Human Resource Management: A Case Study of Farmfoods

Human Resource Management

Introduction

Human resource management plays a crucial part in the business operations of organisations, striving to gain sustenance and profitability. The function of Human Resource essentially aims to achieve this by creating a work environment healthy and productive for everyone. It is also responsible for boosting the work performance of the employees, and ultimately increasing the profit margin of the company (Armstrong, and Taylor, 2020). This report is going to analyse different functions of HR management along with its core purposes in the organisational context of the company Farmfoods. Furthermore, it will also assess various methods of performance management and reward systems, recruitment and selection, and development and training. Different Human Resource methods used in the organisation Farmfoods will also be examined in this report. Additionally, some key elements in the employment legislation will be also thoroughly analysed along with different methods of employee engagement and employee relations.

Part one

An introduction to the chosen organisation including mission statement, purpose and core business objectives.

Originating from Britain, Farmfoods is a chain of supermarkets specialising in providing frozen foods. Currently based in Cumbernauld, Scotland, this company was founded in the year 1955 as a meat processing enterprise. Farmfoods is operational throughout the United Kingdom with owning more than 300 outlets. Moreover, this private limited company has reportedly generated revenue of £660.3 million along with 4000 employees in 2018 (heraldscotland.com, 2021). As far as the mission statement of Farmfoods is concerned, this company aims to deliver the best value, simplest, and friendliest grocery stores all over the towns of the UK. Moreover, this private firm claims that it values the principles like having work environment which supports hard work, respect, positive attitude, and trust among their employees. Farmfoods believes that employees should feel that they are in control of their work (farmfoods.co.uk, 2021). The primary business objective of this supermarket chain is to serve its customers with the best value for frozen foods and delivering simple, great value, and friendly operation (farmfoods.co.uk, 2021).

An explanation of the purpose of the HR function and the key roles and responsibilities of the HR function, highlighting the significance that HR plays in acquiring talent to meet business objectives.

Purpose of the HR function-

The main objectives of HR function not only lie in maintaining work environment and delivering work satisfaction to employees but also in serving in business operations to meet organisational goals. Human Resource Management contributes greatly to organisational performance to achieve long term business stability (Austet al., 2020). Following are some of the key purpose of the HR function in the organisational context of Farmfoods:

• Attaining sustainability

One of the most significant objectives of the HR function is to attain sustainability in business operations. The HRM is responsible for training and development of the workforce at Farmfoods to enhance the work performance which hugely impacts the organisation's outcome in the market. to effectively achieve business sustainability, the employees of the company require staying motivated and productive for which Human Resource management is primarily responsible.

• Gaining a good reputation

Having a good reputation in the market affects hugely on organisational performance. The HRM at Farmfoods strives to gain good organisational image in the market essentially through creating a healthy and motivating environment for everyone. As discussed above, the company Farmfoods supports the value for trust, respect, and positive attitude among the workforce. Doing so not only benefits the employees but the management as well for it boosts the company reputation in the industry.

• Expanding market share and profit margin

The function of HRM is fundamentally concerned with increasing the market share and elevating the profit margin as well. The department of HR intends to achieve this by hiring the most skilled and appropriate candidates in the company, providing them with efficient training and creating a high performing work culture through various motivational methods.

Key roles and functions

To achieve the organisational objectives, the function of HR performs different roles and responsibilities with the most efficiency. Following are some of the main tasks and roles carried out by Human Resource Management at Farmfoods (Podgorodnichenkoet al., 2020):

• Staffing requirements

Identifying and recruiting the most talented and right candidates in the market to increase the organisational performance in the market is one of the most fundamental duties of the HR function. The function of HR effectively builds the foundation by the process of recruitment and selection as the success of the organisation is hugely impacted by the workforce present in the company.

• Compensation and benefits

The compensation and benefits structure and strategies are managed by the HRM at Farmfoods. The HR function needs to implement the right strategies that will satisfy the employee as well as the management of the organisation. Providing right compensation and added perks is very important for fostering motivating and high performing work environment in the business for which HRM is fundamentally responsible for.

