Major Final

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K.
| i

A STUDY OF THE CHALLENGES FACING FRONT LINE
STAFF IN THE RETAIL INDUSTRY IN UK

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of
master of business and management of the University of Strathclyde

THE UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE
DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT

JASJOT SINGH
TADIGADAPA VENKATA SAI APARNA
TAY: 2011
SUPERVISOR: DR. GEORGE KOSHY

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | ii

Declaration
Statement of Academic Honesty
We declare that this dissertation is entirely our original work.

We declare that, except where fully referenced direct quotations have been included, no
aspect of this dissertation is copied from any other source.

We declare that all other works cited in this dissertation have been appropriately
referenced.

We understand that any act of Academic Dishonesty such as plagiarism or collusion
may result in the non-award of a Master degree.

Signature.. Date.
Signature.. Date.

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | iii

Acknowledgement

It is a pleasure to thank those who made this dissertation possible. We are grateful to our
supervisor Dr. George Koshy for his encouragement, guidance and support from initial to the
final level which enabled us to develop a deeper understanding of the subject.
We would also like to thank all the people who participated in this research and we appreciate
the effort and time, they have put in for the successful completion of this dissertation.
Lastly, we offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported us in any respect during
the completion of the project.

Thank You
Jasjot Singh
Tadigadapa Venkata Sai Aparna

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | iv

Abstract
This paper discusses about the challenges faced by front line employees in retail industry which
is the most rising market in UK in the coming five years. With the development of the industry,
the level competition between the competitors also raised. The only way is to give service
quality by maintaining healthy relationships with existing customers and increasing the new
customer base. This has increased the importance of front line staff by the employers in this
retail industry. The front line employees have become the responsible people for facing the
customers and maintain the relationships with both the organisation and customers. Front line
jobs have become quiet challenging for the employees as they have to strive towards the
customer satisfaction at the same time satisfy organisation by trying to put them consistently in
the top list of the industry. In this context the challenges faced by frontline employees are
discussed in this research from the HR perspectives and are supported by various theories.
These HR aspects involved in the frontline employees are discussed and analysed by gathering
information through primary and secondary data sources. The primary data information is
analysed by using SPSS programme on the surveys, questionnaires and the interviews
conducted with the industry individuals and the findings are backed up with the secondary data
in the discussions part.
This study highlights the pragmatic view of what are the problems these employees face in this
retail industry in UK market and how to overcome the challenges faced by these frontline
employees by practising an effective HR system. This research discusses about the
characteristics that frontline staff should possess to recruit them; the motivating factors that are
required to maintain the staff retention, the performance management system to assess the
employees and the reward strategies that are employed for these employees.

Word Count: 19,811

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | v

Table of Contents

Title Page ......................................................................................................................................... i
Declaration ..................................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................ iii
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... iV
Table of Content ............................................................................................................................ v
List of Table & Figures.....vi
Chapter One.1
1.0 Introduction.2
Chapter Two.5
2.0 Literature Review.6
2.1 Introduction..6
2.2 Practices in Retail Personnel Management...9
2.3 Determination of Staffing Needs11
2.4 Recruitment..13
2.5 Selection of employees.14
2.6 Induction and Training17
2.7 Motivation..20
2.8Organisational Culture.28
2.9 Performance Management.30
2.9.1.1 Performance Appraisal and Reward System..32
2.91.2 Encouragement of Discussion33
2.9.1.3 Constructive Intention..33
2.9.1.4 Set Performance Goals..34
2.9.1.5 Appraiser Credibility34
2.9.1.6 Link to Rewards..34
2.9.1.7 360 Degree Feedback.34
2.9.1.8 Learning and Development35
A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | vi

2.9.1.9 Measurement..35
2.9.2 Pay36
2.10 Retention of Employees.37
Chapter Three..39
3.0 Research Methodology.40
3.1 Introduction40
3.2 Research Purpose..41
3.3 Research Approach..42
3.4 Research Strategy..43
3.5 Data Collection.44
3.6 Population and Sample..47
3.7 Data Analysis.49
3.8 Quality Standards..49
Chapter Four.50
4.0 Data Analysis and Interpretations..51
4.1 Findings.........51
4.1.1 Introduction..51
4.1.2 Findings of the Survey51
4.1.3 Findings of the Questionnaire..78
4.1.4 Qualitative Findings.89
4.2 Interpretations.90
Chapter Five..93
5.0 Conclusions and Recommendations.94
5.1 Limitations..96
5.2 Further Studies...96
Chapter Six.97
6.0 Reflection...........98
Bibliography...100
Appendices..105
A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | vii

List of Tables & Figures
List of figures

Figure -1: The three tiered view of service organisation...................................7
Figure -1.2: The five step MBO process..10
Figure -1.3: Ladder of motivating employees.22
Figure -1.4: Abraham Maslows needs hierarchy.24
Figure -1.5: Expectancy theory of work motivation25
Figure -1.6: Inner working life theory26
Figure -1.7: The case for high performance work systems.28
Figure -1.8: Hofstedes five dimensions of culture..30
Figure -1.9: Graphical representation of gender52
Figure -2.0: Graphical representation by age..53
Figure -2.1: Graphical representation for importance of recruitment & selection
Methods...54
Figure -2.2: Graphical representation of the importance of experience for a role..56
Figure -2.3: Graphical representation of the importance of training for a role..58
Figure -2.4: Graphical representation of importance of association with company goals &
missions.60
Figure -2.5: Graphical representation of importance of motivation factor62
Figure -2.6: Graphical representation of importance of job satisfaction.64
Figure -2.7: Graphical representation of importance of competitive work environment66
Figure -2.8: Graphical representation of importance of recognition for work.68
Figure -2.9: Graphical representation of importance of getting feedback for work70
Figure -3.0: Graphical representation of importance of career development.72
Figure -3.1: Graphical representation of importance of perks & incentives.74
Figure -3.2: Graphical representation of importance of compensation factor76
Figure -3.3: Graphical representation of length of work.78
Figure -3.4: Graphical representation of satisfaction with the company79
Figure -3.5: Graphical representation of recommending job to a friend.80
Figure -3.6: Graphical representation of the positive aspects of a job.82
Figure -3.7: Graphical representation of level of motivation at work83
Figure -3.8: Graphical representation of communication of organization
With its employees.84
Figure -3.9: Graphical representation of companys flexibility with employees personal
responsibilities .85
Figure -4.0: Graphical representation of the competitive work environment.86
Figure -4.1: Graphical representation of supportive work environment.87
Figure -4.2: Graphical representation of satisfaction level of employees for the recognition of
their contribution..88

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | viii

List of tables

Table -1.1: Drives versus motives .......................................................................23
Table -1.2: Approach to research methodology.40
Table -1.3: Relevant situations for different research strategies..43
Table -1.4: Percentage of target population according to gender ..52
Table -1.5: Statistical data analysis for gender ..52
Table -1.6: Percentage of target population by age ..53
Table -1.7: Statistical data analysis for age ..53
Table -1.8: Percentage of target population categorised by importance of recruitment &
selection methods .54
Table -1.9: Statistical data analysis for effective recruitment & selection methods
.55
Table -2.0: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of having experience
for a role ..56
Table -2.1: Statistical data analysis for having experience for a role ........57
Table -2.2: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of training.58
Table -2.3: Statistical data analysis for the importance of training 59
Table -2.4: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of association with
company goals & missions .60
Table -2.5: Statistical data analysis of association with company goals & missions .61
Table -2.6: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of motivation
Factor.62
Table -2.7: Statistical data analysis for motivation factor.63
Table -2.8: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of job satisfaction
64
Table -2.9: Statistical data analysis for importance of job satisfaction..65
Table -3.0: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of competitive work
environment.66
Table -3.1: Statistical data analysis for importance of competitive work environment..67
Table -3.2: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of recognition
for work68
Table -3.3: Statistical data analysis for recognition for work ...69
Table -3.4: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of getting
feedback for work.70
Table -3.5: Statistical data analysis for getting feedback for work...71
Table -3.6: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of career
Development72
Table -3.7: Statistical data analysis for importance of career development73
Table -3.8: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of
perks & incentives...74
Table -3.9: Statistical data analysis for importance of perks & incentives..75
Table -4.0: Percentage of target population categorized by importance of
compensation factor....76
Table -4.1: Statistical data analysis for the importance of compensation factor...77
Table -4.2: Percentage of target population on the basis of length of work....78
Table -4.3: Statistical data analysis for the length of work.78
Table -4.4: Percentage of target population categorized by satisfaction with the
Company.79
Table -4.5: Statistical data analysis for satisfaction with the company..79
Table -4.6: Percentage of target population who would recommend their job to a
friend...80
Table -4.7: Statistical data analysis of recommending a job to a friend.80
Table -4.8: Percentage of target population having positive aspects to their job..82
A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | ix

Table -4.9: Statistical data analysis for the population having positive aspects to their
Job.82
Table -5.0: Percentage of target population categorized by the motivation level at work..83
Table -5.1: Statistical data analysis for the target populations motivation level at work.83
Table -5.2: Percentage of target population categorized by the level of agreement of
organizations communication with its employees..84
Table -5.3: Statistical data analysis of Organizations communication with its employees.84
Table -5.4: Percentage of target population categorized by the flexibility of their
company with their personal responsibilities..85
Table -5.5: Statistical data for the flexibility of a company.85
Table -5.6: Percentage of respondents on the level of competitive work environment86
Table -5.7: Statistical data analysis for competitive work environment86
Table -5.8: Percentage of respondents who say their work environment is supportive87
Table -5.9: Statistical data analysis for supportive work environment..87
Table -6.0: Percentage stating the level of satisfaction of employees for the
recognition of their work88
Table -6.1: Statistical data analysis of employee satisfaction for the recognition
of their work...88

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | x

A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K. | 1

CHAPTER: One


1.0 Introduction
Companys front line employees are associated with the effectiveness of HR strategies than ever
before. With reduction in resources and a higher attrition rate than any other sector in the UK;
retailers with preceding people strategies are fighting to survive in an environment where
consumers are financially vigilant and challenging higher levels of service. Those with highly
customized, advanced in their HR strategies, however, are capitalizing on turnover and market
share through extremely engaged employees who stay in their jobs and present higher profits for
their organisations. (Bulletin, October,2008). As cited by Yvette Blount in (Blount, 2011)The
front-line employees outline customer perceptions of service quality and play a significant role
in the service value chain. (Scotti et al., 2009). The employee interaction with the customer
determines the value of organisation from customers thinking due to which the role of front-
line employees in this service sector has become really crucial (Fleming and Asplund, 2007).
The effectiveness of relationships between customers and company works when the
organisation offers value to customers and engender their loyalties (Plakoyiannaki et al.
2008; George, 1990). In order to bring into line with the needs of organisation and customers
and the transformation in the working style of service organisation has changed the role of
customer facing staff over years. The expectations that a customer and the organisation has from
front line employees are itself the major challenges as they work in an environment where
customer is always right for the organisation yet aiming the business profits. To reinforce
customer relationships and business profits the employees should be ready to deliver their duties
according to customers needs and the way they want it. They who interact with customers will
have to do their own study of the desires and wishes of the customers at the time of service
delivery and must ensure the quality of service delivered at the same time. They are not just
called service deliverers but also service marketers. (Bowen, 1995). There are some
challenges that front line employees face physically and psychologically in this retail sector as
in service jobs, the work that must be done varies in pace, sometimes slow and sometimes fast,
and it varies in terms of demand for action placed on the workers and workers do not know
ahead of time what each customer will demand. Finally, consider the fact that the customers

being served are there watching the production of their own service and sometimes even
participating in the production of that service. Services tend to be produced, consumed and
delivered relatively simultaneously as far as front line/ personal contact employees. Working
with people rather than objects and working with them present and frequently participating,
yields a psychological and physical closeness between service workers and customers. Dealing
with other people all day produces identification with those others in the natural course of
events. This happens because being pleasant and courteous irrespective of their emotions or the
ungrateful customer is usually a part of job description. These kinds of challenges faced by front
line employees can be solved by having successful HR strategies and policies. The HRM
policies and customs need to be associated to hold up the type of valuable worker (McAfee and
Brynjolfsson, 2008). From the stage of recruitment till the compensation factor, everything of
HR influences an employee in delivering a perfect job. Hiring people who can face these
challenges and pressures to motivating them to keep up the spirits and rewarding them for their
work to making payments that they deserve are few among the aspects of HR that are discussed
in this research. In order to have a better approach and understanding towards the subject that
has been chosen the research has been divided into different parts under different headings. This
research has a systematic approach towards the subject which has introduction, literature
review, research methodology, Data analysis and interpretation, and conclusions and
implications.
Introduction explains the initiation of the research giving brief overview of the challenges faced
by frontline employees in retail sector in UK. It acts as a trailer part to the entire research and
explains the approach that has been chosen by the researchers. Literature review takes through
the ideas that are selected for the research in detail. It includes the work done by previous
authors in our field that helps in giving a direction to the research and acting as a bridge
between the ideas and practicality behind the work. In literature review, the importance of
frontline employees and the challenges they face while performing their job, Retail personnel
management concepts, why there is necessity of strong HR to support these and what are the
challenges they face internally in the organisation from an employees perspective and the HR

management practices to overcome them are highlighted and discussed. Research methodology
explains the practical and theoretical approach that has been chosen to move the research work
forward. It supports the primary data work carried for the project with theoretical facts. It gives
a motive to the primary data work. In the research methodology, explanation of primary
research design is provided with the aid of research purpose, research strategy, qualitative and
quantitative analysis with its limitations, primary and secondary research sources with their
advantages and limitations. Data analysis and interpretation helps in understanding the primary
data work attempted during the research and explains the realistic views of the subject from the
peoples perspective in the relative field. It adds value to the work that has been yielded during
this entire research and helps in drawing conclusions to the subject from a pragmatic view. In
Data analysis the researcher has discussed about questions that have been conducted during the
surveys, questionnaires and interview to get vivid picture of the realistic employees and
management views towards these employees. Discussions about these findings in data analysis
are fitted in the interpretations part and relate the practical work done by the researcher with the
theoretical data collected from the secondary source. Conclusions are the summation of the
entire study which explains the research queries that have been conferred at the start of the
research in the introductory part. Here the researchers have concluded the work and discussed
the implications that can be further studied in future related to this field.


