Harrods: Employability Skills and Professional Development Project

This project report examines employability skills and professional development, using Harrods of London as a case study. The report begins with an introduction to employability skills, followed by a skills audit in the context of a marketing manager role. It identifies interpersonal and transferable skills, analyzing tools and techniques for enhancement, including communication, negotiation, and decision-making skills. The project includes a personal SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It also incorporates a proforma for individual appraisals and a personal and professional development plan. The report concludes with a reflective essay evaluating the completion of the development plan, addressing problems encountered and areas for future improvement. The project aims to improve individual skills, productivity, and overall organizational success by conducting training programs and providing necessary education regarding tasks.

Employability Skills
and Professional
Development project

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
TASK A...........................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1. Personal skills audit in context of personal role & responsibility and performance objectives
within organization......................................................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
(a) Identify some interpersonal & transferable skills and analyse some tools & techniques to
enhance these skills......................................................................................................................3
(b) Personal SWOT analysis to identify strength, weakness, opportunities and threats..............5
(c) Use appropriate proforma to carry out individual appraisal within organization..................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
Personal and professional development.......................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
TASK B.........................................................................................................................................13
What did I do well in the completion of development plan?.....................................................13
What were the problems?...........................................................................................................13
What do I want to further improve?...........................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills is also called job regarding or foundation skills which include the
requirement of soft skills in the individual in order to resolve problem which suits as per the
business environment. It includes the professional skills that enable the organization to become
successful (Arnau-Sabatés and et.al., 2014). In order to improve individual skills, business
conduct various training programs which helps improving their skills and make them capable to
increase their productivity. It provide various advantage for individual as well as whole
organization. Because it will improve their efficiency make them capable to performance their
roles & responsibilities which provide them further growth. In order to enhance or maximise
their productivity, HR department provide them some necessary training & education regarding
task which further enrich their knowledge and helps in identifying future opportunities.
Employability skills not only beneficial for professional development, it is also useful in
personal development. In order to get better understating of this concept, Harrods of London
selected for this project report. It is a British institute which has retail stores in the worldwide
area and they work from last 162 years. This project report cover various topics such as personal
skills audit, identify some tools to improve their skills and done SWOT analysis in order to
identify their strong or weak competencies. In addition, it includes the proforma of individual
performance and personal development plan. Along with this, it include the reflective essay
where person evaluate their skills & competencies and analyse that which one required
improvement and it further beneficial in personal as well as professional life,
MAIN BODY
TASK A
TASK 1
1. Personal skills audit in context of personal role & responsibility and performance objectives
within organization
Skills audit: It is the process which helps the organization to know about what skills &
competencies their employees have. This information is very important because it helps in
determining the organizational needs (Skills Audit, 2019). Without skills audit, manager enable
to identify the area of improvement and it further help the manager to formulating strategy of
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providing necessary training for the improvement in skills. In context of Harrod company, they
used to audit their employees skills for the specific job role (Asonitou, 2015). I am marketing
manager of this company and I am going to evaluate my skills for this role. So initially I have to
determine the skill requirement for marketing manager then evaluate my own skills and then
compare it. If any any improvement required then it will fulfilled with the help of training which
organization provide in order to enhance my skills or increase my productivity as well.
Illustration 1: Skills Audit, 2019.
(Source: Skills Audit, 2019)
Performance objectives used to target individual needs in the specific time frame such as
yearly or quarterly. It should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time
bound) and further it will be implemented in order to achieve business goals. In context of
Harrod of London, they offer me marketing manager position in their organization (Barker,
2014). So I have to evaluate my skills in comparison to the role of marketing manager. By using
required skills I have to done effective marketing of the company and increase sale by 10% in
the next 6 months.
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Personal roles & responsibility as marketing manager: As a marketing manager of the
company I have to person various task or develop promotional strategies to aware people
regarding their products or brand (Bass, McDermott and Lalchandani, 2015). Marketing manager
have to retain customers trust in the company. Some of the personal responsibilities are
discussed below:
 As a marketing manager I have to develop effective pricing strategy which maximise
profit margin as well as market share.
 They have to develop strategies regarding attracting new customers.
 Support the lead generation and sales team.
 Understand and develop budget for advertisement and other promotions activities.
With the help of skills audit, organization able to understand the required skills for
position of marketing manager. It will be represented in tabular form:
Skills Good Average Bad
Communication skill ✔
Creative thinking ✔
Networking ability ✔
Negotiation skill ✔
Team work skill ✔
Decision making ✔
Time management skill ✔
Problem solving ✔
Technical skill ✔
TASK 2
(a) Identify some interpersonal & transferable skills and analyse some tools & techniques to
enhance these skills
Interpersonal skills: This skill include the behaviour or tactics of an individual when
they interact with others. It is used in the professional world where people have to company's
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employees have to interact with many people in single day (Cottrell, 2015). In context of
Harrods of London, they required interpersonal skills for marketing manager position. They have
to analyse customer behaviour and attitude in order to understand their needs or desires regarding
products. This information will be communicated to manufacturing team and they further
formulate promotional strategy to attract right customers for their products.
