Harrods Sales Manager: Personal & Professional Development Report

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PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Table of Contents
PART A: INDIVIDUAL REPORT.........................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 2
TASK1............................................................................................................................................. 3
AN SKILLS AUDIT IN THE CONTEXT OF MY PERSONAL ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND
PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES WITHIN HARRODS........................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................ 5
A) SOME KEY INTERPERSONAL AND TRANSFERABLE SKILL AND TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO
ENHANCE THESE SKILLS............................................................................................................. 5
B) PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY THE STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES AND LEARNING
AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES.......................................................................................8
C) USING APPROPRIATE PROFORMA, CARRY OUT YOUR INDIVIDUAL APPRAISAL WITHIN
YOUR ORGANISATION..............................................................................................................10
TASK 3.......................................................................................................................................... 12
PREPARE AND IMPLEMENT A PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN WITH
CLEAR AIMS AND OBJECTIVES, AREAS FOR DEVELOPMENT, RESOURCES AND ACTIVITIES,
TIMESCALE, ETC....................................................................................................................... 12
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 15
PART B: REFLECTIVE ESSAY.......................................................................................................... 16
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................19
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PART A: INDIVIDUAL REPORT
INTRODUCTION
Harrods holds a unique brand reputation in the retail industry all over the world. The stores of
Harrods are located in 86 countries of the world. The employees working at Harrods need to
possess the right mix of knowledge and skills so that they can deliver services according to
brand expectation. I am working at Harrods a sales manager and I have been asked to prepare a
report which will highlight the importance of the learning process and planning to achieve
higher personal and professional objectives. In the initial portion of the report, a discussion is
made on my roles and responsibilities as a Sales manager and the performance objectives
within Harrods. Next, an analysis of my personal strength and weakness will be done which will
help me develop new learning opportunities. Later, based on the skills audit, a personal and
professional development plan will be prepared with an aim to achieve some time-bound
objectives.
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TASK1
AN SKILLS AUDIT IN THE CONTEXT OF MY PERSONAL ROLE AND
RESPONSIBILITIES AND PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES WITHIN HARRODS
A sales manager at Harrods has the responsibility to ensure that the sales and plans are
executed effectively and the team members stay motivated. Below discussed are the key roles
and responsibilities of a sales manager at Harrods and my personal skills audit in the context of
these roles and responsibilities:
Mentor and coach the sales team members
Mentoring the members of the sales team is the prime responsibility of the sales managers he
has to motivate the team members to work in unison to achieve a common goal. He also has to
ensure that the members of the team are having good relation hip among them so that that
they can work with a positive work spirit and achieve the designated teams as wells as
individual goals (Harrods, 2019).
Up to now, I have been able to communicate effectively with the team members and guide
them to improve the efficiencies by learning new skills. An ability to communicate in an
effective manner is my strongest point which makes it possible for the sales team in an
impressive manner.
Build a strong relationship with the customers
As a sales manager, I also need to make interactions with the customers on a regular basis. The
customer may be angry over the services of the quality of products but I have to maintain my
calm in such situations and handle these situations perfectly.
I need to interact with a variety of clients regularly and based on the feedback provided by the
customers, my conduct with these customers is satisfactory up to now. By understanding the
current requirements of the customers, the quality of interactions can be considerably
improved.
Devise strategies to meet the sales target
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The sales managers need to plan different strategies to meet the sales target. It may also
require the ability to forecast the sales target and make targets. The team members also need
to be motivated to achieve the sales target within the stipulated time (Boud and Feletti, 2013).
I have used my analytic skills and prior experience to achieve the required target, but in the last
financial year, I was a little short to meet the annual target for sales. It is necessary to more
accurately this time so that I can achiever different short and long term sales target and help in
developing the overall sales figures of Harrods.
Generate Leads
Finding the right leads is an important task for a sales manager. He needs to explore different
methods through which new leads can be generated and training the sales force to find these
leads in minimum possible time. It may also include making strategies to capture key
demographics.