CHAPTER: Two


2.0 Literature review
A literature review uses as its database reports of primary or original scholarship, and
does not report new primary scholarship itself. The primary reports used in the
literature may be verbal, but in the vast majority of cases reports are written documents.
The types of scholarship may be empirical, theoretical, critical/analytic, or
methodological in nature. Second a literature review seeks to describe, summarise,
evaluate, clarify and/or integrate the content of primary reports."
Cooper, H. M. (1988), "The structure of knowledge synthesis",
Knowledge in Society, Vol. 1, pp. 104-126 as cited in (Insight)
2.1 INTRODUCTION
According to William, Daniel and Ronald (1988) retail personnel management has unique
characteristics that rise to unusually complex personnel problems. These unique characteristics
include:
1. Seasonal and irregular demand of employees due to rush times and increase in customer
base. The demand of employees increases from 50% to more than 100% during the
Christmas times.
2. Extensive use of part time help because of varying seasonal and irregular requirements
is the dominating group in the retail employment field.
3. Inexperience of employees
4. Consumer time preferences for store hours.
5. The importance of employee personality and appearance
6. Prevailing average wage rates
7. High rate of employee turnover is the most common problem because the number of
people employed and detached from employment is 50% to more than 100% of the
average total number of employees per annum.

Effective personnel administration is one of the most important aspects of retailing management
because of the rapidly rising payroll costs in retailing and difficulty in matching with
productivity levels previously achieved in higher volume due to declination of personnel. Some
retail firms believe that improvement in personnel management activities like selection,
training, motivation, control, evaluation and compensation is the most promising approach to
improve the retail productivity problems. It also helps the retailer in maintaining the desired rate
of profitability in the face of rapidly rising personnel costs.
To become a benchmark organisation it should consist of three tiers: a customer tier, a boundary
tier and a coordination tier for being a winning service. This three tiered model conceptualised
by Schneider and Bowen stands in sharp disparity to traditional ways of segmentation of
organisations like HR, Marketing and operations management connecting the accomplishment
in service to the effective management and incorporation of these tiers.
Coordination tier
(Management)
Boundary tier
(All points of customer contact)
Customer tier
(customers)
Fig 1.1- The three tiered view of service organisation
The boundary tier is the interface of the organisation to the customers. The boundary tier
delivers the service excellence of the organisation by meeting the three key customer needs such
as Security, Esteem and Justice. This has been called the moment of truth as employees at
boundary tier especially act as glue that binds customers to the firm. The people within the
boundary tier who bring service play in some special roles deserve special attention. Service
employees are needed to exhibit more initiative, to handle stress more effectively, to be more
interpersonally sensitive and adaptable, and can blend with their colleagues who work in
manufacturing to fulfil the service characteristics like intangibility and customer contact .

Service employees perform at least two major roles within the company as they are both
physically and psychologically close to the customers they serve.
1. Impression managers: the service quality in customers eyes is the behaviour of the
boundary tier employees and the pleasure in experiences they create for customers.
2. Gatekeepers of information: these employees act as directory on issues like customer
attitudes, information on competitors strategies, and ideas on how to enhance the
quality of service as they are being in continuous communication with customers and
maintain relationships with them.(Schneider & Bowen, 1995).
Human relations or human resource management is defined as the integration of people into a
work environment in a manner that facilitates cooperation, creativity and productivity (William
H. Bolen, 1988). Human Resources have to be managed strategically, it must be managed to
meet the market being served (Schneider & Bowen, 1995). As cited by Yvette Blount in
(Blount, 2011) Investment in employees by employers is to construct the abilities and
competencies they require to meet competitive needs. Employees are also shareholders.
Individual employees look forward to have a career growth and development along with the
remuneration from the organisation.(Wang, 2002; Geroy and Venneberg, 2003). Ideologies on
managing people in organisations are practised in human resource management (HRM). Job
description, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management,
retention and employee engagement are the some of the relevant processes that are discussed
under HRM (Storey, 1995; Guest, 1997). Discussion on recruitment, hiring, pay, training and
appraisal of front line employees while emphasizing on these workers individual skills, attitude,
and enthusiasm as one of the many rules are the success routes in winning the game in this retail
sector (Bowen, 1995). As cited by Yvette Blount in (Blount, 2011) Engagement of employees
is vital in attaining competitive benefits through employment of information systems and
successful relations with customers. HRM process will be victorious when employees
mentalities and behaviours are lined up with an organisation's strategic objectives (Purcell et al.,
2003; Hailey et al., 2005). Attracting and retaining the qualified and competent employees for
well-designed jobs is not sufficient as the potentiality of employees, especially those who are

extremely accomplished, will be biased, unless they can be absorbed with the organisation's
goals and motivated to fulfil the job requirements (Hunter and Lafkas, 2003). How the
customer interactions link to the organisations strategic position is explained with the
relationship between customers and employees in a service transaction.
2.2 PRACTICES IN RETAIL PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT
One of the major reasons for the low productivity and high expense structure in many small to
large retail companies is because of the lack of any formal personnel and organisational
management that results in lack of specific direction by subordinate executives, poor
communication between executive and subordinates, lack of motivation, and many other factors.
Management by objective (MBO) is a newly developed approach to personnel and
organisational management that focuses on performance output to be achieved and works back
to the personnel requirements and activities unlike traditional approach that focuses on the
personnel activities and allowing the output performance to be residual (William, Daniel and
Ronald, 1988). Management by objectives (MBO) was first explained by Peter Drucker in his
book The Practice of Management, published in 1954 and then extended by George Odiorne,
his student. The number of priorities for the manager of future is outlined by Drucker.
According to Drucker, managers often lose sight of their objectives because of something he
called the activity trap. They get so occupied in their existing activities that they forget their
motive. In some cases it may be that they become immersed in this activity as a means of
avoiding the painful truth about their organisations condition. MBO requires employee to
establish individual objectives that are compatible with the broader goals of the organisation
(James R. Lowry, 1983).
An MBO system has major components:
1. A guideline statement of company strategy that includes the specification of critical
problems and opportunities facing the corporation, a forecast of economics conditions
for the budget period and any other relevant information.

2. Accountability statements that identify and establish target levels of performance for
each executive in the organisation and link each performance with company objectives.
This defining of accountability statements contributes to the sense of loyalty and
commitment by the employee and encourages the identification of realistic yet
challenging performance standards.
3. A personal review form that monitors performance on a continuous basis to insure the
achievement of target results on a programmed and predictable basis. Here the
formalised face - to - face review of actual performance by an executive and his or her
superior will provide a channel for open communication and encourages clarity and
honesty in executive performance review.
MBO is explained as a five step process that helps in attaining both personal goals and
organisational targets. (Communication Theory)

Figure 1.2: The five step MBO process
As cited in Tesco staff keeps hands on wheels article in Strategic Direction journal, The Office
of Government Commerce, which aids British government department delivers best value from
its spending, insists that performance-based management at any level in the organization should
demonstrate:
You know what you are aiming for;

You know what you have to do to meet your objectives;
You know how to measure progress towards your objectives; and
You can detect performance problems and remedy them. (Emerald Insight Publication
Limited, 2009)
According to James R. Lowry (1983) and William, Daniel and Ronald (1988), the advantages of
MBO pointed out by some retail firms that have been employing this Advanced MBO system:
1. An improved understanding of companys priorities.
2. A stronger commitment to achieve target results.
3. Better coordination of the planning and control process.
4. Simplification of regular day to day operations of business.
5. An improved allocation of executive time.
6. More precise measurement of performance is achieved since actual results are measured
against performance standards that are clearly defined.
7. A potentially much higher level of morale can be established.
Companies like Tesco in retailing sector explain its organisational goals and strategies
to the employees and aligns them according to these goals. This strategic planning and
management is called as steering wheel that has been set against the objectives
designed by involving people of the organisation and many other stakeholders of the
organisation. Employees are evaluated and their performance is measured by how an
individual constitutes to the organisations profit by aligning themselves with
organisational goals and strategies. (Emerald Insight Publication Limited, 2009)

2.3 DETERMINATION OF STAFFING NEEDS
Should retailers fit jobs to persons or should they fit persons to jobs is the question that arises
even before recruitment which narrows it down to matching the jobs to people.
According to Ronald W. Hasty (1983) and William H. Bolen (1988) determining the staff needs
is the first step of HR process which involves defining, describing, and specifying about the job

that will help both the job applicants and current store personnel, know exactly what are the
duties and responsibilities of the position.
You have to prepare the job description before you start hiring. There's a tendency for people
to worry about 'who' rather than 'what' too quickly. Stephen McClure.

Developing your own job description shows you have a firm grasp of your current duties.-
J ohn Lomax.

The job profile of the Front line employees for an employer would be they have to be
motivated, meet the needs of customers, and behave in ways that ensure customers feel secured;
self-esteemed and feel justly treated. Employers believe in hiring people who are willing and
able to deliver against customer expectations and needs. Service Business will be capitalizing
on the following formula for managing front line employees: employees require both ability and
motivation if they are going to perform effectively on the job (Schneider & Bowen, 1995).
There are certain set of people skills that are expected from a front line employees which play a
crucial role in giving a proper customer service. Possessing the People skills is the first step in
the job description for front line employees in retail sector. The talent to connect with a mixture
of people and assist to recognize and find what they are looking for are termed as people skills
that are required in this retail sector. At a management level experience, having excellent idea of
business principles is also useful. Employers in the industry look for talents including:
Customer services skills
Team working
Elasticity and malleability
Managerial and supervisory skills
Cash handling with good numeracy skills
Communication skills
E-commerce and ICT Skills

Staff holding good people skills are required in this retail business that makes it relatively easy
to bag a job in the retail sector even without prior experience and thus makes it a prospective
sector to widen a career. Almost all type of qualifications is appreciated by employers these
days including NVQs, Diplomas and Degrees. NVQ levels one and two are given in retail
Skills, and the NVQ certification for sales, customer Service and retail management stands as an
example for the acceptance of qualifications by the employers. Qualifications like the Institute
of Leadership and Management (ILM) management are proven successful for considering the
applicant for the job applied. Retail apprenticeships are offered to demographic age group of 16-
24 years where they attain an understanding of work-based learning and knack to do the job that
is widely appreciated by retailers (Real Help North East).

2.4 RECRUITMENT
Recruitment is the bringing together of potential job applicants and the store (Bolen W. H.,
1988). According to Sparrow, 1994 Good recruitment is crucial to have successful human
resource management. Selection and training rely mainly on quality of starters pulled in through
the recruitment process that adds to effectiveness of human resource management. Recruitment
has to satisfy several purposes
1. To decide current and prospective staffing needs in combination with job analysis
and human resource planning
2. Pool of applicants must be raised at minimum costs
3. The success rate of the consequent selection process has to be high as some of them
will be turned out to be over or under qualified
4. The opportunity for consequent retention has to move up
5. Encouragement has to be provided for adopting own selection methods by means of
a sensible job preview
6. Congregation of responsibilities, legal and social obligations has to be achieved.
7. Organisational and individual effectiveness has to be inclined
8. The effectiveness of different labour pools has to be assessed.

