Employability Skills - Coursework Example

Employability Skills Table of Contents Part A 3 2 Types and level of communication 4 2.2. Time management strategies 4 Part B 6 Part C 8 3 Belbin Theory and Team Role 8 3.2. Team Dynamics 9 3.3. Increasing Customer Satisfaction 10 Part D 11 4.1. Four Methods to Solve the Problems 11 4.2. Strategies to Solve the Problems of H & M 11 References 13 Part A Responsibilities and Performance Objectives (AC 1.1) Effectively Meeting the Objectives (AC 1.2) Recommendations for Improvement (AC 1.3) Ensuring quality of the food delivered to the customers The products offered to the customers were evaluated prior to its deliverance to assure its quality. The quality of the food should be ensured with the help of the TQM approach Ensuring deliverance of quality services to the customers based on the standards followed by the company in each of its stores The services offered to the customers are in alignment with the objectives and the policies of the company. I have ensured this as the duty manager of McDonald. The quality of the services to the customers can be judged with the help of 360 degree feedback and other tools Providing proper training to the new employees and ensuring desirable performance from their end A checklist has been developed in order to train the new employees, so that each and every criterion is adhered. Training should be provided to the employees on a regular basis Ensuring proper staffing in the workplace Employees were recruited with the help of both internal and external sources The staffing needs of the company should be met by employing a diversified workforce Communicating the goals and objectives of the company to the employees in a clear and transparent manner The goals and objectives of the company were explained to each and every member in the workplace The goals of the business should be updated on a regular basis and the same should be conveyed to the employees 2.1. Types and level of communication Proper communication is a very important aspect in the operations of any particular business. With proper communication within the internal business operations, a company could be able to develop a better coordination further enhancing the overall business efficacy in a considerable manner. This aspect has also been seen in the operations of one of the giants in the retail fast food sector i.e. McDonalds. McDonalds is one of the major food chain brands in the global sector need to operate efficiently in every possible business domain to maintain its sustainability. In this regard, proper communication within the operations and the workplace has helped the company considerably. Notably, the company believes in delivering quality services to the customers in which each and every employees of the business has a major part to play. The management of the company involves in informal communication within the workplace. The management believes in team friendly and freestyle communication apart from following a predetermined framework. It is identified that informal communication style of the business has certainly enhanced the level of services provided to the customers. Owing to the presence of an informal approach, the company has been able to satisfy the customers and ultimately enhance the performance of the business. The employees in the workplace are allowed to directly interact with the customers and take their feedbacks about the services delivered by the company (Atkinson, 2013). 2.2. Time management strategies Proper management of time contributes largely towards the operational success in the workplace. Several forms of strategies that the company could undertake to ensure effective and efficient management of time within the workplace. In this regard, the first strategy will be the use of a proper tool of planning. The management of the company must ensure that each of the employees has a considerable level of understanding about how to manage time in the workplace. This will ensure the deliverance of higher productivity from their end. As part of a proper planning approach, the employees should be encouraged to use personal diaries in order to manage and complete the task within the allocated time frame. Furthermore, employees should also be provided with a reasonable deadline to complete their task, so that they can monitor and supervise allotted task within a specified time frame. Another vital time management strategy is organizing the work in a systematic and proper manner, so that it could be completed with utmost efficacy. It is believed that work that is not conducted in a proper process is elongated than what is expected. Employees must develop a flow chart informally that they will follow for conducting and completing the assigned tasks suitably (Atkinson, 2013). This will further ensure that reasonable time is spent in the completion of the assigned task in hand. Part B To: Staff and Team Members From: Duty Manager of KFC Date: Topic: Enhancing Interpersonal and Transferable Skills It must be conveyed to the members in the workplace that there has been certain problems in the recent times owing to which the overall efficacy of the staff as well as the team has deteriorated to a certain extent. As per the analysis of the workplace, it can be identified that there has been little scheduling of the activities to be conducted. There are other major problems in the working time of the employees as many are still to follow a proper set of time for their work. Moreover, some of the staff also seems to be failing to notify about any change in time of their shifts and other necessary information that must be conveyed. There is a wide set of flaws in the communication channel that is currently practiced in the workplace. In addition, there are also continuous dissatisfaction reports from the end of the customers owing to inefficacy of the staff. Hence, it is instructed to each of the staff to adhere to the points mentioned below with immediate effect. Staff should focus on developing effective relationship amid them, so that no communication gap exists amid them They should try to communicate clearly to the concerned authorities about details relating to change in shifts or delays in the workplace Each of the members are required to develop a better bondage amid them and work as a team, so that better set of results could be acquired The concerned department in the workplace must also need to develop strategies where they can resolve conflicts amid the team members It is expected that each of the team members will enhance their transferable skills, so that utmost equality in the operational process could be ensured Each of the employees should provide support towards other and help in delivering quality services to the customers in a collaborative manner The team members must need to provide extra focus while delivering the products, so that complaints regarding the same are minimized Part C 