HR Aspects in TESCO Pvt. Ltd

An Approach by Ali Raza Sahni 1

TESCO Public Limited Company

Analytical Approach for Human Resource Strategy

Type: Public limited company

Traded As: LSE: TSCO

Industry: Retailing Stores Network

Founded In: 1919 (In East London)

Founder: Jack Cohen

Headquarters: Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom

Locations: 5,380 Stores

Key People: David Reid (Chairman)

Philip Clarke (Chief Executive)

Products: Groceries, Consumer Goods, Financial Services, Telecoms

Revenue: More than £ 60.93 Billion

Op. Income: More than £ 3.81 Billion

Net Income: More than £ 2.67 Billion

Employees: 472,000+

The third largest retailer of the world is not other than the TESCO PLC, the first one is Wal –

Mart and second one is Carrefour on the basis of net revenues. According to profitability point of

view TESCO is the second largest retailer of the world. The total numbers of stores are 5,381 in

all over the world but 2,666 stores are present in the Great Britain. TESCO have 30% market

share in UK retailing network as leader of the market. Cheshunt is the head office of the TESCO

which deals to all the world franchises. More than 14 countries like, US, Ireland, Malaysia,

Europe, China, Turkey, Poland have various stores of TESCO.


Human Resource Management (HRM)

Human Resource Management (HRM) consists of activities involved in the recruiting, hiring,

training, development and compensation of all types of the personnel (Ulrich, 1998). It supports

both individual primary and support activities (e.g. hiring of engineers and scientists) and the

entire workforce.

This report describes the Human Resource (HR) Policies and various practices of TESCO. This

organization has introduced commitment model for all employees to their training and

development sessions. This world class model has developed the cultural values of the TESCO

plc through extending their logo which is the evidence of the commitment of organization

towards the customers.

HR Operations of TESCO

We know that, TESCO’s founders wrote the value statement before to write the business plan; it

is very interesting regarding business point of view. That is why they always focus of people and

their need then they focus on the product and their specifications (Annual Report, 2010). In

terms of broad analysis, following are operational goals of the TESCO as:

To raise the value of the firm

To increase the market share

Establish extra – ordinary environment in the firm

TESCO HR Strategy

Human Resource (HR) Strategy is relatively concerns with the employment and development of

the people in the company in log run time period. These HR decisions also effect to the

relationships between management and its staff. HR strategy expresses the view of the human

resources and their management which are present in the organization. These strategies provide

helps to the management in plans developments and other decision making procedures. The

business strategy is supported by the HR strategy.


According to the Michael Porter (1998), the competitive advantage is based on the deployment

of resources on the basis of skills and motivations of the employees in the organization. The HR

strategy should be proactive by nature which explains the behavior of maximize value addition

achieved by the human resources. And the decisions implementation should be reactive by nature

which means business strategy assessment may be under the some strict directions.

The highlights of TESCO are very close to performance management because TESCO always

ready to face challenging goals by their unwritten rules and work simplification. All the

employees from head office to branch level are strongly committed to rolling out their core skills

to achieve the steering – wheel targets (Anonymous, 2003).

The performance management systems are an integral part of most of the organizations. Properly

developed and implemented performance management processes can help an organization to

achieve its goals by developing productive employees. There are two factors which explain the

behavior of the term performance management as:

The performance appraised must be conducted according to some established intervals

The appraisers must be trained in the process

It is ensured by the TESCO that everybody have equal opportunities in the organization to

understand the core values and objectives of the business. There are many innovation inductive

programs are also conducted by TESCO to specify the different cultural styles of learning and

varying commitment phenomena towards the organization. The firm belief of the TESCO is that

all the employees are very essentials to turning the core values and customer commitment. But

the frontline employees of TESCO are the ultimate reflection towards the customers (Whitlock,

2003).

HR – Led – Business Strategy

According to Michael Porter (1998), the business strategy is depending on the HR Strategy. So,

we know the TESCO have HR strategy according to the performance management in the

organization and also on the basis of culture in the superstores. The, HR – Led – Business

Strategy is the other name for the development of human resources on least economic level with

all possible developments in the organization.


