Career Research Report: Analyzing Trends & Skills in Retail

This career research report provides an overview of the retail industry, focusing on the skills, knowledge, and experience required for a management position. It utilizes both primary and secondary data collection methods, including questionnaires and literature reviews, to analyze general tren...Read More

CW1 – Career Research
Report

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION.................................................................................................4
General trends that have impact on retail industry......................................................................4
The skills and knowledge and experience required....................................................................5
EVALUATION................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present report has included a great information about the retail industry. This
includes the profession and industry that an individual can consider for making great
professional career. This report includes skills, knowledge and experience needed by an
individual.

INTRODUCTION
For making plan about the career development at the time of professional practices for
working and making systematic changes in various development and practices. There are various
practices that are very useful and helpful to provide apt information. It is very useful and helpful
to generate different platforms and making growth in collecting information (Loprest and
Mikelson, 2019). The current report consists the data that are directly connected to manager
position in retail industry. Therefore, it is very useful to generalise the statement and operate to
make relevant knowledge, skills and growth for managing data and providing career developing
for achieving future aim and objectives.
METHODOLOGY
The current investigation has focused on using primary and secondary data collection
from various sources of primary and secondary methods. It is quite beneficial for collecting the
information in relation to the profession as well as industry. It also covers data and factors in
relation to the retail industry. With the motive of collecting primary information, the current
investigation has used questionnaire (Marchese and et. al., 2019). Questionnaire is the great
instrument to accumulate primary piece of information. It also included secondary sources for
gathering second-hand data. The secondary sources included in the current report are: books,
articles, newspapers and journals in relation to the area of retail industry. The current
investigation has also focussed on taking full advantage of primary and secondary sources.
ANALYSIS AND APPLICATION
General trends that have impact on retail industry
Retail industry is defined as the industry that is constantly growing and developing in the
United Kingdom and various countries of the world. There are certain trends that are related to
retail industry.
 Technology: One of the important trends of the retail industry is technologies.
Technology plays very important role as it helps businesses to exchange information
about the products and services to the market. Technology also made marketing process
of the retail very easy and convenient. In retail industry, technology comes up with latest
methods for promoting and marketing their products. For giving competition to the
various other firms retail industry is investing large amount of funds so that they can

have various advance technologies. The retail industry is also adopting new technologies
for making communication to their customers as well as employees. The innovations
assist in making real time communication between employers and employees and
company and customers.
 Globalisation: Globalisation is another trend that is in the retail industry. It is one of the
trends that has major contribution in success and development of retail industry.
Globalisation has created great effect on retail industry and the marketing of goods and
services. Globalisation is providing opportunities to the retail industry of the United
Kingdom to reach large number of customers in one go. There are many challenges and
barriers that have been removed such as taxes on exports and imports. This has assisted
in easy and convenient transferring of goods and services to the other parts of the world
by retail industry of the United Kingdom. This trend of the retail industry has also
determined that development and success one part of the country and this holds the great
potential to positively effect the economies of the other parts of the world (Santoro and
et. al., 2018).
 Audience Empowerment: The retail industry of the United Kingdom has developed
different channels to communicate with their customers. This has increased the
knowledge of customers related to the products and services. The retail industry is
continuously marketing the products and services so that people have appropriate
information.
The skills and knowledge and experience required
There are various skills and knowledge that are needed to work for the job and
responsibility of job manager especially in the retail industry. The profession of job manager
involves many skills that assist in handling the data and making functions of the management
efficient and effective. It would be helpful to make job advertisement and apply in the retail
industry. The role of human resource manager is very significant and useful to grow and develop
the employees working in the organisation. The skills, knowledge and experience needed by a
human resource manager are explained below:
Key skills:

 Organisational Skills: The manager should have the skill to complete task and have the
ability to look after every employee. This skill is very important as the human resource
manager in retail stores.
 Effective Communication: The other needed key skill by manager is ability to
communicate and interact with the employees of the organisation. The body language,
tone of voice and facial expression should be smooth for attracting and managing
employees (Lartey, 2020).
 Leadership: The other great skill needed by investigator is leadership quality. It is one of
the important skills as it helps in guiding employees, solving problems of the employees
etc.
 Motivation: Motivation is the other important skill needed by an employee manager.
This is one of the parts of leadership quality by the manager.
 Multi-tasking: Multi-tasking is the other skill that is required for completing the multiple
tasks at time. This skill assists in developing the business by human resource manager.
Key knowledge:
 Conceptual Skill: This is the procedure that is very useful for the managers for gaining
knowledge in fresh thinking and making new ideas. This assists the manager to operate
effectively and anticipate any problems or challenges. This helps in creating positive
business environment by the human resource manager (Knight, Forney and Mihalick,
2019).
 Technical Skill: The other skill includes managers to gain variety of knowledge for
attaining objectives in systematic manner. This skill provides particular knowledge for
operating software and machines. It is basically assisting in getting appropriate job role of
human resource manager.
Primary Research
For the purpose of primary investigation, 2 human resource managers are selected from
retail industry as respondents. This has assisted in knowing their views and knowledge about the
general trends in retail industry.
INTERVIEW
Q1) As per your opinion, what are the common and new trends that would have impact on the
retail industry?

Participant 1: Manager 1 has answered that technology is one of the general trends in the retail
industry. The new technology is helping retail industry to grow and develop in the competitive
market.
Participant 2: Manager 2 has said that globalisation is the other trend in the retail industry. It
has helped retail industry to grow all around the world.
Q2) According to your view, what are the knowledge and skills needed in the retail industry?
Participant 1: Manager 1 has answered that for working in the retail industry, an applicant
must have great communication skill because it helps in promoting the products and services of
the company.
Participant 2: Manager 2 has said that every employee should have great confidence to deal
with employees as well as customers of the retail industry.
EVALUATION
From the above information this can be concluded that in the connection to profession of
human resource manager there are various findings which are seen and these are helpful for
sharpening the profession in appropriate manner. The business is having constant changes in
processes and aspects and in the same manner there are such trends and technology which are
required to be used within business so that to align the business with market scenarios. Being a
graduate I am required to make myself familiar in relation to process of human resource
management and role of a human resource manager in the organisation (Erickson and et. al.,
2018). There are different trends which are required to be added in the profession of human
resource and in this manner these trends are required to be analysed in proper manner so that I
may get desired job in desired organisation. There are various skills which are requisite to be
included in human resource manager so that future job role can be exerted in such a manner that
all the tasks can be accomplished in significant manner. This is essential to sharpen IT skills as in
current time digitalisation is one of the major trend which is followed in most of the
organisation. So with the help of IT skills I would be able to perform my job role in more
specific and effective manner (Udekwe and Andre, 2017). On the other hand, interpersonal and
communication skills are regarded as the prominent skills which are required within human
resource manager. These skills would be helpful for me to develop significant interactions

among working people so that their grievances can be solved in easy and timely manner. Using
such skills I can communicate with different people so that I can get to know about their needs
and demands and the same can be fulfilled in order to get their higher satisfaction level.
CONCLUSION
From the above information this can be concluded that retail industry is associated with
various opportunities to people in respect of job and sharpening their skills as well. The industry
of retail in wide and having various inclusions in it which means that the industry is having
significant scope. On the other hand, as retail industry is having various employees in it which
gives human resource manager to gather huge scope. This means that the scope of human
resource manager is vast which means that this would be providing immense opportunities to
individual to develop their skills and use the same to shape their career.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Erickson and et. al., 2018. Knowledge, skills, and abilities in the precision agriculture workforce:
an industry survey. Natural Sciences Education, 47(1), pp.1-11.
Knight, D.K., Forney, J.C. and Mihalick, L., 2019. Retail Renaissance: A Case Study of Retail
Education Reimagined. Journal for Advancement of Marketing Education, 27(2).
Lartey, J.O., 2020. Digitalization and service work in the retail industry.
Loprest, P. and Mikelson, K.S., 2019. Frontline Workers in the Retail Sector.
Marchese and et. al., 2019. Enhancing SME productivity: Policy highlights on the role of
managerial skills, workforce skills and business linkages.
Santoro and et. al., 2018. Big data for business management in the retail industry. Management
Decision.
Udekwe, E. and Andre, C., 2017. The use of human resource information systems in two retail
organisations in the Western Cape, South Africa. SA Journal of Human Resource

APPENDIX

Management, 15, p.7.