The number of lead generated under my leadership is quite satisfactory as compared to my
previous managers but there is a need to use digital channels more effectively to get the right
leads in minimum efforts.
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TASK 2
A) SOME KEY INTERPERSONAL AND TRANSFERABLE SKILL AND TOOLS AND
TECHNIQUES TO ENHANCE THESE SKILLS
TYPE OF SKILL TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO
ENHANCE THESE SKILLS
INTERPERSONAL
SKILLS
1. Communication:
An ability to communicate effectively is
helpful for the sales manager to establish a
rapport with the team members (Bouman,
2018). He can communicate his thoughts and
ideas in different situations with confidence
and clarity. With good communication skills,
leadership is able to express his thoughts in a
logical and concise manner.
Communication may include
both written and verbal
communication. For verbal
communication, practice is the
key.In addition, some
professional courses can also be
joined to improve
communication.
2. Empathy:
It is the ability of a person to understand the
mental state of a person by putting himself in
the place of that individual. This ability makes
the decisions of the managers more rational
and humane and it is the way the leaders can
develop sweet relation with its subordinates
which results in increased productivity of the
team.
Learning empathy needs to be
done on the psychological level.
It can be done by exploring how
one can contribute to improving
a person's current situation and
what are the factors which are
bothering the person at the
moment (Hildebrand, 2018).
3. Team working:
When an employee has the skills to work in a
team effectively he is ready to understand the
point of view of each of the team member and
establish perfect communication in the team
(Cunningham, 2017).
To improve team working some
basic model models such as
Tuckman’s team development
model can be used.
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4: Emotional intelligence:
This is the ability to understand the emotions
of self and others. a sales manager has to face
many situations where his ability to show
patience is tested. In such states of high
emotional rush, an effective leader
intelligently controls his emotion and tries to
think in a rational manner (Engeström, 2014).
Better emotional skills help the manager
present his viewpoint more effectively and
make the relationship with the team members
comfortable.
The emotional intelligence of an
individual can be enhanced by
learning to communicate in an
open manner which helps in
expressing one's opinions while
still respecting other’s opinions.
TRANSFERABLE
SKILLS
1. Time management:
A sales manager needs to develop the
capability to manage his time perfectly and
fulfil the responsibility given within the
stipulated time interval. For effective
management, a person needs to prioritise the
most important activities of the say and make
a plan to complete all these activities without
procrastination. A manager that is able to
manage his time effectively is able to motivate
the team members and encourage them to
improve their personal time management.
The positive impacts of this effort can be seen
in timely achieving of different aims and
objectives.
To manage the time better some
online tools can be used. These
apps and software can be used
to track different activities of the
day. In addition, some changes in
the daily habits can be done to
manage the time better such as
avoid attending social media
messages during the work.
2. Leadership:
The quality of leadership is not only about
managing different tasks perfectly, but it is Leadership abilities can be
improved by working on
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also about mentoring the team members so
that they can maximise their current
capabilities (Goodfellow et al., 2016). An
effective leader believes in making regular
communication with his team members so
that their feedbacks concerns and queries can
be answered and the management of the
store can be improved.
different areas of management
such as enhancing creativity,
working on delegation skills,
learning team development
activities, and practice different
conflict resolution situations.
3. Problem-Solving skills:
These skills may be required to deal with
some specific problems at the workplace such
as increased customer complaints, high
employee turnover or a conflict between
unions and the management. In such a
situation, the problem-solving skills of the
leader are tested. He needs to offer a solution
which is feasible according to both the parties
concerned. A sales manager can use these
skills to achieve the sales target successfully.
The ability of the mind to think
in a creative manner can be
enhanced by playing games like
chess, Sudoku and Rubik’s Cube.
In addition, thinking about the
problem backwards is also an
effective tool to improve
problem-solving skills (Graves,
2013).
4. Integrity:
It is the ability of an individual to show
honesty and adherence to the basic principle
and values. By maintaining integrity, the
leader can develop a feeling of trust among
the team members. Such leaders are always
considered trustworthy and dependable who
have a high sense of integrity.
