Competency Mapping for Frontline Employees at Odyssey India Ltd

Summer Internship Program 2010 A REPORT ON A STUDY ON COMPETENCY MAPPING FOR FRONT-LINE WORKERS IN ODYSSEY INDIA LIMITED [pic] [pic] By T. Bhuvaneshwari. 09BS0000567 [pic] May 2010 A REPORT ON A STUDY OF COMPETENCY MAPPING FOR THR FRONTLINE WORKERS IN ODYSSEY INDIA LIMITED A report submitted as partial fulfillment of the requirement of MBA Program of IBS FACULTY GUIDE COMPANY GUIDE Mrs. Poornima Mr. Karthikeyan. S IBS Bangalore Faculty Assistant HR Manager Odyssey India Limited. By

T. Bhuvaneshwari 09BS0000567 ICFAI BUSINESS SCHOOL, BANGALORE [pic] May, 2010 DECLARATION I hereby declare that the work being presented here is an authentic record of original work done by me on the summer internship project, A STUDY ON COMPETENCY MAPPING FOR THE FRONTLINE EMPLOYEES AT ODYSSEY INDIA LTD under the guidance of Dr. C. Poornima and is in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of Masters of Business Administration. I also certify that this work has not been submitted else where for the award of any other degree. Place : Bangalore T. Bhuvaneshwari. Date: CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the project entitled A study on competency mapping for front line employees at Odyssey India Ltd. being submitted to ICFAI BUSINESS SCHOOL, BANGALORE by, Miss. T. Bhuvaneshwari. For the award of the degree of MASTERS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION is a bona-fide record of independent project work carried out by her under our guidance and supervision. This has not been partially or fully submitted for the award of any diploma or degree or similar title to any other university or institution. Dr. Poornima C Mr. Karthikeyan. S Faculty Guide Company Guide IBS Bangalore Odyssey India Ltd ACKNOWLEDGEMENT This report is a representation of my learning during Summer Internship Program. I am deeply indebted to innumerable people for their support towards shaping my knowledge in the field of Human Resource.

I express my profound gratitude to Odyssey India Ltd for giving me an opportunity to perform a project on A Study of Competency Mapping for Front-Line Employees at Odyssey India Ltd . I am heartily thankful to Mr. T.S Ashwin, Managing Director Odyssey India Limited for given me an opportunity to do the project I express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Venkataraama Murthy S., Head- Employee Engagement for given me the full support to complete this project. I express my sincere gratitude to my Company Guide Mr. Karthikeyan. S, Assistant Manager Employee Engagement, for his support and guidance which showed me the right direction for the completion of this project. I thank my Faculty Guide Dr. Poornima C, IBS Bangalore, who has supported me and helped me a lot to complete this project successfully. I also thank all the Department Managers for showing keen interest in the study and for giving valuable information and suggestions from time to time, as and when required. I express my cordial thanks and acknowledgements to all the Odyssey Employees for taking out time from their busy schedule and providing me with relevant information, which contributed a lot in my project analysis. Table of Contents Abstract.Pg 7 Industry Profile 1. Industry Profile ..Pg 8 to 9 Company Profile 1. Company profilePg 20 to 35 Literature Review 1. Literature Review..Pg 36 to 49 Introduction 1. Introduction..Pg 50 to 53 Data Analysis 1. Data AnalysisPg 54 to 75

Findings 1. Findings.Pg 76 to 78 Recommendations 1. Recommendations. Pg 79 to 80 Conclusion 1. Conclusion.Pg 81 to 83 References 1. ReferencePg 84 to 85 Annexure 1. QuestionnairesPg 86 ABSTRACT In this technological world each and every organizations buzz word is Competency mapping. They want to know whether they are placing the right person for the right job. This project is an in-depth study of Competency Mapping for front line workers at Odyssey India Limited. Odyssey is one of the leading leisure retail showroom that wings its operations all over India. In recent times the penetration of the retail showrooms in India remains high. This project attempts to analyze the gap between the desired level of competencies that an employee should possess and the actual level of competency possessed by the employee to do the job in best possible manner. INDUSTRY PROFILE 1. Industry profile Background of retail: The word retail is derived from the French word Retailer meaning to cut a piece off or to break bulk. Retailing can be defined as the buying and selling of goods and services. It is also be defined as the timely delivery of goods and services demanded by the customers at prices that are competitive and affordable. Retailing involves a direct interface with the customers and the co-ordination of business activities right from the concept of manufacturing to its delivering service to the customers. Evolution of retail sector:

Retail, one of the largest sectors in the global economy, is going through transition phase not only in India but the world over. The retail industry had contributed to the economic growth of many countries and is undoubtedly one of the fastest changing and dynamic industries in the world. For a long time, the grocery store was the only choice available to the consumers, especially in the urban areas. The retail scenario is one of the fastest growing industries in India over the last couple of years. Indian retail sectors comprises of organized retail and unorganized retail. Traditionally the retail market in India was largely unorganized; however with the changing consumer preferences, organized retail sector is gradually becoming popular. Unorganized retailing consists of small and medium grocery store, medicine stores, kirana stores, paan shops etc Organized retail in India is expected to grow 25-30 percent yearly and is expected to Rs 109,000 crore by 2010. Indian Retail Sector: India is one of the worlds largest and highly fragmented Retail markets globally with the higher retail outlets in the world crossing over 12 million with unorganized players accounting for around 5% of market share. Among this unorganized player more than 80 percent of these run as small family businesses in small towns and cities in the form of Kirana stores , push cart vendors, Melas and Mandis. In terms of employment the retail outlet in the unorganized sector feeds a household of six to seven members. The big retail players are beginning to realize the significance of this untapped market by entering these markets and are being accepted by these rural consumers. The rural retail revenues are estimated to increase by 60 percent by 2010. The Indian retail industry can therefore be broadly classified into organized and unorganized retailing. Unorganized sector constitutes of the local kiranas, hand cart, the vendors on the pavement etc Unorganized retailing is still the backbone of the Indian retail industry contributing to over 95 percent of total revenues. The organized sector on the other hand trading undertaken by the licensed retailers who have registered themselves to sales as well as income tax. This modern retail has entered India as seen in sprawling shopping centers, multi-storeyed malls and huge complexes offer shopping, entertainment and food all under one roof. |Percentage of Organized and Unorganized Retail across the world : | || |[pic] | |Retailing is the most active and attractive sector of the last decade. While the retailing industry has been present throughout history in |

