Report on Learning and Development Practices at TESCO - BUSN08030 UWS

This report provides an overview of learning and development practices at TESCO, a major UK supermarket chain. It discusses the importance of continuous learning for employees and the various methods TESCO employs to enhance their workforce's knowledge, skills, and abilities. The report examines classroom-based training programs, on-the-job training, and online learning approaches, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of each. Classroom training offers structured learning with direct instructor interaction but can be costly. On-the-job training provides practical experience and is cost-effective, but may disrupt productivity. Online learning offers flexibility and cost savings, but faces challenges with engagement. The report concludes that a well-rounded learning and development strategy is crucial for TESCO to maintain a competitive edge and foster employee growth.

Learning and
Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................3
Main Body...........................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................7
References............................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Learning is a continuous process of acquiring new knowledge, concepts, and skills in
order to accomplish goals of success. Learning is instant but sometimes, people learn out of
experiences. It is imperative to constantly engage in learning & development process in order to
attain milestones in future period of time. With learning and development one can enhance
overall personality which leads towards better opportunities of career enrichment (Johnson,
2017). Here, TESCO is taken into consideration which is a well known company based on UK.
It is one of the largest supermarket chains of country and offers variety of products. Company is
highly concern about learning of its employees thus adopts crucial ways to impart new concepts,
knowledge & skills to work force. In current report methods to develop necessary skills,
capabilities are discussed along with their advantages & disadvantages. Moreover, learning is
always worthy and brings value in personal as well as professional life.
Main Body
Employees are crucial part of organization who are perform their job roles in well define
manner so that company can attain set goals. Employees are the valuable asset of organization.
They use available resources in such a manner that entity get success in short period of time. In
addition to this, they work as per pre-define rules & regulations in order to ensure betterment of
business entity. Without efficient employees, it is not possible for a company to embark over
journey of success. Organizations provide resources but how to use those resources is depend
over work force (Cerasoli and et. al., 2018). It is said that success of an organization lies in its
people. Hence, it is imperative to adopt suitable HR practices in order to get right people
onboard. After getting selected in company, employees look forward to learn & grow in the job
role. They look for the opportunities where they can enhance their knowledge, skills and
capabilities. Employees learn a lot while performing particular job role. For this purpose,
organizations also arrange suitable training sessions with an aim to enhance knowledge base of
employees. Appropriate training & learning programs are helpful in improving productivity and
efficiency of work force. For this purpose, HR managers of TESCO arrange suitable training
sessions. They organize On-job as well as Off-job training programs so that employees can
develop necessary skill set. Efficient work force is a crucial asset of business entity that helps in

getting an edge over competitors. In this regard, some methods used by company are mentioned
as under:
Classroom based training programs: It is a traditional way to trained employees where
training is arranged at a particular venue. Here, groups of employees sit together & go through
with presentation slides, activities like case study. Under this, there is an instructor who provide
complete guidance & support to employees. It is an imperative way which is suitable to learn a
concept in detailed manner (Stephenson and et. al., 2019). Thus method can prove highly
effective for complex topics where instructor is always present to clear out the doubts of learners.
In context of TESCO, they also arrange class-room training so that employees can grasp the
concept in an effective manner. For this, they called experienced personnel’s who have
efficiency to provide the best possible solution of issues faced by employees at work place. Here,
HR managers can arrange some activities in between of class-room sessions in order to keep
employees engage. After taking online classes constantly, trainees start to feel bore so, it is
required to arrange activities in between of session. Apart from this, they are required to analyze
overall cost & then make arrangements in such a manner that overall cost of training is
minimized. They are required to select suitable venue, catering services in order to maintain cost
of training & learning at minimum level.
Advantages: It is an effective way of providing training to large number of employees at
same time. Here, employees can get large amount of knowledge which further help in increasing
overall efficiency & productivity. Training is provided in presence of instructor so there is higher
probability that employees will pay attention towards session (Stephenson and et. al., 2019).
Further, it is also possible to evaluate the impact of training at the same time. In addition to this,
employees can also resolve their queries from instructor during session. Hence, TESCO gets
several benefits with implication of this training program.
Disadvantages: The main drawback of this method is the un-necessary expenses. Here, it
is required to arrange venue, accommodation, travel facilities, catering services & more during
class- room sessions. These all expense increases overall cost of training sessions. Apart from
this, it moreover feels like traditional class-room session so employees start to feel monotonous
after particular period of time. Therefore, HR managers of respective company need to evaluate
the outcomes & input of this approach before actual implementation (Argote and Hora, 2017).