Recruitment is about knowing where to look for the people who might be selected. Recruitment
can be done by
Considering the current employees for the role
Positioning the advertisements in newspapers and media as it serves the purpose of
attracting different set of job profiles to the next step,
Giving the responsibility to employer agencies in finding out the best set of people for
the role
Educational institutions hold a key to success in recruitment
The other step of recruitment can be through Referrals which might be a good or bad
source.
Unsolicited applicants can also be considered but they have to be tough competition for
the stronger candidates within the organisation. (Bolen W. H., 1988)
Online application is also kind of recruitment process that is widely in practice in the
retail industry through which an applicant is collected.
The other mostly adapted method of recruitment is approaching the applicants with their
details that are registered either through careers page of universities or through their
details that are available in high profile recruitment agencies. The examples that can be
discussed here are TKmaxx, Debenhams that does recruitment process through
university pages and companies like ASDA, Argos through recruitment agencies.
A business with a better image in the community attracts a broader variety of applicants,
providing a better set of candidates from which to choose. The best employees a company can
hire are the applicants recommended to the company by present employees and the worst
employees a company can hire are those who appear on the doorstep as a result of newspaper
advertisement (Bowen, 1995) that disagrees with Bolens points that are discussed above.
2.5 SELECTION OF EMPLOYEES:
Selection of employees can be through a cognizant of available sources so that vacancies can be
filled without undesirable consequences that usually attend undue delay (William R. Davidson,

1988). Selection is the determination of which one of the applicants, if any, would be best suited
for the job. The real question is how many of these bodies are potential employees? The use
of selection procedures is the only way to answer the question. (Bolen W. H., 1988).
Organisations make decision to hire people based on the behaviour that is observed but not what
they hear. A cardinal rule for selection is: the predictor of best future is the past behaviour
(Bowen, 1995). Selection involves many steps and application of these steps varies from
organisation to organisation. Selection is initiated with the Application form, psychological
tests, achievement tests, physical exam, Interviews and final compilation of all the above
information helps in determining the selecting of the candidate. (Bolen W. H., 1988). According
to Bowen, 1995 the following should be considered as selection methods:
The secret of valuable selection is to observe peoples behaviour. One can be judged
truly on their behaviour when they are in pressure but not by the way they speak.
Service effectiveness is forecasted by measuring service disposition. The people who
are confident and optimistic about themselves are happier at work and the equation
leads to more contented customers as they are served by happier people.
Motivation and competency issues that interviewers must rate at the conclusion of a
structured interview that involves Client service, Oral Communication, Pressure and
adaptability, and interpersonal sensitivity.
There are two challenges involved in staffing procedure as in determining the demand
pattern for the role and hiring people who can fit that pattern.
Assessment Centre is the most widely used selection method in UK. UK companies believe
assessment centres to be the fundamental step in the recruitment process. 48% of UK companies
have success in their recruitment judgment because of employing this assessment centres and
this percentage is consistently increasing. One of the potential aspects of this assessment centres
is that they give an option of adapting a wide range of selection methods in the recruitment
process. Effective recruitment processes should:


Assessment centre is used as a method to assess and obtain information about the skills of the
participants by assessing performance and capacity of a group of applicants by applying
certain aptitude methods under trained evaluators.
The participants are tested on activities that are related to the job role either individually or in
groups by giving an example of the job so that the applicants can gain an experience and
understanding of the job they applied. Prospective job performance of the applicant can be
assessed by the interviewers with the existing job performance of that applicant. (Daniels, 2010)
Design of an assessment centre should reflect:
The culture of the company
The definite proficiencies essential to accomplish the job
Budding sources of recruits
The level to which recruitment is entrusted to line managers
The HR strategy.
Assessment centres are planned in way to test suitability to varied aspects of the work
environment and the job role. This process helps in observing the behaviour and relating it with
the preferred role of the job applied. The length of assessment centres vary from half a day to
two full days sometimes even overnight. The job level decides the length and difficulty level of
the assessment centre. Assessment centre includes different types of activities out of which one
or the combination of many activities are applied according to the role applied that includes:
Interviews: These are conducted one-one or in a panel which can be a mixture of
competency or technical or biographical or functional interviews according to job that

has been applied. An example of Tesco can be discussed for interviews where it
conducts one-one interviews.
Exercises: They are carried out in groups or individually and involve business games,
tasks, role plays, analysing case studies, etc. An example Camper can be discussed
where it involves group and individual tasks.
Presentation: Presentations are conducted either in very short period of intimation or
the applicant has been intimated to be prepared in advance. An example of KFC can be
discussed here where in a short period of twenty min a presentation has to be prepared
to present in front of the assessors.
Psychometric assessment: it consists of questionnaires regarding the personal
behaviour or traits of the applicant and ability tests to test their logical or analytical or
basic math skills. ASDA can be discussed as an perfect example here where it conducts
assessment in all the above listed ability skills.
In-tray/e-tray: - Prioritisation of emails or messages in a given time according their
importance and discusses the decision in front of the assessor with a justification or
agrees to groups priorities when working in a group is seen in this process. This will
help in analysing the applicant under different characteristics like intervention,
influences, conciliation and working under stress.
Debrief: It is a process of discussing the applicant performance, let them ask any final
questions before they leave and give suggestions when they are expecting to hear about
the result of the assessment centre. (Strathclyde, n.d.)
2.6 INDUCTION AND TRAINING
A brief orientation is necessary before training as it helps the new employee to get accustomed
to the new environment. Orientation/Induction is a process that is geared to the first few days on
the job, whereas training is a continuous process. Introduction of new employees to the
organisation and their duties in the organisation for their role and giving an exposure of work
culture is called Induction (The Times 100). Induction or Orientation will influence the length

of stay of the new employees. Induction is a process where the employees get adapted to the
work environment. New starters get a chance to socialize and gain work relationships to suit for
their roles within the new teams. Induction is described as individuals initial contact with the
company to understand the business, work style and to gain speed in their job. This process is as
called as On boarding process that is beneficial for the both the organisation as well as
employees. Effective indication programme integrates staff into the organisation and increase
staff retention. A good induction programme explains about the facilities they possess, helps in
understanding how employees accommodate into the team and their role with organisation
strategy and goals. Orientation also creates an awareness of cross functional departments either
through face to face or with the use of technology and explains about the legal requirements,
terms and conditions, organisational culture and outline of job requirements. Failure of an
effective induction programme leads to low employee turnover rates and increase in the costs of
recruitment process (CIPD, 2010). Both new and old employees need training as there is always
a room for additional learning. (Bolen W. H., 1988). As cited by (Piyali Ghosh, 2011) in
Evaluating effectiveness of training programme with trainee reaction journal, Training is the
act of escalating the talent of an employee for doing a specific job. Flippo (1984). Goldstein
(1993) describes training as a methodical achievement of skills, rules, concepts or attitudes that
leads to enhanced performance in work environment. Chiaburu and Tekleab (2005) have
explained training as the process designed to improve the causal factor of individuals job
performance by a planned intervention. Training helps in aligning human resource and
organisational growth with individual, company and industrial growth (Sundarajan, 2007).
Companies facilitate employees learning about the job related competencies that include
characteristics like personal behaviours, knowledge that are vital for success in the job (Noe,
2009).
Training and development help an organisation in optimising the utilisation of human resources,
which further helps employees to achieve organizational goals, as well as their individual
goals. Guzzo et al. (1985) expressed the view that training programme is the most powerful
activity among many organisational interventions. The goal of training is to enable employees

to gain complete knowledge about the job, skills and behaviours required for the job that are
emphasised in training programmes and to apply them to their daily chore activities. Training
serves to improve the performance of employees, which, in turn, provides a competitive edge to
the organisation (Schraeder, 2009). (Piyali Ghosh, 2011)
A positive training Program teaches proficiency and develops skill in a given job, with a view to
shortening the more gradual learning on the job that would otherwise be the only educational
process. It implies a systematic approach based on knowledge of the material to be taught, the
teaching methods to be used, and the characteristics and limitations of individuals who are to be
trained (William R. Davidson, 1988). The importance of training is not an issue that is decided
at one point in time and never gets revisited; training is a critical part of the continuous
improvement mentality of excellent firms. As the demands of the market change and as
companies make changes in how they are organised and structured or in technology that gets
adopted and implemented, then training becomes the vehicle for taking the existing workforce
and preparing it for change. The fundamental issue in training whether it be training of
individuals or training of teams, is to ensure that when customer meets employee, the encounter
unfolds in ways that yield sense of seamlessness for the customer (Bowen, 1995). There are
really two kinds of training, informal and formal training according to Bowen (1995)
Informal training: It is a kind of training where the service culture of the organisation is
promoted to the starters from their co-workers. Orientation programs and ice breaker
activities between the co-workers will enhance this kind of learning of the service
culture of the organisation.
Formal training: the effectiveness of training on the job will determine the extent to
which formal training is required and rewarded. This kind of training not only enhances
performance and ability, but also contributes to the motivation of employees.
According to (William R. Davidson, 1988), the objectives of training are it brings about an
improvement in employee skill; it tends to increase individual earnings, since more productive
workers are normally paid higher wages. Training also lower labour turnover and increases job

security. Training lessens supervisory problems by encouraging standardization in operating
methods. Training increases general level of morale.
Methods of training were discussed by Bolen (1988) that includes the following common
methods:
1. Go Getem method where the management simply assumes that the employee knows
what to do. When learning does take place under this procedure, what is learned is often
wrong.
2. Sponsor method is a kind of orientation where an experienced employee is made
responsible for seeing that a new person becomes accustomed to the store and its
people.
3. Programmed learning method is an idea of repetition of the work to encourage learning.
4. Learner-Controlled Instruction method is a training program that involves the
development of checklist of tasks or exercises which a trainee must complete to
demonstrate mastery of a required skill.
5. Group method is often used to train employees in stores where the number of new
people warrants the group approach. Training employees prior to the opening of a new
store is also usually done as a group. The group method is used when the economies of
scale dictate its application.
6. Progression method is a step-by-step training that moves the trainee from position to
position as a means of learning various tasks in the store.

2.7 MOTIVATION
Motivation is termed as a something which turns down the employees' zeal to work without
pressure. Motivating is to provide employees with a need to perform a job. It is like to provoke
someone to behave either in a positive or negative manner. Stating that employees cannot be
motivated at work is like saying that there exist no influential leaders.
Motivation is defined as managements ability to get workers to act in a certain way under their
own volition. The employee who makes an effort to do job that management wants done can be

said motivated (Bolen, 1988). According to Professors (Uysal & Magnini, 2011) about
Customer service its the frontline staffs that are the key to the bottom line. The frontline service
providers employees who are in first contact with the customer are an important part of the
bottom-line, in both profit and customer satisfaction terms, they stated. The authors discuss the
importance of understanding how role ambiguity, role conflict, and lack of psychological
empowerment can deflate employee motivation; the challenges of managing ethnically diverse
frontline employees; and the need to use training opportunities to reduce ethnocentric attitudes
that may exist among staff. It can be seen that employees today do want something more - and
that is not just the money. According to Dr Kenneth Kovach in his studies on employee
motivation at George Mason University, cited in (Mowatt, n.d.) the number one motivator for
employees is interesting work. In context with that the question originates how to make a
potentially boring job into an interesting one. Providing Customer service turns into a skill when
it is furnished with an attitude of quality, mindfulness and service". In addition to the
discussion, Hasty (1983) said often employees are bound to perform tasks that are boring
involving no challenge or very little interest. Regardless of the monotony of the task, however it
has to be performed. Here comes the role of the supervisor, which is to keep motivating their
employees to perform all the duties. Motivating involves guiding employees efforts toward the
accomplishment of the firms objectives. Success depends upon managers ability to know
employees on a personal basis, and to know and understand the nature and sources of job
satisfaction. The authors adds to the point stating, the human need approach to motivation is
based on the premise that the most effective motivators are those that act as satisfiers of
employee needs and goals (Hasty, 1983). The figure 1.3 illustrates this viewpoint.

Source: Retailing by Hasty( 1983)

There exist certain theories of motivation which will explain how motivation works for
employees in day to day events.
Buchanan & Huczynski(2010), argues about needs, drives & motives in their text book. They
proposed, human being has an innate need for survival. Kanfer, et al.( 2001) emphasizes on
the needs importance as internal tensions that shape the arbitrating cognitive processes that
results in variability of the behaviour. Needs for oxygen, water, food, shelter are
overwhelming. These needs are triggered by wants and are known as drives, whereas motive is
a socially adopted need triggered by a desire for fulfilment (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010).


