesco is offering some other services like
personal finance services and technology-related services (Lin and Peng 2018). The business
strategy of the company has enabled it to develop, expand and strengthen the company’s

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position in the UK grocery market and enlarge to relevant new markets as well. Tesco’s main
business encircles the domestic grocery market of The United States along with services like
telecommunication and financial marketing (Cooke, Wood and Horwitz 2015). Some of the
noted retail services of Tesco in the UK include Tesco telecommunications, Tesco.com and
Tesco Bank (Tesco.com 2018). One of the most successful chains of supermarket bank in the
UK is Tesco Bank, which contributes to the growth and success of the organization (Wood,
Coe and Wrigley 2016). Employment in Tesco is divided into five different store categories
which are: Superstore, Tesco Extra, Metro, Express and One Stop (Bingham and Druker
2016). Tesco has been developing and expanding its business model in the recent years and
aims to expand its business enterprise into Asia and Other major parts of the globe in the
upcoming years.
Area of activity
The man five sectors where the company focuses are: The core grocery business
market of UK, operational communities, off store products which are non-food in nature,
global markets and retaining services (Tesco.com 2018). The major target of the company is
to become a successful retailer in the global market, facilitate the expansion of the business in
the UK grocery market, expand in the non-food market sector and develop other related
services like telecommunication and retailing. Some of the basic strategies of the company in
the light of its development in the modern era include promotion of value range; people
prefer more value for their money and do not want to compromise on the quality of the
products (Felgate and Fearne 2015). Besides the Clubcard loyalty programme of Tesco has
resulted in substantial growth and fulfillment of corporate responsibilities of the organization
in the long run (Price 2016). The area of activity of the organization also includes corporate
responsibilities that provide support to the communities by providing them job opportunities

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and chances to improve their social standards. Besides, Tesco aims to promote carbon-free
stores in the near future and contribute to the safekeeping policy of the environment.
The human resource management strategy of Tesco revolves around the modules of
the development and training programs for the employees of the organization. The
consultation, communication and the ways of reaching the targets are the main focus of the
training modules (Felgate and Fearne 2015). This approach of the human resource
management of Tesco towards its employees has helped the company to succeed and recruit
efficient employees for the organization who are well motivated and holds a professional
appearance before the customers.
Functions of the role advertised
The function of a manager of human resource is to accelerate the contribution of the
employees working in the organization so that the goals and objective of the company can be
attained (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016). HR managers play a very crucial role in
maximizing the productivity of the organization. One of the major challenges faced in this
job role is to provide innovative solutions to the various problems of the organization for
ensuring a continuous growth of the company. In Tesco, a manager plays a very important
role and the company expects a bunch of responsibilities from an HR manager (Haddock-
Millar and Rigby 2015). In the advertisement for the post of HR manager, the company is
looking for numerous set of skills and knowledges apart from the essential academic
qualification from the candidates. This is because the market is demanding and ever-changing
and the managers of the HR need to be on their toes and be ready for any upcoming issues
(Kim and Hallsworth 2016).
An assessment of what Tesco is looking for in applicants:

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 Maintenance of the structure of work. Modifying job descriptions and requirements
for all the available positions in the company.
 Organizing the recruitment process by testing, interviewing the candidates (The
Guardian 2018)
 Conducting and organizing the exit interviews and suggesting any changes if required.
 Conducting the orientation programs for the new joiners
 Conduct on job training programs for the employees
 Maintaining a daily plan of the periodic pay surveys (McSorley 2018).
 Preparing the payment budgets and implementing the revision of the pay structures on
time to time basis
 Maintain and inform employees about the employee benefit programs and appraisals
 Ensuring legal compliance (Cahill 2018).
Personal strategies and knowledge
It has been my dream to work for a multinational organization for long. Working for
Tesco, the leading multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer has been in my eye
for long. I have been waiting long for the recruitment advertisement from the company and
this time it is for the role of a human resource manager. Though I have previous experience in
the field of human resource in a local supermarket, this is the first time I am approaching to
work for a big brand.
In today’s world, the human resource is a fast-growing sector with various lucrative
opportunities (Peeroo, Samy and Jones 2015). Like all other people, I am also interested to
use my soft skills and experiences in the field of human resource management where I can
help others in the organization I work. One of the major reason for applying for the post of an
HR manager is that I can showcase organizing, planning, development of programs, labor

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relations and other skills like accounting, conduct training and utilize my effective
communication skills for the betterment of the organization.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths: I have relevant experience in the field of human resource management. I
pose effective communication skills which are the major tool in any human resource job role.
Certain other skills like accounting, keeping records of the data in the spreadsheets and
relevant knowledge of HR system and databases are some of my strengths.
Weakness: I lack the knowledge of certain corporate labor laws and best HR practices
since I have never worked for a multinational chain previously. The working structure of a
multinational company differs a lot from the other local organization and I lack the
knowledge of the structure of work.
Gap between company's need and personal strengths
Company requirement for the position Personal Strengths
1. Good computer and tech savvy skills Though I know computers but I need to improve
my technical skills and learn all the updated
computer skills for the job role (Newsnow.co.uk
2018).
2. Good organizational skills I have had experience as an HR representative
previously at a local supermarket and I believe I
have good organizational skills. I know to
organize different teams and encourage the team
members to work efficiently.
3. Previous work experience as HR Yes, I had 4 years of experience as an HR

