MD4057 Career Research Report: Pathways, Skills, and Growth

This comprehensive career research report delves into the field of human resources, exploring various job departments such as HR business partner, HR specialist, and HR generalist within the food retail industry. The report outlines different career pathways within these departments, including workforce planning, training and development, and payroll specialization, and analyzes future trends like HR consultancy and the influence of social media. The author connects these career paths to their interests, skills, and ambitions, specifically focusing on the roles of VP of HR and HR manager. The report also includes a critical skills analysis, a SWOT analysis, an affinity diagram, and a mind map to assess the author's current skills and abilities, values, and areas for development, identifying any gaps between their skills and employer needs. The report's findings are intended to guide the author's career growth and potential for entrepreneurship in the HR field.

Running head: PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
Personal development

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Table of Contents
Part 1: Word count:...............................................................................................................................3
What job departments are you interested in and why?.......................................................................3
What are the different career pathways in growing within that department?.....................................3
What career sectors are you interested in and why?..........................................................................7
What are the future trends shaping this sector in the UK and outside the UK?..................................8
How is the career path connected to your interests, skills, and ambitions?........................................8
What will this mean in terms of your career growth?........................................................................9
Part 2: Word count:.............................................................................................................................11
What are your current skills and abilities and how are they matching the industry or profession you
are applying towards?......................................................................................................................11
SWOT analysis................................................................................................................................11
What are your values and career interests?......................................................................................12
Affinity Diagram.............................................................................................................................12
What are your areas of development?..............................................................................................13
Mind Map........................................................................................................................................13
Any gaps between your skills and abilities vs. the employer needs for the role/profession?...........14
References...........................................................................................................................................15

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Part 1: Word count:
What job departments are you interested in and why?
I am interested in a different department of human resource manager in the food retail
industry because of my skills and qualifications.
HR business partner
In human resource management sector, I am interested in the HR business partner department
as I have the competency to recruit the qualified candidates, and placing them in the right
position. I can directly or indirectly involve in the recruiting process for hiring the candidates
and providing them effective training and development (Nankervis, Baird, Coffey, & Shields,
2016).
Education Requirements
I have done a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on human resource management and also
done MBA in HR management
HR Specialist/Generalist/Administrator
I am also interested in becoming an HR specialist because more companies are focusing on
hiring the best candidates for increasing their productivity. Along with this, HR specialist has
an advanced understanding as well as proficient competencies in the field of hiring, risk
management, training and development, and performance management (Chelladurai, &
Kerwin, 2018).
Education Requirements
I have bachelor degree with an emphasis on human resource management, and MBA degree
with HRM.
What are the different career pathways in growing within that department?
In the human resource management department, there are different career pathways that are
discussed as given below:

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Workforce Planning and Employment
This career entails recruiting and selecting the candidates. The target could be set by
corporations or me. For pooling the capable people in the food retail industry, the company
should address their requirement and desire. In this sector, workforce planning and
employment manager initially focus on their needs, wants, and requirements and after that,
assesses the competitor’s strategy for attaining their needs (Wehrmeyer, 2017).
Workforce can be recruited through internal and external sources such as employee
recommendation, college, internal advertisement, events, internet advertisement, and
seminars. It enables human resources for gathering the reliable information about potential
candidates. Workforce planning and employment are performed within an organization or
company can hire a specialized HR manager for recruiting the people (Berman, Bowman,
West, & Van Wart, 2019).
Positions Available in workforce planning and employment:
Team Lead
Workforce planning and Analyst
HR Director
HR manager
Chief HR Officer
VP of HR
It is addressed that workforce planning and analyst is a key function in the food retail
industry. Along with this, the Chief HR Officer is responsible for promoting the existing
employees for the higher position. They are always emphasizing on the big picture. It is my
responsibility for this position is to promote the candidates who are actually accountable for
this position based on their capabilities, skills, and experiences (Kavanagh, & Johnson,
2017).

