Analysis of Employee Training and Development at TESCO During COVID-19

This dissertation examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employee training and development within TESCO, a major UK retail organization. The study explores the dynamic external environment and the need for a trained workforce to navigate uncertainties. It investigates how effective employee training and development can mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic, focusing on the challenges and strategies employed by TESCO. The research includes a comprehensive literature review, analyzing the second wave of the pandemic in the UK and its effects on the retail industry, including changes in consumer behavior and online shopping trends. The dissertation also assesses the role of employee training in adapting to these changes, emphasizing the importance of digital learning, virtual tools, and innovative strategies. The findings highlight the need for TESCO to focus on employee training and development to maintain a competitive advantage in the evolving market. It also suggests how TESCO can help its employees to cope with challenges related to employee training & development in situation of COVID 19 virus, and formulate suitable strategies to deal with these challenges.

DISSERTATION
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Table of Contents
Title: “To analyse the role of employee training and development in dealing with situation of
present COVID-19 pandemic.” A case study on TESCO................................................................3
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background to research topic.....................................................................................................3
1.2 Background to research organization.........................................................................................3
1.3 Research rationale......................................................................................................................3
1.5 Research aims and objectives....................................................................................................4
Chapter 2: Literature review............................................................................................................5
2.1 Introduction of literature review................................................................................................5
2.2 Main body with heading and sub-headings...............................................................................5
2.3 Conclusion of literature review................................................................................................11
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................12
Recommendations:.........................................................................................................................27
Implications for further research:...................................................................................................28
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................29
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................30
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Title: “To analyse the role of employee training and development in dealing with
situation of present COVID-19 pandemic.” A case study on TESCO.
Chapter 1: Introduction
The aim of present report is to make a detailed analysis of the way training and
development of employees can assist in dealing with the situation of covid pandemic. The
external environment is completely dynamic and is changing very fast. There arises a need t o
have a trained and competent workforce that can assist the organisation in dealing with such
uncertainties (Efrida Mardianaand Erlina, 2020). For this objective the present research report is
based on evaluating the way effective employee training and development can lead towards
minimizing the overall negative impact of this pandemic situation.
1.1 Background to research topic
The present COVID 19 impact across different parts of the world has completely
transformed the way different industries are functioning this situation has affected TESCO as
one of the retail organisations in UK (Sung. and Choi, 2018). For the purpose of analysing and
implementing various changes across the organisation there is a need to formulate suitable
strategies for training & development of employees. The present report is based on analysing the
way effective training & development will help in minimise the overall negative impact of
COVID 19 situation on TESCO.
1.2 Background to research organization
TESCO is one of the biggest food retail brand that is serving various foods and non food
product segments that include entertainment, insurance, electrical goods and such related
products (Noe and Kodwani, 2018). They are employing approx 440,000 people across world
with 280,000 in UK. They are having 2000 stores across UK and presence across china,
Hungary, Thailand and United States. It is one of biggest private sector employer’s in UK that is
offering it a competitive advantage (Tesco, 2019).
1.3 Research rationale
The retail industry has to adopt themselves according to the challenges that are arsing
because of changing dynamic environment. For this purpose there is requirement to use the
existing workforce as a strategy to deal with such changing environment conditions. This report
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is going to assist in identification of challenges associated with training and development in this
situation because the existing workforce may not accept the change easily (Aleemand Bowra,
2020). So there is requirement to focus on strategic development in order to manage such high
level of change resistance on part of employees. This research work will be very helpful in
developing detail overview of the way different strategies that can be used by large scale
organisations for the purpose of having a competent and qualified workforce in highly dynamic
market situations.
1.4 Research question
 How has the present situation of COVID 19 virus affected the employee training and
development in TESCO as a retail organisation?
 What is the basic role of employee training and development in dealing with the situation
of COVID 19?
 What are some of the respective challenges of employee training and development arsing
because of covid 19 situation in TESCO?
 What can be effective strategies to deal with challenges related to employee training &
development in situation of COVID 19 virus TESCO?
1.5 Research aims and objectives
Aim: “To evaluate the role of employee & training development strategies to deal with situation
of COVID 19 virus”. A case study on TESCO
Objectives:
 To analyse the present situation of employee training and development in TESCO in this
COVID 19 pandemic
 To evaluate role of employee training and development in dealing with the situation
 To identify respective challenges related to training and development strategies in
TESCO
 To formulate suitable strategies to deal with challenges associated with employee training
& development
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Chapter 2: Literature review
2.1 Introduction of literature review
Literature review is a basic evaluation of information from the existing sources. It is
basically a narrative review that is part of a review article which is based on a scholarly paper. It
is representing the present knowledge including substances, findings and theoretical
contributions of a particular topic. In present research report literature review will be used as a
secondary medium of collecting the relevant information with respect to the laid aims and
objectives of the research. It is used to analyse the view points of different authors with respect
to the various areas of the laid aims and objectives. All the analysis made based on the available
secondary sources of information is further applied to reach to relevant conclusion and
recommendations for the organisation.
2.2 Main body with heading and sub-headings
To analyse the present situation of employee training and development in TESCO in this
