Personal Development Plan for Supply Chain Analyst Role

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ENHANCING EMPLOYABILITY
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Contents
LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 4
ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................5
PERSONAL SWOT........................................................................................................................... 8
ASSESSMENT CENTRE EXPERIENCE REVIEW................................................................................10
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN.................................................................................................12
TEAM WORKING.......................................................................................................................... 13
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 14
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................15
APPENDIX.....................................................................................................................................17
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Tesco Logo...................................................................................................................... 5
Figure 2: STAR Example of Team Work........................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
For an individual, it is significant to determine the qualities through which his employability
skills can be enhanced. Identification of skills that a person inherits assists him in understanding
his effectiveness in developing his own career (Collet et al., 2015). Through this report,
fluctuating needs of the employers have been determined and various skills have been
highlighted through which the employability skills of an individual can be enhanced. The report
also consists of the preparation of a personal development plan with the application of which, a
structured framework for the achievement of career objective can be done. The report would
also examine the process for recruitment of organizations and personal prospects for the same.
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ORGANIZATIONAL OVERVIEW
Tesco is a UK based international retailing organization which was formed in the year 1919 and
has its headquarters in London, UK. The organization has its operations running in 9 countries
and holds about 6800 shops across the globe. In 1919, Tesco started off as a small grocery shop
and is currently known as the third largest retailer in the world (Tesco, 2019). In the Time’s 100
Graduate Employers, Tesco has been ranked at 37, running its business with 450,000
colleagues.
Figure 1: Tesco Logo
[Source: Tesco, 2019]
Tesco has reported with annual revenue of £57.5bn in the year 2017-2018 and the earning per
share which has been reported for the year 2018 has been 12.08p. The dividend paid by the
company at 3.0p reflects the growth of the organization (Tesco, 2018). Tesco has been trading
successfully with improving its sales by 1.8% and has given rise to its Return on Investment at
3.5%
Being a part of the retail sector, Tesco has rigid competition in the market, having its biggest
competitors being Sainsbury, Asda, Morrison’s, Aldi, etc. Tesco has been holding more than
28% of the UK grocery market share since 2015.
JOB PROFILE
Currently, Tesco has been hiring for Supply Chain Analyst and the following are the details
regarding the job (Tesco Careers, 2019):
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Profile: Supply Chain Analyst
Location: Shire Park, Welwyn Garden City, United Kingdom
Roles and Responsibilities: As a Supply Chain Analyst, following are the roles and
responsibilities the candidate would be undertaking-
 Developing a thorough understanding of the supply chain in the retail industry.
 Combine the data and business facts to provide with relevant information for improving
the supply chain of the organization (Tesco Careers, 2019).
 To manage the costs and derive benefits from the work by making relevant
recommendations to make or cancel an order depending upon the opportunity.
 Monitoring the performance of the supply chain and produce reports for the same.
 Maintaining the harmony between the organization, suppliers and the customers.
 To act in the firm as per the rules and regulations are being applied and follow the Code
of Conduct which has been designed to act in due diligence (Tesco Careers, 2019).
Requirements:
 Project management
 Data and Root Cause Analysis
 Supply Chain Operations
 Tools to extract and analyze data
 Strong written and verbal communication skills
 Strong flexibility and organization skills
Importance: The role of Supply Chain Analyst is essential for Tesco as it deals with getting the
products from the farms and makes them available for the customers. It is important for Tesco
to hire employees as a supply chain analyst so that they can assist the strong supply chain built
by the organization and use to satisfy a higher number of customers. Tesco is also required to
hire the supply chain analyst so that it can analyze the current process of supply chain
undertaken by the organization and recommend certain improvement so that higher efficiency
in the supply chain can be maintained.
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PERSONAL SWOT
Through SWOT Analysis, an individual can identify the strengths and weaknesses within the
person and determine the opportunities and threats held (Phadermrod et al., 2019). Following
is the application of SWOT Analysis on me:
Strengths
 Very Structured
 Good Analytical Skills
 Enthusiastic
 Communication Skills
Weaknesses
 Poor Confidence
 Lack of knowledge of operations
Opportunities
 Employed with a huge brand
 Good employment opportunities
 Good chance of career development
Threats
 Strong competition for application of
this role
 Inability to switch to other roles
To ensure employability for the role of Supply Chain Analyst at Tesco, there are various skills
that are to be undertaken. Keeping in view of the strengths that have been identified, good
analytical and communication skills would be assisting as a strong point for the job. However,
knowledge regarding operations and supply chain management has to be gained so that the
technical knowledge can be supported while performing the respective job (Shin and Dess,
2017). Also, to deal with suppliers and customers, confidence has to be increased which can be
done by being more involved in group activities and getting proper training for the same.