• Employee relations

One of the most crucial roles of HRM at Farmfoods is to foster a healthy employer-employee relationship in the company. The function of HR is a key communicator between the management and workforce, therefor making it responsible for conveying needs of both parties to each other in the most effective manner. The HRM is responsible for resolving any conflicts or issues at workplace, employee engagement and providing job satisfaction to the employee, further strengthening the employer-employee relation.

• Law compliance

Another one of the major responsibilities of HRM at Farmfoods including abiding by the laws that are in existence regarding employee safety and security at the workplace. Compliance with these laws is very crucial for the organisation’s reputation in the market. thus the function of HRM at Farmfoods ensures that all the rules and regulations and complies and supported in the organisational culture.

An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection, development and training, performance management and reward systems.

Workforce planning

• Best fit approach

The best-fit approach in workforce planning refers to implementing HR practices according to the situation in the work environment. This is somewhat similar to the contingency theory. The best-fit approach is very beneficial in terms of being flexible and effective. Moreover, this approach has proven to be very efficient in helping the organisation gain a competitive advantage in the market and possessing lesser conflicts within the work environment (ŠIKÝ? et al., 2018). However, this approach does not consider the basic factors of the Human Resource function and interests of the employees.

• Best practice approach

This approach is widely used in organisations in a variety of situations as it is universally applicable. For instance, the best practice approach in terms of recruitment and selection at Farmfoods suggests implementing fix methods no matter the external market circumstances. One of the biggest advantages of the best practice approach is that it is applicable in all business context and providing a rigid framework for implementing the most rational HR methods (Ashton,2018). However, this approach can also lead to the employee in the organisation losing their right to speak. Moreover, this method can prove to be ineffective as some of the changing market conditions may not support it.

Recruitment and selection

• Internal recruitment

The method of internal recruitment refers to the function of HR fulfilling the staffing needs and job vacancies by hiring the candidates existing in the organisation. internal recruitment is usually carried through the method of employee referrals,promotion, and transfers (Christopher, 2019). The internal method of recruitment and section is most effective when the company requires hiring people that are familiar with the internal organisational knowledge and show loyalty for the company besides. However, this approach puts restriction on the creative idea and fresh talent coming in the organisation which if the utmost importance in the growth and development of the company.

• External recruitment

The external method of recruitment and selection is extensively used in organisations which can be defined as hiring talent and skills existing outside the company, available in the market. candidates are usually hired through various mediums such as referrals, advertisements, walk-ins, internships, and colleges. This approach is most effective in hiring the appropriate candidates needed for the job which also contributes to inviting fresh ideas and talent in the company. External recruitment helps the company gain a competitive edge in the market which is very crucial for sustainability and growth of the business. On the other hand, this method is expensive and time-consuming (Jøranli, 2018).

Performance management and reward systems

• 360-degree feedback

This approach refers to giving feedback to the employees from the workers at all level and not just senior management. This approach is also implemented in the organisation Farmfoods as it allows performance assessment by not only by the managers but also the juniors and subordinates in the company to avoid any discrimination or biases. The approach of 360-degree feedback is very effective for an organisation like Farmfoods as it enables effective management of the performance to achieve organisational goals and objectives (Peng and Zeng, 2017). However, this method will not work if the employees are not able to give their honest feedback in an extremely hierarchical organisational structure like Farmfoods.

Development and training

• Mentoring

Mentoring of the employees by the senior managers or leader is a very effective method for the training and development for the workforce of Farmfoods to enhance the work outcome and organisational performance in the market. Mentoring has proven to be beneficial for employees to learn from their mistakes and motivated to perform better every day at the workplace.

• Traditional method

The traditional approach of training the staff includes providing education to the employees and implementing strategies that will help the employees improve their skill-set and knowledge. This is mostly carried out by assessing the employee's needs by their performance and proving them with the right training (Karim et al., 2019).

Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices.

There are various methods that the HR managers of the company like Farmfoods practices for their organisation's growth. These practices are mentioned below:

Appraisal and reward: The HR managers of Framfoods needs to design the appraisal and the rewarding process of the employee. This is effective for making the productivity of the employees enhanced. The frozen food company has developed its quarterly feedback process to make the employees aware of their improvement section. They provide award and promotion to those employees who are performing well. The discount process for the monthly shopping of the employees is also effective to create a strong brand position among the employees and the customers (Folger and Whiting, 2020).

Controlling the issue: The HR department of the company needs to handle the issues that are related to the employers and the employees as well. The workplace policy should be designed in such a method that will be influential for the employees to enhance their productivity. The culture and the behaviour of the employees are also defined by the HR team of Framfoods. Using derogatory languages and the insulting behaviour towards the other employees are tolerated in this organisation, even strict actions can also be taken.

Maintaining the company culture: Maintaining the company is important for the work that the HR managers of Framfoods do to enhance the benefit of the employers. The company culture is the ambience that provides positive vibes to the employees for getting motivated towards their actions. Positive company culture is effective for employers to maintain a good reputation for the brand (Garg et al., 2020).

Changes in planning: Deriving the changes in the planning of the organisation is part of the job of the HR managers. They need to understand the market demand and changes in the market situation. HR managers design the planning of as per the market demand. They derive changes in their policies as well to redesign the process.

Part two

While working as an intern in the Human Resources (HR) department of an organisation of your choice, you have been asked to prepare recruitment and selection documentations portfolio for employing a Marketing Manager.

The design of a job description for the position of a marketing manager.

The job description is the process that HR managers of Framfoods do to let the candidates know about the job roles and the responsibilities related to the job. The job description includes the salary, address of the company and the list of the skills that are required to do the job.

The frozen food company Framfoods ventilates their job vacancy in their websites for recruiting competent employees.

Advertisement for the job role:

Job description:

The marketing process is a key role that is highly effective for the retail industry. In this industry, marketing and promotion are the two factors that are important for delivering more sales and profit for the company. Therefore, we are looking for the marketing manager who is effective enough to derive more customer base and sales growth.

Roles and responsibilities of the marketing manager:

The role and responsibilities of the marketing manager are explained below:

• Based on the positioning and the segmentation process the manager needs to develop the marketing strategy.

• Developing the marketing campaign that is effective to fulfil the company goal.

• Clarified marketing strategy for developing the customer base.

• Experience in the digital marketing process.

• Developing knowledge about customer demand.

Required qualification for the marketing manager:

• 60% in the final year of high school.

• 65% in Master’s degree.

• 4 years of experience in this field.

P

Rechal Cred

A

Dear Rechal Cred,

1. An evaluation of the process and the rationale for conducting appropriate HR practices.

The recruitment process of the Framfoods is conducted through the company’s website. Therefore, for the HR team, it becomes easy to choose the appropriate candidates for their job roles. There is a drawback in this process, the company has fewer options to choose competent employees. They can access to those who are applying through their websites. For COVID19 the company is currently applying the online process for interview. In such kinds of the process, the company may not be able to understand the competency of the candidates. The face to face interview is effective to judge the viewpoint and the competencies of the candidates in different situations (Stinner et al., 2020).

Reward process: The reward is the process that is effective for the employees to develop a strong motivation towards the work. It can be intrinsic and extrinsic. The intrinsic process is all about non-financial and motivational. The extrinsic process is related to financial reward.

Application: In Framfoods, the HR managers of the company can develop the intrinsic and extrinsic process effectively. The extrinsic rewards considered as the award and the appraisal that the HR team of the company often execute. Intrinsic reward is related to the motivational training that the company conducts for improving the performance of the employees.

The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, with mention of the flexible organisation and flexible working practices and ‘employer of choice’.

In Farmfoods the HR department of the company needs to incorporate various practices to enhance the employee relation and the employee engagement process.