The feeling of integrity can be
developed by understanding that
doing things in the right way may
not seem fruitful at the moment
but in long term integrity in the
conduct and policies enhance
the creativity of employees.
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B) PERSONAL SWOT ANALYSIS TO IDENTIFY THE STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES
AND LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES
A person can reach up to his full potential if he knows his talents and the areas of strength. In
the same way, when a person knows his weakness he can plan to work on these weaknesses so
that these weaknesses do not influence the work. Below discussed are some of my strength,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
STRENGTH
 I am very creative in generating new ideas and always keep exploring ways to fulfil the
requirements of the clients in an innovative way.
 I have a great commitment towards my work and I always try to play my duties in the
most professional manner; this ability help me keep calm in the most difficult situations
during work.
 I can communicate effectively with the clients, colleagues and the subordinates and it
helps me understand the point of view of the people in front of me.
WEAKNESS
 I always try to finish my work as quickly as possible and remove the work from the ‘to-
do’ list. This habit sometimes creates unnecessary pressure on my subordinates.
 Whenever I am not able to plan things in advance and there are lots of tasks to do, I feel
lost and it even causes stress to get the things done.
 Although my interpersonal communication is good, I feel hesitation when I have to
speak in front of an audience. Due to this weakness, my public speaking sessions are not
as impressive as expected.
OPPORTUNITIES
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 I have an opportunity to take greater responsibilities at work and identify my true
potential. These responsibilities will give me an opportunity to test my true potential as
a manager.
 I can join a training program to improve my public speaking skills. These programs will
enable to speak confidently in front of a gathering and help in increasing my confidence.
 Many sales related conferences are conducted in the city and by attending these
seminars I can learn to optimise my performance and learn new skills to manage the
workforce effectively.
THREATS
 The internal competition at Harrods is strong and if I am not able to develop my current
skills level. Some junior level employees may be promoted to take the place of sales
manager.
 At present, there is a shortage of staff at Harrods due to which I often feel exhausted
due to work. If the situation continues for long it may impact my creativity.
 Due to the condition of recession and BREXIT, Harrods is considering reducing the
current staff members and it may possess a threat of layoffs.
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT HARRODS
Worldwide, the total numbers of employees working at Harrods are approximately 5,000. While
working with such a large number of employees the company has to ensure that the skills and
the abilities of the employees meet the standard of Harrods. The training and development
programs at Harrods are designed to develop the basic skills of the employee and make them
aware of the latest technology in the retail sector so that they can use these technologies
effectively to improve the customer service quality (Harrods, 2019). Harrods has a ‘Sales
academy’ which is established with an aim to develop sales skill in the employees. This program
has helped thousands of employees acquire new skills and achieve excellent carrier progression
in a small interval of time.
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C) USING APPROPRIATE PROFORMA, CARRY OUT YOUR INDIVIDUAL
APPRAISAL WITHIN YOUR ORGANISATION
RATING GUIDELINES
5 = substantially exceeds job requirements
4 = exceeds job requirements
3 = Meets job requirements
2 = partially meets job requirements
1 = Does not meet most job requirements
STAFF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL FORM
ASSESSMENT AREAS SELF-RATING SUPERVISOR
RATING
FINAL RATING
Proficiency in current role 4 5 5
Quality of work 5 4 4
Planning and organisation of work 3 4 4
Interpersonal relations 5 5 5
Verbal skills 4 5 4
Writing skills 4 4 4
Team participation skills 5 5 5
Punctuality and attendance 3 3 3
Initiative and motivation 4 5 5
General Conduct 4 4 4
.
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OVERALL COMMENT ON PERFORMANCE
Performance appraisal indicates that the performance is quite well in the areas of proficiency in
the role, Interpersonal relations, verbal skills and team participation skills. However,
performance in the planning and organisation of work and punctuality is low. The weak areas
identified in the performance appraisals need to be focused more and try to remove the
weaknesses as soon as possible. The performance appraisal is also used to promote an
individual or increase the current salary on the basis of annual performance. If the area
identified in the appraisal is not satisfying are not addressed soon it can make an impact on the
future prospects of my carrier as a sales manager.
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