As per the requirements of the job of supply chain Analyst at Tesco, it can be determined that
my strength of being enthusiastic and perform my tasks in structured manner would assist me
in structuring the information that would be received by the data collected and use it to make
decisions regarding the supply of the products to the customers and estimating the quantity to
be maintained so that any case of emergency can be managed (VonBergen, 2013).
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There are various opportunities as well after being employed with Tesco as an analyst for the
supply chain as it would provide me with an opportunity to work along with a huge brand name
and being a part of its organization (Phadermrod et al., 2019). This might also provide me an
opportunity to build my career with the third largest retailing organization in the world and
would provide me with experiences in building my career.
However, through understanding my weaknesses, there are also certain threats that have been
observed in the role of a supply chain analyst. To be a part of such a huge organization, there
would be rigid competition faced in the selection round for the same (VonBergen, 2013). Also,
working at a profile of a supply chain analyst might restrict my job opportunities to switch over
different profiles easily.
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ASSESSMENT CENTRE EXPERIENCE REVIEW
From the feedback and experience that has been received from the Assessment Center
Experience, it has been identified that though there are various qualities which would assist in
getting employed for the role of Supply Chain Analyst at Tesco, there are various key areas of
improvement through which I can enhance my employability skills for the respective role.
As per the feedback received from ACE, it was found that while into a discussion or while
presenting certain data in front of a group of individuals, nervousness is being felt and thus
might result in becoming a strong barrier in the role of a supply chain analyst at Tesco ( Gardner,
2012). On knowing the weakness, it could be understood that it is essential to build confidence
so that I can deal with the suppliers and the customers efficiently.
Through the assessment at the Assessment Center Experience, it could also be determined that
I am very structured and this would help me in my suggested role of supply chain analyst
through which I can streamline the activities to be performed and make an appropriate
structure to be followed for maintain the supply of the products from the suppliers and make
its timely delivery to the customers.
The feedback that has been received from Assessment Center Experience also helped in
understanding that my good analytical skills can assist my role as an analyst of supply chain and
would be assisting Tesco so that I can analyze the past records of the supply chain and analyze
them to determine the process of supply chain to be maintained by Tesco (Bridgstock et al.,
2019). Proficient analytical skills would allow me to make appropriate estimates of the supply
chain so that schedules of orders can be efficiently produced and can be used for increasing the
efficiency of the supply chain of Tesco.
Efficient communication skills would also assist me in interacting with people associated with
the respective supply chain so that any hindrances that are occurring in the process of the
supply chain can be communicated and through the analytical skills, innovative and adaptable
solutions can be generated for the problem (Collet et al., 2015). Communication skills can also
assist me as a supply chain analyst in understanding the requirements of the customers and
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making the respective products available for them. This might also help Tesco in boosting its
sales and maintaining healthy relationships with the customers.
To undergo the selection and recruitment process for the profile of supply chain analyst,
various steps would be undertaken. The first step would be an analytical test in which I would
be assisted with my strengths of being good at the analytical problems and having the
capability to solve them easily (Bates et al., 2019).
The second stage of the recruitment and selection process at Tesco would be to undergo a
group discussion. In accordance to the feedback which has been received at the Assessment
Center Experience, I was found to be good at group discussions and was identified as the
quoter member of the group and thus, this would assist me in clearing the round as well.
However, my weakness of being nervous is required to be worked upon so that it does not
cause a barrier for the same (Jackson and Oliver, 2018).
The final round of selection would be the interview round in which my skills and personality
would be analyzed by the selectors of Tesco. As per the feedback received from the Assessment
Center Experience, my passion and enthusiasm might assist me in putting a good impression
over the interviewers (Bridgstock et al., 2019). Though the feedback also recommended me in
increasing my confidence level as it is one of the most essential requirements for the job of
supply chain analyst and for overcoming the same, a personal development would be made so
that I can enhance my strengths and overcome my weaknesses so that I can grab the
opportunities and reduce the impact of threats.
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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Through a personal development plan, I was able to determine the key improvement areas
which would assist me in enhancing the skills required to be eligible for the profile of a Supply
Chain Analyst at Tesco. For enhancing my operational skills, basic theoretical knowledge of
operations and supply chain management was required to be gained which could be done
through studying books, journal and articles relating the same (Gould, 2017).
Though the proficiency in communication and interpersonal skills was good, it was essential to
develop higher command over the same to meet the requirements of the employer. Thus, to
achieve more efficiency in these skills, various activities like active listening, group discussions,
frequently reading habits, etc. were undertaken and were successfully achieved.
Another key area of development was to develop more confidence in the personality which
could be achieved through planning properly through a development plan. Accepting new
challenges and facing the activities that I feared helped me in gaining confidence (Tasker, 2015).
For gaining the technical skills required for a supply chain analyst, I went through various
training programs to gain the technical knowledge of tools and techniques used in the supply
chain.
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