Reflective Essay: Examining Employee Training and Development in Tesco

This reflective essay delves into the critical role of employee training and development within the UK retail sector, using Tesco as a primary case study. The essay explores the significance of training programs in enhancing employee skills, knowledge, and overall productivity. It examines the application of Gibbs' reflective cycle to evaluate the impact of training initiatives. The study investigates various training methods and their effects on employee performance, while also highlighting the importance of e-learning in the modern business environment. The essay concludes that training and development are essential for organizational success, aligning employee capabilities with company objectives. The essay also provides a detailed analysis of the independent variable, training and development, and its impact on the dependent variable, employee productivity.

REFLECTIVE ESSAY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
BRIEF EVALUATION OF SUBJECT AREA...............................................................................4
PROPOSED EXPECTED OUTCOME...........................................................................................5
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
The current study will focus over collection, evaluation and interpretation of employee
training and development in the organisation. It shows the dependence of company over training
and learning sessions to improve the skills and knowledge of employees in relation to retail
sector of the United Kingdom. The present study has drawn the research idea by mainly focusing
over Tesco, United Kingdom. The background of the present study is focusing over collecting in-
depth information about the training and development within an organisation. It also focuses
over carrying out in-depth information about the several training and development methods used
by the companies to offer certain skills and knowledge to each employee so that they can
perform their assigned work and operations in effective and efficient way (Marvelous, 2021). It
also showcases that training and learning sessions directly help retail company to make their
employees efficient and effective.
As per the opinion of training and development is one of the methods through which
employee are being developed in the company so that they can perform their assigned effectively
and efficiently and fill the existing gap in the performance. With the help of training and
development, employees get chance to identify their strong and weak areas. When weak areas
are identified then employees take learning and training sessions through which they improve
these areas and perform their work effectively and efficiently (Mehta and Sidharth, 2022). This is
directly linked with gaining competitive edge in the presence of multiple number of competitors
in the market. It is very significant for the organisations because it helps in creating interested
and dedicated workforce. Employees become effective and efficient and perform their work with
great enthusiasm and become more encouraged towards their work.
The aim of the present study is “To examine the effect of staff training and development
on the productivity of employees in the retail sector of the United Kingdom. A study on Tesco”.
Thus, the main motive of doing the existing study is to learn how a organisation makes their
workforce knowledgeable and skilled with the help of training and development. The other
purpose is that it finds out the different methods and ways of training and development. This
report will also highlight the requirement of training and development to keep the employees
motivated and encouraged in the workplace and so their work with great efficiency and
effectiveness. Therefore, this will showcase the effects of staff training on the productivity of
employees.

The rationale of the present study is evaluating the dependent and independent variable.
The independent variable of the current study is training and development and the dependent
variable of the present study is employee’s productivity. This study focuses over carrying out in-
depth information about the significance of training and development within retail company and
different methods used by offering training to each employee working in the organisation. As per
the information gathered from the earlier investigations, the idea of training and development has
taken and chosen so that several companies can understand the importance of training and
development. Previous studies have shown that training and development makes the effective
and efficient workforce and this directly creates positive impact over performance and
productivity of the whole company.
BRIEF EVALUATION OF SUBJECT AREA
The expected results of the present study can be better described by considering Gibb's
cycle of reflection. It is clearly showcased below:
The primary stage of Gibbs reflective cycle is known as description and it mainly reflects over
understanding the activities included in the investigation in a detailed manner. It mainly deals
with the significant facts as the areas about which the investigation mainly depends upon, the
idea collected for the investigation and a brief examination of the investigation outcomes.
In the current investigation, I have put main focus over training and development in an
organisation. It is one of the significant practices and holds great power to make existing and
new workforce talented and skilled as per the requirements of the organisation. It has helped in
making sure that brand image is improved by giving training and learning sessions to the
employees. With the assistance of training and development, employee are able to showcase
their capabilities by learning new skills and knowledge. This positively impacts the performance
of employees as well as the organisation. The idea of doing the current study has made me to
find out the new methods and trends in the function of training and development and how they
impact the performance and productivity of the whole company along with employees. Hence,
with the help of current investigation, I have examined that how training and development have
direct linked with the success of a company and create great relationship with the employees.
The second stage of this cycle is feeling phase and this directly deals with the in-depth
analysis of the tasks, situations and events which are mentioned in the step 1. It has focused on
the way investigation is being completed and my self-reflection of the investigation. The

