Adopting Proactive Recruitment Strategies: A Case Study of Tesco PLC

The assignment discusses the need for organizations to adopt more proactive approaches in their resourcing strategies, particularly in the context of Tesco PLC. It emphasizes the importance of planning and recruitment going hand-in-hand to meet future needs. The strategy should focus on 'passive candidates' who are not actively seeking employment but are open to new opportunities. Data analytics can also improve the recruitment process. Additionally, social networks and digital profiles can be used as candidate search tools to tap into a wider talent pool.

Table of Contents
Summary of the chosen organization: Tesco PLC. .........................................2
Introduction.....................................................................................................4
Task 1: Self-Assessment Report (LO 1)...........................................................4
LO 1: Being able to determine own responsibilities and performance .......4
SWOT Analysis.............................................................................................6
Task 2 (LO 2, LO 3, M1, M2, D2 and D3)........................................................8
LO 2: Being able to develop interpersonal and transferable skills..............8
LO 3: Understanding the dynamics of working with others......................10
Task 3 (LO4, M3, D1 and D3)........................................................................12
LO 4: Being able to develop strategies for problem solving......................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................15

Summary of the chosen organization: Tesco PLC.
Tesco PLC. can be described as the British multinational retail giant with its headquarters
in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England. The company is found to be dealing in grocery
and general products. The company in concern is the third largest retailer across the world on
account of its profit margin, whereas the company has a fifth rank in global scale in context of
revenues. The retailer of multinational stature is said to have stores in both Asia and Europe and
is largely regarded as the grocery market leader within the UK territory. The company has its
stores across the international platform and the number amounts to near about 6800 and amongst
them, more than 430 stores have come up off late since the year of 2012.
The organizational structure of the British multinational retailer can be summed up as:
Board of Directors, Executive Committees, Sales, Customer, Operations, Marketing and
Customer, HR, Revenue Management, Sales and Customer, Sales and Distribution, Technology.
The supermarket chain is said to have utilized business methods of innovative nature in its
respective rise and the journey is effectively inclusive of creating stores i.e. Tesco Metro and
Tesco Express; which are renowned small scale stores meant for serving the local
neighbourhoods in terms of ensuring the fact that shopping becomes a more convenient
experience for the respective consumers.
The specified business strategic approach of Tesco PLC. can be tagged as cost leadership
that is imminently focused on the concerns of availability, range as well as customer service. In
the economic year of 2015, the retail giant reportedly gathered a group trading profit of GBP 1.4
billion in respect of the amounted group sales of GBP 69.7 billion.
As far as Tesco PLC. is concerned, it can be defined as an internationally powerful retail
brand that has found its rank in the top 100 globally most valued brands because its business
marketing and customer service respectively. The retailer with a powerful legacy is said to be
such a business organization that has been designed for offering value for the factors of money,
convenience, effective line-up of company products and last but not the least – locally sensitive
management.
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The company of international reputation is not free from scandalous incidents and a
recent issue in this connection has been the overstatement of commercial income by GBP 208
million that came into focus with the cases of supplier mismanagement and mal-treatment. The
company has been subjected to several business marketing scenarios and that have in turn
strengthened the business core and the company has become liable towards the consumer section
in restoring the trust in the brand image because focusing on the organizational core values –
which are by and large the innate reasons behind the popularity of the business company.
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Introduction
Employability skills are significant for unless the candidates i.e. individuals possess the
requisite skills, they will not be able to contribute effectively towards the organizational
outcome. The learners must be equipped with a certain range of skills and knowledge that would
in turn enable them in terms of being effective performers in seeking as well as achieving
effective employment provisions (de Guzman and Choi, 2013).
It is essential to be equipped with employability skills and that are concerning the basic
factors such as effective communication, problem solving attitude etc.; while there should be
good grasp of the skills among the learners essentially required for performing successfully in
the respective work environment.
It consists of the skills required for general employment, such as interpersonal and
transferable skills, and the ability to work with others in teams or groups, including leadership
and communication skills. Moreover, it is inclusive of the concerned assessment of the
understanding of the regular routine issues that eventually are found to be consequence in the
ability of problem solving with accurate precision. In the concerned work of research, the issue
of employability, HR perspective and HRM issues have effectively been discussed in context of
the chosen UK organization of Tesco PLC (Hogan et al. 2013).