A necessity for the employee relation and employee engagement: In the origination for gaining the competitive advantages the HR department make ensure that the employees maintain a cordial relationship among themselves, this is even effective for employee engagement. The employees and the employers should have a strong relationship between themselves so that they can achieve the job satisfaction level of the employees.

Innovation and creation: Influencing the creativity of the employees are the main reason for deriving job satisfaction. This process is arranged by HR managers. This is effective in enhancing employee engagement.

Communication: The HR managers play the role of the bridge between the management and the employees so that they can communicate without any hindrance. A good communicational process will be helpful for the company to enhance employee relation and employee engagement as well (Hall and Roussel, 2020).

Employer of choice:

This is the system that can be achieved from the organisation that is offering an excellent work environment. The high performance and job satisfaction all are inter-related to each other. The HR department of the frozen food company, Farmfoods has developed the employer of choice so that they can gain competitive advantages.

Flexible organisation and the flexible working practice:

Adopting the different favourable and non-favourable conditions are the parameter to judge the flexibility of the company. The HR team of the Farmfoods has gained the process of developing flexibility in the organisation to analyse the situation and adopt the favourable measures to achieve the organisational goals. In the situation of COVID19, the company has given the facilities for flexible working. The employees are allowed to take the Flexi hours of working as per their requirement. This is helpful for them to develop the motivation toward the company. this is effective for deriving productivity (McMackin and Heffernan, 2020).

Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organisation must work.

There are various key aspects of employment legislation within which the organisation must work are explained below:

Anti-discrimination law: The anti-discrimination law is one of the important legislation n that the HR department of Farmfoods needs to maintain. In the workplace, the company has not promoted any kinds of gender, caste, racial discrimination. For the company, every employee of the company has the same rights to perform their job. From December 2006 this law has been maintained in the UK thereby in each company of UK (McMackin and Heffernan, 2020).

Data protection: The Data protection law in also other legislation that is important for the employees. The personal data of the employees should remain protected to employers. The HR manager needs to inspect whether this law is maintained in the origination like Farmfoods.

Health and safety law: The health and the safety law is important, in the UK every company needs to maintain this law. In Farmfoods the HR department maintains the law for providing the health coverage to the employees and the family members of the employees. They have separate policies for different levels of employees.

Working hours: The working hours of the company should maintain the Time Regulation of 1998. The amount of time that the employees of Farmfoods involve in work is fixed. They pay extra wages for the overtime (Brunklaus et al., 2020).

8. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision making and meet business objectives.

The employee relations and the employment legislation are two important factors that are effective In the decision-making process of the HR department of Farmfoods.

• The communication that the HR department of Farmfoods establishes between the managers and the employees is one of the key factors. The employees can share their viewpoints because of this cordial relation. They can provide their decision and ask for suggestions of the employers as well. This helps make the culture and the ambience of the organisation enriched (Aslanian et al., 2020).

• The HR department of Farmfoods allow the employees to have shared their innovative ideas, this is effective for the motivating. This is the process that comes under intrinsic rewards. The effect of intrinsic rewards is long-lasting. Therefore, the company will be able to provide job satisfaction to the employees.

• According to the UK law the HR department of Farmfoods develops their working hours, discriminatory laws and so on. In any case, it is not maintained then the HR can take a drastic step against the employee (Yang et al., 2020).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be said that the HR department of an organisation has various roles. Apart from that, they need to derive various practices that are important to enhance the organisation’s performance. The functions and the purpose of the HR department in Farmfoods are explained. An illustration of the offer letter and resume of the candidates for the marketing manager’s role is also explained. The legislation and the employee relation are two important factors and their effect on the organisation’s productivity and performance are explained as well. The different approaches that the Farmfoods use for recruitment and selection are also explained elaborately.

Reference List

Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2020. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.

Ashton, A.S., 2018. How human resources management best practice influence employee satisfaction and job retention in the Thai hotel industry. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 17(2), pp.175-199.