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executive representative
4. Excellent negotiation skills
(Tesco.com 2018).
This is the field I need to improve, though I
believe I m pretty good in negotiation with the
salary structure of the employees.
5. Presentation skills I pose effective and good presentation skills and I
got an appreciation for my skills in my last
working place.
6. BS/MS degree in Human Resource or
related field of study
I have studied bachelor’s degree in human
resource from a UK university and have done 3
internships during the course of my academic
years.
7. Knowledge of corporate laws (Page
2015)
I have studied a portion of labor law in the
curriculum of my studies. But I do need to learn
and gain some more information and knowledge
regarding corporate laws and ethics at workplace
8. Staying back at the office for extra
time during workloads
I have done extra timing and long hours of work
since I believe to give the most of me and give
what my job role requires.
9. Leadership skills I have leadership skills and organizing and
leading the entire human resource team as the HR
manager will be challenging and new for me.
10. Team management It is the duty of the HR manager to maintain a
good work culture and balance in the team in the
organization. My past experience at the
supermarket has enabled me to learn how to
create a good team management strategy and
eliminate all the negativity from the workplace

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culture.
11. Conduct training and recruitment
(Nobrega 2014).
It is the basic duty of the HR department to find
relevant locations, reach out to the maximum
number of job seekers using mass communication
mediums, sort and filter out the applications
which are not suitable and co-ordinate with the
candidates to get them interviewed and trained
after selection (Trojanowska 2015). I have done
this before.
Identification of areas for development
I found out some of the noteworthy areas to improve after assessing my personal
strengths against the key skills Tesco is looking for in the job role of HR
manager.Development of these key skills will higher the chances of my selection as an HR
manager at Tesco.The areas of development are:
 Having a clear and right vision
 Being a strategic thinker
 Becoming a good communicator
 Becoming tech-savvy and updated to the modern technologies
 Becoming a flexible worker at the workplace
 Becoming a risk taker
 Imparting excellent judgments
 Having self-confidence

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 Carrying a sensible and honest ethics
 Having strong multitasking skills
Working in an organization as an HR manager needs lots of key skills, knowledge, and
understanding of the work procedure.HR manager of Tesco does not only hire and train
employees but also takes care of the entire organization and its employees throughout their
working period. It the duty of the HR manager to look for any issues or problems an
employee is facing and resolve the issue so that the employee can work without having any
stress.
Formulation of the action plan
Developing an action plan helps in achieving the personal targets. A personal
development plan helps in structuring the thoughts. It is the process that defines what is
important to me, what I want to achieve, what strengths I already have and what are the
improvements I need to make for achieving my goals and targets in life. An action plan
describes the way how I can target my personal weakness and become an efficient employee.
It describes the ways the personal strategies meet the personal objectives. A good action plan
consists of a number of action steps or the required changes for an effective growth of the
development skills.
Conclusion
Formulation of an action plan is necessary for the improvement of my skills and
knowledge to reach my personal development goals. These are the necessary steps to acquire
the key skills that are required for the position of HR manager of Tesco.

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Action Plan
Goals and
Objectives
Action Steps Timeline Success Resources
Communication
and speaking skills
Reviewing
latest journals.
Updating to the
modern general
awareness.
Interacting
with new
people
Within a month Effective
communication
with leaders and
managers of
higher authority
Public speaking
and debates.
Seminars and
workshops.
Co-operating skills Willingness to
change and cop
up with the
requirements of
the
organization
Within a week Working on a
team and in group
Helping out other
team members
Team sports
Self-realization
Making new
friends
Participating in
social activities
Analyzing skills Learning new
accounting
software and
tools.
Enthusiasm for
analyzing data
from
spreadsheets
Within a month Preparing excel
sheets without
any help or
assistance.
Providing relevant
statistical data in
the presentation
meetings
SPSS software.
Basic accounting
knowledge.

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Planning and
organizing skills
Designing a
schedule.
Managing a
course project
Within few days Organizing
events, training
programs,
interview
schedules and
meetings
Taking part in a
union.
Organizing trip
with friends.
Leadership skills Leading a team
project.
Helping others
Within 2 weeks Leading a team
successfully.
Taking care of the
needs and issues
of each and every
member of the
team
Captainship
Responsible
attitudes
Self-reliance Believing in
yourself
Anytime Self assurance
and confidence in
self-capabilities
Taking up tough
projects, short
deadline, and
challenging tasks
Negotiating skills Negotiating
through
effective
conversation
Within a month Negotiating the
cost of any
product or the
salary of any
employee
Confident speech
and conversation
with clients.
The motivation of
drawing more
productivity with
fewer resources
provided.
Decision-making
skills
Planning out
the personal
Within a few days Gaining key skills
and knowledge to
Clear vision and
steady mind