Task 1: Self-Assessment Report (LO 1)
LO 1: Being able to determine own responsibilities and performance
Developing a set of own responsibilities and performance objectives (AC 1.1)
As an employee, I have certain responsibilities towards the business organization in
which I’m employed and thus my performance should be in accordance with the organizational
criteria. My performance would aid in the business outcome of the company and that would add
to the company profitability via the channel of productivity (Ju et al. 2011).
Being engaged in the retail segment of the company in the form of a fresher
representative customer service, I should be aware of my responsibilities and performance for
that would be considered as a whole in the overall assessment procedure. In course of time and
experience, I would be capable enough to determine my responsibilities and in this case, the
preliminary responsibilities are inclusive of providing customer satisfaction and helping the
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customers in course of their decision making process regarding the purchasing of organizational
products.
Evaluating own effectiveness against defined objectives (AC 1.2)
As a Retail department employee under the food section, I have certain responsibilities
that add to the organizational performance and I need to evaluate my own respective
effectiveness against defined objectives. I am involved in the customer service section in terms
of keeping tracks of the food items and thus my effectiveness as a sale professional lies in the
fact of being well acquainted with the food products about providing appropriate assistance to
the consumers who frequently visit the retail stores of Tesco PLC (Andrews and Russell, 2012).
In terms of keeping the business management effective most on an international platform
with due regard to business practices and employee management because employability of the
individuals. I have joined as a fresher and that leaves me at the initial learning stage about my
innate capacity of learning at every possible stage through direct experience and hard work.
Making recommendations for improvement (AC 1.3)
To improve upon my current situation, I can take up certain measures in order to improve on
my own performance in the professional front.
 attending training sessions and development programs
 engaging in open communication and informal business interactive sessions
 learning the details of business management with specific functioning
 actively promoting work engagement in myself with clear specification of goals and
requisite factors
 delivering top performance in respect of applying agility and automation
 collaborating and sharing on the aspect of problem solving
I need to be self-critical in terms of assessing my own performance and it is imminent to
mention that like every other individual, I too have strengths and weaknesses in terms of
performing with my best possible capabilities.
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Reviewing how motivational techniques can be used to improve quality of performance
(AC 1.4)
The motivational techniques are of various types i.e. rewards in course of encouragement,
appreciation acknowledgement, bonus, provision of non-monetary facilities, hike in both pay and
post etc.; and all these are used by the respective business organization for serving the cause of
improving performance quality (Jones, 2013).
In course of self-assessment, all I can say is that motivating oneself is the best option
with regard to performing more effectively every single day and that would cause significant
change in my ongoing performance at the retail store of Tesco PLC. Working even harder,
striving for personalized professional goal achievement would be certain motivational
techniques that must be effectively implemented in due performance schedule; and therefore I
can call myself able in solving varied types of business problems within my concerned working
genre.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths: I have joined the business organization as a fresher and thus, I am always
ready to learn from the surroundings, seniors and workplace experiences – and this is going to
help me in strengthening my own transferable and interpersonal skills. I am adept at working in a
team and that adds to my respective capabilities of a true-blue employee for it is mandatory to
work as a team more often to ensure company business profitability and for collective
productivity (Nickson et al. 2012).
Fluency in communication is there in me and that can be use about maintaining the inter-
related management functions within the business tore framework. Overall professional guidance
must be provided to me as a newly joined employee but I am confident about both my hard and
soft skills that would help me in my future endeavour and course of working.
Weaknesses: The fresher tag would cause me my inability to perform with the
experienced officials as I would be treated as junior who is still at a learning phase and that
would often cost me professionally to some extent. I need to attain skills regarding employment
for the skills need to be polished and made effective in terms of being provided with appropriate
training and development sessions. I suppose I should take care of my communicative skills for
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the communicative skills need to be brushed up in terms of being applied in the business context
in a variety of business situations.
Opportunities: Being some young joined in the retail segment of the British
multinational brand, there are certain opportunities that I can cash on to improve myself through
my learning period. It is inevitable that I would be subjected to many tests and new experiences
that would leave me enriched to become professionally experienced myself in due course of
time. I would be able to learn at an easier pace in terms of my young age and the learning would
often take place from the help of seniors (O'Neil, 2014).