|our country, it is only in the recent past that it has witnessed so much dynamism. With the liberalization and growth of the Indian economy | |since the early 1990s the Indian customer witnessed an increasing exposure to new domestic and foreign products through different media, | |such as television and internet. | || |Apart from this, social changes such as increase in the number of nuclear families and the growing number of working couples resulting in | |increased spending power, also contributed to the increase in the Indian consumers personal consumption. These changes had a positive impact,| |leading to the rapid growth in the retail industry. Increased availability of retail space, rapid urbanization and qualified manpower also | |boosted the growth of the organized retailing sector. | |The retail sector contributes to highest percentage of employment after agriculture. Indian retail industry has seen a phenomenal growth in | |the last five years. Organized retailing has finally emerged from the shadow of unorganized retailing and is contributing significantly to | |the growth of Indian retail sector. | |Retailing has a great impact on economic development of a nation. It provides employment opportunities to the poorest and unskilled. | |Recognizing the short term and long term growth of retail in India, a number of domestic business giants have entered the retail industry. | |Reliance Retail have just entered and opened up a number of stores across the country. Still other domestic players like Birla and Bharti are| |planning their foray into this sector. | |Retailing formats in India: | |Malls: |

|Malls are the largest form of organized retailing today, located main in metro cities, in proximity to urban outskirts. The total sq. ft of | |this kind of malls ranges from 60,000 sq. ft to 70,000 sq. ft. They lend an ideal shopping experience with a mixture of products, services, | |and entertainment. | |Discount Stores: | |As the name suggests, discount stores of factory outlets, offer discounts on the MRP through selling in bulk reaching economies of scale or | |excess stock left over at the season. The product category can range from a variety of perishable and non-perishable goods. | |Department Stores: | |Large stores ranging from 20000 50000 sq. ft, catering to a variety of consumer needs. It is further classified into localized departments | |such as clothing, toys, home, groceries, etc | |Hypermarkets/ Supermarkets: | |Large self-service outlets, catering to varied shopper needs are termed as Supermarkets. These are located in or near residential high | |streets. These stores today contribute to 30% of all food and grocery organized retail sales. Super markets can be further classified into | |mini supermarkets typically range from 1000 sq. ft to 200 sq. ft and large super markets ranging from 3500 sq. ft to 5000 sq. ft, having a | |strong focus on food and grocery and personal sales. | |Convenience Stores: | |These are relatively small stores ranging from 400 2000 sq. ft located near residential areas. They stock a limited range of convenience | |products and are usually open for extended periods during the day, seven days a week. Prices are slightly high due to convenience premium. | |MBO: |

|Multi Brand outlets, also known as Category killers, offer several brands across a single product category. These usually do well in busy | |market places and Metros. | |The growth factors of the retail sector of Indian economy: | |The Indian retail industry today is the 5th largest destination and the second most attractive market for invest in the globe after Vietnam | |as reported by AT Kearneys seventh annual Global Retail Development Index(GRDI), in 2009. The growing popularity of the Indian retail sector | |has resulted in a growing awareness about brands and quality products. As a whole Indian retail sector has made life convenient, easy, quick | |and affordable. | |Some of the factors that influence the growth of retail sector in India are. | |Increase in per capita income which in turn increases the household consumption. | |Demographical changes and improvements in the standard of living. | |Improvements of infrastructure | |Estimates revealed that there are more English speaking people in India than European and Asian continents. | |The energy in terms of new investment is expected towards Supermarkets and Hypermarkets. | |Consumer expenditure has been growing at a healthy 10% per annum in the past two years. | |Global Retail Scenario: | |Globally, retailing is the largest revenue generator and employment provider next to agriculture. Retail industry is predominant in developed| |countries like USA, UK etc In India it is an upcoming industry. The industry accounts for over 8% of the GDP in western economies. Following| |are the five largest retailers in the world | |Rank | |Retailer |

|Country | || |1 | |Wal-Mart Stores Inc | |USA | || |2 | |Carrefour Group | |France | || |3 | |The Kroger Group | |USA | || |4 | |The Home Depot Inc | |USA | || |5 | |Metro | |Germany | || |Growth of Global Retail Market: |

|The confluence of market forces has created an extremely complex climate for the global retail industry. In mature markets, retail sector is | |challenged by its inability to grow and maintain profit margins as a result of a constrained operating environment, market maturity & | |situation, slow population growth and more demanding consumers as well as highly volatile consumer behavior. | |[pic] | |The issues that were competing for the retailers from the past 2 years are the power of technology, product transparency, privacy and | |security. | |To maintain the highest level of profitability, retailers are establishing a presence in fertile markets. Retail organizations now view their| |potential market share to include worldwide consumers, not just customers in their home country. Among the top 5 retailers in the world in | |terms of the revenue the largest retailer in the world is, Wal-Mart which has its headquarters in US. The second largest retailer in the | |world is Carrefour of France. | || |Most Preferred International Retail Markets: | |The following table gives the top 15 countries which has the highest presence of international players in their retail market. India ranks 44| |in the list. | |Rank | |Country | |%of International Retailers Present | || ||

|UK | |55% | || || |Spain | |51% | || || |France | |49% | || || |Germany | |47% | || || |Italy | |45% | || || |Switzerland | |42% | || ||

|Austria | |42% | || || |United Arab Emirates | |41% | || || |China | |40% | || || |Russia | |39% | || || |United States | |39% | || || |Netherlands | |38% | || ||

|Singapore | |38% | || || |Belgium | |37% | || || |Ireland | |35% | || || |Present State of Global retail industry: | |It was predicted in the Deloitte report, 2008 Industry Outlook: A look around the corner. U.S. retailing is challenging due to fears | |about the housing market, tightening credit, not to mention high gas price and cost of living increases. | |One of the most exciting things to watch in the global retail landscape is the growth and influence of emerging markets from the country like| |India, Brazil, Russia and China. China is already a strong global performer and represented in the top 10 most international markets. | |Future Trends of Retail Industry: | |Lifestyle International, a division of Landmark Group, plans to have more than 50 stores across India by 2012-13 | |Shoppers Stop has plans to invest Rs 250 crore to open 15 new supermarkets in the coming three years. |

