Topical issues on Guest model of MHR Assignment

Topical issues on Guest model of MHR Assignment

Introduction

This Topical issues on Guest model of MHR assignment made over the different aspects of the human resource management. Management of the human resource of the organisation is an important aspect which affects the business at large. Companies are focusing over creation of the strong human resource for the effective functioning of the operations. In this program discussion will be made over the Guest’s model of HRM, comparison between the differences between the Personnel management and the Storey’s HRM and the implications for the line managers and the employees for the purpose of developing a strategic approach to HRM has been accessed. Flexibility is a crucial aspect for the organisation and the different types of flexibilities are available which can be developed by the organisation which creates impact over the labour market. It will also cover the discriminatory practices and the forms of discriminationand the practices which provide equal opportunities to the employees. Comparison will be made between the two concepts which are managing diversity and managing equal opportunities. Discussion will be made over the performance management methods used by the business, approaches adopted with a motive to manage employee welfare, implications of the health and safety legislations on the practices of human resource and the impact of the topical issues over the practices of human resource.

For providing better understanding of these aspects of  human resource management  an organisation of United Kingdom has been selected which is named as “Swire Group” belonging to conglomerate industry. Swire Group was founded in 1816 and its headquarter is located in London, England, UK. It is engaged in various businesses which include cold storage, road transportation, energy and oil businesses, investment, agriculture activities and deep-sea shipping.It is having 1,29,793 employees which are performing the operations of the business. It is crucial for Swire Group to manage the human resource for the effective execution of the operations of the business.

Task 1

1.1. Explain Guest’s model of HRM as applied to the organisation of your choice.

Human resource management can be understood as the developing understanding and applying the policy and procedures which create direct impact over the workforce of the business. The Guest’s model of Human resource management is a commitment based model which assumes that the process of HRM as different approach used for the purpose of management of workforce of the organisation. The assumptions made by the Guest’s model are link between the HRM and the strategic management of the organisation,focusing over the needs of the individuals rather than over the whole workforce, helps the organisation in developing power and increasing the flexibility in the organisation, recognising the employees or the workforce as an asset for the business and provide commitment for the goals of the organisation. There are six dimensions of Guest’s model and these six dimensions of the Guest’s model are HRM strategy, HRM practices, HRM outcomes, Behaviour outcomes, performance outcomes and financial outcomes. The goals of the Guest’s model of HRM are enhancing the quality, flexibility, high commitment and strategic integration.As per this model the HRM and the traditional personnel management are different in various aspects (Townsend, et. al., 2011).

Swire Group needs to implement this model in the business so as to enhance the performance of the business and to attain the objectives of the business. Adoption of this model by Swire Group will help in forming  business strategy which helps in achieving the effectiveness in the operations by effectively managing the human resource, forming policies for the enhancement in the quality of the workforce. Forthe purpose of implementation of this model in Swire Group it need to form strategies for the purpose of providing a healthy and safe workplace to the workforce and enhancing their performance. Policies need to be implemented which ensures the safety of the workforce of Swire Group. Adoption of the strategies will help in achieving the performance outcomes of Swire Group and enhancing the financial outcomes of the business (Rutherford, 2013).

1.2. Choosing two organisations of your choice, compare the differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR practices.

For the purpose of making comparison between the HRM and the personnel and IR practices two organisations of United Kingdom will be used and  the name of the organisations are Swire Group a company operating in conglomerate industry and Willmott Dixon operating in construction industry.

1.3 Assess the implications for line managers and employees of developing a strategic approach to HRM for any organisation of your choice.

For coping with the changing  aspects of the business  there is a need to make changes in the manner in which business is operating. The responsibilities of the line manager has increased due to these changes in the business environment and for this purpose the line manager need to adopt strategies or approaches which helps in enhancing the performance of the business. The burden of the changing aspects of the business shifts over the employees and the line manager and they need to cope with each for the purpose of accepting the change and operating the business activities in proper manner.

