Training and Employee Development (Research Paper Sample)

The perceived impact of training and development on employee performance and achieving the triple bottom line of the organization – Tesco as a case study
Abstract
Employee training and development programs have been initiated to help boost the performance of the employees, besides helping an organization to achieve its triple bottom line. The ‘bottom line’ philosophy was redeveloped by economist John Elkington in 1994 to help firms to measure their success by performing in the areas of the society, business and the environment. This study was designed to evaluate the perceived impact of training and development on employee performance and achieving the triple bottom line of the TESCO. As such, the opinions and viewpoint of the company’s leadership were collected for the purpose of the study. A qualitative research approach was used.. The size sample was 60 participants. The main variables investigated were training and development, employee performance and achievement of triple bottom line. Data collected from the participants was statistically analysed to test three hypotheses. At a significance level of 5% (p<0.05), all three hypotheses were confirmed positive. Conclusions and recommendations were made based on the findings of the study.
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc426728159 \h 2CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION PAGEREF _Toc426728160 \h 41.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc426728161 \h 41.2 Background of the problem PAGEREF _Toc426728162 \h 41.3 Aim of the study PAGEREF _Toc426728163 \h 71.4 Statement of the problem PAGEREF _Toc426728164 \h 71.5 Objectives of the study PAGEREF _Toc426728165 \h 81.6 Theoretical concept PAGEREF _Toc426728166 \h 81.7 Organizational concept PAGEREF _Toc426728167 \h 91.8 Significance of the study PAGEREF _Toc426728168 \h 9CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW PAGEREF _Toc426728169 \h 112.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc426728170 \h 112.2 Training and development program PAGEREF _Toc426728171 \h 112.3 Importance of training PAGEREF _Toc426728172 \h 122.4 Concept of employee performance PAGEREF _Toc426728173 \h 152.6 Training, job involvement and organizational success PAGEREF _Toc426728174 \h 172.8 Organizational strategy and TBL PAGEREF _Toc426728175 \h 192.91 Role of the HRM in achievement if TBL and sustainability PAGEREF _Toc426728176 \h 222.92 Conclusion to literature review PAGEREF _Toc426728177 \h 22CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY PAGEREF _Toc426728178 \h 243.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc426728179 \h 243.2 Methodology and research design PAGEREF _Toc426728180 \h 243.3 Quantitative research PAGEREF _Toc426728181 \h 253.4 Sampling and population PAGEREF _Toc426728182 \h 263.5 Means of data collection PAGEREF _Toc426728183 \h 273.6 Reliability and validity PAGEREF _Toc426728184 \h 273.7 Limitations PAGEREF _Toc426728185 \h 283.8 Ethical considerations PAGEREF _Toc426728186 \h 28CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS [5] PAGEREF _Toc426728187 \h 294.1 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc426728188 \h 294.2 Overview of the findings PAGEREF _Toc426728189 \h 294.3 Expressive analysis PAGEREF _Toc426728190 \h 314.4 Regression and ANOVA analyses PAGEREF _Toc426728191 \h 314.5 Discussion of key findings PAGEREF _Toc426728192 \h 35CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS PAGEREF _Toc426728193 \h 385.1 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc426728194 \h 385.2 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc426728195 \h 40
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
In the contemporary organizational world, every organization is striving for success and to outdo its rivals in business. One of the best ways of ensuring that this happens is obtaining and utilizing resources effectively. One of the most important of the resources is human resources, which needs to be kept up-to-date with the latest trends. Managers, whilst taking care of the human resources, have to ensure that thy pay attention to core functions of its management. By taking care of this, they ensure that the human resource performs as required, and in the process, help the organization to achieve its core objectives. Many organizations have set a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) target as one of their core objectives, which helps them measure their success and sustainability. The human resource performance is key in the achievement of organizational objectives, including TBL. In order to ensure that the human resource workforce delivers, organizations embark on enhancing their performance by using training programs. This study looks at the perceived impact of training and development on employee performance and achieving the Triple Bottom Line of the organization, taking Tesco as a case study.
1.2 Background of the problem
The term "Bottom Line" makes reference to the bottom line of an income statement, where the managers and accountants of a company record the total profits and losses made by a company. In practice, the bottom line is used to indicate whether the firm is making profits or losses. According to Wang and Lin (2007), a firm that has a healthy bottom line is one that helps it to attract more investors and expand the business. However, given that the bottom line philosophy is quite traditional, economists came up with a better concept to help the organization’s achieve their objectives.
John Elkington coined the term "Triple Bottom Line" (TBL) in 1994. TBL was not only supposed to help the organizations to realize profits, but also maintain social and environmental sustainability in their businesses. TBL has three major divisions, which are people, planet and profit, commonly known as the three Ps. The three Ps were created to help the organizations to design and method of full cost accounting which also reflected the association of business with social accountability. In order to be passed as a successful business venture, a firm has to satisfy all three components of the TBL. For instance, a mining company that made profits but failed to account for environmental wellbeing and social wellbeing of its workers fails, as it does not account for the cost of the environment and the society. By failing to account for this cost, the society’s taxes would be used to take care of the environment, hence meaning that the company’s profits make no sense to the general economic growth.
Tesco, in effort to satisfy its TBL, launched annual society reports to make public its progress (ourtesco.com, 2014). In the reports, the company gives a summary of its performance as a responsible business, how it works with its stakeholders, their impact on the environment and contribution to the growth of the society and the economy. Given these efforts, Tesco set up a business value to guide its operations, whose tagline was "we use our scale for good" (ourtesco.com, 2014). Using this, the company’s management set up an ambition to help them deliver on their promise. The ambition comprised of three major issues, which are "creating opportunity for young people, improving social health and reducing food waste" (ourtesco.com, 2014). These targets, according to the company, come along with four basic essentials.
The first one is to trade responsible. This is achievable by putting the needs of the customers first, and working with shareholders to provide highly innovative products and services. The second one is reducing the impact of their operations on the environment. According to the company, it will need to be a zero-carbon business by 2050. Thirdly, the company has to ensure that it is a great employer, and that it creates a conducive environment for its human resource. The final target is supporting local communities by being a good neighbour and running its business in a friendly manner. These are the major highlights behind the achievement of the company’s TBL.
In order to achieve the above, the company’s main strategy is employee training. Operating in more than 10 countries worldwide, Tesco has a strong culture for employee training. It spends a big portion of its revenue to train the employees, with the objective of improving their output. Whilst designing the employee training programs, the company has four major objectives (ourtesco.com, 2014). First, the company aims to increase the sense of ownership amongst the employees, so that they can give their all in their lines of duty. The training also aims to make the employees more organized and flexible, so that they can deliver even during demanding times. The training also instils new skills and abilities to help the employees in the process of decision making, and finally, helps them to maintain the company’s positive image in the society.
The training, therefore, is designed to improve the employee’s performance, with the purpose of achieving the organization’s TBL. The challenge therefore, is for the company’s management to evaluate the perceived impact of training on employee performance and achieving of the company’s TBL.
1.3 Aim of the study
The aim of the study is to analyse the perceived impact of Tesco’s training and development activities, on the performance of its employees, and on achievement of its triple bottom line.
1.4 Statement of the problem
The study begins with a focus on the realization that Tesco, as an international organization, needs to effectively measure the effect of its employee training activities on the improvement of performance and consequently, achievement of the company’s TBL. Training, in literature, and as demonstrated by the organization, is a systematic process of enhancing the employee’s skills and competency. These are necessary for the attainment of organizational objectives, which are underlined by the company’s TBL. As established in the background of the research, employee training has a measurable impact on the performance of the employees. The performance...