investigation is successfully taken out by making a detailed evaluation of the current changes and
the impact of training and development over existing skills and knowledge of the workforce. For
this, I have assembled detailed information from the previous investigations and this has assisted
me in saving my limited time as I do not need to put additional efforts for completing the work. I
have also used survey method for the accumulation of numerical and raw information. I have
developed a questionnaire and it has assisted me in collecting numerical raw information.
The third stage is also known as evaluation stage. It majorly focuses over dealing with the
experiences included in the completion of research step-by-step. For the completion of a
appropriate investigation and examination, it becomes essential to study prior conducted
investigations and studies because this directly assists in the completion of the whole study in a
systematic manner. I have given short summary of the earlier conducted investigations so that
literature review of the study can be completed with the help of relevant and accurate piece of
information. It shows that how training and learning sessions assist in bringing out great abilities
and capabilities of existing employees towards their work. It also deals with how employees
work after attending training and learning sessions.
The other step is analysis and majorly concentrates on self-reflection and understanding
the investigation. It has helped me in identifying strengths and weaknesses and it is necessary for
making improvements in self. I have carried out that I am good in determining new and updated
information about any topic and I am also good in communicating with people. On the other
hand, the major weakness identified by me is that I am not good in managing time.
PROPOSED EXPECTED OUTCOME
The expected outcome of the present investigation will be that training and development
is necessary and essential for an organisation because it directly helps in creating advantages for
the organisation. The expected result of the present study will also showcase that when an
organisation adopts training and development strategy then it positively impacts the productivity
of the organisation because employees have certain skills to achieve the objectives and aim of
the organisation (Ameen and Baharom, 2019). It also showcases that the success of the
organisation is now also dependent over the efficiency and effectiveness of the existing
workforce. It will also put light on that e-learning is one of the types of training and development
which holds great importance in this digital world. The report will include the companies which
are using e-learning as their training and development strategy (Kruger, 2021). Employees are

also satisfied when companies adopt e-learning for making employees effective and efficient in
the workplace. Therefore, learning and development is the significant strategy to keep employees
satisfied and to maximise the profitability of the whole company.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The major significance of the current study is that employees are the precious asset of the
company and this study gives the detailed information about how training and development helps
an organisation to develop employees in the organisation (Adi, Ma’arof and Angsor, 2020). So,
this report will give detailed data to the company about how large scale companies adopt training
and development to make their workforce effective and efficient in the workplace. This also
finds out latest trends and patterns within training and development and the need of following
each trend.
CONCLUSION
From the above assembled information, it is concluded that training and development is
one of the strategies which is directly linked with the success of the whole organisation. An
organisation adopts this strategy to align the skills and knowledge of the employees with the
objectives and goals of the organisation. This report has included the significance and rationale
of the study in a systematic manner and provided the appropriate reflection about the whole
study in a systematic manner.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Adi, N., Ma’arof, A.N. and Angsor, M.A.M., 2020. Factors Influencing Employees to Stay in an
Organisation. Research in Management of Technology and Business, 1(1), pp.938-954.
Ameen1&2, A. and Baharom, M.N., 2019. An appraisal of the effect of training on employee
performance in an organisation: a theoretical discussion. Asian Journal of
Multidisciplinary Studies, 7(3), pp.27-31.
Kruger, E., 2021. Adapt or die in the time of a pandemic: Towards a grounded theory of strategic
adjustments by an early childhood development training organisation. Perspectives in
Education, 39(1), pp.157-172.
Marvelous, A., 2021. Impact of Training and Development on Employees’ Knowledge Sharing
Capability in a Food Processing Organisation (Doctoral dissertation, Dublin, National
College of Ireland).
Mehta, A.K. and Sidharth, S., 2022, February. Selection of model for evaluation of Training
effectiveness for Govt/PSU Organisation: A systematic literature review. In 2 nd
International Conference on Innovation in Management & Information Technology (p.
33).