COVID 19 pandemic
As per view of Am, (2020), in September 2020 UK has been experiencing the covid-19
pandemic second wave. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson introduced for measures of social
dispensing in September to prevent the spread of this virus. There were approximately 4322 new
positive tests that were registered in September, 2020. The country was not willing to go down in
a second lockdown situation so they believe that they must deal with this scenario by having
better measures of social distancing and prevention at the same time (UK experiencing start of
COVID-19 pandemic's second wave: Boris Johnson, 2020).
According to view points of Wilson (2021), there has been increase in corona virus cases in
Europe since the third wave of infections have been raising across 20 countries in European
Union that is reporting increasing the test positivity (Franchi, 2020). There is requirement to deal
with the negative impact on sales of non essential commodities because of covid-19 as per data
of March 2021. According to the European centre for disease prevention and control there have
been three consecutive weeks of growing cases of covid-19 where there have been 1.2 million
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new cases reported in the last week across Europe. As per the view points of Hans kluge the
fastest spreading of b117 corona virus variant was first detected in UK and now this is becoming
more problem in predominant across all the regions where the cases reported in 48 out of 53
European territories (Giritli Nygren and Olofsson, 2020). This has led to a number of people
dying from covid-19 in Europe is very high as compared to last year that has reflected the
widespread hold the virus has. The rising cases of coronavirus lead to conclusion that there have
been 35000 new cases on 18th March. There are some of European countries that include France,
Germany, Italy and Spain who are resuming the rollouts of Oxford covid-19 vaccine after the
investigation by European Union’s medicines regulator. This concluded the benefits outweigh
the overall risk. Approximately 20 countries have suspended use of the vaccine following reports
of blood clots in some of the patients who have been receiving it. The corona virus case in fact
has been rising slightly and the most recent official is putting it between 0.6 and 0.9 as compared
to previous weeks. Infections are also shrinking overall at the rate of 3%-6 % per day but the rate
at which it was following a layer has load between 4% and 7% per day as in the previous weeks.
The overall findings from the latest reports clearly show that from a random swap testing survey
by National statistics officer found that cases are no longer falling in some parts of UK and are
even rising and some of the regions. As per Gilliland, (2021), the retail industry of UK has also
been affected as sales in Great Britain have followed by 1.9 % in 2020 as compared to 2019. A
major impact has been because of the decreasing sales of non essential products as there is
reduction of purchasing power of people. However, they have shifted their preferences from non
essential products to only essential goods. With respect to Tesco this retail brand has also been
affected because of changes in the consumer behaviour and measuring of the attitudes across
6000 customers across 6 European countries (Hermans, Weill and Pierce, 2020). Tesco has been
observing enhancement in e-commerce sales but there is falling in retail sales. Approx 5.7
million UK households now are shopping for the Christmas groceries online as compared to year
2019 (Covid-19 news: Fears of third wave grow as infections rise in Europe, 2020).
Supermarkets have to analyse the shopping patterns because of consumer shopping less
frequently and in bigger quantities. Tesco announced record-breaking Christmas 1 billion pounds
of online grocery sales in the 19 weeks period. However, research conducted by McKinsey found
that most of the customers have been satisfied with the experience is online and some are willing
to focus on online grocery shopping as a temporary measure. Tesco can assume continuation of
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online supermarket growth in coming time period (Zipprich and et. al 2020). Customers are now
shifting towards online shopping measures because of increasing safety concerns. Customers
have to go with regulations because of the shift towards artificial growth.
To evaluate role of employee training and development in dealing with the situation
As per siepmann (2020), learning is very necessary for the purpose of corporate training
during this pandemic scenario. The old workforce is relying on various online based courses and
insights. Learning and development strategies are required to maximize the use of present online
learning platforms and considering the use of technology to use accessible learning and
communication. Digital learning is one of the most important tools that can help in shaping the
workforce with more creative methods. Tesco has to focus on development of innovative
strategy that can be used to deal with the changing requirements of dynamic environment.
Especially in digital marketing and virtual reality these tools can help in development of a
competitive advantage as compared to other competitors like Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s or ASDA.
Different attractive offers on online purchasing, loyalty card facilities, digital marketing
campaigns on social media applications are some of the effective tools that can be used for the
purpose of approaching the target segment of customers (Kremer, Villamor and Aguinis, 2019).
This can further be implemented as a part of virtual approach in the organisation for the purpose
of maintaining a productive approach towards the customers.
The present scenario of covid-19 has affected different industries in different manner.
Organisations have to change their way of internal functioning because of this situation that has
led to a complete different scenario. For the retail sector there is a shift towards more E-
Commerce purchases as compared to the offline retail stores. It is mainly because of the
increasing safety concern of paper and the growing social distance in long that has created a need
to shift towards online channels as compared to offline purchases. However, in respect to Tesco
the organisation is working hard to ensure that customers can get access to products according to
their requirements. For this organisation is encouraging the customers to shop as normally as
they can and they posse’s sufficient stock levels (Bolisani and Bratianu, 2017). However, for the
purpose of ensuring safety and protecting customers colleagues Tesco is working to ensure that
there is proper face covering, limiting the flow of people, introduction of a traffic light system,
when the store is safe for customers than the lights are turning green and helping their employees
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to manage the stores in a more better way. Apart from the internal storage management floor
markings is also used to maintain safe distancing cross queues, hand sanitizers are being placed
in the stores for customers colleagues extra cleaning products for wiping down the basket,
protective screens at the exit gates. All these measures are used for extensively protecting the
customers and following up of the government regulations (Employee engagement practices
during COVID
‐19 lockdown, 2020).
With implementation of all such strategies requires properly trained staff so that they are
able to work according to the requirement of changes in their existing job roles and
responsibilities.
The implementation and use of proper training and development measure in this present
covid-19 situation can be used as a motivation tool for the employees. It can be adopted for the
purpose of enhancing the present level of employee engagement as one of the prominent
measures for human resource managers and practitioners in retail organisations (Tench and et. al
