Unit 14 Diploma in Business-Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND

TASK 1

1.1 Preparation of document to select and recruit store manager for Virgin Media

Store manager at Virgin Media is responsible for every aspect of the day-to-day supervision of retail outlets, including sales, staff, resources, and stock management in order to successfully run the store. It is a great opportunity to progress management skills by having autonomy over the store’s overall management (Adair, 2009). Given below is the job description of the store manager.

Duties and responsibilities:

• To develop, plan and monitor strategy for budget of the store and product inventory
• To take full accountability for profit & loss of the store
• To manage day-to-day store operations and ensure that customer value is delivered through quality services
• To recruit, train and retain staff and provide friendly working atmosphere
• To carry out periodic performance reviews of staff members and identifying training & development needs
• To ensure consistent product availability through efficient supply chain management
• To ensure delivery of responsive, efficient and knowledgeable customer service
• To build and maintain long-term customer relationship through timely resolution of complaints and effective implementation of loyalty programs;
• To manage, deliver and exceed desirable sales target as set by the company’s management
• To ensure safe and healthy atmosphere at sore through fully compliant with Health, Safety and Fire policy, procedures and retail legislative requirements (Aldrich, 2008).

Person specification:

• Passion for customer service and ensure higher standards are set and maintained;
• Strong leadership skills and ability to motivate team to strive for excellence;
• Strong interpersonal skills, excellent influencing and negotiating skills;
• Commercial acumen and ability to take actions so that costs are minimised and profits are increased;
• Decision making skills considering all options and applying analysis while taking calculated risks;
• Enthusiasm, excellent numerical skills, computer and IT skills as well as confidence is desirable;
• Though, management degree in subjects like accounting, marketing, retail and business are advantageous, the ideal candidate should at least possess a university degree in any discipline (Cohen, 2016).

1.2 Assessment of the impact of legal, regulatory and ethical considerations when recruiting and selecting a Store Manager for Virgin Media

The recruitment and selection process should be legally performed, there are certain areas recruiters and selectors need to follow certain steps which are regarded as necessary in order to comply with the applicable rules and regulations. For instance, during interview process certain questions have been regarded as unlawful and should not be asked to candidates. Unacceptable questions include regarding race, questions towards pregnancy, questions relating to financial condition of the individual, unnecessary questions relating to the educational background of the individual (Conlan, 2017). Furthermore, it is necessary for an organization to adhere the regulations as prescribed by various regulations in relation with recruitment and human rights. Some of which are - Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and 1997, Equal Pay Act 1970, Human Rights Act 2001, Sex Discrimination Act 1975 and 1986, The Equality Act 2010, The Data Protection Act 1998, Asylum and Immigration Act 1996 etc.

Moreover, there are certain rules made to complete the selection process in an ethical way and every employer should be quite aware about those standards. Every individual should be given equal respect during the selection process. The recruiter should not show any sign of discrimination like gender discrimination during the selection process.Unnecessary and irrelevant questions should not be asked during the interview process.Failure to perform the selection process in unethical way, attract numerous problems such as lack of respect and compromise with success if the discrimination is showed during selection (Friedman, 2017).

1.3 Taking part in the selection process

Virgin Media is in requirement of a Store Manager and as a Marketing Manager is responsible to take part in the selection process. The selection process included four different phases as briefly discussed below:

• In the first phase, all candidates were screened and a group of around 15 individuals were shortlisted for further assessment. At his stage the competence of the individuals relating to skills set and educational qualification is equated with the requirements by analysing their job application and resume (Gill, 2014).
• In the second phase, the personality assessment was done using personality test and an HR interview. 10 individuals were selected who have the desired personal profile for being job fit.
• The third phase was related to testing practical skills related to the managerial skill as required to carry out the job. The candidates were given the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and knowledge.
• In the fourth and final phase, detailed interview was conducted to check the in-depth knowledge of individuals rigorously by a panel of interviewers. The purpose of this phase was to judge the abilities of the individuals from different perspectives and to make final selection and the final verdict was given by the head of the marketing department (Goodman, 2016).

Demonstrate working in a team as a leader and member towards specific goals, dealing with any conflict or difficult situations

The team leader has the authority to provide instructions so that proper guidance and directions can be provided to individuals and the team for meeting the aims and objectives of the company. An effective team leader always have the in-depth information on the team members’ strengths and weaknesses so as the capability to inspire them. The team leader is also aware of the work distributions among the members. Instead of dictating decisions on his own, the team leader should give an opportunity to the team members to express their views through discussions so that it does not create any issues for future communication (Greenwich, 2000).