|Pantaloon Retail India (PRIL) plans to invest US$77.88 million this fiscal to add up to existing 2.4 million sq. ft retail space. PRIL | |intends to set up 155 Big Bazaar stores by 2014, raising its total network to 275 stores. | |Retailers are buoyant about their revival in the year 2010. Plausible revival signs for retail are on the horizon in big cities like | |Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Estimates state that shopping fever would soon spread to the other cities. Industry analyst forecast a drastic | |retail expansion during 2010 with many Retail giants expanding their presence in II and III tier cities. | || COMPANY PROFILE 2. Company Profile. Odyssey India Limited [pic] started to fly its wings in the Retail sector in the year 1995 in the southern part of India, Chennai, Adyar. Odyssey India Limited is a 100% subsidiary of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, a part of Deccan Chronicle Group. The main aim of Odyssey is to fulfill all the needs of the consumers and to provide a relaxed and restful ambience for the end customers. Odyssey positioned itself as a Leisure store that offers lifestyle products that include books, music, cards, stationery, gifts, toys, multimedia etc The target customers of Odyssey are the high class customers who are having a significant disposable income. Vision: To create a world-class multinational retail chain, which is global in thought and local in action Mission: We will nurture and build strong relationship with our customers, employees and associates. We will also embrace change, seek and pursue new ideas with the end aim of being the best in the business. Milestones: o 1995 Company Incorporated and first store opened in Chennai

o 1998 Relocation & expansion of Adaiyar Store. o 1999 Opening of a satellite store in Hotel Radission o 2002 Opened stores in Varanasi, Hyderabad, & Trichy o 2003 Opened store in Coimbatore o 2004 Opened second store in Chennai, Launch of Odyssey ICICI Bank Co-Branded Credit Card. Opened store in Salem o 2005 Opened third store in Chennai, Anna Nagar Company Acquired by Deccan Chronicle Holdings limited Relocation and Expansion of Adyar Store o 2006 Opened first store in Nagpur o 2007 Opened first store in Bangalore at Jaya Nagar Opened first store in New Delhi & NCR (Noida) Opened first store in Mumbai Opened first store in Caf Coffee Day, Bangalore, Koramangala Opened second store in HJyderabad Opened second store in Bangalore Opened first store in Pune Opened third store in Bangalore and Hyderabad Opened fourth store in Bangalore Opened sixth store in Chennai o 2008 Opened first store in Kozhikode Opened 2 stores in Chennai 4 more outlets in Bangalore

 Opened 2 stores inn HPCL retail outlet in Chennai and Mumbai Opened the largest Leisure Store in Hyderabad, Jubilee hills Opened ninth store in Bangalore and Chennai Opened Sixth store in Hyderabad o 2009 Opened second store in Mumbai Opened six stores in DMRC Opened tenth store in Chennai (Infosys) Opened three store in NDIA Keys persons of Odyssey India Limited: Mr. Ashwin T.S, Managing Director Mr. Ravi Phuja, VP Operations Mr. Harsh R. Grandhe, VP- Marketing Mr. R. Madhusudan Reddy, Head Sourcing (Books) Mr. Ashwin Harwalkar, AVP Operations Mr. Sriram Srinivassan, Head, HR Mr. Manoharan, Head Finance & Accounts Mr. Sunil Inasu, Head, Store Planning & Projects Mr. David Daniel Selvaraj, Head Sourcing (Toys) Mr. Anand Menon, Head, Sourcing (Gifts) Mr. Vaideshwaran, Head, Sourcing (Stationery) Mr. Thilak R Mullath, Head Sourcing ( Music) Mr. Vignesh Kadirvel, Head IT Mr. Parthasarathy, Head, The Eyewear Store Mr. Suraash, Head, Marketing

Mr. Suresh Kumar D, Head, SCM lLevels in Regional Office: Level 8 Vice President Level 7B Assistant Vice President Level 7A General Manager Level 6B Assistant General Manager Level 6A Sr. Manager Level 5B Store Manager Level 5A Store manager Level 4 Assistant Store Manager Level 3B Manager in Training Level 3A Sr. Category Executive Level 2 Sr. Customer Support Associate, Sr. Back office Associate, Sr. Cashier, Sr. Maintenance Associate Level 1 Customer Support Associate, Back Office Associate, Cashier, Maintenance Associate. Structure of Odyssey India Limited: Organization Chart: Formats of Odyssey India Limited: Odyssey is following two types of formats for their stores. They are, 1. Large Format Store 2. Express Format Store Large Format Store: Large Format Stores are that setup across major metros & tier II cities in India with minimum built up are of 6000 sq. ft. Odyssey currently operates 17 stores under this format and this kind of large format stores are located at all over India. In Tamilnadu, Odyssey is having Large format

Stores at Chennai, Coimbatore, and Salem & Trichy. In Andhra Pradesh this large format store is situated in twin cities called Hyderabad and Secundrabad. In Karnataka it is in Bangalore and in Kerala it is in Kozhikode, in Maharashtra it is Mumbai, Pune & Nagpur. In NCR it is in Noida & Ghaziabad, in Delhi it is in Domestic Airport T1D, DMRC. Large format stores are called stand alone store which are the major revenue generators for Odyssey. Express Format Store: Odyssey is not only famous for Large Format Stores but also for Express Format Stores located at Tier II cities in India with a built up area of 6000 sq. ft. Odyssey is operating 29 stores under this format as sub-formats and located in high streets, residential/ commercial catchments including IT parks, Airports, Railway Stations, Petrol Pumps in Metros and Tier II cities. Sub-formats of Express Format Stores: Petrol Bunk HPCL Stores Odyssey has a tie up with Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited to open their stores in various HPCL Petrol Pumps. Stores have been set up in their premium outlets in Chennai, Bangalore & Mumbai. These kinds of stores are usually called Shop- in Shops that ranges from 500 sq. ft to 2000 sq. ft of area. IT Parks Stores: Bangalore city is famous for IT parks. Odyssey started its stores in famous IT parks like Wipro, Infosys, Olympia, and RMZ with the total area ranges from 150-2000 sq. ft area. Hotel Stores: Odyssey is basically selling the products by targeting the high class customers. To attract more of high class customers, Odyssey has opened its stores in famous 5 star and 7 star hotels that spread between 100 sq. ft 500 sq. ft. At present odyssey is operating its express store in Hotel Radisson in Chennai. Railway Station Stores: At present Odyssey is having an arrangement with Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to set up & run 25 stores by targeting 260 million passengers annually. Airport Stores: Odyssey has opened Express Format Store in three airports, Bangalore international Airport, Hyderabad Rajiv Gandhi international Airport and Delhi Indira Gandhi Airport (DIAL). These kinks of stores are located in more than one location inside the Airport.

