Tesco Employee Performance: Dissertation Proposal Analysis

This dissertation proposal investigates the impact of training and development on employee performance at Tesco, a multinational retail firm. The research aims to analyze the effectiveness of training programs and identify methods to enhance employee skills. The proposal includes a literature revi...Read More

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL
(An analysis of the Impact of training and development on employees'
performance at Tesco)

Table of Contents
RESEARCH PROPOSAL...............................................................................................................1
Research Background.............................................................................................................1
Research Problem...................................................................................................................1
Research purpose....................................................................................................................2
Research Objectives...............................................................................................................2
Research Questions................................................................................................................2
Literature review....................................................................................................................2
Research Methodology...........................................................................................................4
Significance of the research....................................................................................................5
Ethical Consideration.............................................................................................................5
Research Limitation................................................................................................................5
Project Schedule.....................................................................................................................6
Chapter outline.......................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................11

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Research Background
Firms aim to raise performance in order to compete with competitors, but it is not
possible without having skilled employees in the organization. Improvement in capabilities of
workforce and their knowledge can support in gaining competitive advantage to the entity
(Szegedy and et.al, 2017). Tahir and et.al. (2014) defined Training and development “as the
planned learning experiences that teach employees how to perform current and future jobs”
(p.87) This definition demonstrates that the ability of employees are built to ensure that they
meet a certain expected standard that will see them perform in the workplace. They also argued
that By organizing training and development program at the workplace, firms try to fill gap in
between skills required and current abilities of an individual (Tahir and et.al., 2014).
This research uses a case study of Tesco which is the multinational retail firm. It is
operating its business in more than 12 countries and having more than 6553 stores. It has
employed approx. 476000 employees across the world. All its employees are skilled and having
necessary education that is required to perform their duties (tescoplc.com, 2017). Main aim of
the dissertation is to identify effectiveness of training and development programs in improving
performance of staff members. Furthermore, it will describe various methods of training and
development that can support in raising the skills of an individual at workplace. The relationship
between training and employee's performance will be analysed in this study (Xu, Zhong and
Wang, 2013).
Research Problem
Tesco is operating its business in the retail sector; it has a strong supermarket chain.
Tesco has made commitment for improving knowledge and skills of its workforce. It has
announced that company will introduce apprenticeship programme in order to train its 3000
existing staff. It has included IT training for its workers in order to improve their IT skills. For
running business smoothly, it is essential to have reliable, efficient workers those who can
perform their duties well. Currently, staff members of Tesco are making mistakes while
performing their responsibilities. Cormier and Hagman, (2014) has stated that if company does
not provide quality products to consumers then it may get failed to meet with its objectives. Due
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to these mistakes, company fails to provide quality products and services to its valuable
consumers.
Managers of most of the companies ignore significance of training and development.
Success or failure of an organization is much more dependent upon the skills and abilities of an
individual. If employee does not have necessary skills then individual cannot perform well in the
corporation (Saks and Gruman, 2014). Training and development not only enhances the
performance of staff members but also give more profit to entity. But due to ignorance of this
element, job turnover is increasing in Tesco which affects its productivity. This study will
concentrate on all these components in order to minimize the gap between skills required for job
and current knowledge of an individual so that performance of workers can be improved (Kok
and et.al, 2014).
Research purpose
Aim:
“To analyse the impact of training and development on employees' performance - A study on
Tesco”
Research Objectives
 To explain methods of training and development program
 To explain benefits of training and development for the organization
 To analyse the relationship between training and employee's performance of Tesco
Research Questions
 What are the benefits of methods of training and development program followed by
Tesco?
 To what extent are the training and development programs are beneficial for the
employee?
 What is the relationship between training and employee's performance in Tesco?
Literature review
Literature is considered as systematic, reproducible method that supports scholar in
identifying and evaluating the work of other authors on the same subject. It is deep analysis of
previous studies that aid in developing understanding of the researcher about the topic. In this
chapter scholar will review other studies on the subject analysis of impact of training and
development on employee's performance. With the help of literature review, theoretical
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knowledge related to training and development is reviewed. It is evident that training and
development session supports in boosting the skills and competency of employees through which
they are able to perform their duty in appropriate manner.
Methods of training and development
According to Fernandez and Moldogaziev, (2013) training and development are set of
activities which are planned to minimize gap between current performance of an individual and
future performance. It is considered as one of the essential function of human resource
development. On the job training method is the most commonly used technique for giving
training to employees and raising their performance level. In this type of method company's or
managers of the organization gives training to the person while performing their job ((Bazarko
and et.al, 2013)). Coaching is one of great tool in which senior of the person provides guidance
to person so that workforce can understand their responsibility and perform their duties well. It is
comparatively less expensive and gives good experiences to staff members.
