What Talent Strategies Do Best Companies Use? Marks & Spencer Analysis

This report analyzes talent management strategies, using Marks & Spencer as a case study. It details project planning, including cost analysis, timeframes, and a work breakdown structure. The research incorporates both primary and secondary data collection, including questionnaires. The report explores the concept and significance of talent management in improving employee retention and motivation. It examines specific talent strategies employed by Marks & Spencer, such as compensation, performance assessment, and employee involvement. Challenges faced by the company, including ineffective leadership and compensation demands, are also discussed. The report presents findings, offers recommendations, and concludes with an overview of the research's insights into effective talent management practices. The research also includes a Gantt chart to map out the project's timeline and activities.

Managing a successful
business project

Table of Contents
TITLE: What talent strategies do the best companies use to attract and retain people? ................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Research aim:..............................................................................................................................3
Research objectives:....................................................................................................................3
Research question:......................................................................................................................3
Step 1: PROJECT PLANNING.......................................................................................................4
Project management plan............................................................................................................4
Work-breakdown-structure.........................................................................................................5
Gantt chart...................................................................................................................................6
Step 2: Primary and secondary research..........................................................................................8
Concept and significance of talent-management in context of improving employee retention
and motivation...........................................................................................................................10
Talent strategies used by Marks and Spencer in retaining and attracting employees of
organisation...............................................................................................................................10
Challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while attracting and retaining talent at workplace . .11
Talent-management initiatives adopted by other organisation in acquiring and retaining talent
at workplace..............................................................................................................................11
Step 3: Present findings.................................................................................................................12
Step 4: Reflective practice.............................................................................................................19
Performance Review.................................................................................................................19
RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................................................................20
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................21
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................22

TITLE: What talent strategies do the best companies use to attract and retain
people?
INTRODUCTION
Talent management referred to the procedure of attracting, retaining, developing and
maintaining talent at workplace so that the productivity and profitability is enhanced and
objectives is attained timely (Connor and Crowley-Henry, 2019. In addition to this, organisations
make use of talent management strategies with an objective to retain talented employees so that
efficiency and performance is increased. In the current project, Marks and Spencer is chosen as a
base company. It is a British multinational retailer that specialise in offering clothing, home
products and many more. This report will cover project aim, objectives & time frames with
project management plan. In addition to this, there is discussion about data collection methods
used for conducting research. In the last, performance review is given on the basis of overall
learning and experience.
Research aim:
“ To analyse the impact of talent management strategies in increasing productivity and
profitability of employees” A case study of Marks and Spencer.
Research objectives:
 To identify concept and significance of talent-management in context of improving
employee retention and motivation.
 To explore talent strategies used by Marks and Spencer in retaining and attracting
employees of organisation.
 To determine challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while attracting and retaining talent
at workplace.
 To analyse talent-management initiatives adopted by other organisation in acquiring and
retaining talent at workplace.
Research question:
 What is the concept and significance of talent-management?

 What are the talent strategies used by Marks and Spencer in retaining and attracting
employees of organisation?
 What are the key challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while attracting and retaining
talent at workplace?
Step 1: PROJECT PLANNING
Project management plan
It is defined as a formal document which show how a particular project is carried out. In
addition to this, it outlines timeline, scope, deliverables and budget of a project and is also
important in order make a project on track (Queirós, 2017). The project management plan of
current project is given below:
Cost- It is defined as the value in context of money required in order to implement as
well as complete all activities associated to investigation in an effective manner. The cost
structure for conducting research on talent-management strategies is given below:
Items Amount
Laptop 300
Internet 175
Stationery 120
TOTAL 595
Time: It is an effective element in planning of research that assist in gaining knowledge
about time needed for executing and completing the overall process of research. The present
project requires around 9 weeks for the completion and to achieve objectives of project.
Quality: This factor reflects about quality of information used in order to conduct
research. It is important for researcher to make use of proper evidences in order to maintain
quality in project and to attain reliable results.
Communication: This factor in project planning shows the tools which will be used in
order to communicate data and information gathered by investigator by conducting activities. In
context to this, non-verbal and verbal methods of communication will be adopted by researcher