Club Stores This kind of express stores situated inside the Clubs. Club kind of stores provides good ambience, wide range of products at special prices to the members of the club and for the staff. At present this club store is located in Presidency Club in Chennai. Some of the value additions inside Odyssey Stores: Caf in stores Floral Services Apart from providing good ambience, good service, to the customers Odyssey is also providing chance for the customers to chill out themselves by having a cup of coffee from a Coffee Day located inside the store and to give some flower bouquets to their loved ones from the Flower Xpress store. At present Caf Coffee Day & Flower Xpress has opened at Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, Anna Nagar, Chennai, Focus mall, Calicut and set to open in all Large Format Stores across the country. Products of Odyssey India Limited: Odyssey is selling different categories of products in different brands on each of its products to its valuable customers. As a leisure store Odyssey is offering consumers lifestyle products that include; Books Music Cards Stationery Gifts Toys Multimedia Books: Odyssey offers a wide range of books that includes fiction, non-fiction, humor, business & management, self help, computing, reference, art & architecture, literature and childrens books. The main vendors of this category product are Penguin Group, Harvard Business Publishing, Random House Inc., Wiley, Marvel, and also a large range of Japanese comics called Manga.

Apart from selling common books Odyssey is offering some graphic novels that includes some of the biggest stars like Superman, Batman, Spiderman etc., Music & Multimedia: For all the music lovers Odyssey is the right place for the customers where they can find all kinds of music starting from pop, rock, jazz, blues, reggae, classical, devotional, filmy, Indi-pop and more. Each and every genre is having more than 10,000 titles that includes both Indian and International titles. Apart from selling only music titles Odyssey is also offering Multimedia and Accessories from leading consoles like PlayStation, Xbox 360, Nintendo, offering more than 4000 items. Toys: Toys, is one of the important category in Odyssey in which the sales of the category products are higher than other categories. The main products of this category are action toys, puzzles, educational toys, games, toddler range, soft toys which are specially imported from foreign countries. Odyssey is also offering a wide range of MAD products. The main vendors of this category product are Disney, Funskool, Mattel, and Cartoon Network. Odyssey introducing a concept called The Color Factory for the first time in India, A do-ityourself pottery caf where customers can paint their own designs to create a customized pottery. Gifts & Home Decors: Odyssey is offering a fine collection of gifts, variety of cards, and huge collections of home decors products made up of Jute, Leather, Glass etc, Jewelry, Watches, Cosmetics, Perfumes, Accessories, Crystal-ware, Figurines, and Crockery etc The main vendors are Victorinox, Zippo, Portico, Sathyapaul, Ferrari, Hidesign etc Stationery & Cards: Odyssey is selling fine stationeries that stretch from the very basic to the premium brands having a range of over 6000 varieties in writing instruments, files & folders, table top accessories, notebooks. These kinds of products are given by very qualified vendors like Montex, Waterman, Steadler, Faber Castel, Pentel, Bilt, Flair, Archies, and Travel Blue etc Odyssey also offering various kinds of Cards that suits for every occasion starts from New Year cards to Christmas cards, each one gives various ways to express their emotions. Odyssey to open in Express Avenue, Chennai:

Odyssey India Ltd, the Leisure retail arm and 100 percent subsidiary of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, is set to roll out its large format store in Express Avenue Mall Chennai, by the end of April this year. The store will occupy 25,000 sq. ft of retail space. Odyssey has firther planned to roll out two another large format stores in Brookefields Mall, Coimbatore and Prozone Mall, Aurangabad, which will be spread over an area of 13000 square feet and 9300 sq. ft respectively. Odysseys current retail network is mostly operating in South, West and North India including Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Delhi/NCR, to drive the maximum leverage of the existing back-end support infrastructure. Mr. T.S Ashwin, Managing Director of Odyssey India Limited, said in an interview, that over the last two years, they have been streamlining their strategy and consolidating their operations to bring in more focus and efficiently and to strengthen the bottom line. One of the decisions taken was to concentrate and build their brands in states where they are already have their back-end setup in place rather than expand into newer territories where they need to invest and again build from scratch. Hence their current expansion for all their brands and formats is happening in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and NCR. In metros such as Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore they prefer standalone formats as there are lot of neighborhoods that provide good stand alone options. In cities like Mumbai, Delhi, they prefer mall stores as a lot of good mall options are coming up and the available standalone options are mostly viable either financially or operationally. Other Wings of Odyssey India limited: Odyssey is basically a 100% subsidiary of Deccan Chronicle Group. Currently Odyssey has different store formats such as large format, Express format, and stores at Airport, Metro Stations, and Hotel/Clubs, IT parks, Petrol Bunks, Eyewear store, Vending machine and newly added format Editions. Some of the new extensions of Odyssey India Limited are, Editions Eyewear Store(eyewearstore.com) Toyopia Odyssey 360 Editions: Odyssey a Leisure store adds color to its picture by opening three stores in Bangalore. One among them is Editions, Pens of the World is the latest offering by Odyssey to the customers

having a flair for premium and luxury writing instruments. The first EDITIONS store was launched at Ampa Skywalk Mall, Chennai with the retail space of 700 sq.ft. Some of the popular brands are Visconti, Marlen, Stipula, Signum , Onoto, Kynsey, Waldmann, Diplomat, Online, etc They are going to launch this store in the following three formats, Stand Alone Flagship Stores: This kind of store will operate in a retail space of around 2000 sq. ft carpet area stocking wide range of premium, luxury and limited editions of writing instruments. Smaller Stores in Malls: This kind of stores will operate in a retail space of around 500 600 sq. ft area stocking wide range of entry level, premium and limited range of luxury writing instruments. Shop-in-Shop : This kind of stores will be opened in Odyssey large format stores and other lifestyle stores. The total are will comes around 200 300 sq. ft area stocking range of entry level and premium writing instruments. Eyewear Store: Eyewear is the other diversification of Odysseys business. Eyewear as a category for Odyssey offers a wide of glasses, coolers, for all kinds of customers. The store offers a plethora of prescription frames and sunglasses from popular brands to some of the biggest names in fashion. They offer with state-of-the-art eye testing machine, highly trained staff, advanced contact lenses clinic. They also offer over 600 designs to choose from and also designers frames. One more value addition for this store is the dedicated eyewear unit for children. For children kind of customers they are offering featuring funky shades, and also featured in the store is a series of reading in the store is a series of reading glasses by some of leading brands in the segment. Toyopia: Toyopia is another latest addition to the Odysseys business. As Odyssey is getting more sales from the toys category, so they thought to establish an independent toy store under the brand name TOYOPIA. The first store is going to open in Bangalore very soon. Toyopia will have exclusive toys that may not available elsewhere in India like soft toys, play tents, wind up toys, science kits, scale models cars and many more. The main brands for the soft toys are Disney,