Table 1.1- Drives versus motives
Drives Motives
Are innate Are learned
Have a physiological basis Have a social basis
Are activated by deprivation Are activated by environment
Are aimed at satiation Are aimed at stimulation
Source: Organizational behaviour by Buchanan & Huczynski (2010)p.266
Motivation theories which are based on drives and needs are called content theories.
(Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). The latest content theory of work motivation was formulated
by Nohria, Groysberg & Lee (2008) cited in (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010). Their emotional
needs theory claims that a human being is driven by four innate drives:
the drive to acquire obtain scarce goods,develop social status
the drive to bond form connections with other individual and groups
the drive to comprehend satisfy our curiosity,master our environment
the drive to defend protect against threats, promote justice
According to Nohria, Groysberg & Lee (2008), Organizational policies and practices in the
above mentioned areas can enhance motivation.
Other than this, american psychologist (Maslow, 1943,1954,1971) developed a new theory of
motivation which says, needs are innate (including drives and goals) and identified nine of these
:-

Figure 1.4: Abraham Maslows needs hierarchy

Source: (Maslow, 1943,1954,1971)

A Motivation theory that focuses on making choices with regard to goals is known as process
theories. Different from content theories, process theories give a role on decision making in
choosing the goals and how to pursue them (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010).
According to Buchanan & Huczynski (2010) individuals are motivated by varied results,
culture encourages different practices of motivation. The theories of Nohria and colleagues,
and of Maslow, are universalistic which means it applies to everyone, and does not define
dissimilarity between individuals and cultures.
According to the American psychologist Edward C. Tolman, expectancy theory is also termed
as process theory which says that individual motivation depends on the valence of outcomes, the
expectancy, that an attempt will lead to good performance, and the instrumentality of
performance in producing measured results. American psychologist Victor H. Vroom (1964)

was the first who formulated the expectancy theory of work motivation which was based on
three concepts:

Figure 1.5 : Expectancy theory of work motivation

Source: Expectancy theory of work motivation by Vroom (1964) cited in (Buchanan &
Huczynski, 2010)
For example, the force of motivation (F) to work hard is the product of above discussed
variables, This is because, the product F will be zero if one of the variables is zero.
F= V x I x E
According to the above equation by Vroom (1964):
If V is low that means one does not care about the grade he/she will get for the next
assignment, which means the person would not be motivated to work hard for it.
If E is low that means a person believes that tough long hours in the library will not get high
assignment grade, then the person wouldnt be motivated to work hard.
When I is low, it means if a person believes that a good grade will not contribute to a chosen
qualification, or to the preferred career, then the person wouldnt be motivated to work hard.
So, the above theory clearly explains that, the force of motivation will be positve and strong
only when all the three elements in the expectency equation are positive and high for an
employee (Vroom, 1964).
In addition to the above explained theories, Locke & Latham (1990) proposed a motivation
technique rather than a formal theory known as Goal-setting theory, which is also a process
theory of motivation , arguing that motivation at work is influenced by complexity of the goal
,specificity of the goal, and knowledge of results. Goals that are challenging, goal which are

specific, Participation and Knowledge of results are the four propositions established under
goal-setting theory and properly backed up by the research. This theory has been tried out in
situations where short term targets are expressed in simple clear way and quantative manner.
Expectancy, goal-setting theories of motivation allow to make choices. These involve a, logical,
reasoned approach to the decisions that shapes a behaviour and do not permit the emotional
influence. According to the inner work life theory devised by Amabile & Kramer (2007), a
human behaviour and performance at work are determined by the way in which the human
perceptions, motives and emotions have direct interaction with each other, triggered by
everyday events.
Figure 1.6: Inner working life theory

Source: Harvard Business review, p.75. From Inner work life: understanding the subtext of
business performance by Amabile & Kramer (2007)
Various authors have talked about motivation and have also discussed about the reasons why
employees get de-motivated. There are many reasons why employees get demotivated and feel
like quitting or reduce productivity, which is discussed below:

1) Not enough of monetary growth
2) Little or no appreciation
3) Less work or too overloaded
4) Extended working hours
5) Groupism
6) And sometimes even ragging
This is where the HR or supervisors come into play which has motivational tools with them
such as: pay increase, promotions, and prizes, paid vacations, insurance plans, praise,
recognition, and added responsibility for deserving individuals. Use of one or combination of
the above mentioned tools would be an ideal key to successful motivation.
Improving the quality of working life is also a crucial topic of discussion when motivation is
being talked about. Many organizations reconsidered improving the quality of working life
through employee empowerment, an organizational system that gives employees more liberty,
circumspection, and decision making responsibility. This has been lately linked with the
concept of employee engagement, which implies the point to which people enjoy, believe and
feel appreciated for doing their work.
These approaches converge in the high performance work system, which was first explored by
Peter Vaill (1982) stating,it is a form of organization that operates at levels of excellence far
beyond those of comparable systems. This is well explained by the following figure.

Figure 1.7: The case for high performance work systems

Source: Organizational behaviour by Buchanan & Huczynski(2010)

2.8 ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Organizational culture has been a fascinating topic since the early 1980s. The executives and
management consultants first adopted the organizational culture as a quick solution to virtually
every organization problem; which was later acquired by academics to understand behaviour in
organizations as an informative model (Morgan et al., 1983; Meek, 1988; Kennedy, 1982;
Martin, 2001; M, 2002). The ultimate strength of an organizations culture lies in the
similarity of group membership, and the length of the experience along with the intensity of
their shared experiences in a group. One learns about a companys culture through the process
of Organizational Socialization (Edger Schein, 1979). This is known as a process through
which an employees behavioural patterns, belief and needs are acted upon to conform to that of
the organizations. Socialization is considered as significant, as John van Maanen and Edgar
Schein (1979) also debated on socialization, saying for the beginners it is about engaging the
values and behaviours which are required to hold up and flourish in their organization. Martin
Parker (2000) indicates that multiple cultures exist in organizations. These multiple cultures
show the means in which employees differentiate themselves within companies i.e. by their
profession, by their functionality etc. Whereas according to (Buchanan & Huczynski, 2010) the

managerialist perspective culture is seen as something that an organization has, which also
presumes that it can be created or modified by the corporate leaders. This has sparked three
debates. First, concerning how managers can change their companys culture from weak to
strong. Second, how culture can help a company innovate and adjust rapidly to environmental
changes. Third, the part played by leaders vision and styles of management in managing their
cultures.
According to Clint Swindall (2007), there are two kinds of employees engaged and
disengaged. Culture of an organization determines the engagement or disengagement of the
employees. Employees who are eager to contribute and dedicated to the vision of the
organization are termed as engaged employees whereas those employees which are not even
aware of the organization's vision and spend most of their time seeing the clock are called the
disengaged employees. The leaders of the organizations should establish a culture to defeat the
issues of employee disengagement (Swindall, 2007).

Geert Hofstede (1986, 1991) in 1980s, performed a cross-cultural study of employees of the
same multinational company situated in forty countries. Later working with Bond (Hofstede &
Bond, 1988) differentiated national cultures as - power, social, goal, uncertainity, and time.
These cultural orientations directly affects the perceptions, values, attitudes and motivation of
people who live in it. Like personality assessment, each of the orientations represents a separate
period of time, so each culture can be positioned as shown in the figure 5

Figure 1.8: Hofstedes five dimensions of culture

Source: Organizational behaviour by Buchanan & Huczynski(2010)

2.9 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Performance management is known in the language of HR and people management from more
than four decades and its evolution as a fundamental people management tool which helps in
understanding its contribution and placement when relating it to other HR activities. Through
several reflections from MBOs to review performance, performance management has proved to
be the principal source of communication for the managers for what is expected from
employees and giving feedback on their performance of achieving goals.
So, what does Performance Management mean? It is a holistic procedure of joining all the
elements that constitute the people management practices including, learning and development.
It becomes complex and is misunderstood for this reason. Performance management aims to
associate individuals objectives and goals of the organization. Moreover, performance
management tries to fortify the skills of people to accomplish their potential to satisfy their
ambitiousness and also hike up the firms profit.

Bevan and Thompson (1991), conducted a survey on performance management and determined
a big deal of confusion regarding what exactly does performance management mean, a number
of practitioners replaced it as a performance management tool, such as performance related pay
or performance appraisal. Only when Armstrong (2005), demonstrated that performance
management is a medium to incorporate certain amount of activities that focuses on contribution
by an individual, such as talent management, career planning, learning and development. They
also stressed that performance management as a systematic plan which associates with every
action of the organisation with regard to the HR policies, culture, style and communications
systems. The nature of such a strategy counts on the organisational context and can vary from
organisation to organisation (Egan, 2011) cited in (CIPD, 2011) In other words, performance
management is explained as :
Effective it should check if people hold the knowledge and the ability to perform.
Strategic it is about the wider issues and goals which are long-term.
Integrated it should connect the business aspects such as people management, and of the
individuals and teams.
Anything which is evaluated enables targets to be set, and against to that work of an individual
or group will be judged and so will influence the behaviour of an individual or function in a
positive manner to meet the targets (Athiyaman, 1997). According to, Professor John Purcell
(2003), the most crucial factor that affects the individuals willingness to perform is the
relationship that exists between an individual and their line managers. As Mohrman and
Mohrman (1995) further emphasised, performance management is managing the business; in
other words, this is the everyday task of line managers cited in (CIPD, 2011). Other authors like
define performance management as an operational process, saying it is a system through
which organisations set its work goals, determine performance standards, assign work and
evaluate it, provide performance feedback, determine training and development needs and
distribute rewards (Briscoe and Claus,2008)

Latham et al (2007), commented that a differentiating characteristic of performance
management in relation to performance appraisal is that performance management is an on-
going process and performance appraisal is done at distinct time intervals which is possessed
and carried out by line managers and not by the HR. Sparrow (2008), argue that performance
management changed its direction to a broader agenda for performance management with
emphases on open and honest communication among the managers and individuals and the
development of a relationship which is based on trust.
Performance management also acts as a guiding influence in communicating the business
priorities. John McCann, a national Audit Officer gave his view on performance management
that it is a process for delivering the priorities of the business. Concerned consequences like
personal development, career management, etc., are crucial but basically its about assuring the
senior level business plans to the junior level individual objectives. Appraisal process of the
staff provides the mechanism for delivering the business plan at all levels. Lynn Smith from
Alliance Trust PLC summarized the functionality of the performance management by
expressing that It is a mix of assuring people, if they are well aware of how they can help the
business to achieve its goals and aims as well as the individual having a clear thought about
their desires in terms of occupation and self-development.
2.9.1Tools for Performance Appraisal:
The main tools of performance management may be summarised as follows:
2.9.1.1 Performance Appraisal & Reward system
The history of performance appraisal is quite concise. It was first originated in the beginning of
20th century. As in discrete and conventional management procedures used in evaluating
performance at work, performance appraisal dates itself from the time of World War II.
Dulewicz (1989) stated performance appraisal as, "A general human behaviour to make
assessments for people working with and oneself as well". Appraisal is universal and cannot be
avoided. People are inclined to make judgements on work performance of others, including

subordinates, in a natural, informal and random manner. The human tendency of judgement can
lead to severe issues in the workplace related to motivation and ethics. There is very little
probability of assuring that the opinions made at the work place will be lawful, fair and
accurate, if a structured appraisal system does not exist.
Many renowned investigators have showed uncertainties about the validity and reliability of the
performance appraisal process. Few suggested that this process is so inherently blemished that it
may be not be possible to make it perfect (Derven, 1990). At the other extreme, there are people
who strongly advocated for performance appraisal. Some look at it as potentially the most
important feature of organizational life" (Lawrie, 1990).
In a landmark study by (Locher, 1977), there are three most common appraisal methods in
general use, these are rating by scales (56%), using essay methods (25%) and MBO methods
(13%).

2.9.1.2 Encouragement of Discussion
If the employees are given or have the opportunity to talk free and discuss their performance,
they will more likely consider it as fair. Potentially such employees will be able to achieve
future performance goals (Nemoroff, 1979).

2.9.1.3 Constructive Intention
It is considered very important that employees should know that negative appraisal feedback is
provided with a positive intention of improvement, i.e. to help those defeat the current
difficulties and to better their future performance. Employees will find the criticism useful,
when the belief that the appraiser's aims are encouraging and constructive (Fedor, 1989).
In contrasting studies by (Baron, 1988) "destructive criticism" - is undefined, not well informed,
unjust or presented unkindly will result into problems like anger, bitterness, tension and
conflicts at workplace, as well as increased opposition to advancement, problem denials, and
poorer performance.


2.9.1.4 Set Performance Goals

It has been presented in number of studies that setting goals at work is an important element of
motivating the employees. Goals excite employee to focus on attention and encourage them to
find new and better ways to work (Locke, 1981). Goals usefulness acts as a stimulus in
motivating humans which is one of the most proficient theories in management. It is also quite
clear those goals which are "particular, hard and accepted by employees will lead them to higher
levels of performance than easy one" (Harris, 1995).
2.9.1.5 Appraiser Credibility

It is important for the appraiser to be savvy and believable. Appraisers must be comfortable
with the appraisal techniques, and should know well about the employee's job and roles along
with his/her performance. When such situations are faced, employees take appraisal process as
accurate and fair. They also show acceptances of the feedback given by the appraiser and a
temperament to change (Bannister, 1986).

2.9.1.6 The Link to Rewards

People enjoy knowing that the contributions they make are acknowledged in the right way and
offering generous pays and reward packages is conceived as in the way it comes for the
companies to fulfil the desire. Rewards must, still be appealing in order to satisfy and motivate
the employee. Research has reported that appraisees adopt process of appraisal, and find it
more satisfied, when the process is directly associated to rewards (Bannister, 1990). Such
findings are challenges to some people who think that results from the appraisal and outcomes
of the reward must be kept apart from each other.

