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BUSI3323: Human Resources Management
Dr. Beverley McNally
Sec: 201
Name: Haifa Alhumaid
ID: 201000376
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Table of Contents:
Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Q1. Difference between Training & Development ............................................................... 3
Q2. Importance of Employees Development ............................................................ 4
Q3. Recruitment .......................................................................................................... 4
Q3. Retention ............................................................................................................... 5
Q4. Evaluating ............................................................................................................. 6
Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 6
References .................................................................................................................... 8
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Harrods is a 162 years old retail store, which until this day has proved itself to be one
of the most recognizable and well-known retail stores in the world. Which has build its
reputation with more than 5,000 employees from different nationalities and backgrounds who
deal with up to 100,000 costumers a day. Harrods has over one million square feet of selling
space in over 330 departments making it the biggest department store in Europe. The
beginning of Harrods started by a 25 years old man named Charles Henry Harrod first found
Harrods in the year of 1824. Along the years Harrods expanded its business and started selling
several merchandise like medicines, perfumes, stationery, fruit and vegetables and employed
one hundred people by 1880. By time Harrods expanded its business and increased its profit
and has transformed itself to its present glory (Oldelondon, 2011)
There is a big difference between training and development, Basically training is
when you teach employees new skills that they aren’t skilled at or aware of. And development
on the other hand is the process of perfecting existing skills that the employees already have.
And in order to move the company to its maximum profit the company needs to develop
existing skills to their maximum potential. Training is the gaining of knowledge, skills and
competencies as a result of teaching which can occur either on-the-job or off-the-job site.
Development teaches how to become more productive and effective at work and at the
company. In other words, training provides the skill and development maximizes it. Training
for example is when you take an employee who has no experience in operating IT systems
what so ever and teach him/her how to use it, as for development is when you take an
employee who is skilled at operating IT system but you develop his/her skills at it to
maximum potential. Harrods focused on training and development how important it is to the
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company and how training and development will better the performance of the employees,
which will enables Harrods to meet their business goals.
Employee development is vital in any organization, in this case study Harrods
explained that their strategy to maximize profit and reach goals is through employee
development. Employee developing is important for several reasons. One of the first reasons
is that employee development provides employee satisfaction. When an organization offers
development opportunities to their employees, this gives their employees an advantage over
other organization employees who are left to find developing opportunities on their own. Also
the investment of developing the employees shows the employees how the organization
values them. Employees who feel appreciated may feel more satisfied toward their jobs. Also
employee developing is considered to be as an investment in your organization and the
benefits of this investment goes to your organization as well. Also most employees have some
weaknesses in their workplace skills and developing allows them to overcome those
weaknesses and address them as well. And finally employee developing will improve the
performance of the employees. For example an employee who receives proper developing will
be able to preform better in the job because he/she have a wide range of high and expert skills
that allows he/him to preform better.
Harrods is very well known for its diverse workforce. It recruits employees from all
around the world with different cultural habits, languages and backgrounds. Because of that
its employees have different levels of education, skills and experiences. Basically the
recruitment process is defined as the process of choosing and selecting the best and most
highly skilled candidates in the workforce. As for a company like Harrods its always trying to
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recruit the best of the best, based on certain criteria that will allow the company to maintain
and increase its success like communication skills, costumer care and decision making. After
the recruitment process is over, Harrods offers its newly signed employees an introductiontraining program, which is known as “Harrods welcome” This program provides essential
training for new employees, such as Harrods’ brand values and The Theatre of Selling. As
well as other courses that will ensure the effectiveness of Harrods sales associates.
Another thing that Harrods focuses on is retraining its employees. Employee
retraining is very important in any business because it provides low employee turn over which
will minimize the costs of recruitment. As discussed earlier is that employee development is
very important for both the employees and the business. However sometimes employees think
that their new found skills that they gain from the developing process will enable them to get
new and better jobs at different organizations. Therefore Harrods has put in place strategies to
keep its highly skilled and developed employees. Some of those strategies are developing a
better management structure, improving benefits and creating initiatives which will make
Harrods a ‘great place to work in” one of Harrods main strategy to retain its employees is to
develop a system of rewards and incentives that provides the employees with several benefits
like good pay, employee discounts and a good working environment as well as Commission
and sales bonuses for individuals and teams. It also offers Improved work schedules, which
help to give a better work-life balance. Moreover improving employee communication is one
of Harrods strategies. Therefore it developed a system that will allow Harrods to listen to
feedbacks and address any issues. However through the years Harrods has found out that
employees who develop within the company tend to stay and those who are brought in from
outside are more likely to leave.
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Each and every employee is always trying to seek different ways to advance to the
next level. In this case study it was clear that Harrods is always providing its employees with
training and developing programs that will enables them to progress in their career pathway.
Harrods motivates and supports its employees to advance to the next level by providing a
wide range of developing programs that will enhance and maximize the employee’s skills.
Through this case it was clear that Harrods rewards its dedicated and focused employees with
potential promotions. For instance Sabrina who was mentioned in this case joined Harrods 10
years ago, and now Her current role is Head of Personal Shopping after being a part-time
Sales Associate. However Sabrina was promoted to this role after a series of promotions,
developing programs and experience from past roles and finally support from Harrods itself.
Also the case mentioned a number of people who claimed the latter of their career pathway by
expanding their skills and showing dedication and being focused. Finally training and
development in Harrods can lead to job progression very easily it just need some hard
working, dedicated and focused employees that take advantage to what’s been provided for
them from Harrods.
In conclusion, Harrods proved itself as one of the most popular and well-known
business in the world. Harrods showed how it values its employees and how the company
considers them as the assists of their business. Therefore Harrods is always trying to develop
its employees and enhance their skills in order to attain maximum profit. Also the company
respects its employees and offers them several benefits that will make them more satisfied,
which will lead to less turn over. Harrods looks after its employees and helps them along their
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career path. As a result employees are loyal to the company and continue to offer exceptional
levels of commitment and service.
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References
Oldlondon. (2011, August 20). The History of Harrods | A famous London Brand «
oldelondon. oldelondon. Retrieved December 17, 2012, from
http://oldelondon.org/2011/08/20/history-of-harrods/
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