Play & Pets, Wild Republic, Best-Made, and for Scale Models, the main brands are Nikko, Maista, Hornby etc These are the new diversifications in the business of Odyssey India Limited. Literature Review 3. Literature Review Introduction to Competency At the heart of any successful activity lies a competence or a skill. In todays competitive world it is become very important to build the competitive activities of business. There has been much thinking about business strategy over the last few decades, particularly regarding what competencies a business needs to have in order to compete in a specific environment. All organizations are talking about competencies. Some organization has truly worked on this concept but some organizations still struggling in implementing this competency modeling. The process is completely customizable. The decisions of competency design are driven by number of organizational factors, including management philosophy, customer requirements, business needs, and in-place processes. These factors vary from one organization to other organization. What is a Competency? Is competency and competence are same? Competence means a skill and the standard of performance reached, while Competency refers to the behavior by which it is achieved. In the other words, one describes what people can do while the other focuses on how they do it. The plural of each word, gives two different meanings. Competences refers to range of skills which are satisfactorily performed, while Competencies; refers to the behavior adopted in the competent performance. Competence Competency Skill based Behavior Based Standard attained Manner of behavior What is measured? How the standard is achieved There are various definitions of competency. Hogg (1993) defined competency as Competencies are the characteristics of a person that leads to the demonstration of skills and abilities, which result in effective performance within an occupational area.

Another relevant definition, widely accepted among human resources specialist in the corporate environments, is Underlying characteristic of a person which results in effective and /or superior performance of the job. There are five types of competency characteristics. They are, Motives Drive, Direct or Select towards certain actions or goals Traits Physical characteristics and consistent responses to situations or information. Self- Concept A person attitude or self image Knowledge - Information a person has in specific content areas. Skill The ability to perform a certain physical or mental task The ice-berg model says that, knowledge and skill competencies tend to be visible but, Selfconcept, Trait and Motive competencies are more hidden, deeper and central to personality. Types of Competencies: Technical or Functional Competencies: Knowledge, Attitude and Skills associated with the technology or functional expertise to perform the role. Managerial: Knowledge, Attitude and Skills required planning, organizing, mobilizing and utilizing various resources. Human: Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills required to motivate, utilize and develop human resources. Conceptual: The abilities needed to visualize the invisible, think at abstract levels and use the thinking to plan future business. Developing Competency Model: The key to gaining a competitive edge is the ability of the workforce of an organization to maximize the advantages of state-of-the art technology, superior products, and steady source of capital to enter into the market place. Many organizations have thus developed competency models to help them identify the essential knowledge, skills and attributes needs for successful performance in a job. A competency model describes the combination of knowledge, skills and characteristics needed to effectively performed a role in an organization and is used as a human resource tool for selection, training and development, appraisal and succession planning. Every Competency Model should include the following:

1. The significance of the competency model elements is that it should be developed for meeting the organizations strategic business objectives. 2. The model developed is expected to produce outputs or results of the performance. 3. The roles that performers will assume when performing in a particular task or job. 4. The competencies that must use for producing successful performance outputs. 5. The competencies identified, must be able to distinguish the performance of exemplary performers from that of their fully successful colleagues who perform the same work. 6. It should help in differentiating best performers from average. 7. For each competency, behavioral indicators are included that describe when the competency is appropriately being used for performance effectiveness identification. The Lanchester Model of Managerial Competencies: The Lanchester model of Managerial Competencies is a universal management competency framework, developed by Burgoyne and Stuart (1976). This model says that 11 qualities separated into three groups, for three different levels. The first level forms the foundation level, and comprises of two kinds of basic knowledge and information a manager needs to use in decision making and action taking. The Lanchester (Burgoyne) Model of Managerial Competencies Competency Mapping: Definition of Competency Mapping: So what does Competency Mapping really mean? Competency Mapping is a process of identifying key competencies for a company or institution and the jobs and functions within it. It is a process through which one assesses and determines ones strengths as an individual worker and in some cases, as part of an organization. It generally examines the strength of the individual in areas like team structure, leadership, and decision making. Competency Mapping has a direct linkage to the overall package of Performance, Appraisal, Counseling, Training and Development . Some of the tools used in Competency Mapping are: 1. Structure Questionnaire 2. BEI

3. 360 Degree feedback Form 4. Structure Interview Structured Questionnaire: Questionnaires may be valuable instruments for gathering data about competencies, which are vital or relevant to successful performance of a job or group of jobs. If there is no. of jobs with same titles across an organization, a questionnaire can be used to gather a large amount of data in a standard format from many people both quickly and inexpensively. It is valuable to obtain the view of not only the job holders, but also of their bosses, who are likely to have a broader perspective of the job context and of all the interrelationships. In addition to showing those competencies which are relavant, results can also be presented to display competencies on which respondents disagree. Common method of job analysis is Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) as developed by Hay Mcber, Consultants. Each method ahs its own pros and cons and there is no single way to produce consistent results. Behavioral Event Interview: Behavioral Event Interview (BEI) is an interview technique based on the premise that the best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. BEI allows the interviewer to: Gain detailed job - related examples Assess past performance Assess competencies The aim is to improve the fit between the candidate and the position. The purpose of BEI is to best match the candidates skills, competencies and motives with the requirements and success factors of the position. It is widely recognized that selection interviews are prone to problems such as bias and show inadequacy as predictors of performance. However they are also the most popular selection method and serve a number of important functions, such as providing the interviewee with a opportunity to ask questions about the job and the organization. 360 Degree Form Feedback: The 360- degree feedback process provides key inputs by helping participants to gain an insight into their strengths and weaknesses. It also becomes the basis for the participants in deciding to try and approach the exercise situations differently. This assessment tool asks the respondents

to indicate to what extent they agree with the statements related to each of the competencies assessed. A 5 point scale or 6 point scale can be used to capture responses to all questions. This scale has been translated into ratings out of 100 to facilitate interpretation. Almost, Always 100 Usually to a great extent 75 Sometimes, to a moderate extent 50 To a small extent 25 Never Not at all - 0 Structured Interview: The interview with the employees is an important source of information for the one who is doing this competency mapping. We can conduct this interview with the frontline workers like CSAs, and for Store Managers. We can ask different questions with the good performed employees and less performed employees. For ex., for good performers, What knowledge and skills are required for the job? What are the attributes of your success? What makes you good at obtaining business results? What are the competencies one should possess in your position? How would these help others to become more effective in their position? Another group of less successful employees may be asked the following questions: How skilled were when you started with the job? What are the competencies needed for that job position? What can you do now to become more effective? Steps involved in the process: First: A job analysis is carried out by asking employees that asks them to describe what they are doing, and what skills, attitudes and abilities they need to have perform it well.