that is E-mail and direct communication in order to take respond of questionnaire (Holguín,
2018). The data collected by questionnaire were particular about talent-management strategies
used by company and how it assist in raising productivity and performance of employees.
Scope: The scope of the present investigation is wide as it an effective component that
enable researcher to deal with barriers and achieve objectives timely. In addition to this, the
investigation will enable investigator to be more effective and critical in future & to render
proper knowledge about what companies do for attracting as well as retaining talent at workplace
(Rödel, 2018). Moreover, it also help researcher in gaining insight about issues faced by
organisation while managing employees in an effective and proper manner.
Resources: It is referred as the resources or asset needed for completing the research in a
systematic and timely manner. These are laptop, internet, books and so on. The cost table is
given below:
Laptop- 300
Internet- 175
Stationery- 120
Work-breakdown-structure
It is considered as an effective project management tool which is used for categorising
the overall activities and task of investigation related to completion of project timely and
effectively. In addition to this, it assist in making project manageable due to which activities is
carried out in a systematic and easy manner. Moreover, work break down structure is developed
in a way that scope of project is understandable. It is basically in a hierarchical manner that assist
in completion of assignment in best and effective manner.

Gantt chart
It is a tool that help researcher in scheduling and planning project of all sizes in an
effective manner. In addition to this, it assist researcher to assess how long a project take,
resources required and the way in which task is completed (Wilson, 2017). This chart represent
the activities with starting and ending date that help in completion of activities effectively and
attainment of objectives as well. It is analysed that Gantt chart also assist in developing relation
and dependency among different activities & take progress of project on right direct and path as
well.

Step 2: Primary and secondary research
Quantitative research method: It involves collecting numerical information with the help
of standardised techniques and utilising statistical methods in order to gain useful insights from
the data. This research method is utilised by researchers to gain objective and conclusive results.
Quantitative research helps gain trustworthy, reliable and precise results. Interviews,
Observations and Questionnaires are types of quantitative research methods. For the present
report questionnaire is used with the sample size of 30 respondents.
Qualitative research method: It involves analysis and collection of non-numerical
information in order to gain an understanding of concepts, experiences and opinions (Alzahawi,
2021). This research method is used by the researcher to gain profound knowledge about a
subject or an issue to create new research content.
Data collection: It is the procedure of collecting and calculating data on particular
variables in an implanted system which allows the researcher to find answers of question
relevant to the data and evaluate result. Two kinds of sources of data collection are mentioned
below:
 Primary data: This type of data is generated by the researcher and is specifically
designed for solving the research problem at hand (Bhowmik, 2020). Interviews,
surveys, observations and questionnaires are used for gathering primary data.
 Secondary data: This type of data is obtained from existing information such as books,
journals and used by the researcher for completing their research.
Sampling is a research instrument and a source of gathering information which is used
for conducting research. This includes selecting a subset of individuals from a statistical
population to understand the attributes of the total population. Sampling is used in various
research methods (Kadadevaramath, 2020). For this research questionnaires are used for data
gathering for identification of effectiveness of talent management processes at Marks and
Spencer.
SAMPLE SIZE IS 30
Questionnaire:
Q1. Do you have idea about talent-management concept?
a) Yes

b) No
Q2. What is the importance of talent-management in an organisation?
a) Employee retention
b) Increase performance
c) Development of brand image
Q3. What are the talent-management strategies used by Marks and Spence for attracting and
retaining talent at workplace?
a) Effective compensation to employees
b) Performance assessment
c) Employee participation in decision making
d) Training and development
Q4. According to you, does talent-management assist Marks and Spencer in employee retention
and motivation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q5. What is the effective talent-management measurement criteria used by Marks and Spencer?
a) By potential
b) By competencies
c) By results
Q6. As per your view point, is talent-management strategies assist in raising productivity and
performance of employees working in organisation?
a) Yes
b) No
Q7. What are the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while attracting and retaining talent at
workplace?
a) Ineffective leadership
b) Higher compensation demand
c) Increase in employee turnover rate
Q8. What is the impact of talent management strtaegies on the productivity and profitability of
respective organisation?
a) Positive impact