2.9.1.7 360 Degree Feedback
360 feedbacks is a performance appraisal system that collects feedback from a number
of sources, including colleagues, direct reports and customers. It was claimed by its

admirers that 360 degree feedback gives managers and individuals a amended
information of skills and performance, as well as working relationships.
360 Degree Feedback, 360 Degree Appraisal is the names for a process which is
increasing in use and gaining popularity in the UK, just like in the US. Organisations
using the process in the UK include WH Smith, Tesco and Forward Trust.
2.9.1.8 Learning & Development
Development of employees is the major path to bettered organisational performance, which in
return calls for an apprehension of the processes and techniques of organisational, team and
individual learning. Getting reviews on performance development may be viewed as learning
events, which can be encouraged to conceive about how they want to be developed. This can
lead to the writing of a personal development plan (PDP) setting out the actions they offer to
take to meet their development needs.
2.9.1.9 Measurement
To effectively manage the performance, individuals must be aware of the factors on which their
performance will be evaluated. Measures should not be hidden and must be applied fairly across
the organisation. Measurements should be relevant to both inputs and outputs and in an ideal
manner a mixture of individual and team measures should be there.
Talking about the performance measure examples, they are not in-depth, as performance
measures are always job-specific.
Individual output measures have:
Achievement of pre-set targets.
Achievement involving descriptions or rankings like excellent, good, satisfactory
or poor performance

Specific examples of performance, such as approvals received for particular pieces of
work.
Instances for individual input measures are:
Competence
Skills and experience
Potential to develop and/or acquire new skills and progress to next career level
Behaviours associated with developing and sharing knowledge
Communication skills and other attributes that enhance team roles.
Team measures include:
Contribution by individuals to the team through participation in different team projects.
Supporting members of other teams so that they can achieve their objectives
Understanding of team role
Engagement scores.
(CIPD, 2011)
2.9.2 Pay
Often Performance management is associated with performance-related pay (PRP), although not
all firms which use performance management have performance related pay. However, PRP is
crucial in many performance management schemes as it:
Motivates people in their work
Delivers the message that performance is important
Is fair to reward people according to their performance.
There is a substitute to performance related pay called competence-related pay, which is
associated to ones competence levels using a competence profile or by model. Other possible

pay schemes are team-based pay and contribution-related pay, which may involve of associating
pay to competence as well as the outcomes (Gillian, 2007).
2.10 RETENTION OF EMPLOYEES
Recent approaches in assessing customer satisfaction can be implemented to frontline
employees satisfaction and retention. This demands a change in management prototype, from
frontline employee as servants which are less paid to frontline employee as customer. The
frontline employees are considered as someone who should listen to management, but the
management must also listen to its employees.
To attract and retain key employees should be the top priority for every organization. No matter
if it is naivety or any other reason for that matter, if the organization fails to carry out effective
employee retention strategies it will damage the image of the company. Finding the right
candidate is easy and requires significant investment both financially and timely. When an
employee quits the firm, it means that the hiring, training process has to begin from all over
again. Losing a valuable employee could also negatively impact on organizational performance.
The firm has to face a double setback if the individual concerned later on falls into the lap of a
competitor. Its amazing to see that, many senior managers have to face troubles when they fail
to appreciate the link between staff turnover and how their firm performs (Anon., 2003).
It is clearly understood that organizations which have satisfied employees have satisfied
customers. As a results organizations which have satisfied employees also have higher levels of
customer retention (Schneider, 1985), which increases the profitability of an organization
(Reichheld, 1990).
The employee should be treated as a customer; this belief has been already developed. Berry
(1981) states managing customers or employees do not change the purpose. Individuals and
organizations are involved in both the cases. The importance of satisfying needs and wants
remains constant no matter its for an employee or a customer. This means that management of
employees is same as the management of customers. On carrying out a satisfaction process for
both employees and customers, many similarities can be examined in between them. Needs
and wants of a customer is satisfied when they are aware of the goods and services to have value

which fits or outgoes their expectations (Anderson, 1993). So it can be said that an employee
needs and wants are satisfied only when they receive that reward from the organization, these
reward could be anything like pay, promotion, incentive, recognition, personal growth,
meaningful work, allowances etc. So, if the value given by an organization is less than what an
employee or customers expect, then their needs and wants arent satisfied. Retention of both
customers and employees is linked with high satisfaction level. It is further expressed that,
Satisfied customers will return for a repurchase (Anderson, 1993; Rust, 1995) whereas
satisfied employees have higher chances of not leaving an organization (Mobley, 1979).


CHAPTER: Three


3.0 Research Methodology
According to the research questions, in the table given below are the aspects considered for this
study on the left and the other side of the table explains how the aspects are answered through
the primary data. The ones in black shows that the aspects are attained through survey and
questionnaire and the red ones are the aspects that are covered through interviews respectively.
Moreover, secondary data acted as a base for all the work during this research.
Table 1.2 Approach to research methodology
Aspects considered Aspects covered
Recruitment and selection Job profile, Selection and recruitment
Training Training
Employee engagement Employee engagement
Motivation Motivation
Job satisfaction Job satisfaction
Organisational culture Organisational culture
Appraisal Feedbacks and recognition
Retention Retention
Rewards Rewards
Pay and compensation Pay compensation, payment

3.1 INTRODUCTION
Research in understood as search for knowledge. The Advanced Learners Dictionary of
Current English established the meaning of research as a careful investigation or inquiry
especially through search for new facts in any branch of knowledge. Redman and Mory (1933)
state research as a Well-planned attempt to gain new knowledge. In contrast to that (Goddard
& Melville, 2001) argue that , research is not only gathering information rather, it is about
answering questions which are not being answered yet or creating questions which does not
exist.

Every research has a different purpose. Therefore, research methodology is defined as a
designed process under which a research is carried out (Remenyi D, 1998). Thus, the focus of
this research is to determine the challenges faced by front-line staff in retail industry in UK.

3.2 RESEARCH PURPOSE
The purpose of a research is to find out answers to questions through the application of
scientific operations and the most common purpose for conducting a research is descriptive,
exploratory or explanatory.

1. Descriptive: This kind of research seeks to describe a situation, a problem, a phenomenon,
service or programme in a systematic way. According to Eriksson & Widersheim Paul (1997),
when the problem is well defined but the key objective is not to conduct relation between
causes and symptoms, in such a scenario descriptive research is appropriate. Further stating, in
descriptive research , the researcher knows what they want to study but have no idea about the
answers.
2. Exploratory: It is a kind of research which is attempted to explore an area where not much is
known or to look into the possibilities of working on a particular research study. Exploratory
research is relevant when a particular theory is not clear. When during a research key features
and relations are hard to find out, exploratory research would be helpful (Eriksson &
Widersheim Paul, 1997).
3. Explanatory: Explanatory research is performed to answer the Why questions. This type of
research is conducted in order to find out certain behaviour in the market. It uses theory and
builds on exploratory and descriptive research. The research published in journals is
explanatory.
Since the aim of this research is to achieve an understanding of the challenges faced by front-
line staff in retail industry in UK, The research topic and questions called for exploring the
answers of the challenges faced by front-line in the present scenario by directly interacting with
managers and employees plus observing their behaviour. Since the research is based on HRM so
somewhat it contains descriptive influence as well which sets as a base for the entire research

process. Thus the design of the research will be exploratory; however also to some extent it will
be descriptive.
3.3 RESEARCH APPROACH
In different situations, when certain entities act differently, there quantitative and qualitative
research methods explain better about the society. There are difference between the research
methods, however the main difference is that in quantitative research method result is attained
by using few variables on many respondents, Surveys and questionnaires are the suitable
methods for quantitative research while a qualitative research method uses few respondents with
number of variables in order to achieve a deeper understanding (Darner & Freytag, 1995).
Quantitative research is considered to be well structured and use of numerals play a crucial role
in the conducting the analysis (Solvang & Holme, 1991). Quantitative research is a descriptive
research design. This research is commonly developed from exploratory research findings
(Malhotra & Birks, 2007). On the other hand, Qualitative research is about gathering, analysing
and interpreting the data which cannot be measured. A qualitative research method is chosen
when complete understanding of the data becomes important which being collected and studied.
(Lincoln & Guba, 2000) Claim that qualitative research involves an interpretative and realistic
approach: This means that person carrying out a qualitative research analyse things in the
natural context, attempting to make sense of it, or to interpret.
Therefore this research will adopt the qualitative method of interviews to make thorough
understanding of the employee motivation, turnover, satisfaction experience etc. of both
employees and the employers. This method is designed to help the researcher to enquire and
understand the challenges that are faced by the front-line staff in the retail industry in UK.
Thus, the research topic demands the mix of the two methods, which can help the researcher to
attain the view of the participants through interviews, surveys and questionnaires. However, the
idea of combined methods is debatable, since Barbour argues that mixing methods creates
problems because every method has its own presumptions in terms of the theoretical model that
is brought to have on the research (Barbour, 1998). On the other hand, some researchers state
that it is possible to use mixed methods. For example, Fellows & Liu (1997) propose, the use
of qualitative and quantitative techniques together to study the topic which is very powerful

for gaining insights and results, and for assisting in making inferences and drawing
conclusions. Therefore, for this research, both qualitative & quantitative analysis will be
appropriate and also can help to determine the challenges faced by front-line staff in retail
industry in UK.
3.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY
According to Yin (2003), there exist five primary research strategies that are discussed in the
table below and which provides an abstract of the comparative functioning of each type of
research strategy under every condition and can be ignored for the nature of the research.
Research strategies are derived from the questions of the research plus from the level of
command and the concentration of attention of the interviewer (Yin, 2003).
Table 1.3: Relevant situations for different research strategies
STRATEGY
Form of research
question
Requires Control of
behavioural events
Focuses on
contemporary
events
Experiment How, Why Yes Yes
Survey Who, What,
Where,
How much,
How many
No Yes
Archival Analysis Who, What,
Where,
How much,
How many
No Yes/No
History How, Why No No
Case Study How, Why No Yes
Source: Robert K.Yin (2003) p.19

After examining the conditions of this research, an approach to survey would be the most
suitable research strategy because the questions of the research are framed as What-How
questions and require no control of behavioural events. The Survey strategies are usually
associated with the exploratory research (Saunders, et al., 2003), and incline to explain incidents
or phenomena with the purpose of predictive outcomes. Survey will allow us to gather a

prominent amount of data from a sizeable population. As per Saunders, et al. (2003) the survey
strategy is easy to understand, so it is sensed as authoritative by people in general
3.5 DATA COLLECTION
Secondary Research Sources
The initial question of the research question implies understanding the trends in recruitment changing
over the years for front-line staff. This demands secondary research, which is studying the data which
exists already, and acts as a base for primary research(Bradley, 2007). The secondary research is used for
the purpose of providing a background to the study undertaken.
Therefore, in the context of this dissertation secondary research will include the following data sources:
1. Journals Journals are vital data source for any research and are also known as periodicals as
they are published in fixed intervals, serials and magazines. Currently most are printed; they
appear in electronic forms as well via the internet. Therefore, various journals have been
accessed already and will be accessing further in order to answer the research questions for the
project.
2. Books Books were particularly being useful as primary source to help understand and clarify
the research questions and objectives or the methods of research that will be used for this project.
The material in books is systematic and approachable than in journals, getting together a wider
range of the topic (Saunders, et al., 2003).
3. The Internet
The background secondary research has been helpful in giving a better perception and understanding of
the recruitment trends for the front-line staff as illustrated in chapter 2, the literature review. Secondary
research is a prime source of ideas and prelude theories for adding up to the primary research to be
conducted. Secondary research is conducted by detailed explanation of the HR practices in the retail
industry in UK. Thus, the analysis of the secondary data in the literature review is not complete and
would be meaningful with the course of Primary Research.
Advantages of secondary data:
Support in solving the research problem
Secondary data can have less resource requirements

Secondary data can provide relative data and data which are in context to a particular
thing.
Permanence of data
Limitations of secondary data:
Can be collected for a purpose but then does not matches the need
Access may be costly
No real control over data quality
Lack of availability either data not available or very difficult to obtain.
Primary Research Sources
If the information you need is unavailable or hasnt been gathered, youll have to gather it
yourself (H. Dan OHair et al, 2001).
Primary Data is the data which is not collected before and is collected for the first time for a
research study, using methods unlike in secondary research.
Data will be collected through interviews, surveys & questionnaires for this research. The
questions designed for the interviews will aim to explore the personal experience of the
management of the organization and questionnaires will give an insight of the challenges faced
by the front-line employees. Thus interviewing is the only approach that offers a scope for the
interviewee to tell detailed answers to the questions of the interviewer. The survey will contain a
generalised version which is precisely opinion poll that will set up a base for the questionnaires
which will give the direction towards the research objective.
Advantages of Primary Data:
Direct answers to the research questions can be attained through primary data
Limitations of research through secondary data can be trouble-shooted by getting a
reliable material from primary research.
Both qualitative & quantitative data can be collected.
Un-biased information