Second: Having discovered the similarities in the questionnaires, a competency based questionnaire is crafted and presented to the personnel department for their agreement and additions if any. Third: Having agreed on the job requirements and the skills and attitudes needed to progress within it and become more productive, when one starts mapping the capability of the employees to the benchmarks. These give an adept HR manager a fairly good picture of the employee to see whether he/ she need to perform better or to move up a notch on the scale. I t helps in determining the training and development needs and importantly it helps to encourage the best and develop the rest. A win-win situation for everyone . Issues regarding Competency Mapping: How will the organization use the results? Competency models and their application usually create a certain fear and skeptic. The management of change is not easy. Leadership questions how to make use of it in alignment with the organizations strategy. The results may be used for downsizing, promotions or selections, etc. Competency assessment will rank the employees, indicate future needs, determine whether positive business results were generated or raise skills that target learning and development activities. The end result will be used for the development of the employees to succeed or be used as a punitive measure. The higher the level of trust between the management and employees, the higher would be the willingness to be candid and accurate in assessment What is the value addition for the organization? There may be various desired outcomes. Requirement of quality certification programme for staying in business. Enhance organizations stature and competitive position. Improved recruitment and selection processes. Right people in the right jobs internally. Developing people in time and according to the needs. Better performance and the dropping of unnecessary development activities by focusing on the need of the job.

 Overall organizational performance by capturing market share, improved customer service, innovation, improved efficiency, decrease in time to market and better decisions. What is the value addition for the Employees? Clarity of processes, skills and knowledge required to meet the established standards. Knowledge about where employees meet required qualifications , thus not wasting time in unnecessary development activities Determines competencies for the jobs that an employee aspires for. Each employee came to know their strengths and weakness More opportunities in the form of new positions and available promotions with the growth of organization. Availabilities of information to determine job qualifications and to fill in employees gaps. Common Pitfalls in implementing a competency mapping system: Lack of internal rooting Lack of information Lack of co-ordination The wrong time Wrong use of tools No consequence analysis INTRODUCTION 4. Introduction Over the past 10 years, Human Resource and Organizational Development professionals have generated a lot of interest in the notion of competencies as a key element and measure for human performance. With the changing business scenario and new challenges emerging in the competitive world, successful performance in any job/task has taken a critical place, for organizational success. Competency Mapping is one such process that helps in identifying and mapping competencies required for successful performance in a particular role. This project is about A study on competency mapping for frontline employees at Odyssey India Ltd. This project attempts to analyze the gap between the desired level of competencies that an

employee should possess and the actual level of competencies that the employees possessed. This project will be helpful for the organization by knowing whether their employees are well aware about the organization, roles and responsibilities, etc Employees highly matters because, as for as Odyssey is concerned their frontline employees are the revenue generators of their organization. This project analyzes the employees perception towards their different KRA components, and the company policies, and the rules and regulations of the organization. Objectives The main objective of the process is to understand the retail staff in terms of knowledge, skill and attitude to design an exercise for testing competencies and to map the competency of frontline workers according to their job position with their current competencies. This project is basically an in-depth study of Competency Mapping for frontline employees which are being followed in many organizations, as well as to understand the framework of competency mapping in detail. Research methodology: Structured Questionnaire Structured Interview 360 Feedback Questionnaire Tools for Data Collection: Primary Data: The questionnaire will be used to gauge the preference of the customers associate whether they are satisfied with their KRA components and are they given required attention. Store manager will also be interviewed informally for 10 15 min. Secondary data: The secondary data will be collected through internet, magazines, literature from books and various articles Limitations of the Study Respondents answers are subjective. Sample of population is related to only Bangalore city. Considered only the Frontline Employees. Learnings from my SIP:

Apart from my project Competency Mapping I have learnt a lot during my SIP days. I have learnt how to interview the candidates, what are the questions that we should ask the candidates, how to search the candidates, how to inform them about the vacancies and what are the joining formalities as for as Odyssey is concerned, Payroll system, maintaining the personal files, how to conduct Video Conferencing Interview, as a HR what are the documents that should maintain, Vendor relation, Stock Checking process, how to transfer the stocks, what are the procedures for sending the stocks etc DATA ANALYSIS 5. Data Analysis 1. R.T Nagar Store 1. Sales Management | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |5 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic] As per the feedback, the manager feels that he needs to guide his employees regularly to increase the sales in their category and also the store sales. But only half of the CSAs agreed with the manager, but others including MIT, feels that they dont want any guidance regularly from the store manager. They need their manager guidance only to a small extent. This shows that communication between the few CSAs and the manager is good. 2. Customer Service | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |4 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic]

As per the feedback, manager feels that he needs to instruct their employees regularly and their employees need training session on weekly basis to deliver excellent customer service. But from the above graph and table very few CSAs agreed with the manager views. This shows that other employees feel that sometimes they need the instructions from the manager but not regularly and they want the training sessions but not on weekly basis. 3. Display and Shelf Mgt. | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |6 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic] As per the feedback, manager is fully satisfied with the process and procedures followed by the organization in terms of maintaining the stocks and the display of the products in the shelf. But MIT and some of the CSAs were fully disagreed with the ASM. They feel that they want some changes in displaying the products in the shelf and maintain the stocks. So manager can ask their views in displaying the products so that it may help them to increase the sales. 4. Sales Promotion | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |6 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |1 |0 | [pic] As per the feedback, manager feels that the promotional activities followed by their organization are not good enough to promote their products. But as per the above figure only very few CSAs were agreed with this. But all the other people including the MIT, BOA were satisfied with the promotional activities followed by their organization. This shows the communication between the MIT, BOA and few CSAs is not good. 5. Team Spirit | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM |

|CSA |10 |7 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic] As per the feedback, the manager feels that employees working as a team will help them a lot in achieving the category sales as well as store sales. The above graph and table shows that many of the employees were agreed with the manager, except very few. The reason might be those employees feel that working as an individual will drive them a lot in achieving the sales. So the manager can make them to work in group and make them to know about the benefits of group projects. 6. Punctuality | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |10 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic] As per the feed back from the employees and the manager, I came to know that all the store employees are very punctual to their work and they are strictly maintaining the employees in time and out time of the employees. Every employee in the store was agreed with their manager view and all the employees were satisfied with the work timings. This shows that there is a good communication and co-ordination between the manager and the employees in terms of Punctuality. 7. Shrinkage | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |7 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic]

As we talk about the shrinkage its not very easy for the store employees to control the shrinkage within the budgeted shrinkage and its not very easy to achieve zero percent shrinkage. As per the feedback the manager feels that its little bit easy for them to control the shrinkage within the budgeted shrinkage but its very difficult to achieve zero percent shrinkage. Apart from few CSAs and MIT many of them accepted this. So manager can explain these employees about the shrinkage and he can ask the views from them on how to achieve zero percent shrinkage. 8. SOP Adherence | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |5 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic] As per the feedback , the manager feels that he dont want any changes with the policies and procedure and he feels that their employees are fully satisfied with the policies given for them. According to the above table and graph only half of the CSAs are agreed with the view of manager. Others they need some changes in their policies and procedures and they are not fully satisfied with their SOP policies. So manager can ask these employees why they need change and where they need the changes. So that there will not be any gap in terms of SOP policies. 9. Communication and Interpersonal Skills: | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |7 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |0 | [pic] As per the feedback, the manager feels that their employees can take initiative measures without his intrusion at sometimes. Very few CSAs and BOA were not agreed with their manager view. The reason for this they might be new to the store and they might feel that they dont want to take any initiatives without his permission. This shows that manager is good in communication with the old employees but not good with the new employees. So he can concentrate more on new joiners to avoid this gap in future.