b) Negative impact
c) Neutral
Q9. Render some recommendations to Marks and Spencer for developing better talent-
management strategies & plans
Concept and significance of talent-management in context of improving employee retention and
motivation
According to David G. Allen, (2020), the concept of talent management is introduced in
order to hire, retain and identify right people for right job. The forward looking people
understands that it is an essential requirement for any business to hire and retain talent. He also
says that one of the most important issues that the companies are facing is to retain those
employees that are beneficial fore the organisation.
One of the most important way of retaining the employees is by providing flexible
working schedules. By offering providing daily flexible working hours also an option to work
some extra hours four days a week and take off on the fifth day (Talent-management, 2020). This
helps the organisation to retain employees for a much longer time (Berger, 2020). Motivating
the employees is very essential for an organisation in order to have high productivity. Employees
feel high motivation when their they get praise or feel valued by the employer. High motivation
helps the employee to work effectively and efficiently and helps them to increase their
performance. Talent management helps the company to find and retain good fit employees and
will also helps in saving costs related to recruitment and training of employees that will not be
required by the company (Kuntonbutr and Sangperm, 2019).
Talent strategies used by Marks and Spencer in retaining and attracting employees of
organisation
As per the view point of begie, (2019), it is stated that the strategies that are used by
Marks and Spencer for retaining and attracting new employees is to compensate employees
according to their work. By compensating employees the organisation provide motivation to
their employees and it is a way of telling employees that their hard-work is valued by the
organisation (Zahra and Aulia, 2021). Regular performance assessment also helps the company
to keep a close check at the performance of the employee. Involving employees in decision

making process can also helps the company to motivate their employees and also in
incorporating new ideas that are collected from employees. Providing training and development
to employees helps the employee in getting better understanding about the workings of the
organisation and also helps them to improve their performance (Pandita, 2021).
Challenges faced by Marks and Spencer while attracting and retaining talent at workplace
According to LISA BODELL, (2019) Ineffective leadership is a prime factor which
hinders efforts of Marks & Spencer in attracting and retaining talented employees in the
company. Lack of organisational vision is an issue which arises as a result of poor leadership.
This discourages existing employees of the company from reaching their highest potential and
talented applicants reject offers of recruitment at the firm (Guðmundsdóttir D Aðalsteinsson and
Helgudóttir, 2017). Bad leadership of M&S has reduced employee morale and is a major barrier
in attracting and retaining talented employees.
Employees at the British retail firm Marks and Spencer demand high compensation
which has been rejected by the company. This is another reason which has reduced employee
satisfaction and is an obstacle to employee to attracting and retaining talented employees. Low
compensation de-motivates employees and they leave the company as soon as possible while
talented applicants do not see a future in the firm (Hota, 2017). This challenge needs to be
address by the company in order to construction and sustain talented workforce.
High employee turnover rates is another factor which affects efforts of the respective
organisation to attract and retail skilled employees. Many workers of Marks and Spencer quit
Aston Martin soon after their recruitment which creates difficulties in attracting and retaining
talented employees.
Talent-management initiatives adopted by other organisation in acquiring and retaining talent at
workplace
Talent management initiatives adopted by Google
Google has adopted various talent management initiatives which have helped the
company attract and retail highly skilled employees from various fields. This has made a
significant contribution to the overall development and growth of the company which has made a
high contribution to development and growth of the respective company (10 Talent Tips From
Google HR,2019). Google has created a working environment which enables each worker to
showcase their skills for the benefit of the company so that they can make career advancement.

In addition to this the company, gives their employees various perks and benefits which includes
incentives and conducts cultural activities to boost employee morale and helps the company
retail skilled employees which are committed towards working for the company (Krithika,
Greeshma and Auxilia, 2020).
Talent management initiatives adopted by TESCO
TESCO is leading British retailer and has adopted various talent management initiatives
for the growth and development of the company. The company has implemented various
colleague engagement programmes with the help of different communication channels such as
their internal company portal, TV screen emails and social media platforms (How Tesco creates
opportunities to boost employee engagement, 2021). College briefing sessions of TESCO
provide a platform in which leader and employees can directly communicate with each other and
exchange important company news. Leaders share information related to CSR activities,
company performance and financial results and workers are able to ask questions directly to the
leaders (Mego, Ysla and Mego, 2020). This creates open workplace culture and helps the
company attract and retail talented employees.
Step 3: Present findings
Present findings & data by using proper tools and techniques.
Q1. Do you have idea about talent-management concept? Frequency
a) Yes 22
b) No 8