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HR Director is also responsible for directly reporting the CEO. They are placed for offering
the consultation to management on strategically staffing planning, training, and development,
compensation, benefits, maintaining the labor relation and compensation. These supports are
beneficial for increasing the sales of the company. Along with this, the HR manager
is responsible for pooling the candidates with high experiences and skills and then develops
the human resource development policies (Mone, & London, 2018).
This strategy may be used for developing the human resources and meeting the vision and
mission of the company. The HR manager also makes sure the other activities like consult
with the top executives on strategic planning, interviewing, and creates a link between
employees and organizational management (Voegtlin, & Greenwood, 2016).
Training and Development Coordinator
Following position is existed in Training and Development Coordinator:
Training and development assistant
Senior training and development manager
Training and development coordinator is the career track that a training and development
coordinator works with all aspect related to developing strategy and policies of training and
development. Coordinator of training and development can provide the training related to
business issues and developing the skills associated with basic working tasks (Hollenbeck, &
Jamieson, 2015).
Along with this, senior training and development manager is accountable to lead their
subordinates and provides the assistance regarding using different modes of training and
development within an organization such as online and offline methods. They are also
responsible for the implementation of training and development and ensuring it is generated
within the allocated budget and schedules (Poell, & van der Krogt, 2017).

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Moreover, senior training and development manager is highly emphasizing on employees.
They are responsible for developing training for existing employees and new applicants.
Senior training and development manager should understand the ways of motivating the
employees at the marketplace. The responsibility of training and development executive is to
address the media for delivering the training. They demonstrate the previous task that is
performed through the existing employees for developing their knowledge and skills (Cascio,
2015).
Payroll Specialist
The company hires the Payroll Specialist for managing their payroll. They are accountable
for measuring the wages of employees on an hourly basis and accountable for administering
compensation. These specialists are also using the payroll software in order to get accurate
data in the least time. The company hires this specialist based on different qualification such
as compliance understanding, problem-solving skills, customer service and etiquette skills,
and communication skills, and confidence (Guest, 2017).
Following positions are available in promotions:
Senior Payroll Specialist
Payroll Manager
Payroll Executive
Senior Payroll Manager
HR Generalist
In the HR department, HR generalists are accountable for managing the day-to-day
management of the HR operation. They are also accountable for managing the administration
of procedures, policies, and programmes of the organizations. They also make the liaison
between management and employees to respond to the question and concern about the
company regulation, practices and policies (Bratton, & Gold, 2017).

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They can organize the event to make a connection between them as it directly affects the
customer services. When a company relies on HR generalists, it should spend time for
responding to data requests from employees. The responsibility and oath that workforces
should consider are to grab the opportunities by utilizing the business practices, creating a
positive image, and company, as well as, publicize company information in an effective
manner (Renwick, 2018).
Positions that is available in HR Generalist
HR Generalist executive
Senior HR Generalist
What career sectors are you interested in and why?
Human Resources Manager
I am interested in the human resource field for a career. a human resource manager is a good
position for me as I love to ask a question. For this position, I would like to search for an
answer about employee satisfaction and gaps in the employee’s competencies. I am interested
in conducting the interview, read up existing data and organizing the events and seminars. I
am competent to address the new opportunity in case of transformation in the company
(Tosey, & Marshall, 2017).
I can assess employee’s compensation and develops the compensation policies after focusing
on the allocation of the budget. I can also address the employee’s needs for motivating them
towards the working culture. I am specialists for understanding the wants of employees. I
have the ability to make direct communication between the management and employees in
terms of compensation (Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow, & Houldsworth, 2016).
Training and development coordinator
I am also interested to become a training and development coordinator, as I love to assist
others with logical aspects because this job relies on this skill. The key purpose of this role is

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to develop training and development for employees regarding the task that they are unable to
achieve. It could be attained by using different training and development methods such as on-
the-job training method and off the job training method (Ballantyne, & Povah, 2017).
In on the job training method, I would use different techniques such as coaching, committee
assignments, job rotation, and internship training. Along with this, in off the job training
method, I am interested in using different techniques such as case study method, lectures,
simulation, management education, role play, grid training, conferences, business games, in-
basket methods, and incident method (Bailey, Mankin, Kelliher, & Garavan, 2018).
What are the future trends shaping this sector in the UK and outside the UK?
HR consultancy
In the UK and outside the UK, HR consultancy will be a future trend in the food retail sector.
Company will use HR consultancy for hiring the proficient and skilled employees. HR
consultant will be an expert for choosing the bulk of employees as per the employer’s needs.
Company will use an HR consultant for placing the right people for an appropriate place. It
would also use HR consultancy in terms of recruiting and selecting the people in a company
targeted budget and time (Wilton, 2016).
Social media
Company will post the recruitment vacancy on different social media channels such as
Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn in the food retail industry. Company will not underestimate
the power of employee’s perception in the future (Taylor, Doherty, & McGraw, 2015).
How is the career path connected to your interests, skills, and ambitions?
VP of HR-
My career path is connected to my interests, skills, and ambitions. The vice president of the
HR role is linked with technical, leadership, and business skills. I frequently act as a
spokesperson for corporation, the vice president of HR also needs to work in across

