Ways used by leaders and line managers for talent development and retention at workplace: A study on ASOS plc

Research Project
(To identify the ways used by leaders and line managers for
talent development and retention at workplace: A study on
ASOS plc)

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Produce a research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis
supported by a literature review.............................................................................................3
P2 Examine appropriate research methods and approaches to primary and secondary research.
................................................................................................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................8
P3 Conduct primary and secondary research using appropriate methods for a business
research project that consider costs, access and ethical issues...............................................8
P4 Apply appropriate analytical tools, analyse research findings and data.........................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................19
P5 Communicate research outcomes in an appropriate manner for the intended audience. 19
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................19
P6 Reflect on the effectiveness of research methods applied for meeting objectives of the
business research project......................................................................................................19
P7 Consider alternative research methodologies and lessons learnt in view of the outcomes.20
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................20
RECOMMENDATION.................................................................................................................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................22
APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................23
Questionnaire........................................................................................................................23
Log sheet..............................................................................................................................25
Research proposal.................................................................................................................31
Research Ethics approval form.............................................................................................34

INTRODUCTION
Talent management is defined as the concept which is used within the business in order
to attract, select and retain employees. This is the process of HR in which workforce planning is
executed and at the same time employee engagement can also be increased. The role of talent
management is related with improving business performance and to develop more productive
employees. The report is associated with developing the concept of talent management along
with the methods used by line managers and leaders in order to develop talent and to retain them
for longer duration of time. Employees generally get retained when they feel motivated and
appreciated for their work due to which they contribute their best efforts in achieving the target.
By focusing on engagement level of employees they can contribute high quality of results and
remain satisfied with their working environment. It is important for line manager and leader to
motivate and satisfy the need and want of staff.
TASK 1
P1 Produce a research proposal that clearly defines a research question or hypothesis supported
by a literature review
Main aim of this research is “To identify the ways used by leaders and line managers for
talent development and retention at workplace: A study on ASOS plc
The major rationale for this research is to develop understanding related with role of
leaders and line managers within talent development and retention within an organisation. The
selection criteria of this topic is dependent over dual perspective such as personal and
professional perspective (Gallardo-Gallardo, Thunnissen and Scullion, 2020). In terms of
personal perspective this research will lead into developing various skills such as research skills,
analytical skills and many more. In terms of professional perspective, this research proficiency
will lead into executing future researches in appropriate manner.
Research Questions
 What are the roles played by leaders and line managers within ASOS plc?
 What are the strategies followed by leaders and line managers in development and
retention of talented employees at workplace?
 How employees’ development and retention helps ASOS plc in improvement of its
business performance?

Research Objectives
 To identify the roles played by leaders and line managers within ASOS plc
 To determine the responsibilities of leaders and line managers in employee retention and
development
 To evaluate the benefits of employee development and retention for ASOS plc
Literature Review
Literature review highlights the summary of previous research on a specific topic. It
generally provides the summary, evaluation and description of each source. Literature review
provide understanding and knowledge of author in particular field. It helps in bringing clarity
and focus on research problem, improve research methodology, broaden the knowledge base in
research area and also contextualise the findings of author.
Roles played by leaders and line managers within ASOS plc
According to Anlesinya and Amponsah-Tawiah, (2020), there are various roles which are
played by leader and line managers within ASOS plc. Leader is a person who guide and inspire
the employees so that they focus on achieving their vision. The main role of leader is to provide
right and clear direction to employees. They ensures that employees must understand, work,
embrace towards achieving the goals and objectives of business. The few role of leader and line
managers are as follows:
Provide vision is one of the role offline manager and leader, they mainly focus on
guiding their employees to achieve goals. There main motive is to define the compelling vision
of future and develop the effective plan to move to future state. The leaders and line managers
develop a clear picture of where they are heading and how they encourage their team to achieve
the goals and objective of business.
Motivator is another role which is played by line manager and leader in ASOS plc. They
focus on motivating their employees by rewarding and encouraging them to participate in
business activities and produce their creative ideas for accomplishing the business goals.
Through motivating employees, leaders and line manager create positive and healthy working
environment due to which staff give their best efforts in achieving the target.
Provide direction is also a role which is played by leader and line manager in ASOS Plc.
It is the role of leader and line manager to provide clear direction to employees by
communicating the strategy and understanding their role in achieving strategic objectives.

Strategies followed by leaders and line managers in development and retention of talented
employees at workplace
As per the viewpoint of Collings, Mellahi and Cascio (2017), there are several strategies
that must be followed by leaders and line managers on developing and retaining talented
employees at workplace are:
Tracking employee performance is one of the strategy which must be followed by
leaders and line managers while developing and retaining talented employees in workplace. It is
the responsibility of leader and line manager to track and evaluate the performance of staff so
that they can identify the contribution level of employees in workplace. In order to track and
measure the performance of staff it is essential to set clear, measurable and actionable goals.
Enhancing on-boarding experience is other strategy which helps in attracting and
retaining talented employees in Organisation. The Onboarding experience can be improved by
building strong connection with new employees, create communication on-boarding process and
workflow plan, encourage employees to engage with new hires, ask for feedback and develop
pre-employment on boarding guide in order to get new hires acclimated quickly.
Ways through which employees’ development and retention helps ASOS plc in improving its
business performance
As per the viewpoint of Sparrow (2019), there are various ways through which
employees development and retention helps ASOS plc in improving its business performance.
Identifying needs of employees is one of the way through which company can improve
its business performance. It is important for the business to identify the need of employees in
order to motivate and encourage staff to focus on achieving the goals and objective of business.
Customer centric approach is another way through which ASOS plc can improve its
business performance. Organisation must focus on developing customer centric approach by
identifying need and resolving their issues in effective and smooth manner.
Developing improvement strategy is also a way that helps in improving the
performance of ASOS plc. It is important to develop the improvement strategy in order to
increase the growth and productivity of business. Through improvement strategy, company can
make changes and design the policies according to the need and demand of employees.
Conclusion of Literature Review