Original & Accurate data
Limitations of Primary Data:
Large volume of data
Could be expensive
Time Consuming
Huge Volume of population
Reliability of data could be questionable
Why Questionnaire?
As very well stated by James Key (1997), the questionnaire is most often a very concise, pre-
planned set of questions designed to yield specific information to meet a particular need for
research information about an apt topic. Questionnaire can be proved as a successful measure
for the research topic if the responses are accurate and helps in adding to the work that is been
carried out. Questionnaire being a quantitative measure is sometimes considered to initiate with
a pilot study approach before getting into the real work. Pilot Study is a strategic approach to
improve the quality of the questionnaire by running an experiment with a set of questions
designed as a questionnaire regarding the concerned study.
A more common problem is to include pilot study participants or sites in the main study.
Concerned about the above issue, the option of pilot study was not being considered. In
addition, conducting pilot study for a small number of target groups would not give an accurate
result.
Problems might arise where a pilot study requires a substantial investment of sources &
resources. Researchers might be lured to carry out significant changes in the main study rather
than deciding that the aimed study is not possible with the resources available, time, population,
etc. considering the above points and knowing the fact there are equal optimistic aspects to the
pilot study, it was not considered as option because of the time constraint and reluctance from

the people who were responding to the surveys which will be discussed as a major limitation
factor for our primary data collection in the coming chapters.
In context to the research topic, researcher observed that planning a structured questionnaire
will be most appropriate approach in meeting the requirement of this project. The reason behind
choosing questionnaire for this dissertation was to provide opportunity to front-line employees
working in different retail organizations to reflect their feedback on their experience. The
questions designed covered the topics such as satisfaction rating working with the company,
positive-negative aspects of the job, motivation, culture, competition and recognition in the
work environment. Each respondent was handed the same set of questions formulated in exactly
the same way.
Why Interview?
An interview is direct face-to-face effort to find authentic and valid measures in the form of
verbal responses from one or more respondents (Key, 1997). Interviews allowed us to observe
both verbal and non-verbal behaviour of the participants. After spreading out the questionnaires
the next major requirement for this study was to conduct face-to-face interview. The interviews
helped us in identifying the generic HR practices of an organization designed for the front-line
employees. The questions addressed areas like importance of front-line employees for the
organization, training practices, motivation, retention policies, pay, compensation and
importance of employee satisfaction for the organization. As different organizations have
different strategy and plans for the employees, so different views have been obtained from the
managers in the retail industry in UK
3.6 POPULATION AND SAMPLE
All the items under consideration in any field of inquiry constitute a Population which is the
subject of research interest (Kothari, 1985). Oxygen molecules in the universe, frogs in South
African rivers could all be populations, i.e. groups that need to be studied. It is often not
practical or possible to study an entire population, e.g. someone trying to determine the average
length of adult frogs in South Africa would find it impossible to do this by measuring each and

every frog in the entire country. In becomes mandatory to make general findings based on a
study of only a particular sub-set of population in such cases. Such subsets are called samples
(Goddard & Melville, 2001).
According to, Nachmias & Nachmias (1987), the sections which are involved in the research
problem it is inconceivable to gather the data. Therefore a small sample is chosen which as a
result could represent the characteristics of the complete section.
Since this study attempts to focus on exploring the challenges faced by front-line staff in retail
industry in UK, so the customer facing staff in retail industries was chosen for questionnaires
and the manager of the companies were chosen for interviews as the target people for this study.
The samples of this study were employees from KFC, Subway, TKMaxx & G4S etc. This
sample was chosen because these particular industry employees have the highest customer
interaction as compared to other retail industries.
Apart from the above chosen samples, the alternative sample types are called probability and
non-probability sampling. In probability samples every component has an acknowledged
probability of getting considered in the sample but the non-probability samples, researcher is
not allowed to determine this probability (Kothari, 1985). Non-probability sampling is different
and has a benefit of knowing the number of non-responses and test the accuracy of the results
for the analysis. In addition, the non-probability is also called deliberate sampling because it
involves deliberate selection of particular units of the population. Sampling has judgement
sample method, one of the methods of non-probability sampling which means non-probability
sampling method is used by researchers judgement (Bradley, 2007). Qualitative research
involves judgement sampling, which is used quite often and the desire is to develop theories
rather than to generalise to larger populations. According to Zikmund (1994), the data will have
less accuracy because the researcher chooses the sample exclusively on its personal judgement.
Therefore, this study follows non-probability sampling.
The total number of respondents were 85 for the questionnaire but the sample chosen was 80
respondents because rest of them were incomplete which is one of the major issues when
distributing it online.


3.7 DATA ANALYSIS
To analyse the data collected from a questionnaire survey, hold of statistical software is
demanded, and therefore using the SPSS software programme the data will be analysed and
graphical representation will be shown in order to explain the analysis. On the other hand, the
interviews were recorded and those will be transcribed and will be put into the explanation of
this study.
3.8 QUALITY STANDARDS VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY
Polit, et al.(2001:308) define validity as the degree to which an instrument measures what it is
supposed to measure. According to Polit, et al.(2001:309), three aspects of validity are
important namely: content, criterion-referenced and construct validity.
Documentation used as sources of proof and interviews, increased the validity of this study.
During the interviews, every information provided by the participant was voice recorded to
ensure that information is well collected without any loss of valuable information and later
verifying the answers for validity of the information gathered. Internal Validity can be defined
in the way that the observed effects are the outcomes of the experimental treatment, showing the
relativity between the level of certainty and the internal validity (University of the West of
England, 2006).On the other hand. External validity is explained as the research findings that
can be applied to the real world, going outside the controlled setting of the research.
Regarding reliabilty, Polit, et al.( 2001:305) describe it as the consistency with which an
instrument measures the attribute. The questionnaires & interview questions were given to the
participants a couple of days before so that they have plenty of time to give well constituted
answers for the questionnaires as well as during the interviews.
The comparison of the documented facts were made with the results obtained from the
interveiws and questionnaire surveys.


CHAPTER: Four

4.0 Data analysis & interpretation
4.1 Findings

4.1.1 INTRODUCTION
Use of both qualitative and quantitative approach in the research methodology, the interviews,
surveys and questionnaires that were designed helped in analysing the data and leading us to the
further step of research findings. The data collected helped in understanding symbiosis between
the organisation and employees in order to be winner in this service industry. The topics under
HR are closed examined as individual aspects some of which are answered through interviews
from organisational perspective while some are answered using surveys and questionnaires from
employee perspective. A balance is maintained between the questions to attain the research
objective of understanding the HR practices involved for front line employees. SPSS
programme was used as a tool of statistical data analysis for the surveys and questionnaires by
considering only the fully completed forms.
There are 82 respondents for the surveys and questionnaires and out of those 80 were selected,
who are working as front line employees in different organisations in the retail industry in UK.
The mean and standard deviation of the data is calculated to give a better understanding of the
needs of the target group respectively.
4.1.2 FINDINGS OF THE SURVEY
The following are the findings from the responses that are collected through survey which
explains the necessity of the factors that are considered for any job.

1. What is your Gender?
Figure 1.9 Graphical representation of gender
# Answer

Response %
1 Male 54 65%
2 Female

29 35%
Total 83 100%
Table 1.4- Percentage of target population according to gender
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 2
Mean 1.35
Variance 0.23
Standard Deviation 0.48
Total Responses 83
Table 1.5- Statistical data analysis for gender
Fig 4.37-4.39 gives the number of participants involved in the surveys and questionnaires
according to the gender demographics. Out of the number of people answered this 65% are male
and 35% are female.

2. Which category describes your age?
Figure 2.0- Graphical representation by age
# Answer

Response %
1 Below 16

0 0%
2 16-20

5 6%
3 21-25 64 77%
4 26-31

14 17%
5
32 or
Above

0 0%
Total 83 100%
Table 1.6- Percentage of target population by age
Statistic Value
Min Value 2
Max Value 4
Mean 3.11
Variance 0.22
Total Responses 83
Table 1.7- Statistical data analysis for age
Fig 4.40-4.42 shows the age demographics of the target population. Majority of the population
lies between the 21-25 years who are working in this retail sector that is 77% and 17% are from
26-31 years. The remaining 6% is at 16-20 years. The mean value being 3.11 shows that
approximately people lie between 21-30 years who are working in this retail sector.

3. How important is to have an efficient recruitment and
selection methods?
Figure 2.1- Graphical representation for importance of recruitment & selection methods
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

64 79%
2 Important

15 19%
3 Neutral

1 1%
4 Not Important

1 1%
Total 81 100%
Table 1.8- Percentage of target population categorised by importance of recruitment & selection
methods
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.25
Variance 0.29

Total Responses 81
Table 1.9 Statistical data analysis for effective recruitment & selection methods
Fig4.1-4.3 shows the percentage of respondents working in the retail sector that are
differentiated according to their prioritization in importance of recruitment and selection. 79%
of the population feels the need of efficient recruitment and selection procedures as very
important while 19% agree to the fact that it is important. 1% of the population individually
belongs to neutral and not important fields stating either they dont have idea about how
important it is or it doesnt affect them which are negligible. The analysis from these figures
state that the efficient recruitment and selection procedures are very important as its mean is
1.35.


4. How important is to have experience for the role you apply?
Figure 2.2- Graphical representation of the importance of experience for a role
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

13 16%
2 Important

35 43%
3 Neutral

24 30%
4 Not Important

9 11%
Total 81 100%
Table 2.0- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of having
experience for a role
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 2.36
Variance 0.78

Total Responses 81
Table 2.1 - Statistical data analysis for having experience for a role
Fig 4.4-4.6 will give the scope of understanding the importance of having experience for the
role you apply. According to the target population responses, 43% population feels it is
important to have experience while 30 % have a neutral opinion. On the other hand 16% feel it
as a mandatory criteria and 11% does not find the need of it. The mean value is 2.35 which
demarcates that importance of having training falls between important to neutral fields.


5. How important is to get training for the role you are selected
for?
Figure 2.3- Graphical representation of the importance of training for a role
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

54 67%
2 Important

25 31%
3 Neutral

2 2%
4 Not Important

0 0%
Total 81 100%
Table 2.2 - Percentage of target population categorized by importance of training.
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 3
Mean 1.36
Variance 0.28

Total Responses 81
Table 2.3 - Statistical data analysis for the importance of training
Fig 4.7-4.9 depicts that 67% of population from the target group consider that training is very
important and 31% felt it is important leaving the remaining 2% in the neutral region. The mean
value of 1.36 puts the bar between the very important and important fields stressing on the
training needs.


6. How important it is to associate with company goals &
missions?
Figure 2.4- Graphical representation of importance of association with company goals &
missions
# Answer

Response %
1
Very
Important

48 59%
2 Important

27 33%
3 Neutral

5 6%
4
Not
Important

1 1%
Total 81 100%
Table 2.4 - Percentage of target population categorized by importance of association with
company goals & missions.
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4

Mean 1.49
Variance 0.45
Total Responses 81
Table 2.5- Statistical data analysis of association with company goals & missions
Fig 4.10-4.12 shows that 59% of the population feel associating with company goals and
strategies is very important and 33% say it as important. While 6% have a neutral opinion 1%
this as insignificant aspect. The mean value being 1.49 lying between very important to
important shows the significance of associating with company goals and strategies.


7. How important is motivational factor?
Figure 2.5- Graphical representation of importance of motivation factor
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

56 69%
2 Important

24 30%
3 Neutral

1 1%
4 Not Important

0 0%
Total 81 100%
Table 2.6- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of motivation factor
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 3
Mean 1.32
Variance 0.25
Total Responses 81

Table 2.7- Statistical data analysis for motivation factor
Fig 4.13-4.15 gives the population opinion about the importance of motivational factor. 69% of
population feels it as a very important factor while 30% feel it to be only important. Remaining
1% fall under neutral and none of the target population chose not important option. The mean
value again stands at 1.32 between very important and important.


8. How important is job satisfaction?
Figure 2.6- Graphical representation of importance of job satisfaction
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

60 74%
2 Important

18 22%
3 Neutral

3 4%
4 Not Important

0 0%
Total 81 100%
Table 2.8- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of job satisfaction
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 3
Mean 1.30
Variance 0.29
Total Responses 81

Table 2.9- Statistical data analysis for importance of job satisfaction
Fig 4.16-4.18 gives a picture of 74% feeling the importance of job satisfaction as very high and
22% as important 4% being on the neutral option. The mean value being 1.30 moves the graph
towards the very important option proving the necessity of the job satisfaction.


9. How important is competitive work environment?
Figure 2.7- Graphical representation of importance of competitive work environment
# Answer

Response %
1
Very
Important

30 37%
2 Important

37 46%
3 Neutral

13 16%
4 Not Important

1 1%
Total 81 100%
Table 3.0- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of competitive
work environment
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.81
Variance 0.55

Total Responses 81
Table 3.1- Statistical data analysis for importance of competitive work environment
Fig 4.19-4.21 shows that 46% people feel having a competitive work environment is
important while 37% feel it is very important. On the other hand 16% of people
preferred a neutral opinion and a 1% negligible population as not important. The mean
value being 1.81 the graph moves towards important depicting the necessity of this
competitive work environment.


10. How important is recognition for your work?
Figure 2.8- Graphical representation of importance of recognition for work
# Answer

Response %
1
Very
Important

52 64%
2 Important

28 35%
3 Neutral

0 0%
4
Not
Important

1 1%
Total 81 100%
Table 3.2- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of recognition for work
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.38
Variance 0.31

Total Responses 81
Table 3.3- Statistical data analysis for recognition for work.
Fig 4.22-4.23 this shows how important is recognition for the work for an individual working in
this sector. The majority of the population felt this as either very important or important like
64% and 35% respectively. The mean value being 1.38 shows the favourability towards very
much importance of recognition as a part of the job role.


11. How important is getting a feedback for your work?
Figure 2.9- Graphical representation of importance of getting feedback for work
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

45 56%
2 Important

32 40%
3 Neutral

2 2%
4 Not Important

2 2%
Total 81 100%
Table 3.4- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of getting feedback for
work
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.52
Variance 0.45

Total Responses 81
Table 3.5- Statistical data analysis for getting feedback for work
Fig 4.25-4.27 explains 56% population feel the necessity of having a feedback at very high
while 40% feel it as important.2% prefer it as neutral option and 2% dont see the necessity of
having feedback system. The mean value is at 1.52 that shows a level of importance between
very important and important options.


12. How important is career development?
Figure 3.0- Graphical representation of importance of career development
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Important

61 75%
2 Important

16 20%
3 Neutral

2 2%
4 Not Important

2 2%
Total 81 100%
Table 3.6- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of career development
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.32
Variance 0.42
Total Responses 81

Table 3.7- Statistical data analysis for importance of career development
Fig 4.28-4.30 75% of the population feel career development as a very important aspect while
20% feel it as an important factor. Out of the remaining 4% 25 opted neutral and 2% felt it is
not necessary. The mean value is 1.32 which inclines more towards very important which states
that career development is most important factor.