Aslanian, H.R., Lee, J.H. and Canto, M.I., 2020. AGA clinical practice update on pancreas cancer screening in high-risk individuals: an expert review. Gastroenterology, 159(1), pp.358-362.

Aust, I., Matthews, B. and Muller-Camen, M., 2020. Common Good HRM: A paradigm shift in Sustainable HRM?. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3), p.100705.

Brunklaus, A., Du, J., Steckler, F., Ghanty, I.I., Johannesen, K.M., Fenger, C.D., Schorge, S., Baez?Nieto, D., Wang, H.R., Allen, A. and Pan, J.Q., 2020. Biological concepts in human sodium channel epilepsies and their relevance in clinical practice. Epilepsia, 61(3), pp.387-399.

Christopher, N., 2019. The effectiveness of HRM policies and practices. International journal of social sciences, 2(1), pp.24-32.

farmfoods.co.uk, 2021. About Us. [online] Farmfoods.co.uk. Available at: https://www.farmfoods.co.uk/about-us.php [Accessed 8 February 2021].

farmfoods.co.uk, 2021. Join Us. [online] Farmfoods.co.uk. Available at: https://www.farmfoods.co.uk/join-us.php [Accessed 8 February 2021].

Folger, R. and Whiting, S.W., 2020. HR Research and Practice from a Deonance Perspective. In Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management. Emerald Publishing Limited.

Garg, S., Jiang, K. and Lepak, D.P., 2020. HR practice salience: explaining variance in employee reactions to HR practices. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp.1-31.

Hall, H.R. and Roussel, L.A., 2020. Evidence-based practice: An integrative approach to research, administration, and practice. Jones & Bartlett Learning.

heraldscotland.com, 2021. Scottish frozen food chain unveils latest profits. [online] HeraldScotland. Available at: https://www.heraldscotland.com/business_hq/17631096.scottish-frozen-food-chain-farmfoods-unveils-latest-profits/#:~:text=FARMFOODS%20has%20raised%20its%20annual,to%20December%2029%20last%20year. [Accessed 8 February 2021].

Jøranli, I., 2018. Managing organisational knowledge through recruitment: searching and selecting embodied competencies. Journal of knowledge management.

Karim, M.M., Choudhury, M.M. and Latif, W.B., 2019. The impact of Training and Development on Employees’ performance: An analysis of Quantitative Data. Noble International Journal of Business and Management Research, 3(2), pp.25-33.

McMackin, J. and Heffernan, M., 2020. Agile for HR: Fine in practice, but will it work in theory?. Human Resource Management Review, p.100791.

McMackin, J. and Heffernan, M., 2020. Agile for HR: Fine in practice, but will it work in theory?. Human Resource Management Review, p.100791.

Peng, A.C. and Zeng, W., 2017. Workplace ostracism and deviant and helping behaviours: The moderating role of 360-degree feedback. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 38(6), pp.833-855.

Podgorodnichenko, N., Edgar, F. and McAndrew, I., 2020. The role of HRM in developing sustainable organizations: Contemporary challenges and contradictions. Human Resource Management Review, 30(3), p.100685.

ŠIKÝ?, M., Severin, V. and Gorokhova, A., 2018. Managing Human Resources Using Best Practice. Best Fit Approach. Journal of Applied Economic Sciences, 13(1).

Stinner, D.J., Lebrun, C., Hsu, J.R., Jahangir, A.A. and Mir, H.R., 2020. The orthopaedic trauma service and COVID-19: practice considerations to optimize outcomes and limit exposure. Journal of orthopaedic trauma.

Yang, M.C., Hsu, J.F., Hsiao, H.F., Yang, L.Y., Pan, Y.B., Lai, M.Y., Chu, S.M., Huang, H.R., Chiang, M.C., Fu, R.H. and Tsai, M.H., 2020. Use of high-frequency oscillatory ventilator in neonates with respiratory failure: the clinical practice in Taiwan and early multimodal outcome prediction. Scientific reports, 10(1), pp.1-9.