 Communication skill: Excellent oral or written communication required for the role of
marketing manager. Because they have to deal with huge customers, manage their team
members and convey information to the whole organization. Marketing manager is the
representative of the company because single wrong step will impact the production as
well as profitability. This skill also include the active listening capacity where manager in
the high position so they have to listen their subordinated as well. They have to give
presentation to their team members regarding their actions or activity. In order to improve
this skills, marketing have to more engage with employees and also involves them at the
time of making decision for marketing of goods.
 Negotiation skill: It one of the important interpersonal skills where manager have to
build promotional strategies by using various platform. So they also make sure to
minimise marketing cost because it directly impact the cost of products and automatically
increase the price of goods (Craps and et.al., 2017). Marketing manager required this
skills in order to minimise their marketing cost and try to attract more customers by using
effective promotional method. In context of Harrods, marketing manager required this
skill and become capable to achieve business goals & objectives.
 Decision making: Here individual have to some decision which is beneficial in respect of
the company. Before making any decision, manager have to evaluate internal as well as
external factors which can impact the business operations. This skill used by the
marketing manager of Harrods of London, here they make decision regarding marketing
activities, customer behaviour, change in the product's features. Manager have to develop
various strategies in order attain the goals & objectives of the company. By using
Brainstorming method as an tool in order to increase employees participation which
evaluate innovative ideas that reduce the chances of variance.
Transferable skills: These skills used in the business environment in order to maintain
work culture of the company. It include time management, problem solving, leadership etc.
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Basically it includes the management skills which help the employees as well as manager to
complete their task or achieve success (Fletcher, Sharif and Haw, 2017). With the help of it,
manager able to identify opportunity and develop their strategies accordingly. Some of the
transferable skills for marketing manager of Harrods company mentioned below:
 Time management: It is used to coordinate work and complete each task on given
deadline and it will be possible through making schedule regarding business activity. It
will boost production as well as productivity. Marketing manager need to manage all the
work and make sure to complete task on deadline. In order to improve their skills,
manager of Harrods follow jotting down routine activity which is very successful tool.
With the help of this, marketing manager can list all the activities on weakly basis and
provide weight-age & time period required to complete. Major focus on urgent task and
carry out it effectively without delay (Helyer and Lee, 2014).
 Problem solving: It is the ability to solve problems in the organization and it can be
related to anything such as operational problems, any disputes or conflict among the
members. In context of Harrods of London company, marketing manager should have
this skill in order to resolve the issues which become barrier for the company. It helps in
reducing negatively which impact the performance of individual & whole organization. It
further reduce productivity as well as profitability so manager must have this skills to
resolve internal or external issues. If manager lacking in this area so they able to take
suggestions from top management through training & guidance.
(b) Personal SWOT analysis to identify strength, weakness, opportunities and threats
SWOT Analysis Explanation
Strength In context of my personal skills for the role of marketing manager, I believe
that communication skill, problem solving skill is my strength. Whenever I
communicate with any member of the company or talk with the outside the
company, they all are satisfies with my words because I am capable in
passing my message to the listener who effectively understand what I wanted
to say. I good knowledge regarding marketing, promotion, sales and how to
handle customers as well. Proficient communication skill required in the
retail sector because I have to communicate with customers, employees,
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marketing team, top management etc.
Along with communication my other interpersonal skills also very good
which is my strength and it helps me to engage with others which positively
impact the individual or their performances. Before formulating any
marketing strategy I will communicate with every one in order to get their
valuable suggestions which can improve my strategy and it will be possible
when I have effective communication or problem solving skill.
Weakness I have to focus on my creative thinking skill because as a marketing
manager of the company I have to be creative and generate some innovating
ideas which helps in making strategies. I am lacking in handling tough
situation so so I have to approach top management to resolve that issues.
Basically I have enough ability to solve problems but sadden situation will
block my thinking process or make me enable to think or provide any
effective solution of that. It will improve my skill through analysing various
perspective of people for the common situation, analyse case study of
different organization and their innovative ideas to to resolve problems
(Rowe and Zegwaard, 2017).
Another skill is Time management which I need to improve because most of
the time it happen that, multiple task or activities will confused me so I am
mistakenly miss the work or delay in completing. But, through making
schedule and list them according to their urgency will be helpful for me to
complete my task effectively and make be capable to achieve this skill.
Opportunities When I am going to improve my weak skills then it will become opportunity
for me to handle all the situations or make me capable or efficient in all
areas. Time management skill will be improve by using latest technology
such as tool for making weakly schedule. It is the opportunity for the
marketing manager of Harrods company to improve their skills. Along with
this, creative thinking will be improve through study of various cases or
innovation or problems in the organization and how their leaders face those
challenges and provide effective solutions for them.