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targets and
goals in the
upcoming year
attain the targets.
The Decision of
owns career and
personal life
Commercial
awareness
Updating to the
current affairs
and news
Reading
newspaper,
articles,
business
magazines
Within next day Having a stock of
sound knowledge
about the current
ongoings in the
market.
Business
magazines,
financial blogs
Development of HR
strategies
Understanding
HR strategies,
systems, tactics
and procedures
of an
organization
Within a few
months
Bridge
management and
employee
relations by
addressing
demands,
grievances or
other issues
(Peeroo, Samy
and Jones 2015).
Managing the
recruitment and
selection process
Understanding of
core corporate
values and rules
of the HR
management.
Professional
Development
Developing
personal soft
Within few days Selection in a
multinational
Training
organization,

14PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
skills.
Grooming for
interview
Fluent
conversation
organization in
the desired post.
Self-confidence
and increased
productivity.
Tutorials for
personality
development
It is important to understand the key requirements of the job opportunity offered by Tesco. I
have noted down all the key areas where I need to work on and improve so that I get the
selection. Managing an HR team of a multinational organization is tough and it can only be
done by successful implementation of strategies and personal skills.

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References
Bingham, C. and Druker, J., 2016. Human resources, ethics and corporate social
responsibility: what makes ‘people’count within the organisation’s corporate social
responsibility platform?.
Cahill, H. 2018. It's official: Tesco and Booker will merge to form UK's largest food group.
[online] Cityam.com. Available at: http://www.cityam.com/281425/its-official-tesco-and-
booker-merge-form-uks-largest-food [Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].
Cooke, F.L., Wood, G. and Horwitz, F., 2015. Multinational firms from emerging economies
in Africa: implications for research and practice in human resource management.
Felgate, M. and Fearne, A., 2015. Analyzing the Impact of Supermarket Promotions: A Case
Study Using Tesco Clubcard Data in the UK. In The Sustainable Global Marketplace (pp.
471-475). Springer, Cham.
Haddock-Millar, J. and Rigby, C., 2015. Business Strategy and the Environment: Tesco
PLC’s Declining Financial Performance and Underlying Issues.
Kim, W. and Hallsworth, A.G., 2016. Tesco in Korea: Regulation and retail
change. Tijdschrift voor economische en sociale geografie, 107(3), pp.270-281.
Lin, C. and Peng, J., 2018. Analysis and Solution of the Problems in the Distribution of
Suning Tesco. Transportation Management, 1(1).
Malik, S.A., Fearne, A. and Wu, S., 2015. Optimising supermarket promotions of fast moving
consumer goods using disaggregated sales data: A case study of Tesco and their small and
medium sized suppliers (Doctoral dissertation, University of Kent,).

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McSorley, A. 2018. Storm Emma hits Ireland: Is my local shop open today?. [online]
irishmirror. Available at: https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/irish-weather-local-
shop-open-12107700 [Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].
Newsnow.co.uk. 2018. NewsNow: Tesco news | Breaking News & Search 24/7. [online]
Available at: http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Industry+Sectors/Retail/Supermarkets/Tesco
[Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].
Nobrega, L., 2014. The effective role of recruitment and selection practices in an Strategic
Planning of Human Resources.
Otaye-Ebede, L., Priola, V. and Yerby, E., 2014. Diversity in organizations: HRM and
international practices.
Page, K.E.R., 2015. Transfer of HRM Practices from Parent to Host Multi-National
Companies: Case Study Evidence from the Retail Sector in Malaysia (Doctoral dissertation,
University of Manchester).
Peeroo, S., Samy, M. and Jones, B., 2015, December. Customer engagement manifestations
on Facebook pages of Tesco and Walmart. In Computing, Communication and Security
(ICCCS), 2015 International Conference on (pp. 1-8). IEEE.
Price, R., 2016. Controlling routine front line service workers: an Australian retail
supermarket case. Work, employment and society, 30(6), pp.915-931.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C. and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Tesco.com. 2018. Tesco - Online Groceries, Homeware, Electricals & Clothing. [online]
Available at: https://www.tesco.com/ [Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].

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Tesco-careers.com. 2018. Home | Tesco Careers. [online] Available at: https://www.tesco-
careers.com/ [Accessed 4 Mar. 2018].
The Guardian. 2018. Tesco | Business | The Guardian. [online] Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/business/tesco [Accessed 2 Mar. 2018].
Trojanowska, H., 2015. Managerial competences in the implementation of the Hofstede
model in external and internal recruitment.
Wood, S., Coe, N.M. and Wrigley, N., 2016. Multi-scalar localization and capability
transference: exploring embeddedness in the Asian retail expansion of Tesco. Regional
Studies, 50(3), pp.475-495.

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Appendix
Source: (Tesco-careers.com 2018)
Tesco offers a wide variety of job roles in the field of retail services.The multinational
organisation encourages enthusiatic professionals with relevant work experience in the fied of
retailing.The figure is an adversisemnet for the job role of a HR manager in Tesco.