13. How important are perks and incentives?
Figure 3.1- Graphical representation of importance of perks & incentives
# Answer

Response %
1
Very
Important

34 42%
2 Important

41 51%
3 Neutral

5 6%
4 Not Important

1 1%
Total 81 100%
Table 3.8- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of perks & incentives
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.67
Variance 0.43

Total Responses 81
Table 3.9- Statistical data analysis for importance of perks & incentives
Fig 4.31-4.33 explains that 51% of population feels perks and incentives as an important and
42% feel it as very important.6% population are not much bothered about the perks and
incentives while 1% dont think it as not important. The mean value being 1.67 states that perks
and incentives are also important for an employee.


14. How important is the compensation factor?
Figure 3.2- Graphical representation of importance of compensation factor
# Answer

Response %
1
Very
Important

26 32%
2 Important

37 46%
3 Neutral

17 21%
4 Not Important

1 1%
Total 81 100%
Table 4.0- Percentage of target population categorized by importance of compensation factor
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.91
Variance 0.58

Total Responses 81
Table 4.1- Statistical data analysis for the importance of compensation factor
Fig 4.34-4.36 shows that the target population has different opinions regarding the
compensation factor as 465 of population believe it to be important, 32% feel it to be very
important and 21% have a neutral opinion with 1% feeling no importance to it. The mean value
is 1.91 falls into important category that shows the significance of compensation factor.
The following are the findings for the responses in the questionnaire which was answered the
questions whether the people working in front line staff are happy with their current roles in
their respective organisation that covers equal amount of aspects.


4.1.3 FINDINGS OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE
1. How long have you been working in your organization?
Figure 3.3- Graphical representation of length of work
# Answer

Response %
1
Less than 6
Months

23 28%
2 6 months 1 year

29 35%
3 1-2 years

23 28%
4 3 or more years

8 10%
Total 83 100%
Table 4.2 Percentage of target population on the basis of length of work
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 2.19
Variance 0.91
Total Responses 83
Table 4.3- Statistical data analysis for the length of work
Fig 4.43-4.45 discusses about the number of years the employees are working in their current
organization in their current role. According to the responses, 35% of people fall in the category
of 6 months to one year. 28% fall in less than 6 months and another 28% are in one to two years
respectively. There is 10% population falling under three or more years. The mean value being
2.19 states that majority of population falls between 6 months to one year.

2. What is your overall satisfaction rating with your company?

Figure 3.4- Graphical representation of satisfaction with the company
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Satisfied

24 29%
2 Somewhat Satisfied

40 48%
3
Neither Satisfied Nor
Dissatisfied

18 22%
4
Somewhat
Dissatisfied

1 1%
5 Very Dissatisfied

0 0%
Total 83 100%
Table 4.4- Percentage of target population categorized by satisfaction with the company
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.95
Variance 0.56
Total Responses 83
Table 4.5- Statistical data analysis for satisfaction with the company
Fig 4.46-4.48 shows that 48% of the population is somewhat satisfied with their organization
while 29% are very much satisfied with their work and their organization. On the other hand
22% of them are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their organization. The mean being
1.95 shows that majority of population are almost satisfied with their organization.

3. How likely are you to recommend your job to a friend or
colleague?

Figure 3.5- Graphical representation of recommending job to a friend
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Likely

26 31%
2 Somewhat Likely 41 49%
3
Neither Likely
Nor Unlikely

10 12%
4
Somewhat
Unlikely

3 4%
5 Very Unlikely

3 4%
Total 83 100%
Table 4.6- Percentage of target population who would recommend their job to a friend
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 5
Mean 1.99
Variance 0.91
Total Responses 83
Table 4.7- Statistical data analysis of recommending a job to a friend
Fig 4.49-4.51 shows that 49% of the population would prefer to recommend the job to their
friend or colleague while 31% are very much interested in recommending the job to a friend.
12% have neutral opinion. 4% fall under somewhat unlikely and the other 4% fall under very

unlikely. The mean value being 1.99 depicts that probability of an individual referring the job to
his friend or colleague is somewhat likely.


4. There are more positive than negative aspects to your job?

Figure 3.6- Graphical representation of the positive aspects of a job
# Answer

Response %
1 Strongly Agree

14 17%
2 Agree 47 57%
3
Neither Agree
Nor Disagree

13 16%
4 Disagree

8 10%
5
Strongly
Disagree

1 1%
Total 83 100%
Table 4.8- Percentage of target population having positive aspects to their job
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 5
Mean 2.22
Variance 0.78
Total Responses 83
Table 4.9- Statistical data analysis for the population having positive aspects to their job
Fig 4.52-4.54 shows that 57% of target population agrees that there more positive aspects than
negative aspects to their job while 17% strongly agree and 16% neither agree nor disagree. On
the other hand 10% disagree to this aspect and 1% strongly disagrees with it. The mean value is
2.22 stating the target population falls between Agree to neutral option.

5. What is your level of motivation at work?

Figure 3.7- Graphical representation of level of motivation at work
# Answer

Response %
1 Highly Motivated

28 34%
2 Somewhat Motivated

38 46%
3 Neutral

14 17%
4
Somewhat
Demotivated

2 2%
5 Highly Demotivated

1 1%
Total 83 100%
Table 5.0- Percentage of target population categorized by the motivation level at work
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 5
Mean 1.92
Variance 0.71
Total Responses 83
Table 5.1- Statistical data analysis for the target populations motivation level at work
Fig 4.55-4.57 insights that 46% people are somewhat motivated at their work but 34% are
highly motivated.17% are neutral about this aspect, 2% are somewhat demotivated and 1% is
highly demotivated. The mean value is 1.92 which says that most of the population falls at
somewhat demotivated but not fully satisfied.

6. The Organization clearly communicates its goals and
strategies to you?

Figure 3.8- Graphical representation of communication of organization with its employees
# Answer

Response %
1 Strongly Agree

31 37%
2 Agree

39 47%
3
Neither Agree Nor
Disagree

10 12%
4 Disagree

3 4%
5 Strongly Disagree

0 0%
Total 83 100%
Table 5.2- Percentage of target population categorized by the level of agreement of
organizations communication with its employees
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.82
Variance 0.61
Total Responses 83
Table 5.3- Statistical data analysis of Organizations communication with its employees
Fig 4.58-4.60, 47% agree that the company communicates its goals and strategies finely and
37% feel that communicate very well but 12% neither agree nor disagree and 4% disagree with
this idea. The mean value is 1.82 which inclines to Agreeing level for this question.

7. How flexible is the company with respect to your personal
responsibilities?
Figure 3.9- Graphical representation of companys flexibility with employees personal
responsibilities
# Answer

Response %
1
Very much
flexible

19 23%
2
Somewhat
flexible
46 55%
3 Moderate

16 19%
4 Not at all flexible

2 2%
Total 83 100%
Table 5.4- Percentage of target population categorized by the flexibility of their company with
their personal responsibilities
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 2.01
Variance 0.52
Total Responses 83
Table 5.5- Statistical data for the flexibility of a company
Fig 4.61-4.63 55% feel the company is somewhat flexible with their personal responsibilities
and 23% feel that they are very much flexible on the other hand 19% have moderate opinion
about this and 2% of the population it is not at all flexible. The mean value being 2.01 states that
most of the population believes that company is somewhat flexible with their personal needs.

8. How Competitive is the work environment at your
company?
Figure 4.0- Graphical representation of the competitive work environment
# Answer

Response %
1 Highly Competitive

32 39%
2 Somewhat Competitive

34 41%
3 Neutral

16 19%
4 No Competition at all

1 1%
Total 83 100%
Table 5.6- Percentage of respondents on the level of competitive work environment
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.83
Variance 0.61
Total Responses 83
Table 5.7- Statistical data analysis for competitive work environment
Fig 4.64-4.66 shows that there is more a less equal percentage for people who feel the work
environment highly competitive and somewhat competitive with 39% and 41%. On the other
hand 19% population believe that the competitiveness is neutral and 1% feel there is no
competition at all. The mean value being 1.83 the level competency falls between high to
somewhat competitive.

9. How Supportive is the work environment?

Figure 4.1- Graphical representation of supportive work environment
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Supportive

39 47%
2
Somewhat
Supportive

32 39%
3 Little Supportive

9 11%
4 No Support

3 4%
5 No One Cares

0 0%
Total 83 100%
Table 5.8- Percentage of respondents who say their work environment is supportive
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 4
Mean 1.71
Variance 0.65
Total Responses 83
Table 5.9- Statistical data analysis for supportive work environment
Fig 4.67-4.69 shows that 47% people are very supportive at the work place and 39% are
somewhat supportive while 11% feel the environment is little supportive and 4% feel that they
are not supported at their work place.

10. Are you satisfied with the recognition you receive for your
contribution?

Figure 4.2- Graphical representation of satisfaction level of employees for the recognition of
their contribution
# Answer

Response %
1 Very Satisfied

28 34%
2 Somewhat Satisfied

34 41%
3
Neither Satisfied Nor
Dissatisfied

12 14%
4 Somewhat Dissatisfied

7 8%
5 Very Dissatisfied

2 2%
Total 83 100%
Table 6.0- Percentage stating the level of satisfaction of employees for the recognition of their
work
Statistic Value
Min Value 1
Max Value 5
Mean 2.05
Variance 1.05
Total Responses 83
Table 6.1- Statistical data analysis of employee satisfaction for the recognition of their work

Fig 4.71-4.73 41% are satisfied with the recognition they get for their work and 34% get very
much satisfied. On the other hand 14% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied and 8% are
somewhat dissatisfied. 2% are very much dissatisfied for the recognition they receive. The mean
value is 2.05 which state that people are somewhat satisfied with the recognition they achieve.
4.1.4 QUALITATIVE FINDINGS
The interviews from the management people of different organisations answered most of our
questions relating to HR aspects from organisational perspective that are listed in the research
methodology. The answers are collective recorded as there are set of similar responses and a
point of data saturation was attained during this qualitative research.
Front line employees are considered to be really important people for the organisation. They
feel them to be the face of the organisation and they are the jigsaw of the organisation.
When coming to the recruitment and selection of such important employees of the organisation
they adapt to a number of different methods of recruitment and selection. The recruitment
methods that are widely followed in the retail industry in the current scenario are through online
application, advertisements in media, personal references or in-store applications. The selection
methods are getting tougher so as to select the exact suitable profile for their organisation which
is been carried out through telephonic interviews, assessment centres where they different levels
that have to cleared like Group discussions, individual presentations and case studies that have
to analysed individually. During this selection procedures they are assessed on many aspects
like how well they handling pressurised situations, how well they are working as a team, etc.
According to the employees performance and their ratings in such aspects decide the success in
their application.
After the careful selection of these employees, they receive start up packs, undergo Induction
programmes and hands on job training for 10-12 shifts/4 weeks during that they are mostly put
under the senior member of the organisation to gain the knowledge about the work done in that
role. They are assessed on their performance and given a feedback to develop at their work.

During the employee work period, the motivational practices used by the organisation are the
employees are recognised by their efficient work style like trade-ups that have been achieved by
them, number of customer complaints registered under them, etc. and are awarded with
cash/incentives or gift vouchers or by giving a recognition card.
The employee turnover of the organisations in this retail industry is generally at 85-90% per
annum. This is because of the employees who are leaving to university studies and moving to
higher positions in their job.
Career development by offering work at different challenging roles at head offices or other store
offices is used a retention policy for these front line employees in these retail organisations.
Employee satisfaction is considered to be the most important factor for the organisation in retail
industry. They create friendly environment at the work place, look after their basic needs so that
they have a two way communication. They generally tend to follow a flat organisational
structure as a part of their organisational culture.
The pay and perks/incentives for the front line employees varies according to the age
demographics and their work style in this retail industry in UK and the method of payment is
usually in cash or vouchers in the organisation.
On a whole most of the organisations in this retail industry believe that they possess a very
effective HR system for their organisations that closely monitor the employee from his entry
into the company till they leave the company and some of the companies have given names for
their HR departments in the organisation.
Example: KFC has named its HR department as Chronus.
4.2 INTERPRETATIONS
Efficient recruitment and selection methods are a crucial step for a successful HR as it is their
responsibility to choose the most capable employees for the organisation. The deserving
employee will not miss out the chance in getting the job if there is proper and efficient
recruitment and selection system like using online psychometric test during the application

procedures and putting them through the assessment centres to analyse their skills that is studied
in the literature review through authors like Bolen, Daniel and from Strathclyde university
website. The need of efficient recruitment and selection process was given very much
importance in the survey and is discussed in the interviews from the management.
According to the graphs, respondents who felt the very much importance of getting trained is to
gain experience rather than having experience to apply for the job. Adding to it one of the
management people commented in the interview that nobody borrows the skill to work in this
environment; on job training is the one which focuses on the work that has to be done by the
individual for the role applied which is related to kind of training like sponsor method,
programme learning method and learner controlled method discussed by Bolen in his book. The
importance of training was discussed in the literature review by many others authors like
Davidson, and in web pages like The Times 100 under people in business category.
Associating with company goals and strategies will determine the employee engagement with
the co-ordination tier of organisation. According to the findings 70% of the target population
feel associating with company goals and strategies as an important aspect but only 50% feel that
organisation is communicating their goals and strategies to the employees very well. As
specified earlier, the employee engagement is the most important factor and is related with
employee empowerment that improves motivation and performance through individual job
enrichment and self-managing or autonomous team work that converges into high performance
work system given by Buchanan & Huczynski is discussed in chapter two of the research.
From the findings employees feel motivation as very much important factor while the level of
satisfaction and motivation they receive from their organisation is rated at neutral. Job
satisfaction and motivation are interrelated terms as they have symbiotic relation between them.
Unless the employee is satisfied from his job, they dont get motivated and vice versa. These
concepts are explained well under the heading motivation in literature review supporting with
expectancy theory given by Edward Chace Tolman and inner life theory given by Teresa
Amabile and Steven Kramer.