Learning opportunities would help me in acquiring employment skills even more
accurately and that would enhance the possibilities of my improvement as an employee as well
as open way for better changes at employment.
Threats: As I have joined the customer service team under the retail giant Tesco PLC., it
is sort of a threat factor for me to perform effectively from the very start. There are many skilled
and trained employees who are not just senior to me by means of their age but also in their
concerned professional experiences which I obviously lack in due to my fresher tag and young
age. I need to be prepared to face any sort of business situation and the impending matter is a
matter of concern that manages to threaten at every possible step of employment.
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Task 2 (LO 2, LO 3, M1, M2, D2 and D3)
As the task involves opening of a new flagship store, it is evident that new staffs would
have to be recruited and thus the respective HR manager must be engaged in helping the team in
course of recruitment, selection and training of the new staff – for serving the purpose of
ensuring utmost customer satisfaction and enhanced business profitability (Bangerter et al.
2012).
Two types of job roles are being identified here, one at management level i.e. Marketing
Manager and one at staff level i.e. Customer Service Provider at the store level. The job roles are
different and thus the functioning is bound to be different for one is from management field and
the other is directly connected with the purpose of serving the concerned customer base
(Gatewood et al 2015).
LO 2: Being able to develop interpersonal and transferable skills
Developing solutions to work based problems (AC 2.1)
About the selected organization business, Tesco PLC. – certain tools and methods need to
be identified that are put to usage in course of selection process for the organizational members
who are new to the genre. The employees should be encouraged in terms of developing
interpersonal and transferable skills which would help them in succeeding in a better way in
course of the professional achievement (Uday Bhaskar, 2012). Work based problems can easily
be sorted out if the employees are skilled enough to implement the due necessities in context of
ensuring both the enhancement of business productivity regarding the workforce efficiency and
competency, and organizational productivity.
Tesco PLC. being a renowned retailer with worldwide fame, it is evident the business
company faces a whole lot of business problems that in turn makes the company ready to cope
with any sort of situations (Caballero et al. 2011). The supermarket chain apparently delayed the
respective payment to the section of suppliers i.e. specifically the company of L’Oreal in order to
bring forth improvement in its operational profit margins in the concerned economic year, and as
a matter of consequence, the scandalous factor happened to cause severe damage to the
organizational brand image coupled with replacement of the due leadership at the topmost
functioning level (Zhao and Liden, 2011).
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Communicating in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels (AC
2.2)
Communication must be made both formally and informally for these two types contribute
effectively in shaping the business outcomes for unless there is proper communicative approach
within the company settings, no effective outcome can be derived and this is true in case of
Tesco PLC. also (Vanhala and Ahteela, 2011).
To ensure effective communicative processes within the business organizational settings
of Tesco PLC., a training programme for junior managers needs to be designed with utmost
accuracy which will help the managing authorities of ground level in understanding the
concerned organizational needs in context of helping them to develop the skills they would
require to become successful.
Communication makes the entire task of business management easier for it eases out
several queries and makes the professional interaction quite flexible amongst the concerned
workforce base of the company. Being one of the major employability skills, communication is
said to play a significant role business management and the same can be done for Tesco PLC
(Armstrong, M. and Taylor, 2014).
Identifying effective time-management strategies (AC 2.3)
It can also be added in this connection that Tesco PLC. possesses certain strength factors
within its international operations and those are inclusive of the provisions of online shopping,
joint ventures for e.g. in case of China; and the factor concerning local recruitment (Boon et al.
2011). The multinational retail company has the opportunity of making purchases in bulk and
that helps the retailer in benefitting from the respective economies of scale and to maintain time-
management – that in turn would help the business in performing efficiently within constrained
time-frame.
Furthermore, this ads upto the reason of the company’s secret of maintaining lower price
rate in terms of keeping up the attractive quotient of the prices as well as the competitive vibe
with the renowned retailers of UK i.e. Sainsbury’s, ASDA etc (Stone, 2013). The provision of
creating loyalty packages aids in the company’s respective customer retention process and that
results into long lasting consumer relationships.
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Following time management strategies can be adapted by employees for improving their
efficiencies and productivity when working for Tesco:
 Maintaining journals and diaries helps in getting a clarity about the activities which need
to be accomplished in particular time slots. This further helps in managing time and
accommodating other tasks and actions.