Swire Group is engaged in different businesses and the ways in which the operations are carried out in these different businesses are different.The line managers of Swire Group are engaged in forming strategies for the management of the human resource of the organisation and keeping a check over the performance of the employees and motivating the employees for the purpose of encouraging them. The line manager of Swire Group is keeping check over the skills and knowledge of the employees and making efforts for enhancing the performance of the employees, monitoring the performance of the employees so as to analyse the performance of the employees, clearly defining the roles and responsibilitiesof the employees so as to allocate the tasks to the employees which need to be performed. The line manager of Swire Group is also explaining the vision and mission of the company to the employees so as to move the efforts of the employees in the common directionand is making the employees accountable for their jobs by assigning the duties to them. The line manager are also analysing the training needs of the employees so as to provide training to the employees for enhancing their performance (Suazo, et. al., 2011).

Swire Group is having strong employee bases which areperforming the operations of the business in an effective manner. The employees of Swire Group are performing their duties by cooperating with each other and working as a team so as to attain the objectives of the organisation.Line managers and the employees are focusing over creation of a healthy environment so as to enhance the performance of the employees.

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Task 2

2.1 Explain how a model of flexibility might be applied in your organisation.

The term flexibility can be understood as the adjustments and deployment in the skills and knowledge of the employees for the purpose of matching these skills and knowledge required by the activity or the task. Employees and the employer face issues due to the lack of flexibility in the environment of the business due to which the operations of the business gets affected. Swire Group is using HRM for the purpose enhancing the performance of the workforce of the organisation and for this it has adopted the concept of flexibility. The motive behind the adoption of the model of flexibility to Swire Group is to enhance the quality of the employees and their performance, ensuring the commitment of the employees so as to generate loyalty among the employees and integration. Swire Group has adopted flexible shifts for the employees so as to encourage the employees for performing better and performing the activities as per the conveyance. The use of flexible shifts will result in increase in the job satisfaction and the productivity of the employees as well as of the whole organisation. Swire Group is also offering job sharing and part time work to its employees so as to develop an effective workforce for the organisation (Veksler, et. al., 2015).

2.2 Discuss the types of flexibility which may be developed by your organisation.

There are different types of flexibility available and these different types of flexibility can be adopted by Swire Group for the purpose of developing the human resource of the organisation and managing them in an effective manner.Adoption of these different types of flexibility is crucial as the lack of flexibility or the rigid nature of the organisation reduces the support of the employees to the business. These different types of flexibility which can be used by Swire Group are as follows:

• Numerical flexibility: The most common form of numerical flexibility is the part time work in which the employees are allowed to work on part time basis as per the conveyance and fixed term work in which the employees are allowed to work for  a fixed period for the completion of the projects. The motive behind using numerical flexibility is to cover the absence of the employees on short-term basis, execute the short term projects, dealing with the variations in the workload and reducing the cost.
• Temporal flexibility: In this form of flexibility flexible timing are provided to the employees. And its advantages are adaptability to the changes and providing support to the training opportunities.
• Functional flexibility: In this horizontal or vertical flexibility is allowed which removes the barrier which is depleting interest of the employees for performing the work (Purvis, et. al., 2014).

2.3 Assess the use of flexible working practices from both the employee and the employer perspective.

There are various benefits of using flexible working practices for the employers as well as for the employees. Swire Group needs to adopt these flexible working practices for enhancing the performance of the organisation. The benefits of using flexible working practices from the perspective of employees for Swire Group are as follows:

• Reduction in the negative spill over
• Improving the balance between the personal and professional lives
• Improving the balance between the work and the family
• Reduction in the stress level of the employees
• Enhances the mental peace
• Acts as motivation

The benefits of using the flexible working practices from the employer’s prospective for Swire Group are as follows:

• Retaining the employees
• Meeting the needs of the employees
• Reduces the cost of the employees
• Helps in motivating the employees which results in enhancement in the performance of the business (Kelliher & Anderson, 2010).]
• Helps in complying with the legislations
• Support the needs of the business
• To use the resources available with the business in optimal manner

2.4 Discuss the impact that changes in the labour market have had on flexible working practices.

The changes in the labour market affect the performance of the business at large. The changes in the labour market are taking place at a very fast speed due to which the human resource of the business gets affected. Every business needs different types of employees for the purpose of execution of the operations of the business. Swire Group is adopting flexible working practices and these practices get affected due to the change in the labour market. The labour market is getting changed due to the age and the gender factors. The age of the employees and the gender of the employees are affecting the performance of the business. The recruitment process of the workforce of the business incurs huge cost to the business due to which the business gets affected. The flexible working practices get affected due to the change in the labour market as the demand for the skilled and knowledgeable employees is increasing. Females have started taking part due to which the labour market has got affected at large.For the execution of the operations of the business which involves physical strengths male employees are required (Khan & Lehrer, 2013).