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department within a corporation with the intention of bridging the gaps between employers
and employees as well as retaining the employees at longer-terms. Apart from team-oriented
practices, the VP of HR’s role entails interviewing as well as recruiting for a higher position
within the corporation (Gallardo-Gallardo, Nijs, Dries, & Gallo, 2015).
Human Resource Manager
HR managers are connected to develop and assess the HR approach. This role is also
connected with the trait of leadership. Moreover, the HR manager is related to the
implementation of the workforce planning and employment approach and develops
procedures when creating entry-level employee development (Chiang, Han, & McConville,
2018).
What will this mean in terms of your career growth?
Get more compensation
Career growth is related to get more pay and raise myself to be an entrepreneur as a human
resource consultant. It is stated that get more pay is related to the law of demand and supply.
Because, demand is high for human resource consultancy services and supply is low hence,
the compensation for this position will raise (Wilton, 2016). I would be competent to
negotiate the salary with potential employees and grab the average paid to employees. This
standard is set to high for upcoming times. It is not only the managerial position that is going
through gaining an amount of salary. Even the entry-level position is focusing on the sizeable
gain in salary (DeCenzo, Robbins, & Verhulst, 2016).
Raise me to be an Entrepreneur
My experience in the human resource manager will not only aid to get better job
opportunities. However, it would be supportive when I am planning to become an
entrepreneur in the future. I have the competency to understand the needs better and match
the employer’s need with employees. I have the ability to analyze the competitor’s

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compensation strategy as compared to others who are new for this. I am sensitive to motivate
the employees and persuade them according to the latest trends (Ballantyne, & Povah, 2017).
Higher demand
HR manager could be hired in a different field such as production, hospitality, and food retail
industry because it aids to get the achievement. Business is trying to tune itself into digital
because people more reluctantly rely on the internet for assessing their jobs. Since,
availability of proficient human resource consultants is less in the market as compared to the
requirements. Human resources management is not only limited to recruitment and selection
but also, used in offering training and developments, and performance management system
(Brewster, Vernon, Sparrow, & Houldsworth, 2016).

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Part 2: Word count:
What are your current skills and abilities and how are they matching the industry or
profession you are applying towards?
SWOT analysis
Strength
Oral communication
Leadership
Creativity
Reliability
Weakness
Mental Toughness
Written communication
Listening skills
Time management
Opportunities
Networking
Internship
Threats
Increased job market competition
Industry level competition
Economy
I have different skills and abilities such as oral communication, leadership, creativity, and
reliability. I have also sound planning and organizational skills. I have positive thinking
towards the environment and high patience. Along with this, I have the ability to recruit the
people and placing them in the right position. One of the key accountability associated with
these skills is to develop the policies related the health and safety, training and developments,
and compensations. I have competency for motivating the employees by using the monetary
and non-monetary motivation techniques (Tosey, & Marshall, 2017).
I have the skill to manage, develop, and coordinate the HR practices and strategies for hiring
the employees and promoting the existing employees at the higher positions. My skills are
closely related to financial and sales department for supporting and serving the employees

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and the company requires it in a profitable manner. For example, my oral communication
skills aid to deal with the employees and increase the sale of the company (Renwick, 2018).
I have also skill and ability to motivate and lead the employees. These are essential
responsibilities and skills for becoming a good HR manager. I have also the ability to make
coordination with the new employees. I have an initiative skill that shows my positive
attitude among others. I have also competency for solving the queries related to wages and
salaries My skills and abilities support me to become sound HR manager as I am able to find
ways for satisfying the needs of employees (Guest, 2017).
What are your values and career interests?
Affinity Diagram
(Sources: Cascio, 2015).
My values are service, respect for others, honesty, peace as well as success. I am highly
interested in induction, communication, recruitment, selection, and compensation. It is well
suited for making a career in HR. Human resource is a stimulating job in which, I will have
the opportunity to demonstrate my creativity. The HR manager should be interactive as well