On- the job training: It is a widely used approach of training wherein employees also
take part in real activities which are related with their current job along with learning. Here, they
not only learn new concept but also learn how those concepts can alien with their current job. It
is the training which is provided at work place so that employees get familiar with work place
environment. This training method offers hand on experience of using machinery, tools,
equipments etc (Huda and et. al., 2018). Generally, this approach of training is used for practical
work. In context of TESCO, they focus on this type of learning sessions so that employees get
the vibe of practical work environment along with the theoretical knowledge. Here, HR
managers are required to maintain proper balance between learning & actual work. They need to
ensure that the quality of actual work does not get affect due to simultaneous training.
Advantages: It is considered as the simplest way of learning where employees can earn
while learning. This concept motivates work force thus they pay attention to training sessions.
Apart from this, it is a cost effective way where, it is not required to arrange venue, catering &
other facilities like class-room sessions (Farlow, 2020). Here, employees get familiarity with
working environment equipments which minimize the probability of any mis-happenings at work
place. It produces results on immediate basis by increasing productivity of work force in an
efficient manner.
Disadvantages: Sometimes, it also reduced the productivity as some trainees are not able
to handle the project & learning simultaneously. Here, managers are required to brief each &
every step before task in order to eliminate any mistake. In addition to this, it also create
disturbance as employees learn & work together. Creating balance between learning and actual
work is a challenging task which might affect current level of productivity.
Online learning: With evolution of new techniques, value of online learning is also
improving. It refers to train employees with the use of tools, softwars, devices, apps & more.
Internet is a crucial component of online learning. Online training at work place might include
online webinars, video, e-learning courses & many more (Earnest and et. al., 2016). Now,
companies encourage their employee to pursue online degree & certification programs so that
they can grow & succeed in their job role. For this purpose, organizations also allow employees
to take leave during exams. There is no requirement of any venue in case of online learning. In
TESCO, they arrange online training and learning sessions for enhancement of employees. Here,

they are required to make proper arrangements & ensure that employees pay attention towards
learning sessions.
Advantages: Online learning is suitable for both employees as well as employers. Here,
employees have flexibility to learn on their own pace. On other side, companies also do not
require to spend money on making arrangements of venue, catering, accommodation & more. In
other words, it is an economical way of providing training to staff members. It helps in
increasing productivity of employees of respective organization which make them enable to
perform assigned task in best possible way (Foley and Thompson, 2017).
Disadvantages: Lack of attention is the major drawback of online learning. In addition to
this, company is also required to make appropriate arrangements for online learning that will
increase overall training cost.

CONCLUSION
It is summarized out of above mentioned information that learning & development is
paramount in order to get success in personal & professional life. There are ample of training
programs such as class-room sessions, on-the job training, online learning is adopted by
company with an aim to enhance knowledge, skills & abilities of work force. Moreover, training
impart significant knowledge which further help employees in performing job roles in well-
define manner.

References
Books & Journals
Argote, L. and Hora, M., 2017. Organizational learning and management of
technology. Production and Operations Management, 26(4), pp.579-590.
Cerasoli and et. al., 2018. Antecedents and outcomes of informal learning behaviors: A meta-
analysis. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(2), pp.203-230.
Earnest and et. al., 2016. Study abroad in psychology: Increasing cultural competencies through
experiential learning. Teaching of Psychology, 43(1), pp.75-79.
Farlow, S.J., 2020. Self-organizing methods in modeling: GMDH type algorithms. CrC Press.
Foley, J. and Thompson, L., 2017. Language learning: A lifelong process. Routledge.
Huda and et. al., 2018. Transmitting leadership based civic responsibility: Insights from service
learning. International Journal of Ethics and Systems.
Johnson, K., 2017. An introduction to foreign language learning and teaching. Routledge.
Stephenson and et. al., 2019. Survey of machine learning techniques in drug discovery. Current
drug metabolism, 20(3), pp.185-193.