Task 3

3.1 Explain the forms of discrimination that can take place in the workplace using examples of recent discrimination cases which has made the news.

Discrimination can be explained as the unfair treatment to few people and giving preference to few employees due to the difference in the gender, age, caste, colour and religion. These discriminatory practices affect the employees as well as to the performance and image of the organisation. There are different forms of discrimination which can take place at the workplace and these are as follows:

• Gender discrimination: In this form of discrimination unfair treatmentis provided to the few employees due to their gender.For an example: only females can apply for the post of receptionist.
• Disability discrimination: In this form of discrimination unfair treatment is provided to the employees due to their discrimination.
• Colour discrimination: The employees are treated unfairly due to the colour or physical features of the employees (Grollman, 2014).

There are various cases of discrimination which have taken place in the recent period in United Kingdom.Few of these cases are as follows:

• Discriminationin Starbucks: In this case a woman was suffering from dyslexic a reading disorder and she has already informed the company about her disease but company claimed that she had represented the falsifying the documents.
• A racial discrimination case was filed by a male employee of Force and in the case the colleagues were bullying him.
• A religion discrimination case was filed against Tesco
• A discrimination case was filed by a black police officer which was filed against the Metropolitan Police (Nier & Gaertner, 2012)

3.2 Discuss the practical implications of equal opportunities legislation for an organisation.

Equal opportunity can be understood as providing equal chances to the employees at the workplace of the organisation. Or the approach adopted by the businesses for the purpose of providing equal access to the employees regardless of the caste, gender, colour and physical features of the employees. Various legislations have been framed which have forced the businesses to provide equal opportunities to the employees so as to comply with the legislations for avoiding the legal actions against the business. The Equality Act of 2010 has been framed with a motive to provide or promote equality so as to attain the effective workforce and encourage the fair practices at the workplace of the business. Anti-discrimination act have been framed by the government with a motive to ensure that the employees are treated fairly. Various other acts are Disability discrimination act 2005, Sex discrimination act 1975 and Equal pay act 1970 (Miles, et. al., 2010).

3.3 Compare the approaches to managing equal opportunities and managing diversity. You should give examples from a selected organisation and discuss the similarities and differences in their approaches to managing equal opportunities and diversity.

Equal opportunities is giving equal chances to the employees at the workplace and managing diversity can be explained as managing the employees belonging from the different castes, religion, colour, age and gender. The major differences between managing equal opportunities and managing diversity is the force required for the change as managing equal opportunities is driven by external forces and on the other hand managing diversity is driven by the internal forces (Riley, et. al., 2013). The objective of managing equal opportunities is attainment of social justice and rectifying the errors. And the objective of managing diversity is to fulfil the needs of every individual employee.Managing equal opportunities focuses over maintaining equality at the workplace and the focus of managing diversity is reducing the differences among the employees (Novo, 2014).

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Task 4

4.1 Select an organisation you work or have worked for, identify and compare the performance management

It is the way through which various performance are managed for the desired result. This management is performed on the organization, employees, department and all other areas where there is requirement to check and manage the performance. Performance management is essential for the employees of the Swire group. For the purpose of conducting management, performance appraisal is used to review the performance and perform imperative evaluation in that concern of the organization. Also employees’ appraisal is performed to check and evaluate the performance of the employees for better working in the organization. This can be performed by the tool or technique called 360 degree feedback in which employee’s behaviour is reported to the management from his colleagues, department and all other required sources that are confidential with the company management. Department employees and colleagues give the data about the targeted employee behaviour, way of working and many other issues in relation to it. Then this confidential data is scrutinize and evaluated by the assessor with applying proper tools and techniques in it. After that management takes necessary steps to make decisions regarding the performance of the employees. If the result is in favour of the employee then managers may not take any action in that context but if documented report consist of the unfavourablebehaviour of the employees then there are two choices for the management either they would remove the employee from the organization when there are serious charged but if there is probability that there can be development of the employee with proper training then employee can be given another chance to improve its behaviour or performance in the organization for betterment of employees and organization (Rausch, 2011).