On other hand Karimi and et.al, (2014) argued that job rotation is the best way to train
and develop the employees in the workplace. By rotating them to new positions knowledge of
the individual can be increased. By this way individual will get to know about various functional
units of the company. According to Judge and et.al, (2013) role playing is the great method in
which person has to play specific role. It gives opportunities to an individual to enhance
knowledge and improve their learning skills as well.
Benefits of training and development
According to Herman and Chiu, (2014) training and development is beneficial tool
because it helps in increasing satisfaction level in employees and develop confidence among
them. By this way people perform their duties well which helps ion raising standard of
operations of the organization. It supports the entity in gaining competitive advantage and
sustaining in the market for longer duration. Trimi and Galanxhi, (2014) stated that training and
development is the profitable technique that motivate the staff members and they become
comfortable in the workplace. By this way they can fulfil their allotted work effectively which
supports an organization in minimizing job turnover of staff members. training and development
creates a control environment where employee perform their duty which helps in fulfilling their
roles in actual setting as well. Based on it, efficiency of employee is increased and it also
supports in boosting the performance level.
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According to Schmidt and Hunter, (2014) training and development requires huge
investment because company has to spend time and money for providing necessary training to its
staff members. By this way overall expenditures of an entity can get increased which impact on
profitability of corporation. training and development create positive workplace environment in
the workplace which supports the organization in staying ahead in the competition and gaining
competitive advantage.
Relationship between trainings and employee's performance
Herman and Chiu, (2014) stated that there is strong relationship between training and
employee's performance. If company gives adequate training to its staff members then people
can understand their role and responsibility in the workplace and they will perform their duties
well. It will support in raising their performance level and they will be able to contribute well in
the success of business unit. On other hand Herman and Chiu, (2014) argued that training and
development is not essential for those people those who are working in the entity since long time
and have sufficient knowledge. Even candidate who does not have necessary education about the
position they can not get much knowledge after training as well. In training programs company
guide the person about their working style but for that it is essential to have basic knowledge to
that person about this field. In such condition training become fail to fill the gap between current
performance and future expected performance level
According to Schmidt and Hunter, (2014) training is the great technique which can gives
new experiences to an employee which motivates them. Thus, individual put its hard efforts to
perform well and get rewards from higher authorities. It retains them in the workplace for longer
duration and they provide quality services to customers.
Research Methodology
Research methodology is considered as one of the essential chapter of dissertation. It
supports the researcher in taking support of appropriate tools which can help the person in
gathering relevant data and completing study in effective manner (Karimi and et.al, 2014).
Present study will apply positivism philosophy, this approach that supports the scholar in
developing better understanding about subject matter. Furthermore, investigator will apply
descriptive research design (Schmidt and Hunter, 2014). Impact of training and development on
employee performance is the vast topic for that researcher has to describe each topic related to
trainings and its relationship with performance of workers (Saks and Gruman, 2014). Positivism
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philosophy involves factual knowledge which is gained through observation. This support in
gathering detail from objective point of view. As positivism philosophy is much more depended
upon quantifiable observation. It is generally applied in the investigations where statistical
analysis is being used (Cohen, Manion and Morrison, 2013).
In addition, the researcher will collect the data by using primary and secondary data
collection sources. These are appropriate tools that helps in gathering in-depth information about
topic. Secondary resources such as books, journals on the same subject and will also apply
questionnaire technique for knowing about impact of straining and development on performance
level of workers (Schmidt and Hunter, 2014). Investigator will select random sampling
technique, this tool will help in getting answers without biasness (Cormier and Hagman, 2014) It
is one of the best tool because it is free from bias. Classification errors can be minimized in this
sampling techniques. It is less costly technique and selection of the participants can be done in
shorter time duration. So it is appropriate for the current investigation. Researcher will collect
data from managers of the Tesco in their office. Data will be collect by managers of Tesco. They
are the right persons those who can give great information about real impact of training and
development of performance of employees. After gathering all the data, individual will require
to analysis these detail. For that researcher will apply thematic analysis tool, this will help
investigator in presenting the information in effective manner by using appropriate graphs and
charts (Trimi and Galanxhi, 2014).
Significance of the research
Training and development is the part of human resource management and empowering
users. This study will be beneficial for the Tesco in identifying the gap between current
performance of employees and expected future performance. By this way human resource
manager will be able to organize training program for that through which they can get good
knowledge and can enhance their skills (Saks and Gruman, 2014). It will also beneficial for other
researchers because they will get brief idea of impact of training on performance of workers, so
in future they will be able to conduct further studies on the same subject matter. This dissertation
will be important for companies in identifying training needs of employees and relationship
between trainings and employee's performance, so they will be able to give adequate training to
staff members so that they perform their duties well. It will support in raising profitability and
productivity of the firm to great extent (Bazarko and et.al, 2013).
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Ethical Consideration
Ethical aspects will be considered by scholar, individual will conduct study by ensuring
ethical grounds that the research does not hamper the interest of any individual or body. Data
recorded for the study will not be shared with third party and same will not be leaked in any
manner. Also, information attained from the employee of Tesco will be saved in secured manner
and will be use for research purpose only. Also, there is no motive of collecting confidential
information from the employees. Participants can even withdraw from participating in survey if
they are not willing to share any information. Further, prior approval from management will be
seek for collecting data regarding training and development of Tesco (Bryman and Bell, 2015).