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Threats Because of huge growth in the retail sector and competition will increased
which because threat for the company. As a marketing manager of Harrods
of London company, I have to identify market and develop effective stargates
in order to give tough competitive with the help of their products or good
marketing strategy which attract customer. It directly provide benefit to
increase production as well as profitability. If I am not able to understand
market or formulate effective strategies then it will become threat for the
company.
(c) Use appropriate proforma to carry out individual appraisal within organization
Individual appraisal is the traditional method of measuring performance in comparison to
measurable objectives. It will focus on required skills for the specific job role such as marketing
manager for Harrods company (Ito, 2014). Here management provide feedback to single
employee on the basis of their previous performance. It is beneficial for the staff members to
improve their actions and try to meet the standards which already set by the organization. It
significantly impact the individual and help them to understand regarding their skills which
required improvement to maximise their overall performance. Main focus of individual appraisal
is to measure weak areas and improve it by taking necessary actions which further useful in
achieving business objective. As a marketing manager of Harrods of London company, my
performance appraisal report mention below:
Quality Unsatisfactory Satisfactory Good Excellent
Quality of Work ✔
Knowledge of work ✔
Work Relations ✔
Integrity ✔
Work Consistency ✔
Technical skills ✔
Creativity ✔
Listening Skill ✔
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Time management ✔
Decision making ✔
Empathy ✔
Communication skills ✔
Negotiation skill ✔
Problem solving ✔ ✔
Persuasion skill ✔
On the basis of my appraisal report, I am able to understand my work and the area which
required improvement. I am efficiency in most of the skills but further I have to focus on some
skills such as time management, negotiation, problems solving or persuasion skill. I need to
improve my these skills with the help of personal development plan (PDP) (Jackson, 2015). It
make me capable in this skill by using some specific actions in order to improve my ability of
skills. It further helps me to achieve business goals or objectives and it will be possible through
maximising production or profit margin.
TASK 3
Personal and professional development
The aim of a Personal and professional development plan is to help the person in managing their
own learning and growth process through their career. This is important so that continuous
learning and acquisition of skills can be made possible and the knowledge of the person can be
made up-to-date so that they work safely, legally and effectively (Jollands and et.al., 2015). This
helps in analysing the weaknesses of the person that needs to be improved so that the business
requirements can be fulfilled.
Clear aims and objectives Areas of
developmen
t
Resource and activities Time
scale
This skill is important so that
the problems can be solved by
Creative
thinking
For this I need to calmly analyse the
problem and patiently formulate
3 months
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finding various solutions to be
able to solve them without
confusion and with
confidence. This can be done
by having the ability to think
creatively and brainstorming
through various ways in which
a problem can be solved
(Lima, Mesquita and Flores,
2014).
different ways in which a problem
can be solved by using minimum
possible resources and in a way that
the provided solution can effectively
help in solving a problem within a
specified period of time. I need to
stay more calm and avoid being
panic.
Effective decision-making is
an important character of a
marketing manager as it
affects the functions and
operations of the complete
organisation. Decisions should
be made by evaluating all the
pros and cons associated with
the options available so that a
good and result driven
decision could be made that
can help in achieving the
organisational goals and
objectives in time (Pheko and
Molefhe, 2017).
Decision-
making
For enhancing my decision-making
skills I first need to efficiently
evaluate the customer requirements
so that such strategies and policies
can be formulated which helps in
addressing the demands and
requirements of the customers. This
will help in better decision-making
and serving the customers with the
kind of services they expect and
want. This will help me in making
right decisions at right time so that
the goals of the organisation can be
efficiently achieved.
1 month
These skills are required so
that the resources can be well
managed and maintained so as
to be able to deal with the
requirements of the
Time
management
skills
I can enhance my time management
skills by formulating a table and
assigning appropriate time that will
be required to complete a specific
task. Harrods provide various
3 months
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organisation and customers on
time. This helps in carrying
out the day-to-day activities in
the most efficient manner
(Messum, Wilkes and Jackson,
2015).
developmental trainings in the
organisation so by attending these
sessions and seminars I could further
enhance my skills which will also
help in my overall development. This
will influence the way I take up tasks
and deal with them. Effective time
management will help me in
formulating appropriate strategies so
that the goals can be achieved on a
timely manner.
These skills are important so
that the relationships with
various parties can be
managed over long-term and
they can all work together and
maintain their relations with
the company. This also helps
in image building for the
company among all the parties
so that future business can be
expected from these parties
(Messum, Wilkes, Jackson and
Peters, 2016).
Negotiation
skills
I can enhance my negotiation skills
by improving my interpersonal skills
so that long term relations can be
maintained with different
stakeholders. I also need to stay
positive and polite so that better
relations can be managed with the
parties. I also need to gain the trust
my my employers and other
employees sop that they can give me
the chance of dealing with the parties
so that I can help in building strong
relations with the company.
2 months
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that employability skill is very essential for
organisation which add great value in the employees which further enhance productivity as well
as performance of individual. In context of organization, these skills help the people to complete
their task such as marketing manager required team management, decision making,
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