2017). The present situation requires engagement activities like virtual learning and
development, online team building activities, online conducting off weekly training sessions,
dealing with changes of virtual competition, having webinars with experts etc. These are some of
the specific training measures that are required to help the present workforce of Tesco to
effectively deal with the digital transformation process in the organisation. This function is also
going to assess towards training employees at the workplace (Noe and Kodwani, 2018). It is
required to ensure that they are properly committed to achieve the organisation values and goals.
When the human resource department will be working towards developing the existing skills of
employees it is going to provide them with proper career development prospects, communication
and encouragement. Such training programs are required for the purpose of encouraging
employees to perform their job roles with the required level of commitment. It becomes very
crucial for the organisation to use employee development and training measures.
As per view points of chetia (2020), covid-19 has led to business organisations being
impacted because of the changing customer behaviour and spending habits because of
restrictions. Organisations are willing to deal with changing preferences of customers by
launching of new product services. However, tesco is working towards re-configuration of their
existing modes of operations. Managers and leaders have to analyse the situation and building
effective strategies for corporate training of the workforce. Shifting of digital channels is
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required as online becoming the channel of choice for customer’s media consumption (Impact of
COVID-19 on Consumer Market and Corporate Training, 2020).
To identify respective challenges related to training and development strategies in TESCO
As per Mc bride (2020) according to the history there have been many significant events that
have played a part in human interaction and in the process of training and development. The
industrial revolution in 1900 and across 1930 has been responsible for advent of different
fundamental requirements of on the job training. In 1940 there have been boom highlighted
across organisations to focus more on the job training measures so that employees can work and
at the same time develop skills for further development. This aspect is a part of employee
motivation also when employees are provided opportunities for individual career growth. It leads
to enhancement in the present level of motivation and morale in the organisation. The growth of
internet has been major development driving the growth and allowing business organisations to
interact in word 2010 the increasing use of social technologies and mobile have expanded this
reach. Covid-19 virus has led to a shift in the way training and development space have to be
created for training professionals. One of the challenges associated with training is creating of a
training scenario in a social distancing workplace (Bibi, Ahmad and Majid, 2018). Covid-19
virus has affected the social distancing procedure across various organisations. It has
transformed the way organisations are operating their daily functions.
Employees have been affected because of these changes in the working environment and
functioning of retail organisations. There has been complete decrease in the motivation and
morale of the present workforce in Tesco. So, it is one of the challenges to deal with the
changing mindset of employees with respect to present covid situation. However, the main
challenge that is related with the present workforce of Tesco is the staff must possess skills to
thrive in a remote working environment from both view of a logistical standpoint and
technological. All the staff must have the competence to deal with the complexity of present on
boarding process that is critical to success (Covid-19 impact on retail: What trends are emerging
in 2021).
Dealing with the digitally diverse workforce is also part of the retail sector because of the
different segments that is food processing manufacturing Customer services that are part of
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Tesco. There are many different job functions that are to be performed by employees which
require proper training. It includes handling of online orders, processing and delivery that has to
be managed in order to ensure proper Customer services. For this TESCO has to work towards
development of strong and diverse team that is important aspect of leadership function.
To formulate suitable strategies to deal with challenges associated with employee training
& development
As per Nevins (2020), the post covid environment is completely different from the new
normal aspect of normal working environment. Different economics across the world have to
deal with the supply chains and various business fundamentals at a very fragile. There is also
need to develop a structure of business models according to the changes required to be
implemented in daily operations. Tesco can use a strategy of increasing Reliance on remote
friendly solutions for enhancement of investment in innovation that can drive the solutions.
Tesco will be able to achieve a competitive advantage by focusing on approach of on-demand
learning. It includes while employees will be facing difficulties they may feel a need to upgrade
their existing skills. This demand has to be dealt by Tesco to provide them a proper opportunity
of different training measures. Another effective strategy for TESCO can be of leveraging the
sudden remote networking immersion (Hoque and et. al, 2018). This shift will help in creating
of enormous opportunities such as by use of telecommunication as an emerging and improved
tool to deal with the challenges in the market. However, employees now have to work towards
digitising the connections and communications as per leadership teams, managers and
colleagues to enhance the output with such training measures (Training and Development in a Post-
COVID-19 Workplace, 2020).
The manual developed by name guidance on preparing workplaces for covid-19 can be used
by organisations for creating an infectious disease preparedness and response plan. This can help
in addressing the requirement of social distancing, changing the worksheets downsizing of
operations delivering of services remote areas and different reducing measures of physical
contact among employees (Rasheed and et. al, 2017). However, another strategy that can be used
for the purpose of dealing with the challenges of social distancing can be replacing the face to
face meeting with the employees with virtual communications. If employees are part of remote
area or do not have proper internet facilities in there can be use of tele networking or
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telecommunication as a strategy. Virtual training is one of the effective strategies that can be
used for engaging employees and enhancing their attention.
In respect to Tesco instructor led training can be used as an approach for reskilling their
employees and having proficiency in remote meeting. While preparing of virtual training
sessions the trainer has to recognise the requirement of employees. However, the main aspect of
training must focus on increasing the skill and competence of the work was related with
ecommerce operations associated with Tesco. There has to be engagement and focus on visual
arts, videos, breakout sessions as an important measure to stay connected with all the
participants.
Embracing of upgraded technology training professionals in Tesco can use the forefront
strategy of embracing new technology. In the situation of post covid-19 workplace it is necessary
to create an excellent roadmap for the training process framework. In this there has to be
organisation of various training functions and process in basic four functional groups that is
content, delivery, administration and technology. Virtual training sessions can be used for
engaging the learners and keeping their attention. However, the virtual training sessions and