Competitive and supportive work environment determine the organisational culture that an
employee is working. The level of competitiveness and supportiveness is important for a front
line employee as it helps in blending with the team and contributes to the team work in a cross
functional work environment. The importance of organisational culture for a frontline employee
is discussed in the literature review by many authors like Geert Hofstede, Edger Schein and
Buchanan & Huczynski.
Feedback system is required to rate an employee on his work and guide him through his
mistakes which are considered to be the most important as the performance of an employee can
also be measured by the organisation using this method. This helps in determining the
employees capabilities and to assess them for their promotions and reward systems. This is
better explained in performance management in chapter two by authors and from web pages like
Beven & Thompson, Baron & Armstrong and Professor John Purcell
Career development is a very important factor for a front line employee to stay in an
organisation for a longer period of time. This is used as a retention strategy by the organisation
in order to cease their employees from leaving the company and to attain a high employee
turnover rate. This is supported by discussions on retention in the literature review by authors
like Schneider & Bowen, Berry, and Anderson.
Pay, Perks and incentives are very important for a front line employee at the end of the day any
employee expects the get paid for what he/she deserves. Perks and incentives not only act as
reward system for an employee but also motivation that is been explained in literature review by
authors like Gillian.
Front line employees expectations from the organisation regarding the flexibility towards their
personal responsibilities is high and according to the quantitative findings they feel the company
is flexible to their needs and even companies make it a point that they are catering to the needs
of the employees as this keep them in the organisation as internal customers for a longer time.
This can explained using the secondary data in the literature review chapter.


CHAPTER: Five

5.0 Conclusion & Recommendation
The research that was carried out generated some conclusions based on the findings which were
summarized in the previous section. On the basis of the research objectives presented in the first
chapter, it is possible now to deduce certain conclusions. Both theoretical and practical aspects
are covered to explain these difficulties faced by the employees who act as face of the
organisation. According to research study, continuous developments in management of an
organisation are taking place to support the front-line employees. Most of the organisations
these days believe employees to be the back-bone of the organisation and are practicing
strategies to satisfy these employees. Employees are considered as internal customers for an
organisation. They are the people who drive the company forward. It was also observed during
this study that front-line employees are the adaptable people and capable of multi-tasking for
cross functional work in the organisation as they work under the most pressurised situations.
Acting as the initial contact of the business and maintaining the relationships with the customers
and at the same time being parrot talkers of the organisation is one among the major challenges
for these front line employees in a business to customer environment. The other challenges they
face are the technological advancements, awareness of the products and being up to date about
their services and products. Sometimes lack of autonomy is also a problem observed in the
organisations for these employees as they dont get to make the spot decisions for the customer
requirements.
According to the surveys and questionnaires, majority of respondents feel there should be
effective recruitment and selection methods, training for the job role is more essential and
crucial over having an experience for the job. In the case of motivation, nearly 70% respondents
stated motivation at work is highly important and when asked about their own motivation level
at work, 46% said they are somewhat motivated and 34% said they are highly motivated. This
clearly states that there is a gap between people who are somewhat motivated and highly
motivated. So, it can be assumed that, people who are somewhat motivated do not receive the
appropriate motivation which they should. This is the root cause of the problem and directly

influences the employees performance. But this is not the case in every organization; in some
organizations employees do not feel demotivated because the companys environment is highly
supportive and motivating, for e.g. KFC. But, in some its worth discussing. Taking an example
of Subway no financial reward is offered to the employees except the late night or early
morning travel allowance, which creates dissatisfaction among them. So the researcher thinks
some kind of financial reward should be given to the employees in order to keep them
motivated.
Every organization has different strategies and policies for its employees. So in the interviews,
it was noticed that employee turnover is different for different organizations in the retail
industry. This implies the organizations which have low employee turnover are not keeping its
employee satisfied and as a result employees are leaving the company. Therefore, challenges
here arise for both employees and the organizations, although it more challenging for the
organizations to better the performance and productivity, which can only be achieved by
motivated and enthusiastic employees. The companys interviewed also depicted dissimilar
methods of giving perks, incentives and compensation benefits.
At the end, going through the research and its findings, the recommendation for this research
would be that, organizations with front-line employees should introduce a customer relationship
management program which should be taught as certified course to the front-line employees.
This is an emerging field of business management which allows understanding the behavioural
science of customers from technological and managerial perspective as the career development
plan. It prevents loss of valuable employees and helps staff retention. From this research, it was
analysed that managing people is really challenging and involves binding with customer
emotions at the same time associating with goals and strategies of the organisation. All such
aspects can be attained by fulfilling the needs of employee motivation and making them to abide
by the organisation for a longer period of time.
Apart from the customer relationship management program, a well-designed employee
motivation program should also be taken into consideration for the front-line staff in the retail
industry. A program like this should comprise elements of communication and healthy

relationships among all the levels of the staff in the organization. It will help the organization in
inspiring the employees and preventing them from leaving the job.
5.1 LIMITATIONS
Time constraints and hesitant behaviour of the employers due to their hectic schedules
acted as a barrier for the methodology. Therefore, the counts of interviews were not
enough for this project.
Secondly, though the discussions of this topic are about the retail sector in UK and
during the practical work the city of residence of the researcher was focused for the
primary data collection. So financial constraint was also the hindrance for the researcher
to consider retail industries in other cities in UK.
Lastly, as the retail sector is very huge in UKand due to the above mentioned
constraints, sample size of the research was not up to the expectation. Satisfaction was
not attained because of the sample size that participated and reverted to the primary data
work.
5.2 FURTHER STUDIES
For further studies, it is recommended that in conducting a research in this area, a wider range
of sample size should be considered both for qualitative and quantitative research in unlike areas
to achieve a better sense of the challenges faced by the employees. A well-organized pilot study
should also be carried out in order to improve the standards of the questions.


CHAPTER: Six


6.0 Reflection
The root to the idea for choosing this topic for dissertation was to get a detailed understanding
of the HR policies and strategies that are applied for developing an employee from the budding
stage to an experienced professional. The choice of study on front line employees and the
challenges they face was initiated from the personal and peer experiences. The necessity of front
line employees and the treatment towards them is majorly focused by the employers in the retail
sector as there are concentrated in an industry where customer satisfaction is the key to success
and establishment in the industry. While attempting this project we have gained a deep insight
into the above related aspects both theoretical and practically by studying many case studies that
have been passed in research and by getting overview from the industry practitioners. Literature
review added to theoretical perspective of the subject during which, we have gained knowledge
about not only the area we choose to work upon but also various others aspects of HR. Better
understanding of the subject helped us in extracting the information that fits to the research
work. It has thrown light on the topic for which we had knowledge only at the cream level.
While working on research methodology we grasped the meaning and importance of presenting
an academic report from a managerial perspective. This helped us by giving a direction to next
step in the work while supporting with the literature review. Primary data work was the first
attempt in our entire academic career which has given great knowledge about the reality in the
industry. Gathering primary data ad reaching the target of the population was a challenging task
as there were many constraints while working on it like approaching the people for filling
surveys and questionnaires and conducting interviews with the employers. Our communication
and networking skills were enhanced very much when we started working for the primary data
due to which we were successful in conducting interviews and filling the surveys and
questionnaires. It helped working upon our confidence and developed an optimistic view that

moved us towards the completion of work in time. Use of SPSS programme in Qualtrics for
surveys and questionnaires gave us a new dimension of the technology and we could perceive
the ease of using technology. Extraction of primary data from this qualtrics site depending on
the comfort and simple representation of the graphs designed on the mutual consent guided us in
analysing the primary data work. Analysis of the work was done at a pragmatic level covering
all the necessary points that have been collected from primary data and supported with the
secondary work in the literature review. Moving towards conclusions we acquired a proper idea
of all the topics we have focused during this research. Keeping the reality in mind we suggested
some implications that were sensed through the work and from the personal experiences that we
possess. When working in a group, there many things to be considered that will get through the
successful completion of the work. Considering and appreciating the strengths of people
working in the group is the major characteristic as that helps in dividing the work according to
ones capabilities and it makes it possible to get the better work at manageable level.
Application of this characteristic helped us in concentrating and working on the topics that we
are good and comfortable at. We made it a point that we are cross checking each others work
on regular basis just to have a follow up of the work. We were self-driven and motivated
towards the work, even in trying times of confusion and exhaustion; we could push ourselves
hard enough to cover that extra mile. The amount of learning that has taken place and the
experiences gained through this project will stand us in good stead all along our careers. The
key point we learnt was to be focused in gaining knowledge of the subject rather than being
apprehensive about marks. We are confident that the knowledge we gained while working
during this research in the theoretical and practical concepts of HR aspects and this topic would
make us good competitors to our colleagues or friends at professional front in future. It gives a
great pleasure in working in groups as we could enhance our professional and personal skills
individually. Without the support of supervisor nothing could have been possible as his
suggestions are the ones that brought us into the right track from the start and made us reach the
target line. Finally we would like to add up this one point whether we have become the master
of something or not we can definitely claim that we have become the jack of all with all mutual
understanding and the great accompaniment of our supervisor.

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Appendices

Survey

Dear Participant
We are the postgraduate student of Business & Management from the management department
of University of Strathclyde.
You are invited to participate in our study of The challenges faced by front-line staff in retail
industry in UK. This is purely an academic piece of research and please note that your
participation is anonymous and all your responses will be kept confidential.
We understand you must be extremely busy but we would appreciate if you could spare few
minutes of your time on contributing to our research.
Thank you for your time and cooperation!

Sincerely
Jasjot & Aparna
jasjot85@gmail.com
tvs.aparna@gmail.com

MSc Business & Management
Department of Management

University of Strathclyde


How important is to have an efficient recruitment and selection methods?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is to have experience for the role you apply?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is to get training for the role you are selected for?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important it is to associate with company goals & missions?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is motivational factor?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important


How important is job satisfaction?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is competitive work environment?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is recognition for your work?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is getting a feedback for your work?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important is career development?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

How important are perks and incentives?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important


How important is the compensation factor?
1. Very Important
2. Important
3. Neutral
4. Not Important

THANK YOU

QUESTIONNAIRE

What is your Gender?
Male
Female

Which category describes your age?
Below 16
16-20
21-25
26-31
32 or Above

How long have you been working in this organization?
Less than 6 Months
6 months 1 year
1-2 years
3 or more years

What is your overall satisfaction rating with your company?

5 - Very Satisfied

4 - Somewhat Satisfied
3 - Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied
2 - Somewhat Dissatisfied
1 - Very Dissatisfied

How likely are you to recommend this job to a friend or colleague?

5 - Very Likely
4 - Somewhat Likely
3 - Neither Likely Nor Unlikely
2 - Somewhat Unlikely
1 - Very Unlikely

There are more positive than negative aspects to my job?
5 Strongly Agree
4 - Agree
3 - Neither Agree Nor Disagree
2 - Disagree
1 Strongly Disagree

What is your level of motivation at work?

5 Highly Motivated
4 - Somewhat Motivated
3 - Neutral
2 - Somewhat Demotivated
1 Highly Demotivated

The Organization clearly communicates its goals and strategies to me?

5 Strongly Agree
4 - Agree
3 - Neither Agree Nor Disagree
2 - Disagree
1 Strongly Disagree

How flexible is the company with respect to your personal responsibilities?

Very much flexible
Somewhat flexible
Moderate
Not at all flexible

How Competitive is the work environment?

4 Highly Competitive
3 - Somewhat Competitive
2 - Neutral
1 - No Competition at all

How Supportive is your work environment?

5 Very Supportive
4 - Somewhat Supportive
3 Little Supportive
2 No Support
1 No One Cares

Are you satisfied with the recognition you receive for your contribution?
5 - Very Satisfied
4 - Somewhat Satisfied

3 - Neither Satisfied Nor Dissatisfied
2 - Somewhat Dissatisfied
1 - Very Dissatisfied

THANK YOU
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Q1. How important are the front-line employees (Customer Facing Staff) for your Organization?

Q2. How is selection & recruitment carried out in your organization?

Q3. Tell us something about the training practices for front line staff in your organization? What
kind of training do you provide and how long does it lasts?


Q4. How do you think employees are motivated in your organization? What practices does your
organization follow to motivate the front line employees?

Q5. What is the employee turnover of your organization?

Q6. What policies & practices are designed to prevent valuable employees from leaving the job?

Q7. What is the pay & compensations for the boundary tier (front-line staff)? How often perks &
incentives are assigned to the people.

Q8. What are the methods of payment in your organization?

Q9. How important is employee satisfaction to you and what are the factors that are considered
in keeping the employees satisfied?

Q10. How effective is the HR of your organization?

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A Study of the Challenges faced by the Front Line Employees in Retail Sector in U.K.

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