So, providing guidance and transferring clear instructions to the team members are important roles for dealing conflict situations. Problems arise in a team when there is a conflict between the members of the team regarding any issues like selection of candidates. These issues may lead to the inefficiency in the customer service department of retail store. If such a case arises then the leader should take into account the ideas of all the members and should give his final verdict by judiciously looking into the topics and thereby resolve the conflict. The role of the team leaders also include to communicate deadlines and objectives as well as to get all the tasks done by his team members through providing enough resources (Magloff, 2017).

1.4 Evaluating own contribution to make the selection process more effective and fairer

It is important to ensure that recruitment and selection process is effective and fairer in order to select and hire right candidate for the particular job profile. First of all, the person specification should contain all the essential criteria that are required to carry out the responsibilities of the Sore Manager post (Mattson, 2016). The initial screening of CV should be closely monitored so that if an applicant does not have all of the essential criteria then they must not be shortlisted. As a marketing manager, should ensure that equity principle are followed in the recruitment and selection process to avoid any kind of discrimination. Strict action should be taken against any unethical practices. The judges in the panel of last round of interview should be chosen from diverse fields so that final decision should be taken after overall assessment of the candidate (Marquardt and Horvath, 2014).

Global Assignment Help has the best and cheapest HND Assignment Help Service provided by our top professional writers with zero plagiarism that will help students to score top-notch grades in their assignments.

TASK 2

2.1 The skills and attributes needed for leadership

Skills and attributes are those qualities that enable us to apply knowledge in a practical way to perform job responsibilities. The leaders should have the ability to lead effectively which is based on several skills as listed below:

• Interpersonal and communication skills – One of the most important qualities that a Store Manager should have as they are required to communicate effectively with customers as well as various stakeholders, moreover to manage staff members.
• Critical reasoning: Problem solving skills and critical reasoning are essential as Store Managers are required to analyse a given complex situation and formulate a strategy to solve issues.
• Emotional intelligence – Working in a team, requires that the Manager should interact regularly with them, and the empathy that he shows to your co-workers indicate his maturity and self-control (Noe and et.al.,2006).
• Professional Knowledge –In-depth, current knowledge of the various sales and trade practices in retail domain are also important skills to lead the team of retail store as expertise knowledge increases the confidence of the individual as well as team.
• Last but not the least store manager should be able to motivate and influence behaviour of individuals to work for attainment of desired objectives (Schunkand Zimmerman, 2012).

For example, Nelson Mandela had the most important quality of leader i.e. visionary. As he had the ability to look forward in the future farther than anyone else. He relentlessly fought against racial discrimination throughout his life and even went to prison for many times. His excellent communication skills, tremendous focus, determination, knowledge and ability to motivate others made him a true and one of the greatest leader who fought for humanity and for his citizen’s equal and free future. Another example can be taken of pioneer of automobile assembly lines Henry Ford, who was the first to successfully mass produce automobiles. His company Ford Motor Co. was started with very little of his own money, and with cleverly negotiate deals with suppliers who allowed him extended credit. Some years later his company became an industrial giant, he was regarded as a legendary leader.

2.2 The difference between leadership and management

Definition of Leadership: A relationship through which one person influences the behaviour or actions of other people. Leaders inspire through creating a vision, build effective teams and motivate them to attain goals.
Definition of Management: Management is related to plan, organize and coordinate the assigned responsibilities in efficient manner (West, 2012).

Difference between leadership and management:

For example, a sales manager in retail stores some decades ago probably was not much concerned about the value offering. The job of the sales manager was to follow orders, organize the sales, assign the right people to the necessary tasks, coordinate the results, and ensure the job is carried out as ordered. The focus was on efficiency. However, now the entire focus is on providing higher value through better customer experience, so the role of store manager is entirely different from the typical sales manager (Basadur, 2004). Store managers must organize workers, not just to maximize efficiency, but to nurture skills of their staff so that better customer experience is provided at the store. Store manager leads by having an approach to solve the problems of the co-workers and they have a mind-set of innovative ideas and take suggestions from the team members and effectively implement these ideas. Therefore, the focus is now on effectiveness (Blackand Lynch,2004).

2.3 Compare leadership styles for different situations

The managers at Virgin Media adopts the combination of two different leadership styles, such as autocratic and democratic, which allows the managers to react according to the requirement of particular situation:

• Autocratic style – The autocratic leadership is important in many workplaces. The particular style is necessary when the company demands error-free results. The process of autocratic leadership mainly includes one person making all important business decisions. The particular style in Virgin Media is used in the situation when instant decisions are required to be taken without consulting others (Cascio and Aguinis, 2005). For instance, organising training sessions due to the drop in store monthly sales and introducing loyalty or discount schemes to increase the foothold of customers, etc.
• Democratic style– This style is based on the mutual respect. It is also combined with the participatory leadership, as requires collaboration in between employees and leaders. The store managers of Virgin Media employs the democratic style to adequately engage each staff member in the business decisions and practices. This style is used when managers feel any drawbacks in the customers’ services due to the decreasing morale of employees at the store. The participative style creates balance at the work and make employees feel valued and thus, improves their performance (Chapmanand Webster, 2003).
• Laissez-faire style: It is one of the least structured leadership style where employees have significant autonomy with decision-making authority. As employees independently manage their work, the role of leader becomes more marginal. The delegation of work is also uncoordinated and spontaneous while minimum communication between employees and their leader or employee-to-employee. In case of a small team of highly capable and talented people, laissez-faire leadership works best to bring out the positive results. Warren Buffet’s leadership style is one of the best example of laissez-faire leadership style as he focused on hiring talented people and provided them with autonomy which effectively make Berkshire Hathaway a successful group.

2.4 Ways to motivate staff to achieve objectives

The Maslow’s need hierarchy theory can be used at Virgin Media to provide best motivation and encouragement to the staff members. According to the theory the lower level needs must be satisfied before higher-order needs can motivate staff members. The company should firstly consider that employees’ physiological or basic level of needs are properly met. The store manager also develop secure and safe working environment to appreciate the team members efforts which corresponds to safety needs. The manager must consider the workforce mistakes as learning experience and inspire them to try again while ensuring friendly atmosphere. Moreover, by working together, the cordial relations can build among individuals, which may lessen conflicts and improve their performances which relates to belongingness needs. Furthermore, the manager should complement staff members for their excellent performances in order to meet their self-esteem needs. In this regards, the manager can provide both constructive criticism and praise and work towards satisfying self-actualization needs (Connelly and et.al., 2000).

TASK 3

3.1 Benefits of team working for Virgin Media

The following are five ways in which teamwork can benefit the Virgin Media:

• Foster learning and creativity–The creativity at the workplace increases when individuals perform together in a team. It is because a team leader by combining each member unique perspectives can create more effective solutions of selling.
• Balances complementary strengths–The employees by working together can build on their teammate’s talents. The team together performs well, as members rely on each to bring their unique knowledge in front of others (Daily and Huang, 2001).
• Builds trust–The members by relying others develops trust at the work and all of them builds strong relations with their colleagues. In spite of occasional disagreements, a competent team enjoys sharing a strong bond and working together. The employees by putting trust in their peers, establishes the base of relationship, which can lessen the minor conflicts at the work.
• Teaches skills to resolute conflicts–When any conflict arise in the teamwork, employees are encourages to resolve it on their own instead of taking support of the management. In this manner, they learn to resolve conflicts and make them more efficient to take the managerial roles in future (Eagly and et.al.,2003).
• Promote wide sense of ownership–The teamwork projects inspire staffs to feel delighted of their contributions. Creating notable work and tackling obstacles together makes all members fulfilled. Working towards the attainment of corporate objectives allows individuals to feel attached to the Virgin Media. It enhances their loyalty and leading to high job satisfaction within all members.

3.3 Effectiveness of the team in achieving the goals

The effective teamwork for the Virgin Media is viewed as the ultimate competitive edge, which can produce excellent outcomes. The team leader of the company by improving the team performance can achieve enhanced employee involvement, increased market share, innovation, continuous improvement and reduced waste. The leader can make effective teams at the workplace by combining the members who have different skills which are necessary to reach the business objectives (Griffin, Patterson and West,2001). Every member bring their own knowledge and views to the group and exchange their perceptions in open communication through active responding and listening. Moreover, tasks can be adequately divided in a team so that no one overwhelmed by their responsibility. The leader makes each member accountable for completing some tasks connected to final goal and are encouraged to perform it well. Furthermore, in co-workers in an effective teams support and trust one another and thus, contributes well in the business goals attainment on decided time (Jayneand Dipboye,2004).

Belbin's Team Roles model is useful to identify potential strengths and weaknesses of the team members which may reduce conflict between them by recognising every team-member’s contributions. For instance, the members who belong to shaper roles take all challenges to improve the team effectiveness. The responsibility of putting tasks into actions are taken by implementer. One important role is played by completer finisher to ensure that all the tasks are completed on time. Next, the coordinator act as a chairperson and coordinate all different activities in the specified direction. Furthermore, some members are considered as team workers, who encourage good cooperation within the teams. The person who play the role of plant, present new business approaches and ideas. At last, overall team working and performance is evaluated by monitor-evaluator.