From the above literature review it is being concluded that leader and line managers plays
an important role in engaging the employees and making business successful. The leader and line
managers focuses on proving direction and vision to employees so that they can achieve the task
and improve their career (Muratbekova‐Touron, Kabalina and Festing, 2018). There are various
strategies that helps in attracting, developing and retaining staff due to which company can
attract highly expertise employees and improve the growth of business.
P2 Examine appropriate research methods and approaches to primary and secondary research.
Research methodology is regarded as one of the significant aspect of research in which
such effective processes are used in order to develop the research in appropriate manner. This
chapter is associated with gathering such applications in which whole the research can be
executed appropriately.
Research Approach
Research approach is defined as such processes which are used within research in order
to gather information in systematic manner. Research approach is classified into two major
aspects such as deductive and inductive approach (Babii, 2020). Both of these approaches are
effectively helping in examination of accumulated data in such a way that research objectives
can be attained. Under this investigation deductive research approach is used so that to develop
research in quantitative manner and to cover up statistical data accurately. With the help of this
research approach practical solution can be exerted within research project and numerical
information can be gathered.
Research Strategy
Research strategy is defined as such specific methodology which is helpful in gathering
reliable and appropriate data. There are different research strategy such as grounded theory,
archival theory and many more (Al Kilani, 2016). Under current investigation survey method is
used so that to develop research in appropriate manner and at the same time attain research
objectives as well. With the help of this research strategy numeric data can be collected and for
collecting data questionnaire method is used in which close-ended questions.
Research Methodology
Research methodology is defined as such processes in which information can be gathered
in appropriate manner. This is assisting the investigator in order to gather authentic, valid and
reliable information in such a way that research objectives can be attained. Research

methodology is divided into two types such as quantitative and qualitative (Igwenagu, 2016). In
the current investigation, investigator is using quantitative research methodologies so that to
carry out research in statistical manner and to minimise time duration within research process.
As the investigator is not into developing in-depth research and by selecting quantitative research
methodology.
Research Tools
Research tools are such methods which are used as support for research and helps in
carrying out research in significant manner. Data collection is one of the significant research tool
which helps researcher to carry out research in effective and efficient manner. This is highly
essential for investigator to choose appropriate and valid research methodology so that relevant
data can be taken out by researcher (Mishra and Alok, 2017). There are two types of data
collection such as primary and secondary. Under the current research, the researcher has selected
primary and secondary data collection methods so that to develop overall research process
appropriately. In terms of primary data collection questionnaire is used by researcher whereas in
terms of secondary data collection methods books and journals is used by researcher in order to
acquire research results.
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is defined as such beliefs which are used within research in order to
accumulate information related with research and to attain objectives as well. Research
philosophy is divided into three types such as ontology, epistemology and anxiology. Under this
research, the researcher is using epistemology which is divided further into three types such as
positivism, interpretivism and realism (Ragab and Arisha, 2018). Under this positivism has
chosen by investigator so that overall research can be executed in short time duration. The major
benefit of positivism is that it helps in developing research in order to attain research objectives.
Sampling
Sampling is regarded as the step in which samples are taken out of overall population is
that to analyse overall population and to make the process of analysis easier. This is one of the
crucial step which is associated with selecting significant number of respondents. Sampling is
divided into two types such as probability and non-probability (Clarke and Visser, 2019). Under
this research, probability sampling has been chosen in which higher opportunities to each and

every respondent is given. Under this research, 30 sample size is being taken which are
employees of ASOS
Identifying Population and Research Site
In the existing investigation 30 respondents are selected which are employees of ASOS.
Sampling Strategy
Random sampling strategy is used within research project so that every respondent would
get equal opportunity of getting selected (da Silva, 2017).
Time horizon
Time horizon is regarded as the time given for the research to getting completed. Time
horizon is divided into two types such as cross-sectional and longitudinal. Under this research
cross-sectional time horizon has been chosen by the researcher so that objectives of the research
in significant manner.
Data Analysis
Data analysis is regarded as the aspect which is focused into evaluation and analysis of
research data in appropriate manner (Lai, 2018). This is classified into two types such as
frequency distribution table and thematic analysis. Under this research frequency distribution
analysis is used.
TASK 2
P3 Conduct primary and secondary research using appropriate methods for a business research
project that consider costs, access and ethical issues
There are different and appropriate tools that are used by the researcher within research
for the purpose of conducting the research in effective manner along with considering primary
and secondary methods. There are various resources which are needed in order to manage tasks
in proper manner and some of them are elaborated as under:
Cost: Cost is defined as the amount which is needed in order to manage the research in
systematic manner. This is regarded as the budget in which various expenses are carried out in
order to execute the investigation. There are different activities which are required within the
research and for executing the same several expenses are exerted such as transport expenses and
stationary expenses. In order to conduct the current research £900 is needed by the researcher.