ENCUESTAS A LA POBLACIÓN DEL ENSANCHE EN TENENCIA DE

Proper care for employees promotes employee satisfaction in the work environment. In this regard, Tesco tries to do even more for their employees than what is included in the legislature. Occupational safety and health care for employees at work is anchored in the collective agreement of the company. Tesco makes sure that all its employees work in a safe and not health-threatening environment. It is constantly working on improvements of the working conditions, upgrading social infrastructure, improving the quality of meals, etc.

All employees of the central office and major facilities throughout the country have the opportunity to use the services of the canteen, where they can buy a proper meal at discounted prices. Employees can choose from several types of main meals, soups, salads, desserts and drinks. The corporate catering has changed and now follows the trend of a healthy lifestyle. This was done based on employees’ request. Employees can enjoy healthy snacks in addition to typical Czech cuisine. There are also small kitchens at all facilities and employees are able to use them at any time according to their needs.

Most of the activities extending beyond the statutory standards or other internal regulations, which are common to all employees, will vary according to the facility. Each establishment itself determines what activities will be organized for employees. This may include various balls, corporate events, Christmas parties, etc.

If a company constantly discovers new wishes and needs of their employees and then adapts to care for them, it can achieve not only employee satisfaction. Therefore, Tesco makes an annual employee satisfaction survey, which is called "Our opinion". The results of the survey give management the information about the overall satisfaction of employees with concrete examples of areas that can still be improved, so the company can create the best possible working conditions.

3. Questionnaire for employees of Tesco

I carried out a sociological questionnaire of employees of the Tesco company. 79 people were interrogated and they were asked to answer the following 10 questions:

1. How old are you?

2. What kind of education do you have? 3. How long have you been working for Tesco? 4. Are you satisfied with your job?

5. Are you thinking about leaving to another job? 6. Do you like to go to work?

7. Do you think that Tesco offers enough space for your personal development?

8. To what extent do you think Tesco cares about its employees - Please rate using the scale of 1 to 5 (1 is best).

9. Would you recommend Tesco as an employer to your friend? 10. What bothers you most at your present work?

This questionnaire was carried out throughout the Tesco company. 79 workers and employees in this organization took part in it.

Judging by data from Tesco, people from 25 to 35 years of age generally work in Tesco, their quantity makes 35 people out of 79 employees in a percentage ratio is about 44, 30 %. The rest can be seen in the chart.

<18 3% 18-25 19% 25-35 44% 35-45 6% 45-50 8% >50 20%

The second question concerned the level of achieved education. Most of the workers, concretely 61 people from 79, have secondary education and 9 had university education. The rest had no higher education. We can say that Tesco offers jobs to truly anyone.

The third question specified how long the worker has been working for this company. The larger part of respondents, 37.97% has been working there for less than 1 year. 24.05% of the questioned workers had been working there for more than 5 years. And the last group consisted of people, who had worked there for 3-5 years representing 18.99% of the group.

The following chart indicates the data from the next question – whether the workers are happy at work. 35 respondents answered positively which is about 44.30%.

Nevertheless, 18.99 % of the respondents aren't happy with their employment. 15 workers (18.99 %) answered with mostly yes and 14 (17.72 %) with mostly not satisfied. We can see that the answers are spread almost evenly with the option yes having the most votes, so that points to a generally good employer.

Mostly NO 18% Mostly Yes 19% No 19% Yes 44%

The next question asked whether the workers were looking for another employer (or considering it). The majority of 40 people answered that they are not looking for anything else. 15 people (18.99 %) of the respondents nevertheless plan to find new work for themselves. And 12 people couldn't decide on the precise answer. 15.91 % answered with the most likely option and 15.91 % of the respondents answered that most likely not.

The following question asked whether the employees like to come to work. Respondents answered as follows: 44.30 % of respondents answered yes, 20 (25.32 %) workers answered no, and 24 persons couldn't decide on the exact answer. 13 of the workers inclined towards the positive side and 11 people (13.92 %) were more for the negative answer. Mostly No 14% Mostly Yes 16% No 25% Yes 45%

The seventh question asked whether the employees think that Tesco helps its employees to develop themselves, if the Tesco company provides them with enough

employees (35 %)agree with this statement. 20 people who make up nearly 25 % of the whole answered that the are not provided with such opportunities. 18,99 % doubt that their employer gives them such opportunity, 5 people most likely agree with it, but aren't really sure. And 11.39 % of the respondents inclined to the negative answer, that such an opportunity is not present. Nevertheless, the employer can be sure that it does a lot for the growth of the employees because 60 % of respondents confirmed it.