According to the HR – Led – Business Strategy, the excessive amount of customer services

counters should be present on the superstores to under the customer’s view regarding the

organization. These kind os customer service programs will also be helpful in calculating the

supply and demand of the customer’s needs and their trends. This strategy will be very helpful

for TESCO’s superstores in the extensive competitive environment of the UK Retailing Market

(Anonymous, 2003).

The major challenge for TESCO is the job descriptions to their employees. It should be ensure to

all the employees that when they are during the work hours they should be aware from their role

and skills regarding their job specification. For this purpose, training is most important to

understand the core values, purpose, business goals, financial aims, operations and all other

strategies to obtain the customers commitment towards the TESCO. The training sessions should

be more than before (Whitelock, 2003).

A group of 17 key management techniques should be used to improve the core skills and values

in the more than 260,000 employees. All of these techniques will indicates the betterment in the

root causes analysis, problem solving statements, reviews to plans and performance standards.

This group will give us guarantee that all the employees have well – defined cleared roles,

responsibilities and activities for their jobs. All the employees will be responsible, accountable,

consulted and well – informed by this system (Anonymous, 2003).

The financial results of TESCO are so good for top management but the HR results may not be.

For this approach, the senior directors should be incharge with this management group who

implement the HR strategy. The board meetings on monthly basis also review all the results of

the policy implantation. Now, TESCO tracks more human resource information as closely to

financial results (Anonymous, 2003).

If TESCO want to improve the skills of their workforce for the betterment of organization then

Human Resource – Led – Business Strategy is so essential. The developing organizational

flexibility firms aims should be truly integrated part of the culture as one step ahead to its rivals

(Anonymous, 2003).


Vision Statement

“Our vision is for Tesco to be most highly valued by the customers we serve, the

communities in which we operate, our loyal and committed staff and our shareholders; to be a

growth company; a modern and innovative company and winning locally, applying our skills

globally”

Long – Term Business Objectives

TESCO is one of the leading corporations in UK in retailing network. The objectives of the

TESCO are visible in their strategies. TESCO is committed to following objectives as:

To offer best value product at competitive prices

To understand and meet the customer’s needs according to the market trend

To enhance the store facilities and other services for the attraction of more customers

To provide maximum return to their shareholders by improving profitability

To adopt new technology and productive improvements to generate more profits

To develop the skills in the employees by sound management techniques and training

sessions

To provide equal opportunities to employees in the organization

To build long term relationships with suppliers on quality and price criteria’s

To understand and participations in the national food policies maing bodies regarding the

matters of nutrition, health, safety, etc.

To work for community and protect the environment

To maximize their efforts for the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility)

Performance Review & Development Strategy

Performance Review System involves numerous activities, for more than simply reviewing what

an employee has done. These systems must fulfill several proposes. Moreover, they are often

constrained by difficulties in how they operate. The aim to evaluate the employee performance

that how employees had done over a period of time and to let them know what pay raise they

would receive (DeCenzo, 2004).


This training revolves around managing performance. A typical aspect is the various aspects of

participation in a formal performance review system, which may have a variety of names: staff

development scheme, career development scheme, performance appraisal system, performance

management, etc. This type of training is fully explained at: performance management training.

However, the broader issue of performance, particularly dealing with poor performance or

performance problems, can also be an issue for team leaders, co-coordinators and managers.

Managing human performance is a key leadership and management task. Sometimes, employees

and staff are not performing at the optimum levels. There can be a wide range of reasons for this.

It takes specific skills to identify the problem areas and work with staff to overcome the issue in

order to reach acceptable performance standards. Each program relates to the needs of the group.

A heavy emphasis is placed on activities and exercises designed to develop and refine skills.

Performance Appraisal

A performance appraisal, employee appraisal, performance review, or (career) development

discussion is a method by which the job performance of an employee is evaluated (generally in

terms of quality, quantity, cost, and time) typically by the corresponding manager or supervisor.