renewed focus is very important for technical aptitude in order to train employees. Adaptation to
the external environment changes can be one of the effective techniques that can be used by the
training and development department of TESCO. This aspect is related to following of all the
legal rules and regulations that have been formed by the government in TESCO (Re thinking
training and development in a Post covid world, 2020).
2.3 Conclusion of literature review
From the above made analysis there is discussion of different aspects related to requirement
of training and development measures for the purpose of dealing with the challenges associated
with covid-19 situation. There is requirement to form Effective strategies to deal with the
challenges that are associated with effective training of employees. For the purpose of achieving
success in this changing dynamic environment there is requisite to have focus towards
developing new skill set among the existing workforce. In the retail sector there has been a major
shift towards online purchasing of products. So, employees have to be trained to perform
functions as per requirement of digitisation of functions. Further there has been a shift towards
virtual reality by application of artificial intelligence. There is also a requirement to fortify the
overall culture of organisations so that employees can execute proper functioning and create
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value for the stakeholders. Organisations can invest in helping their employees to execute, create
value for their stakeholders and specially the customers.
Human resource department of Tesco has to use a proper structure for the purpose of
planning the process of training, consulting employees and further making decisions in a more
inclusive manner. The overall value can be realised according to the expectation of each
employee so that they can be made accountable for their overall development. Human resource
managers have to design and plan the important business initiatives to foster commitment and
innovation according to improvement areas.
Research gap
In present research report there have been certain identified gaps that arise while applying the
secondary sources of information and data available. There has been a research gap because
there was no availability of required information related to suitable strategies. It has been mainly
because of limitation of online available sources. For large organisations like Tesco the internal
policies of employee training and development are part of confidential information. It is very
difficult to get the information related to such aspects from secondary sources of information. It
has led to creation of a research gap from the perspective of achieving some source of
Information and identification of actual available sources. However other research objective that
is identification of prospective challenges and evaluation of role played by employee training
and development has been very helpful in reaching to relevant conclusion in course of research
for.
The overall research gap part of this research as there is limitation of information that is available
in some of the scenarios. In some situations the various viewpoints of writers are used for the
purpose of analysing challenges that are related to employee training and development but in
some cases there is difficulty in understanding the suitable strategy formulation process. The gap
has been mainly raised because of no proper coordination among the availability of information.
This overall research gap can be overcome by using primary sources of information. In the
further part of research work there are primary sources that are used to have proper authentic and
reliable sources of information. It is going to help in dealing with the present research gaps.
Findings from literature review:
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 To analyse the present situation of employee training and development in
TESCO in this COVID 19 pandemic: It has been discovered from the above
analysed literature that Employee training is required for the purpose of managing e
commerce sales in TESCO. The situation of digitization of organisation functioning
is going to continue for upcoming future time period as the post covid scenario of
different industries will be completely different.
 Identify respective challenges related to training and development strategies in
TESCO: It has been founded from the literature that the main challenges for TESCO
is to Deal with the digitally diverse workforce. There are some of the challenges that
can affect the present training and development opportunities in the organisation.
Such as there is difficulty in adjusting the overall working environment. Another
major challenge is dealing with the diverse nature of employee background. Apart
from this there is also difficulty in dealing with the increasing internal complexity of
the organisation that arises because of boarding process of new employees in
TESCO.
 Evaluate role of employee training and development in dealing with the
situation: It has been founded from the literature review that employee training and
development plays a very important role in dealing with the situation of demotivated
workforce. Employees are offered opportunities of individual development it leads to
enhancement in the present motivation level. They are willing to have necessary
required skills that can contribute towards increasing their performance level in the
organisation functioning.
 Formulate suitable strategies to deal with challenges associated with employee
training & development: In this aspect it has been founded from the literature that
TECSO can use Embracing of upgraded technology training professionals for the
purpose of having a talented workforce that can contribute towards overall
organisation functioning in this changing scenario.
 There are instances of decrease in the motivation and morale of the present
workforce in TESCO that has to be dealt for the purpose of developing sprit to
enhance their present skills and knowledge level. In TESCO it is very important to
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have a motivated workforce that can grasp the knowledge as per requirements of
organisations through such training and development programmes.
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research process
Research process involves identification, locating, assessing and analysis of the information that
is required for supporting the research question (Rajasinghe, 2020). It is further based on
development and expression of ideas. In present research report there is need to use research
methodology as a approach for the purpose of analysing the different methods that will be used
for the purpose of evaluating the information and further reaching to relevant conclusions based
on such collect information. For this purpose there is analysis of research design, approaches,
strategy and key methods that are going to be used in order to collect the information, analyse it
and further reach to conclusions.
3.2 Research approach
Research approach: It is based on selecting of suitable methods that is used as a
procedure of the research. Analysing the collective data and then further reaching to relevant
interpretation. There are different types of research approaches that can be used in a particular
research work. Such as one is detective research approach that is testing the validity of
assumptions. In this approach premises have to be true and Conclusion can be devised from thes
premises. Another is inductive research approach catalyst on generating the understood
conclusion. There is movement from specific to general approach. in presents research report
there will be juice of inductive research approach.
Justification: In present research report there is use of Inductive approach that is based on
phenomena of identification of relevant theme. Further there is creation of a phenomena and
pattern for the purpose of leading towards relevant conclusion.
3.3 Research strategy
Research strategy: A research strategy is based on overall planned for the purpose of