4.2 Assess the approaches used to managing employee welfare in your organisation

Business law is the medium through which actions of the employees, employers and all other people associated with it are taken into consideration. It is made to raise the standard of the working of the employees and safeguarding there interest also. For fulfilling the purpose, various acts and regulations are formulated to give effect to the prosperity in the working environment of the organization. These acts are Employment right act, factories act, employability act, health and safety act. Apart from that many acts in concern of the wages are made like wages regulation, national minimum wages act. Another act that was formulated was the working time regulation 1998, child care act and many others for the protection of the employees in the factories and workplaces. Many times employers have neglected their duties and cause trouble to the employees of the organization. But there is labour law and much other law that protect the interest as well as safety of the employees. Organization also tries their best to make all necessary measures in relation to safety of employees as they do not want to hamper there goodwill and any financial damages (Rutherford, 2013).

4.3 Discuss the implications of health and safety legislation on human resources practices

There are many cases in which due to the negligence of the employers or there insufficiency leads to the accidents that cause trouble to the employees as well as to the employer. Some of the times employee is default for his own negligence that also cause trouble to the reputation of the organization. But most of the times there is the negligence of the employer and the organization. As around 0.46 deaths out of 10,000 workers are in the year 2015/2016 due to fatal injury in the factories and workplaces. Various sectors has different rate at which accidents are caused in the workplace. Like, there were about 103 members who suffered accidents that were part of public fatality in the year of 205/2016. Apart from that 67 members suffered from fatal injury at work place that do not include railway and care quality commission. Some famous cases in this concern are illustrated below

• Daw Vs. Intel Corporation (UK) - In this case employer fails to accomplish its task to safeguard the health of the employee who has the medical history of depression and was affected due to work pressure and stress related to it. Judgment in this case is still pending.
• AIB group Plc. vs. Mark Redler- This case is in relation to the negligence caused by the employer in the work place. Beneficiary was compensated with the compensation for the damages caused in the workplace to the employee.

A case of discrimination in relation to dyslexic was won by the woman employee who was discriminated as she was dyslexic and has problem with some visual words and contents. Defendant being Starbucks claim that she has performed some sort of fraud that leads to the damage to the company. But the plaintiff won the case as she was discriminated by the employer because of her medical condition and was given suitable compensation that she claims in this concern (Bertrand et.al, 2015).

4.4 Evaluate the impact of another topical issue on human resources practices.

Flexibility is the criteria in which employee and employers within the organization choose the best options with the change in scenario, situation or any other unavoidable condition. It is important that growth of the organization be accomplish for which flexibility in the organization is necessary. Organization works in the dynamic environment and May times there are situation in which the already planned strategy and goals are required to be changed so if there is existence of flexibility in the organization then there are chances that work and goals be accomplished without any difficulty and hurdles. Many times students also work in the workplace either for experience or for financial needs. So it is important that some flexibility be provided to them in various matters. Like they should be provided leaves during their examination or some concession in the work of the organization. Flexibility made should be mutual so that no problems or confusion lay between the employer and employee. If students are given flexibility at work the they may work more hard and effectively for the success of the organization. Students should also be given some time in relation to the adjustments with the working of the organization for better results (Charles et.al, 2013).

Conclusion

The management of human resource is an important element which needs to be considered by the organisations. The success and the growth of the organisation is dependent over the human resource of the organisation and organisations need to include human resource development practices, reward and recognition system, provide equal opportunities to the employees so as to avoid discriminatory practices, training and development. All these aspects and the elements help the organisation in improving the performance of the business. It is important for every organisation to ensure the performance or the efforts of the employees are moving the right direction. Organisations need to monitor the performance of the employees regularly so as to measure the performance of the employees and to enhance the skills and knowledge of the employees.

References

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