(Patterson, 1987). A performance appraisal is a part of guiding and managing career

development. It is the process of obtaining, analyzing, and recording information about the

relative worth of an employee to the organization. Performance appraisal is an analysis of an

employee's recent successes and failures, personal strengths and weaknesses, and suitability for

promotion or further training (Murphy, 2007).

The Performance Appraisals must convey to employees how well they have performed on

established goals. It’s also desirable to have these goals and performance measures mutually set

between the employee and the supervisor. Without proper two – way feedback about an

employees’ effort and its effect on performance, we run the risk of decreasing his or her

motivation. However, equally important to feedback is the issue of development (Levinson,

2003).

The Appraisal Performance Process begins with the establishment of performance standards in

accordance with the organization’s strategic goals. These should involve out of the company’s

direction – and, more specifically, the job analysis and the job description. These performance


standards should be clear and objective enough to be the understood and measured (DeCenzo,

2004). Following steps are involved in this process as:

Establishment of Performance Standards

Communication towards the Employees

Measurement of Performance by allocated method

Comparison of Actual with Appraisal Performance

Discussion the Appraisal with the Employee

Corrective Actions where Necessary

Performance Management Systems involve numerous activities, far more than simply reviewing

what an employee has done. These systems must fulfill the several purposes. Moreover, they are

often constrained by difficulties in how they operate.

Approximately three decades ago, performance evaluations were designed primarily to tell

employees how they had done over a period of time and to let them know what pay raise them

would receive. This “Feedback” mechanism may have served its purpose then, but today

additional factors must be addressed. Specifically, performance evaluations should also address

development and documentation concerns (Norlin, 2004).

Most individuals recognize that the importance of effective performance management system in

an organization is most necessary. Not only is it necessary for the feedback systems to

employees but also for the identification of personal development plans, they serve an important

legal purpose. Furthermore, organizations that fail to accurately manage employee performance

often find out themselves facing difficult times in meeting their organizational goals.

The job – oriented measures must be performance – supported when an HRM decision affects

the current employees. HRM must ensure that the evaluation systems used support the legal

needs of the organization. However, even through the performance appraisal process is geared to

serve the organization, we should also recognize two other important players in the process

employees and their appraisers. Thoroughly timely and accurate feedback and development we

can better serve employees’ needs. In doing so, we may also be in a better position to show the

effort – performance linkage.


When the peaks seasons starts like Christmas, then many organization changes their traditional

management portfolios into the advanced portfolios just to provide maximize facilities to the

customers. TESCO has implemented Expe – Tune performance management software from

Macro 4 to manage its mainframe servers ahead of the Christmas sales peak.

HR Requirements for TESCO

The resource – based review (RBV) of the firm combines two perspectives as: (1) the internal

analysis of phenomena within a company and (2) an external analysis of the industry and its

competitive environment (Collis, 1995). The human resources are intangible by nature and

includes following parameters as:

Experience & Capabilities of Employees

Trust & Confidence on Employees

Managerial Skills

Firm – Specific Practices & Procedures

Technical & Scientific Skills

These parameters are also represents the organizational capabilities which are not specified as

tangible or intangible assets or resources of the organization.

Firm competencies or skills the firm employees to transfer inputs into the outputs

Capacity to combine tangible and intangible resources, using organizational processes to

attain desired outcomes

Outstanding customer service

Excellent product development capabilities

Innovativeness of products and services

Ability to hire, motivate, and retain the human capital

Tesco needs people across a wide range of both store-based and non-store jobs:

• In stores, it needs checkout staff, stock handlers, supervisors as well as many specialists,

such as pharmacists and bakers.

http://www.macro4.com/expetune/


• Its distribution depots require people skilled in stock management and logistics.

• Head office provides the infrastructure to run Tesco efficiently. Roles here include

human resources, legal services, property management, marketing, and accounting and

information technology.