conducting study. Research method is based on daily research in analysing the way in which the
data can be collected and further analysed. There are many different types of research strategies
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that can be used by researcher it has to be selected based on the key requirement and needs of a
particular research work.
Research strategy is based on the step by step action that provides directions to efforts and
thoughts. It enables for conducting of the research in a more systematic and scheduled manner
for the purpose of generating quality results and achieving the overall laid aims and objectives in
context of research work (Devi, 2017). The appropriate strategy has to be selected based on the
research questions, research objectives, time availability, research disposal and the philosophical
underpinnings of the researcher. There are different types of research strategies such as:
Qualitative: in this there is understand of the relevant opinion or reason based on certain problem
of facts in this there is no involvement of any type of numerical data. It provides basic insights of
research problem ad achievement of research objects different methods that can be used includes
observations, interviews, open ended surveys and other focus group discussions.
Quantitative: in this there is collection of primary or secondary form of data that is generally in
numerical for. Researcher can collect the information by use of polls, questionnaires and surveys
by use of secondary sources. This strategy is based on identification of specific phenomena at the
time when it is actually occurring.
Justification: In the present research report there is use of both qualitative and quantitive form
of information for the purpose of reaching to relevant conclusions. Qualitative method is used to
analyse the non numerical form of information that is collected in present research work on other
hand quantitative method is used to analyse the numerical information that is part of collecting
relevant information in order to reach suitable conclusion as per the required aims and objectives
of the report.
3.4 Research methodology
Research methods are regarded as the different types of methods that are being used by a
research in the course of a particular research work. All these methods have to be used in order
to collect relevant information that is related with the research work. Such as in present scenario
there are different research methods that can be used it includes experiments, surveys,
interviews, questionnaires, case studies, observational trials and studies. All these are various
methods that have to be used according to the suitability of particular research work.
Research methodology also depends on use of primary or secondary sources of collecting
information as per the requiem’s of a research work and the researcher (Daniel, 2018).
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Primary method: It includes the first hand information that is collected by researcher. In
this there is no use of existing information but the information solely carried out to address
certain specific problem with use of an in depth analysis. There are different methods that can be
used for the purpose of conducting research that includes interviews, online surveys, focus
groups or experiments depending upon the feasibility of the research and availability of
resources.
Such as primary methods are related with the original information that is collected by
the researcher for the purpose of answering a research question based on observations, surveys
and experiments. Secondary data includes the information that is already collected by other
researcher and is based on existing sources of information (Phillips and Ritala, 2019). Such as in
case of secondary sources of information there is no use of any newly or firsthand collected
information for the purpose of reaching to relevant conclusions.
In present research work there is use of both primary and secondary sources of
information for the purpose of collating information. In present report primary sources there is
use of questionnaire in order to collect the relevant information from the identified target
segment of respondents. The secondary sources are based on application of literature review to
reach to relevant conclusions for this there is identification of viewpoints of authors, journal
articles online availability of sources. All are combined together to collect the information as
over the laid aims and objectives of research report.
3.5 Research instruments/tools
Research instruments include tests, surveys, checklists and some interview methods. It is
determined by the researcher and is part of studying the whole methodology (Kumar, 2018). This
document offers some of the examples of research instruments and study methods. Research
instrument is used for answering the research aims, objectives and research questions to prove
the hypothesis of this study. In the present research work there is use of questionnaire for the
purpose of reaching to relevant conclusions. In which there is preparation of some set of
questions in order to analyse the view pint of target segment of respondents as per the needs of
research report.
Questionnaires: Questionnaire is a tool that is designed for the purpose of collecting the
quantitative form of data it is a widely used construction research tool part of good research
instrument for the purpose of collecting of standardised and generalisations of research
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(Privitera, 2018). Questionnaires in present research report is used for providing of quick
responses that is for developing of questionnaires to ensure that there is relevant research work
that is conducted as per requirements of research report. In the present research for the purpose
of analysing the importance of training and development of employees in the present scenario of
COVID 19 virus is very important to reach to relevant conclusions
3.6 Sampling
Sampling is a process that is used in the process of predetermined number of observations that is
taken from the whole set of populations (Biddix, 2018). The methodology is use for sample from
large population that depends on the analysis to be performed. There are different sampling
methods that random sampling or the systemic sampling methods.
Systematic sampling: It is based on random sampling that is based on random starting with use
of periodic interval, fixed and selected sampling. The sampling interval is calculated based on
population size that is divided by the sample size. Sample population is being selected in
advance; systemic sampling is considered random as per periodic internal that is determined
before hand at the starting point of the research.
Random sampling: It is a method in which each item as a equal probability of
getting selected in the course of research. There is no presence of any type of personal biasness
of the researcher (Coolican, 2018). In this there are no specific judgements that are done at the
time of selecting of the sample as researcher is free to randomly select employees from the whole
target set of population. In present research report there is use of 30 respondents as a sample size
to analyse the laid research topic.
Justification: There is use if random sampling method in order to save time and cost of
researcher as per the needs of present research work. All the respondents are employees who are
presently working in TESCO across its various functional departments and are contributing
towards achievement of their laid aims and objectives.
Validity and reliability of research: The overall validity and reliability of the present research
work is achieved by having authentic sources of information that are being used for the purpose
of collecting relevant information from journal sources only. Apart from this the questionnaire
that has been prepared is very helpful in assessing the first hand information that is completely
reliable and can be used for the purpose of reaching to relevant conclusions. The view points of
17