 Delegation of responsibilities is another technique that helps in managing time
effortlessly. When individuals are aware about their duties and responsibilities then they
will plan their actions accordingly and not disrupt the discipline or governance
functioning.
 Prioritising and listing of everyday activities helps in time management. The efficiency of
individuals is completely based on their perspective and tactics which they use in
accomplishing the tasks and activities which are allotted. Time can be managed
appropriately if individual arranges all the tasks according to their level of importance or
priority.
LO 3: Understanding the dynamics of working with others
Explaining the roles people play in a team and how they can work together to achieve
shared goals (AC 3.1)
In this context, the varied roles in a team can be referred to about discussing their co-
existence as workers for the cause of achieving the shared goals and objectives of the business
organization (Ulrich et al. 2012). The different job profiles tend to work as a team and unless one
is performing one’s task accordingly, there would be lack of coherence within the workplace
scenario which would invariably lead to disrupted business performance.
Both types of job roles face some sort of respective work problems and they should be
solved about fulfilment of the organizational needs alongside the job requirement criteria
(Nikolaou, 2014). The task of the Marketing Manager is to monitor the overall segment of
marketing within the respective organizational framework and to provide necessary assistance in
coping with the marketing issues.
The marketing management is entirely the responsibility of the marketing manager and
the problems that are encountered in this context are problems in integrated marketing
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communications, disparity in marketing mix, difficulties in marketing processes etc. – which
need to be resolved about appropriate business strategic approaches (Chan and Kuok, 2011).
On the other hand, the role of Customer Service Provider at the store level is more of a
communicative nature because the job is directly associated with the consumer section and tends
to cater to the consumer demands and requirements on a direct imperative basis (Tracey, 2016).
The ground level job role encounters problems in the form of consumer grievances that need to
be solved on an immediate basis for ensuring customer satisfaction.
Analysing team dynamics (AC 3.2)
From the perspectives of an HR manager, the team dynamics can be reviewed for the new
store requires effective workforce from top to bottom in order to cater to the varied needs of the
consumer section (Sharma et al. 2011). The team should be a curious mix of both skilled and
fresher employees, for unless there are experienced workers, the operational activities cannot be
fruitfully performed and conducted. On the other hand, the new staff members depict need for
new innovative approaches from the employee segment that would add significantly to the
organizational outcome. Proper adequate training must be provided to the fresher candidates and
also to the existent staff base, because while fresher section needs overall professional grooming,
the existent employee base needs to be subjected to varied developmental sessions which would
add to their respective business performance (Marescaux et al. 2012).
Suggesting alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve team goals (AC 3.3)
Organizational functions and activities are seamlessly done in terms of following proper
processes of recruitment and selection, operational management, human resource management
and likewise concerns; for all these contribute to the respective attainment of team goals
(Obeidat, 2012). Tasks need to be completed either physically or on the online basis because the
ultimate motto of business is to earn more amount of profit and cater to the consumer needs in
terms of ensuring customer satisfaction. Alternative ways would involve maintaining an in-
between section that would comprise of both physical and virtual routes which would curb the
business hassles of the employers in terms of allocating job responsibilities amongst the vast
ranged employee base in the chosen organization of Tesco PLC. (McEntire et al. 2011).
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Task 3 (LO4, M3, D1 and D3)
The process concerning recruitment and selection can be defined as one of the key basic
processes of HR and Tesco PLC. Is no exception in terms of following the specified HR process
in this regard. As new employees are hired, thus this process is always under strict monitoring
from the organizational side (Wibrow, 2011).
The process of recruitment and selection, largely regarded as the most important
functions of personnel management can either be external and internal; and has been designed
for serving the purpose of achieving individual’s desire end with regard to appointment of the
right person to the right job profile. There are certain recruitment policies involved i.e. job
advert, process of job application, job description, evaluation, legislations and training programs.
LO 4: Being able to develop strategies for problem solving
Evaluating tools and methods for developing solutions to problems (AC 4.1)
There are several processes and ways to address the recruitment and selection process;
and those can be listed as: employee referrals, advertising, official websites and relevant video
clips, professional as well as educational association, e-recruitment, word of mouth etc. to name
a few (Jackson, 2014). As the new flagship store needs to have certain number of employees
both at management level and staff level; it is essential to note that often the recruitment and
selection process undergoes problems in hiring new members and that can lead to persistent
issues within the business scenario.