Tesco aims to ensure all roles work together to drive its business objectives. It needs to ensure it

has the right number of people in the right jobs at the right time. To do this, it has a structured

process for recruitment and selection to attract applicants for both managerial and operational

roles.

Workforce Planning

Workforce planning is the process of analyzing an organization’s likely future needs for people

in terms of numbers, skills and locations. It allows the organization to plan how those needs can

be met through recruitment and training. It is vital for a company like Tesco to plan ahead.

Because the company is growing, Tesco needs to recruit on a regular basis for both the food and

non-food parts of the business.

Positions become available because:

• Jobs are created as the company opens new stores in the UK and expands internationally

• Vacancies arise as employees leave the company – when they retire or resign – or get

promotion to other positions within Tesco

• New types of jobs can be created as the company changes its processes and technology

Tesco seeks to fill many vacancies from within the company. It recognises the importance of

motivating its staff to progress their careers with the company. Tesco practices what it calls

‘talent planning’. This encourages people to work their way through and up the organization.

Through an annual appraisal scheme, individuals can apply for ‘bigger’ jobs. Employees

identify roles in which they would like to develop their careers with Tesco. Their manager sets

out the technical skills, competencies and behaviors necessary for these roles, what training this

will require and how long it will take the person to be ready to do the job. This helps Tesco to

achieve its business objectives and employees to achieve their personal and career objectives.


Cleared Job – Descriptions

An important element is clear job descriptions and person specifications. A job description sets

out:

• The title of the job

• To whom the job holder is responsible

• For whom the job holder is responsible

• A simple description of roles and responsibilities

A person specification sets out the skills, characteristics and attributes that a person needs to do a

particular job. Together, job descriptions and person specifications provide the basis for job

advertisements. They help job applicants and post-holders to know what is expected of them. As

they are sent to anyone applying for jobs, they should:

• Contain enough information to attract suitable people

• Act as a checking device to make sure that applicants with the right skills are chosen for

interview

• Set the targets and standards for job performance

Employee Development

In an environment where talent is scarce and external opportunities are plentiful, TESCO

believes that employees will stay with the firm only as long as they feel that their contributions

are valued, and they are able to do meaningful work in a stimulating and challenging

environment. While managers are to some extent held responsible for the development of their

subordinates at TESCO, there is some concern that due to the speed of the firm's recent growth,

this process is not occurring as quickly as it needs to, especially around the development of

competencies for the firm's many types of teams.


Recommendations

If the TESCO want to sustain their leadership in Britain Market than its must understand

that “Moving forward and becoming first class”, it should be clear to TESCO’s

management that globalization and comprehensive integration is most important in today

market.

TESCO should re – valued their moral, ethical and cultural beliefs according to new

patterns of business because “Good manners are essential for maintaining an

organization on a high moral ground”. (Dwivedi, 1998).

For the future prospectus, TESCO should follow their morality standards, good manners

and equitable ethics for the employees as well as for customer’s satisfaction.

The more innovation and dynamic nature in the organization booster the growth of the

organization in today business. For the faster performance and smatter’s results new ways

to do business should be adopted by TESCO.

To least the consolidated and integrated resource costs to achieve more profits.

Organization must provide maximum value at reasonable prices with adaptable resources

to sustain the leadership in very short – run time period.

The high – quality information system should be introduced in the entire organization for

the achievement of mandate in time in efficient manner.

To enhance the organizational competitiveness the systematic and long – term views

must be taken by management for human capitalization.

The Hr policies and plans and also their implementation should be establish for the long –

term time period as like other policies and developmental plans.

Conclusion

The TESCO business management philosophy is “devote human resources and technology to

create superior products and services, thereby contributing to a better global society" (Kun-He

Lee, 2006) for the direct contribution in the prosperity of the world with strong determination.

The key elements for TESCO are skills, experience, talent, innovations, developmental training

sessions, creative approaches, and dedication to employee’s as well as customers which gives

endless possibilities to TESCO to achieve the higher standards of living everywhere.


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Documents

HR Aspects in TESCO Pvt. Ltd