selected target segment of respondents have been very useful in drawing relevant conclusions
and recommendations in the course of this research work.
3.6 Ethical implications
Ethical implications are the consequences and impact that is part of the psychological
research that is rights of other people in wider context. In present research work there is
requirement to focus on several research ethics that can help in reaching to relevant conclusions
by following of all the ethical considerations. In the research work while collecting relevant
information from the respondents there has been proper consideration that there is no mis use of
any type of personal information that is provided by the respondents (Hennink, Hutter and
Bailey, 2020). For this purpose there are proper disclosers that are made by the researcher
regarding the objective for which the provided information will be used. Apart from this there is
use of proper authentic sources for preparation of literature review here information is collected
from reliable and valid sources to have complete authentic information. Overall outcomes of the
research are based on
Questionnaire:
Questionnaire
Questionnaire
Q1.) Do you believe that role of employee training and development
helps in this COVID 19 scenarios?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
Q2.) What are the major impacts that can posses an impact on employee
training and development because of present COVID scenario?
Frequency
a) More focus on e commerce sales 10
c) Changes in duties and responsibilities of employees 10
d) Requirement to adhere some specific set of government set regulations
& rules
7
e) Highly dynamic environment 3
18

Q3.) According to you, what is the role of effective approaches of
training and development to deal with changing COVID scenario?
Frequency
a) Dealing with situation of reducing profitability 15
b) Enhancing employee morale and motivation level 5
c) Achievement of competitive advantage 7
d) Other 3
Q4.) Do you believe that proper training and development measures can
help TESCO in dealing with increasing challenges?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 5
c) In some instances only 10
Q5.) What are some of the respective challenges related to training and
development strategies in TESCO?
a) High associated cost 12
b) Creation of awareness among the workforce 8
c) No proper strategy 10
Q6) what is major strategies that can be used by TESCO to training and
development of their employees in this scenario of COVID 19 virus?
a) Using on the job training measures 10
b) Digital training approaches 14
c) Skill development and training sessions 6
Q 7) what can be some best strategic approach for TESCO to deal with
the training and development situation of COVID 19?
a) Training the whole workforce 10
b) Focus on e ecommerce approach 10
19