Tesco PLC. is found to be engaging in the process of e-recruitment and that can
effectively be done about maintaining an equilibrium in the staff selection procedure (Abas-
Mastura et al. 2013). The company must engage in creative recruiting, for in this contemporary
competitive business environment, things are to be done differently in terms of avoiding the
conventional process of shifting through an enormous pile of poor-fit resumes and
Tesco PLC. has already sought to that route in terms of staying ahead of its time in this
stiff-neck competitive scenario (Rosenberg et al. 2012).
It can effectively be put forward that the concerned ‘employment brand’ should be
treated as the key selling point for the candidates must be attracted towards the business brand
and to do so, the respective official website of the company must be converted to a strong tool
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for serving the purpose of engaging talent (Hind and Moss, 2012). Company websites are
topmost job hunting source for the candidates i.e. potential employees and Tesco PLC. is no
exception in this context. This is more so because the organizational storefronts tend to serve as a
one-stop shop where the whole lengthy process of job hunting begins; and thus a well-designed
career site must be set up on an imperative basis on account of delivering a cohesive brand image
that is stringently reflective of organizational mission, vision and respective business values.
Developing an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular problem (AC 4.2)
It can be put forth in this connection that the contemporary business environment having
become increasingly competitive alongside steady diversified growth of the respective labour
markets; business organizations need to be adoptive towards more proactive approaches in their
concerned resourcing strategic approaches and Tesco PLC (Yuzainee et al. 2011).
Also, does the same. The very concept of recruitment is said to be interlaced with the
issue of planning and these two must come hand in hand in terms of focusing on the positive
aspects of the entire organizational system. The company must develop a recruitment strategy
which will help the multinational retail organization to meet its future recruitment needs for staff
in its concerned on-line business (Durrani and Tariq, 2012).
An innovative step towards the respective recruitment strategy of the company can be
mentioned as the emphasis as well as focus on the ‘passive candidates’, i.e. the specific group of
individuals who are not necessarily found to be seeking a job, but are open towards new
opportunities. It is always evident for a recruiter to be proactive in course of searching for
potentially effective success.
Data analytics need to be made more sophisticated and that would add to the respective
improvement of the recruitment and selection procedure of the company (Taylor, 2016).
Furthermore, usage of social networks alongside other sorts of digital profiles in terms of being
used as candidate search tools are said to be playing prominent part in opening a much wider
talent pool for the recruiting section. Digitalization would basically sole the general problems
encountered in the online business segment and the recruitment procedure would become easier
in this respect (Wilton, 2011).
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Evaluating the potential impact on the business of implementing the strategy (AC 4.3)
The recruitment strategy must be subjected to innovative approach and that can only be
possible if the employers of the concerned business organization start to expect something else
from the concerned hiring process in contrast with the older generations and their respective
expectations. The business processes being largely digitalized, the traditional recruitment
processes will be considered backdated and that would impact the overall business performance
of the concerned business organization (Lowden et al. 2011).
Tesco PLC., if takes to the new strategic approach in the recruitment and selection
process; then the overall business structure would undergo alterations and the respective
organizational performance would be far more fruitful than it had been before. As the not so
active applicants are being searched down by the employers themselves, the norm has suffered
drastic changes in this regard. In course of implementing the strategy, the respective impact can
be found in the business outcome that involves recruitment of skilled and appropriate candidates
for the consecutive job profiles.
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Conclusion
It can be concluded in this regard that, employability skills are significant for any learner
and individual wishing to engage in jobs of various types. Identifying tools and methods which
can be used by them in the selection process for new members of staff has been a major concern
in this research study; whereas effective evaluation has been done accordingly with regard to the
tools and methods selected, in terms of their effectiveness in meeting organizational
requirements for new staff and the report is stringently focused on the critical analysis of the
employability skills of the learners in context of the chosen business organization i.e. Tesco
PLC. The HR perspectives have also been effectively dealt with and that pinpoints the necessity
and relevance of employability skills in terms of ensuring fruitful recruitment and selection
procedure.
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