10. Adaptability | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |10 |7 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |1 | [pic] As per the feedbacks, the store manager feel that their employees are ready to relocate anywhere across Bangalore. Except very few all the other employees accepts this. This shows that there is good co-ordination between the employees and the manager in terms of adaptability. 2. Indira Nagar 1. Sales Management | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |5 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |2 |2 | [pic] According to the feedback that I got from the store manager and the employees, I came to know that the manager wants to guide their employees regularly to increase the sales. But only very few were agreed with this. Many of them were disagreed with this. They feel that they dont want any guidance from the manager. This shows that there is lack of co-ordination between the manager and the employees. 2. Customer service | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |5 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |2 |1 |

[pic] As per the feedback, manager feels that, sometimes as a manager, he wants to instruct their employees regularly to increase the customer service. But many of the employees feel they dont want any instructions from their manager side. And many of the employees feel that they dont want training sessions on weekly basis. But sometimes they want the training session. But their manager feels that their employees need training session on weekly basis. So this shows that there is no proper communication between the manager and the employees in terms of Customer Service. 3. Display and shelf management | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |5 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |2 |1 | [pic] As per the feedback, manager feels that to a small extent organization should come up with some changes in the process and procedures and the display of the products in the shelf. But as far as this store is concerned many of the CSAs, MIT and BOA were not satisfied with the display of the products and the procedures followed by the organization. So manager should ask their employees why they are not satisfied and what are the changes that they want in displaying the products in the shelf, so that it will motivate them better in achieving the targets. 4. Sales promotion | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |5 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |2 |0 | [pic] As per the feedback, manager feels that at sometimes the promotional activities followed by the organization is good enough to promote the products. But many of the employees feels that including 2 BOAs the promotional activities followed by the organization is not good enough. So

they feel that, organization should come up with some changes in their promotional activities and marketing activities. 5. Team spirit | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |12 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |2 |2 | [pic] According to the feedback, manager had given more importance to the employees to work in teams. Many of the employees agreed with the same. All the employees want to work as a team and they want to have some group project to increase the category sales and also the store sales. This shows that there is s good co-ordination between the employees and the manager in terms of team spirit. 6. Punctuality | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |14 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |2 |2 | [pic] As per the feedback from the manager and the store employees, I came to know that all the employees in the store are very punctual to their work and they are strictly maintaining the in time and out time of the employees. Every employee in the store was agreed with their manager and all the employees were satisfied with the work timings. This shows that there is a good communication and co-ordination between the manager and the employees in terms of Punctuality. 7. Shrinkage | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |11 |

|MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |2 |2 | [pic] As I already said its not very easy for the store employees to control the shrinkage within the budgeted shrinkage and its not very easy to achieve zero percent shrinkage. As per the feedback, the manager feels that its little bit easy for them to control the shrinkage within the budgeted shrinkage but its very difficult to achieve zero percent shrinkage. Many of the employees agreed with their manager, except very few. 8. SOP adherence | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |6 | |MIT |1 |0 | |BOA |2 |1 | [pic] As per the feedback, the manager feels that he want some changes with the policies and procedure and he feels that their employees are not fully satisfied with the policies given for them. According to the above table and graph half of the CSAs, MIT and BOA are disagreed with the view of manager. Others they need some changes in their policies and procedures. So manager can ask these employees why they need change and where they need change. So that there will not be any gap in terms of SOP policies. 9. Communication and Interpersonal skills | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |20 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |2 | | [pic] As per the feedback, the manager feels that their employees can take initiative measures without his intrusion at sometimes. But many CSAs were disagreed with their manager view. The reason

for this they might be new to the store and they might feel that they dont want to take any initiatives without his permission. This shows that manager is good in communication with the old employees but not good with the new employees. So he can concentrate more on new joiners to avoid this gap in future. 10. Adaptability | |Total no. of CSA, MIT, BOA |Agreed with ASM | |CSA |14 |5 | |MIT |1 |1 | |BOA |1 |2 | [pic] As per the feedbacks, the store manager feels that their employees are ready to relocate anywhere across Bangalore at sometimes. Only very few CSAs agreed with the manager. All the others feel that they dont want to relocate anywhere across Bangalore. This shows that there is no good co-ordination between the employees and the manager in terms of adaptability. FINDINGS 6. Findings: As per the analysis, The Odyssey employees are good in working as a team. All the employees believe that team work will help them a lot to increase their own category sales as well as total store sales. But some of the employees dont feel like to work in teams. They were telling that working as an individual will help drive them a lot towards the sales. All the employees are good in product knowledge. When I was discussing the questionnaire with the store employees I came to know that store employees are having enough knowledge about their job, about their category products. They were able to explain clearly about the category products and the main vendors of the products. They know very well, which customer likes which kind of products. Another important thing with the Odyssey store employees is that Punctuality. They are all always punctual to their work. They are maintaining a separate notebook to note the in timings and out timings of the employees. If store manager finds an employee comes late, he will mark that in red ink and warn them to come early next time.