You can also read: Impact of the Micro-environment on Vodafone

TASK 4

4.1 Factors involved in planning the monitoring and assessment of work performance

A quantified, automated and standardised process of employee review is an important manner to track the progress of employees and enhance workplace productivity. The regular evaluation supports in recognising high performing employees and assist in keeping midlevel performers on the track towards the reasonable goals achievement. In this regards, the following factors should be considered by the manager to plan the work performance monitoring and assessment:

• Keep in mind the audit principle–The manager should monitor employees’ small number of details which suggest their incompetence and competence across wide areas instead of examining their performances every minute detail (Lockamy IIIand McCormack, 2004).
• Weigh carefully the advantages before taking steps to enhance the objectivity and breadth–The manager can use 360 degree review, where an employee performance is evaluated not just by supervisors but their peer workers as well.
• Ensure the process stays measurable, brief and goal-oriented–This is most effective in case the managers have less personal interaction with their followers. By keeping the process meaningful, the absentee manager will not require to give lengthy comments on open-ended or unquantifiable performance criteria.
• Focus on automation – The technology changes very fast. Thus, the manager should re-examine the review workflows every year and keep a regular search for new ways and tools to automate and streamline the process (Mumford and et.al.,2000).
• Employees learning style–The manager while planning the regular monitoring of employees should consider that each individual follow different learning style and thus, their performance must be assessed accordingly.

4.2 Plan and deliver the assessment of the store manager development needs

The following format can be followed in Virgin Media to plan and deliver the store manager development needs:

• Re-value job description – The store manager current skills and his/her assigned roles and responsibilities should be assessed in six months of interval and then compare with the standard roles and responsibilities of a job.
• Meetings arrangement – The meetings on the regular basis should be organised on the regular basis to make discussion with the manager. In such meetings, the company’s management discuss with the store manager about their development needs to get positive guidance in his/her career guidance (Oldham and Hackman, 2010).
• Performance assessment – The top management should make an adequate control on regular performance of the store manager.
• Additional information collection–The additional information about the store manager development needs can be collected from their peer workers and subordinates.
• Keep a record and analyse from above–Through the above assessments, a record must be maintained and tally with other information to plan valuable programs for the development of store manager.
• Take action – At last, the proper actions must be undertaken to fulfil the store manager identified development needs (Vaccaro and et.al.,2012).

4.3 Evaluate the success of the assessment process

In order to achieve the success of assessment process, the HR manager at Virgin Media should organise training sessions and workshops for the store manager on the regular basis. The training would support the store manager in getting adequate knowledge of new and advanced working methods. It would support in putting the store manager best potential in the business success (Zaccaro, Kemp and Bader, 2004). Moreover, an open discussion with the senior management is advantageous for store manager to understand the business goals connected with the store performance. The company can also organise business seminars and events to call professionals to share their knowledge with the store managers. Furthermore, the store manager feedback can be taken and end results assessment can be done as a part of the entire process. Thus, the given procedure would support the company to successfully reach the synergistic level (Zhang and Bartol,2010). You don't have to deal with failing grades in your BTEC assignments anymore. Hurry Up and opt for our affordable and best Online BTEC Assignment Help UK services from professionals.

CONCLUSION

The above report concludes that the proper documentation of person specification and job description is important in the organisation to short list the best candidate for the vacant posts. In this regards, an advertisement should be publicised after taking approval of senior members. Moreover, an adequate assessment of training and development needs and imparting them effectively is really needed to enhance the store manager skills. Also, Maslow theory can be best utilised to motivate staff members and improve their performances. In this manner, a company can achieve productive outcomes by the regular evaluation of store manager and employees performance to make required development in their behaviour and work practices.

REFERENCES

• Adair, J., 2009. Effective teambuilding: How to make a winning team. Pan Macmillan.
• Aldrich, H., 2008. Organizations and environments. Stanford University Press.
• Cohen, Y. H., 2016. Different Leadership Styles. [Online]. Available through: <http://www.leadershipexpert.co.uk/different-leadership-styles.html>. [Accessed on 28 March 2017].
• Conlan, C., 2017. These are the 7 most important skills retail managers need to have.[Online]. Available through: <https://www.monster.com/career-advice/article/7-skills-retail-managers-need>. [Accessed on 28 March 2017].
• Friedman, E., 2017. 10 STEPS TO KEEPING EMPLOYEES ENGAGED AND MOTIVATED. [Online]. Available through: <http://blog.eskill.com/employees-engaged-motivated/>. [Accessed on 10 March 2017].
• Gill, E., 2014. What is Democratic/Participative Leadership? How Collaboration Can Boost Morale.[Online]. Available through: <http://online.stu.edu/democratic-participative-leadership/>. [Accessed on 28 March 2017].
• Goodman, P., 2016. 15 Advantages of Teamwork in the Workplace. [Online]. Available through: <https://toughnickel.com/business/15-Advantages-of-teamwork-in-the-workplace>. [Accessed on 28 March 2017].
• Greenwich, C., 2000. Fun and gains: Motivate and energize staff with workplace games, contests and activities. Sydney: McGraw-Hill.

UPTO56%

Avail The Benefit Today!

To View this & another 50000+ free

Enter Email

Submit