c) Effective promotional and marketing techniques 5
d) Any other reason 5
Q8) Do you believe that effective training and development practises in
the COVID scenario will help in motivating employees to deal with the
situation of reduced productivity of the organisation?
a) Yes 15
b) No 6
c) In some instances only 9
Q9.) Provide some recommendations to on TESCO to leading to use of
training and development measures as organisation initiatives………..
Theme 1: Role of employee training and development
Q1.) Do you believe that role of employee training and development helps
in this COVID 19 scenarios?
Frequency
a) Yes 20
b) No 10
20

Interpretation: It can be interpreted from the above discuss graph that when it was
questioned to 30 respondents about the role of employee training and development in dealing
with the situation of covid-19 scenario. 20 out of 30 respondents had a positive view point on
this aspect and apart from these 10 respondents out of 30 at a negative point as the felt that
employee training and development cannot help organisations in this covid-19 situation.
Theme 2: Major impacts that have been created by present COVID s
Q2.) What are the major impacts that can posses an impact on employee
training and development because of present COVID scenario?
Frequency
a) More focus on e commerce sales 10
b) Changes in duties and responsibilities of employees 10
c) Requirement to adhere some specific set of government set regulations &
rules
7
d) Highly dynamic environment 3
21

Interpretation: It is interpreted from the above graph that while it was questioned to 30
respondents about the major impact that is created because of the covid-19 situation in retail
organisations. 10 respondents out of 30 had a viewpoint that there has been more focused
towards E-Commerce sales. Other 10 out of 30 respondents felt that there have been changes in
responsibilities and duties of employees. Other 7 out of 30 had a view point that there is
increasing need to other specific set of regulations that are developed by the government.
Remaining 3 out of 30 respondents felt that the external environment is highly dynamic that is
constantly changing with time.
Theme 3: Role of effective approaches of training and development
Q3.) According to you, what is the role of effective approaches of training
and development to deal with changing COVID scenario?
Frequency
a) Dealing with situation of reducing profitability 15
b) Enhancing employee morale and motivation level 5
c) Achievement of competitive advantage 7
d) Other 3
22

Interpretation: It can be interpreted from the above-mentioned graph that while it was
questioned to employees about the role of effective approaches in training and development of
employees in this covid situation. 15 respondents out of 30 respondents had a view points that
training and development can help in dealing with the reducing profitability. Other five
respondents out of 30 had a view that training and development can help in increasing the
present motivation and morale of employees. 7 out of 30 respondents felt that there can be
achievement of higher competitive advantage and other three respondents had a view that there
can be other approaches that can help in dealing with changing covid scenario.
Theme 4: Proper training and development measures
Q4.) Do you believe that proper training and development measures can
help TESCO in dealing with increasing challenges?
Frequency
a) Yes 15
b) No 5
c) In some instances only 10
23

Interpretation: From the above mentioned graph it is interpreted that while it was
question to 30 respondents about training and development measures that can help in dealing
with the challenges in Tesco. 15 out of 30 respondents felt that proper training and development
measures can be very useful to deal with the increasing challenges. Five respondents out of 30
had a negative viewpoint that they didn’t believe training and development can help in dealing
with the challenges and other 10 respondents out of 30 felt that training and development can
help but in some instances only.
Theme 5: The respective challenges related to training and development strategies
Q5.) What are some of the respective challenges related to training and
development strategies in TESCO?
d) High associated cost 12
e) Creation of awareness among the workforce 8
f) No proper strategy 10
24

Interpretation: It is interpreted that when it was questioned to 30 respondents about the
respective challenges that is related with training and development strategies in Tesco. 12
respondents out of 30 had a view point that there is highly associated cost that is one of the
challenges. 8 out of 30 respondents felt that there is need to creation of awareness among the
workforce as they might show a higher amount of resistance to change. 10 out of 30 respondents
had a view that having no proper training strategy is also a challenge that may arise in Tesco
while the organisation is planning their training and development strategy.
Theme 6: Major strategies that can be used by TESCO
Q6) what is major strategies that can be used by TESCO to train their
employees in this scenario of COVID 19 virus?
a) Using on the job training measures 10
b) Digital training approaches 14
c) Skill development and training sessions 6
25

Interpretation: From above discussed graph while it was questioned to 30 respondents
about the major strategies that can be adopted for the purpose of providing training and
development to the Employees. 10 respondents out of 30 felt that there can be use of proper job
training measures, 14 out of 30 had a view that digital training approaches can be used as a
strategy for the purpose of providing employee training and development options. The remaining
6 out of 30 respondents felt that there can be use of skill development and training sessions for
workers of training employees in Tesco.
Theme 7: best strategic approach for TESCO
Q 7) what can be some best strategic approach for TESCO to deal with this
situation of COVID 19?
a) Training the whole workforce 10
b) Focus on e ecommerce approach 10
c) Effective promotional and marketing techniques 5
d) Any other reason 5
26

Interpretation: From above presented graph while it was questioned to 30 respondents
about the best strategic approach that can be used by TESCO for the purpose of dealing with the
situation of covid-19. 10 respondents out of 30 believe that there can be use of training measures.
Other 10 respondents out of 30 felt that there can be use of proper E-Commerce approaches that
is digital marketing technologies can also be used as a strategic approach. 5 out of 30
respondents believed that effective promotion and marketing techniques can also be one of the
best strategy approaches for TESCO. Remaining five respondents out of 30 felt that there can be
any other approaches from the above discussed measures that can be helpful for Tesco in dealing
with the situation of covid-19.
Theme 8: Effective training and development practises in the COVID scenario
Q8) Do you believe that effective training and development practises in the
COVID scenario will help in motivating employees to deal with the
situation of reduced productivity of the organisation?
a) Yes 15
b) No 6
c) In some instances only 9
27