 The adaptability level of the employees is very high. They are ready to relocate anywhere in Bangalore except few. Another positive feedback that I got from the employees was that everybody is flexible with their work timings. All the employees are ready to work at whatever the timings given by their manager. At the same time some of the employees feel that manpower is less during the weak off timings of the employees. So they feel that company should increase the manpower of the stores so that the sales of the store will increase. Even though the employees are good in product knowledge and their job knowledge but still they are not much aware about the company policies, new upcoming happenings of the organization. So they feel that they need to have some training sessions to know about the company policies which are applicable to their designation, and the new happenings of their organization, and to know more about their vendors etc... The other thing that I found out from the frontline employees was that organization should need to improve the Employee Engagement kind of activities for the employees so that they feel relax apart from their work timings. RECOMMENDATIONS 7. Recommendations After conducting an interview and collecting the data through questionnaire with respect to Odyssey with the existing employees and listening to their responses the following suggestions are made. These suggestions may help the company to further increase the number of customers and especially the services provided to the customers to satisfy the needs and wants, and to retain the good employees. 1. Training Sessions: Training and Socialization plays a crucial role as training improves their lacking skills, ability and knowledge and socialization helps in improving personal relations, expand business and explore new opportunities. New employees felt that organization should increase the period of training session to know more about the organization, the policies that are available for them, to learn more about their category products and the main vendors of their category products, and they felt that they want to know more about the display and shelf management and how to display the products. The organization should conduct training sessions for the store employees also on weekly basis or monthly basis to improve their knowledge about the company policies, their KRA components and the roles and responsibilities of their job.

2. Employee Engagement Activities: The employee engagement kind of activities can be increased. The employees felt that they need to have more employee engagement kind of activities. At present they are conducting the Treasure Hunt kind of activities. This can be improved by conducting some other kind of activities like Communication activities will help the employees find out what is going on within the organization, they can openly talk about their problems, they can express their dissatisfactions etc Reward Schemes are another important part of companys overall Employee Engagement Programme. As Odyssey is publishing a monthly in-house magazine called Odyssey Connect , HR department and store managers can ask their employees to give some ideas or ask them to give some articles to publish in the magazine. The HR department can select the best one and they can give rewards to that particular employee. This will motivate the employees in achieving the targets. 3. Feedback from the employees: Regular feedback improves the performance of employees and makes them connected to the organization The organization can take steps to collect regular feedback from the employees regarding whether they are facing any problem with the current job, or any misunderstanding with the other employees, whether their salary is getting credited properly or not, whether they are fully satisfied with the training sessions etc. HR department can spend some time with the employees while getting this feedback and he/she can have a conversion with the employees while taking this feedback Self mapping of the employees against the competencies for their current role will help both the organization and the employees where they are lacking and where to improve more to deliver good customer service. The organization should review the skills, abilities and knowledge of the employees periodically to make sure that they are complete and correct. At present odyssey is conducting the Performance Appraisal for the employees once in a year. If this Performance Appraisal can be conducted two times in a year then the HR department can get good idea about their employees. This will help the HR department by knowing, which employee eligible for increments, and which employee needs more training, which employee needs to improve in their work.

 The employee can get an increments based on this Performance Appraisal system. If they are given the increments properly then they will show good performance in the job, they will be more enthusiastic in achieving the sales next time. Category Managers can also motivate their category people by encouraging them more in achieving the sales, and they can ask the suggestion from their category people in displaying the products, and they can have conversion with their category people personally and ask about their problems. The co-ordination between the employees and the Category people should be good. Without good co-ordination with the employees and without proper motivation from the category side, employees might not achieve the targets. So HR department should take care of the coordination of the employees. 4. Employee Recreation kind of Activities: Odyssey is conducting recreation kind of activities during the week ends for the store employees. But many of the employees are not fully satisfied with the present activities. They need to have more activities during the week ends to relax themselves apart from their work. The activities like singing competition, painting competition, Dumb Mono Act can be conducted to motivate or to relax them during the week ends. The organization can arrange some tour for the employees, or organization can take the employees out, they can conduct games like cricket for the warehouse people so that they feel relax from their work pressure. Other Recommendations: The time of processing the stocks from the warehouse to the stores should increase. This will automatically increase the sales of the store. The no. of the customers visiting the store would increase if the customer orders are replaced correctly and within the time. Better reputation could be gained if the company provides updated research reports and more charts on their websites which help the customers those who purchase through online. The brand image of the company have to be more effective through various promotional activities and news papers and internet can be used in a better way to make public aware of the organization. CONCLUSION 8. Conclusion:

Our technological and modern world is complex, and so is the business world. Each and every organization has spending lots of amount to place the right people for the right job. Leading companies describe a Competency as Cluster of knowledge, attitudes, and skills and to personal characteristics that Affects a major part of ones job Correlates with performance on the job Can be measured against well accepted standards Can be improved via training and development. Thus competency mapping serves a number of purposes. It is done for the functions: Gap analysis Role Clarity Selection, Potential identification, Growth Planning Restructuring REFERENCES 9. References:Books: 1. The Handbook of Competency Mapping, by Seema Sanghi, Response Business Books from SAGE 2. Competency based HRM, by Ganesh Shermon, TATA McGraw Hill Publishing Company. 3. Retail Business Kit for Dummies, by Rick Segel , Wiley India Pvt. Ltd Websites: 1. www.odyssey.in 2. www.theeyewearstorer.com 3. www.editions.com 4. http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-competency-mapping.html 5. http://business.mapsofindia.com/india-retail-industry

6. http://www.scribd.com/doc/20702798/HR-Competency-Mapp-Retail-Sector-Thesis 7. http://www.citehr.com/downloads.php?query_ds=Competency+Mapping 8. www.articlebase.com.career-management-articles/an-introduction-to-indian-retail-industry Articles: HRM- Retail Industry, by Mary Anne Winslow ANNEXURE ----------------------Corporate Office Stores REGION (TN, AP, KA, MP, NCR) FIRST LEVEL: Store Manager Assistant Store Manager Manager In Training SECOND LEVEL: Senior CSA CSA (Customer Support Associate) Category Specialist THIRD LEVEL: Cashier Back office Associate Electrician Regional Office Warehouse

 HR & ADMINISTRATION Regional Category In charge o Music o Books o Stationeries o Gifts o Toys Finance and Audit Marketing IT Warehouse Manager Assistant Warehouse Manager Supervisor Data Entry Operator Office Assistant Support Function Managing Director Odyssey Business Head B2B Odyssey 360 Editions Eyewear Ware House & Logistics Merchandising & Sourcing

Legal Finance HR & Administrator Marketing Cluster Managers Toyopia Odyssey Regular store manager Express Store Manager IT Assistant Manager Manager in Training Senior CSA/ Senior Cashiers CSA/Cashiers/DPA Skill, Knowledge Self-Concept Trait Motive Visible Hidden Command of basic facts Basic knowledge and information Relevant professional knowledge Continuing sensitivity to events

Analytical, problem-solving, decision/ judgment-making skilss The Successful Manager Skills and attributes Social Skills and abilities Balanced learning habits and skills Meta Qualities Self-knowledge Emotional resilience Proactivity or inclination to respond purposefully to events Creativity Mental Agility Position / Role Tasks Success Factors Candidate Skills Task Mastery Competencies Increased Productivity And Job Satisfaction