The following question gave the workers the opportunity to grade the employer on a five-point scale (1 maximum assessment) in accordance to how the company cares about their employees. The highest assessment given by 39 employees(49.37 %). 2 was awarded to the employer by 12.66 %, in other words by 10 people. The grade 3 was given by 12 people and only 2 people gave Tesco a 4. And at last one, the worst assessment, was given out by 20.25 % of the respondents. This is depicted in the following graph..

"1" 49% "2" 13% "3" 15% "4" 3% "5" 20%

The following question asked whether they would recommend Tesco as an employer to a friend. 32 respondents (40.51 %) would do so with great pleasure, 15.91 % wouldn't do it, and the rest of the 35 wouldn’t think about it that much as the consider Tesco to be at least a good and honest employer.

Relationship with bosses 49% Relationship with colleagues 19% Low salary 13% Inability to career growth 16% Other 3%

And the last question asks about what bothers the workers most at their work. the majority of 49% of people consider the interpersonal relations important and has some troubles with their bosses and 19% has troubles with their colleagues. About 13% of the respondents are upset about their low salary and 16% of the respondents are afraid that the will not be able to grow professionally in their position. And the rest, about 3% of the

respondents are more disturbed by other things than the above-mentioned. This research shows a different side to the overall story. Nonetheless, the majority of the employees is satisfied with their jobs.

4. Conclusions

The analysis of Tesco (the selected company) was conducted successfully – enough information was gathered in order to either accept or reject the previously stated hypotheses.

The first hypotheses: Tesco has a well developed Human Resource management

system with great emphasis on the satisfaction of the employee can be accepted. The

research showed, that Tesco puts great emphasis on the satisfaction of their employees. The services provided range from information availability to training and feedback systems.

Tesco is well aware of the fact that proper care of employees promotes employee satisfaction. Safety and health precautions are all in place and the working environment is constantly being developed according to the employees’ needs.

Tesco also conducts regular surveys called “Our Opinion” where the employees share their views about the work in general, the working environment and where they can also express their own ideas for improvement. Tesco managers pay great attention to these surveys and try to do their best to improve as much as they can.

Another important aspect is that Tesco has well developed its internal

communication via the Intranet. Communication with employees is very important not only to keep the employees updated, but also to inform them about current events. Tesco sees it as essential to keeping their customers up to date, which is a good thing and also contributes to the acceptance of the first hypothesis.

The proper care for its employees can also be seen in the way they care about their new employees. In the introductory period, the new employees are introduced to the

corporate culture and structure of the company, they are provided with welcoming brochures, they are guided by supervisors for the first several months of their new job and they are also enrolled in special training sessions. These training sessions provide proper information needed for their job as well as learning new skills in order to perform their new jobs better.

It is also important to mention that these training sessions are not provided only for the new employees, but also for the current employees, for whoever wishes to attend and expand their views or knowledge as further development in their jobs. All these factors also contribute to the acceptance of the first hypothesis.

Tesco also holds Employment Forums where the supervisors and managers listen to the ideas of the regular employees of lower non-management positions. This also shows that Tesco really cares about their employees.

The compensation of employees is also relatively competitive. Tesco was able to raise their salaries by 3.5% on average even during the economic crisis in the past years, as well as offer different form of remuneration to its employees. Tesco also holds a hire-from- within culture that shows trust towards its employees. So, these facts also support the first hypothesis.

The second stated hypotheses: Tesco implements Human Resource goals into their

overall business strategy can be partly rejected, but the answer is not so simple. Tesco does

have specific HR goals and visions set, and as can be seen above, Tesco really takes good care of their employees, but the overall vision of the company is as follows: “The vision of the company is based on high quality goods, low prices and continuous improvement of

services.” That does not really include its employees. But, Tesco is currently one of the most desired employers, so the idea that they have an employee strategy and goals concerning the employees has to be known somehow.

The focus on employee welfare is obvious, even though it is not included in the public vision of the company. The HR department has its goals and ideas clearly set. Otherwise the focus would not be so great.

The internal plans obviously calculate with the focus on employees and their well- being, because Tesco’s focus is not only on high profitability, but also on its employees who, in Tesco’s definition, form the basis of its success. This shows great emphasis on the employees as being essential parts of the company. Nonetheless, not all strategic plans for the future can mention anything about employees (i.e. finances or sales goals).

We can easily conclude, that Tesco values its employees and does as much as it can to help them feel valued and develop their skills to better suit their occupation and further career. The internal plans for the employees look great, but as the primary research showed, the employees feel the need for more and better care. Tesco should definitely focus even more on their own employees than in does now, all of them.

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