Research Limitation
Researcher has only focused on training, development and employees performance. But
there are various factors that impact on performance level of workers after getting training as
well. All these elements will not be discussed in this study. Scholar will have limited financial
resources (Szegedy and et.al, 2017). Due to which individual may feel unable to use advance
technology for analysing data effectively. But as it would be qualitative research so thematic
approach will be better and cost effective and in this budget researcher will manage its work.
Furthermore, scholar will require good time for completing this project, but individual is having
limited time which is another limitation of this dissertation. In such a short time it would be little
difficult to gather in-depth information about training and its impact on performance of the
workers (Xu, Zhong and Wang, 2013).
Project Schedule
Activities
16/10/
2017-
23/10/
2017
24/10
/2017
-
7/11/
2017
8/11/
2017-
22/11
/2017
23/11
/2017
-
14/12
/2014
15/12
/2017
-
5/1/2
018
6/1/2
018-
26/01
/2018
27/01
/2018
-
23/02
/2018
24/02
/2017
-
22/03
/2018
23/03
/2018
-
12/04
/2018
13/04/
2018-
24/04/
2018
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Selection of
topic and
setting of aims
and objectives
Read previous
literature in
order to
develop better
understanding
s
Selection of
appropriate
tool of
research
methodologies
Completion of
research
proposal
Questionnaire
preparation
Recording of
data
Data Analysis
Discussion
and conclusion
Editing as per
the
requirement
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and
submission of
final
dissertation
Chapter outline
Outline of chapters will be as following:
 Chapter 1: In this chapter scholar will give introduction of the company. Background of
the study, aims, objectives, scope, and significance of the dissertation will be explained in
this chapter.
 Chapter 2: In this part scholar will review previous literatures of other authors on the
same subject. This will help in developing understanding of the person about the impact
of training on performance of employees.
 Chapter 3: It will be research methodology section in which scholar will define tools and
techniques which helps the person in conducting investigation in effective manner.
 Chapter 4: This will be data analysis chapter, in which all collected data will be analysed
in this study.
 Chapter 5: This will be last section in which conclusion and recommendation will be
given.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bazarko, D. and et.al., 2013. The impact of an innovative mindfulness-based stress reduction
program on the health and well-being of nurses employed in a corporate setting. Journal of
Workplace Behavioral Health. 28(2). pp.107-133.
Bryman, A. and Bell, E., 2015. Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Cohen, L., Manion, L. and Morrison, K., 2013. Research methods in education. Routledge.
Cormier, S. M. and Hagman, J. D., 2014. Transfer of learning: Contemporary research and
applications. Academic Press.
Fernandez, S. and Moldogaziev, T., 2013. Employee empowerment, employee attitudes, and
performance: Testing a causal model. Public Administration Review. 73(3). pp.490-506.
Herman, H. M. and Chiu, W. C., 2014. Transformational leadership and job performance: A
social identity perspective.Journal of Business Research, 67(1), pp.2827-2835.
Judge, T. A. and et.al., 2013. Hierarchical representations of the five-factor model of personality
in predicting job performance: integrating three organizing frameworks with two
theoretical perspectives.
Karimi, L. and et.al., 2014. Emotional rescue: The role of emotional intelligence and emotional
labour on well‐being and job‐stress among community nurses. Journal of advanced
nursing. 70(1). pp.176-186.
Kok, M. C. and et.al., 2014. Which intervention design factors influence performance of
community health workers in low-and middle-income countries? A systematic
review. Health Policy and Planning. 30(9). pp.1207-1227.
Saks, A. M. and Gruman, J. A., 2014. What do we really know about employee
engagement?. Human Resource Development Quarterly. 25(2). pp.155-182.
Schmidt, F. L. and Hunter, J. E., 2014. Methods of meta-analysis: Correcting error and bias in
research findings. Sage publications.
Szegedy, C. and et.al., 2017. Inception-v4, Inception-ResNet and the Impact of Residual
Connections on Learning. In AAAI (pp. 4278-4284).
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Trimi, S. and Galanxhi, H., 2014. The impact of Enterprise 2.0 in organizations. Service
Business. 8(3). pp.405-424.
Xu, X. D., Zhong, J. A. and Wang, X. Y., 2013. The impact of substitutes for leadership on job
satisfaction and performance.Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal.
41(4). pp.675-685.
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APPENDIX
http://theseus56-kk.lib.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/67401/THESIS.pdf?
sequence=1&isAllowed=y
http://hrmars.com/hrmars_papers/
The_Impact_of_Training_and_Development_on_Employees_Performance_and_Productivi
ty.pdf
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/354c/2c8c60f37f5e25f63f557b3573ec366197ae.pdf
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