Interpretation: From the above presented graph it can be interpreted that while it was
question to 30 respondents about effective training and development practices that can help in
motivating employees to deal with the situation of declining productivity. 15 respondents out of
30 felt that yes effective training can help in motivating employees to deal with the situation.
Other 6 respondents out of 30 had a negative point as they didn't believe that effective training
and development can be helpful in motivating employees. Remaining 9 out of 30 felt effective
training and development can assist TESCO but not in all instances therefore this is a tool that
can be used in some situations only.
28

Recommendations:
From above discussed different sources of information there are some of the
recommendations that are drawn for TESCO. The main aim is to evaluate the role of employee
training and development to deal with this situation of covid-19 pandemic:
 The human resource department in Tesco must focus working towards having an
instructor-led training approach that can help in having virtual training sessions for
employees. In the changing external environment, virtual training sessions are very
important for the purpose of developing connection with participants in the training
process. The COVID situation is creating a need for more social distancing measure.
Better virtual training that can help in keeping the attention of employees and engaging
them through the process. It is also very important for having a technical attitude towards
training professionals. Adaptation is also very important aspect of training employees
especially in case of large organisations like Tesco.
 It is recommended that for organisations like Tesco there is presence of huge diverse
workforce who belongs to different cultural backgrounds. This leads to a requirement for
creating of a multi model that can incorporate ways for dealing with such diverse
workforce. Visual are playing a very crucial role that can help employees in dealing with
differences and cultural backgrounds by having openness towards innovations and new
ideas. Visuals can help in improving employee attention and comprehension. With the
present covid-19 impact there has been a drastic impact on mental state of employees that
is creating a need towards having strong communication. So management of Tesco must
also work towards having effective communication channels both formal and informal
that is build up across different functional departments and levels. Business can help in
sharing of strategies with teams across the organisation and also assist in the process of
generating higher alignment of employees.
 In large sector organisations especially those that are part of retail sector operational
teams may be struggling for having a required competent workforce. In physical stores
because of declining sales employees might feel less productive and slow at certain
situations. It is the responsibility of organisation to use this as an opportunity to invest in
human capital. Learning and development teams in Tesco can work towards assisting
29

their employees and being busier and having higher productivity in slow Times. They can
be using different initiatives for the purpose of having annual compliance training and
promotion of existing professional development opportunities. When employees are
willing to be more productive and busy it can help Organisation in long term & also
provide them with a sense of purpose. Training initiatives can also help in having proper
analysis design and development stages.
Implications for further research:
For the future coming research the present research work is going to help in evaluating the
overall requirement of employment training and development strategies for retail sector
organisations. There is a direct impact of the changing external environment on the overall
functioning of employees. It is necessary for organisations to work towards having employee
training and development programs that can help in having a highly engaged and motivated
workforce. Present research is going to set basis for organisations to identify the different types
of employee training methods that can be used in the changing virtual environment. There are
some of the research gaps in terms of no proper means of having direct information that is
internally practiced in organisations. All such limitations can be overcome in case of future
research work that can use the overall conclusions and recommendations drawn from the present
research work.
30

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above discussed aspects that training and development of
employees can be very helpful and used as a strategic tool for the purpose of dealing present
situation of covid-19 pandemic. Organisations can achieve higher competitive advantage by
having a competent workforce. While the external environment is highly dynamic there are a lot
of threats and opportunities that are prevailing in this changing environment. Covid 19 pandemic
has created lot of uncertainty for organisations. It has led to a negative impact on mental and
physical health of people across different parts of the world. Organisations can work towards
creating a response and preparedness plan that can address the need for staggered work shifts
delivering services downsizing operations and reducing exposure related measures. Apart from
all of this there is need to work towards minimization of contact among employees so that there
can be effective measures that are drawn to deal with this situation. The customers preferences
and demand is constantly changing this requires a need to focus on overall organisation
competence that can help in dealing with this highly uncertain environment. Employee
engagement is one of the prominent practices that can help organisations in having a competent
and qualified workforce. Organisations have to work towards development of specific talent
management strategies that can help them in having a low employee offline, career development
prospects and encouraging employee are the two major tools that can help organisations in
dealing with this situation of pandemic. It is going to have dual benefits in terms of increasing
individual performance and productivity. Higher customer satisfaction is outcome that can lead
to words higher organisational productivity. The overall objectives have been achieved by
application both qualitative and quantitative methods. It has helped in collecting information
both from existing and the first hand information by the research. The existing sources have
assisted in formation of literature review as a basis for the purpose of achieving the overall laid
aims and objective in the course of research. Primary sources have helped in having authentic
and reliable form of information.
The overall objectives are achieved by collecting both primary and secondary form of
information. The available literature review sources help in evaluating each of the objectives in
detail by understanding the present situation of employee training and development and the role
of employee training and development in dealing with the situation. There was also a detailed
31

analysis of the challenges that may arise because of training and development strategies that
were understood by the viewpoints of employees collected from primary information. Further to
analyse the suitable strategies the viewpoints of respondents were analysed to understand what
strategies can help in having effective training and development options.
32

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