3.1. Belbin Theory and Team Role Working as a team is quite important in order to ensure positive result for the business. Teamwork is often regarded as an approach where people help each other and work as a group to accomplish the desired objectives of the company. It will be vital to depict that in each team there are various members who have a specific role and designation, which can be better comprehended with the use of Belbin’s theory. In general, a team includes a senior manager or coordinator, a leader, team members with different roles and responsibilities, the strategists, the financial expert and decision makers among others. As per Belbin’s theory, the roles and responsibilities of team members can be segregated on the basis of certain nine elements, which also reveal the role of a team member. As per the theory, nine team roles will include Shaper (SH), Implementer (IMP), Completer-Finisher (CF), Coordinator (CO), Team Worker (TW), Resource Investigator (RI), Plant (PL), Monitor-Evaluator (ME) and Specialist (SP). The team members with shaper roles will try to improve the efficiency of the team, the implementer will put the idea into proper practical execution and the resource investigator will explore the outside opportunities for the business (Belbin, 2012). The roles of each are provided in the table hereunder. Fig: Belbin’s Nine Team Roles 3.2. Team Dynamics Team dynamics is one of the vital aspects integrally involved in any team work. It has direct impact on the profitability, working environment as well as retention rates of the staff in the company. Team dynamics can be regarded as unconscious as well as psychological forces, which further determine the direction of the overall team as well as the behavior along with the performance of the team members in a collective manner altogether (Team Technology, n.d.). There are certain specific characteristics of team dynamics, which will be vital to discuss in order to gain a proper understanding about the concept. Some of the most renowned characteristics of the concept of team dynamics include common goals of the entire team, clarity about the needs and the demands of the company, proper leadership, proper interpersonal relationship amid the team members along with appropriate communication amid the team members among others. A team must have a clear set of goals that will be equally important for each of the team members. It should also be able to offer a clear idea about what the organization seeks to attain with the help of the team in both the short term and the long term operations. The leadership within the team should also be proper and in alignment with the interest of the organization (NIX Group, 2010). Hence, it is quite apparent that team dynamics indeed is quite vital in the performance of any team. 3.3. Increasing Customer Satisfaction Gaining satisfaction of the customers is one of the most vital aspects that have major influence in the operations of the company. It is important that companies must seek to enhance the satisfaction of the customers on a continuous basis. As a duty manager of McDonald entrusted for managing five staff, it is vital to improve the satisfaction level of customers continuously in order to attain long-term business sustainability. Contextually, the duty manager will firstly need to take the feedback of the customers regarding products and services of the company and accordingly, act to satisfy their needs. The duty manager will also need to understand the indicators that depict the level of satisfaction of the customers and work in accordance with the same. The duty manager must also emerge with surprise schemes and packages for the customers with due permission of the higher-level management. These approaches might enhance the level of customer satisfaction at McDonalds. Part D 4.1. Four Methods to Solve the Problems The problems that have been presented in the operations of H&M can be mitigated with the help proper planning, communication channel, developing an effective organization culture and employee motivation among others. Among these methods, the customer service manager can implement or adopt the approach of employees’ motivation and implementing a systematic communication approach. Motivation of employees in the workplace will have both advantages and disadvantages for the company. Employee motivation will ensure that the company is able to enhance the self motivation aspects of the employees and will be able to deliver better results for the business. The employees will also more satisfied in conducting their work, which is again a positive aspect. Apart from this, employee motivation also results in increased workplace productivity. Additionally employee motivation will lead to higher quality of the work delivered by the employees. The disadvantages of employee motivation include increase in cost of production, increase in time consumption for conducting business operations, inconsistent performance of the employees and de-motivation of the employees who are not rewarded among others (Messmer, 2011). Similarly, proper communication also has its own advantages and disadvantages. With proper communication prevailing in the workplace, organization will be able to ensure diversity in the workplace, enhancing the morale of the employees, building proper team work and delivering effective services to the customers among others. The disadvantage of systematic communication in the workplace will include increasing conflicts in the workplace and enhance the level of interpersonal interaction in a way where the productivity of the employees gets negatively affected. Setting up a proper commutation in the workplace will affect the organization negatively in the domain of time and cost efficacy (Messmer, 2011). 4.2. Strategies to Solve the Problems of H & M Strategies Explanation Motivation Employee motivation will increase the level of dedication in the workforce, which will reduce errors in their operations. This might solve the problem of customer dissatisfaction owing to improper receipt while delivering goods Systematic Communication With systematic communication, the employees in the workplace will be able to have a better interaction amid themselves and hence proper coordination can be developed while delivering services to the customers References Atkinson, F., 2013. Successful Time Management. Jaico Publishing House. Belbin, R. M., 2012. Team Roles at Work. Routledge. Messmer, M., 2011. Motivating Employees For Dummies. John Wiley & Sons. NIX Group, 2010. Characteristics of A Dynamic Team. Uploads. [Online] Available at: http://www.wkeithnix.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/6-Characteristics-of-a-Dynamic-Team.pdf [Accessed August 08, 2014]. Team Technology, No Date. Definition Of Team Dynamics. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.teamtechnology.co.uk/team/dynamics/definition/ [Accessed August 08, 2014]. Read More