Unit 22 MHR Assignment

Introduction

In this unit 22 MHR assignment several aspect of the human resources are being highlighted. The organisation that has been taken for the discussion is Mc Donald’s, one of the famous global fast food chain. The first part of the report will give a detailed analysis of the Guest Model, strategic approach of the line managers and employees along that differences between the personnel management and human resource management. The second part of the report will give a glimpse about the concept of flexibility in the organisation that determine the performances and also certain implication in the organisation. The third part will highlight the discrimination, equal opportunities, managing diversity in the organisation. Last part is related to the welfare of the employees, safety issues and the topical issues like organisational change with relation to the Mc Donald’s

Task 1

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

As per David Guest, HRM is the approach which is very much different than the traditional personnel management. Starting from planning a strategy to implement the strategy there are different aspects which have the direct relationship with the value added business. In order to understand the importance of Guest model we need to select one organisation that is Mc Donald’s where  human resource  is considered to be the asset of the organisation. As per Guest Model is concerned we need to assess the HRM outcomes in the organisation by the following way: (Arthur, 2004).

• is the important consideration as per the Guest Model in which the employees of Mc Donald’s shows positive effort for making their franchisees in the top of the table. Trainings are provided to the employees for meeting the standard of the organisation effectively.
• is being maintained in the Mc Donald’s where the supervisors used to dedicate the roles and responsibilities at the early hours of the opening of the outlets. It helps the employees to move according to the prescribed directed which is aligned with the quality. Apart from that inputs or the information are also been taken from the employees to formulate any strategy at mc Donald’s
• is achieved where the management makes their decision by considering different level. Suppose they have given the sole power to the franchisees and also the performance of the employees is depend on the performance of the whole franchisee. In this way the franchisees used to set their decision as per the situation of the market.
• Strategic Planning: includes the provision of reward, short term/long term incentives, recognition programs; company car program is there in order to motivate the employees. Other than that the competent employees are given opportunity to attain the development program conducted by the Mc Donald’s university. The basic objective is to increase the service productivity and that can attract more customers to their stores.

1.2. Using an organisation of your choice, compare the differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR practices.

As per Storey HRM is the strategic part of the organisation where the allocation of the resources, engagement of the employees, measuring the performances are included. Storey has categorised the HR in to two types which are as follows: (Banfield, 2012)

• Hard HRM: involves the participation of the people in order to enhance the value of the organisation. Hard HEM aspect includes the measurable and controllable part where the organisation like Mc Donald’s used to measure the performance of the employees by assessing the total output of the franchisees. The employees are considered to be the resources for achieving the desired objective of Mc Donald’s.
• Soft HRM: part involves the personnel as an important resource of the organisation. The importance of the employees in the organisation is the main theme of the soft HRM. Mc Donald’s provides abundant opportunities to all the employees from different cultural backgrounds by respecting and obtaining their views with importance. Over here the managers used to implement a strategy to gain maximum commitment of the employees

As per Storey the differentiation between the IR practices and HRM is based on the assumptions, strategic and operational part. The key differences are as follows:

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

The line managers and the employees are key players in the organisations like Mc Donald’s. The roles and the responsibilities of these two units are completely different but their objective is aligned with the business goals. For instance the franchisees of the Mc Donald’s are moved by the targets which determine the performances of the employees as a whole. In this case we need to understand the different areas of their responsibilities for assessing their role in the strategic part. The line managers or the supervisors in Mc Donald’s is responsible on the ground like meeting the policies of the business, leading the employees, addressing their issues, setting the duties etc. On the other side it is the employees who are giving their best performances in Mc Donald’s in return of the remuneration, recognition and other incentives. It is the line manager who is responsible to establish an environment that is friendly and participative. The employees should be given chances to share their opinions regarding any decision. As the employees are managing the customers so they know the exact requirements of the customers. Thus the line manager needs to consider their views to develop the strategic plan. The strategic plan needs to be flexible by nature in order to attend the customers more effectively (Molefe, 2010).

The approach can be assessed in the following ways:

• Coordination is the main theme of the strategic plan at Mc Donald’s where the line managers and the employees act as a team to achieve the target. The organisation structure is needed to be flat in order to send the information quickly.
• Leadership styles that are the part of the strategic part can be understood from the leadership style followed by the line manager in the outlet. They used to follow the participative style where all the employees under him used to share their views for any decision. It motivates the employees to give their best. The positive side is the high level of productivity can be expected from the employees. (Mathis, 2008)
• All the information used to be communicated at Mc Donald’s at the beginning of the day in order to make the employees aware about the business situation and targets. The positive side is the limiting the chances of the misunderstanding among the employees.

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Task 2

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

Flexibility is one of the important aspects in the organisation which gives several opportunities to the employees. Flexible working hours will motivate the employees to work as per their convenience and in turn the productivity level is also high. Mc Donald’s believes that there must be the reason that the employees are devoting their time at the organisation and for that individual needs are being recognized in Mc Donald’s in order to fix the flexible working hours. Flexible working hours at Mc Donald’s are the win-win situation for both the employer and the employees as both are getting their work done based on each other convenience. The organisation Mc Donald’s have their flexible working hours which can be compared to the Shamrock Model of Flexibility. This model highlights three aspects of the flexibility which are as follows: (Martin, 2008).

• Core Workers: Core workers are the main employees of the Mc Donald’s who are much experienced and competent. Training and development is for them to make more versatile and capable for handling any situations at the outlets. The performance is the key factor to judge the capability of the core workers. The core workers are given extra responsibilities to guide the fresher in the outlets.
• Contractual Fringe: These groups are not the permanent employees of Mc Donald’s but they are aware of the business process due to the contractual engagement in the  business organisation . This group of people is mainly available in the franchisees of Mc Donald’s. Publication of the training guides is given to them for making them productive for the franchisees. Flexibility is high in this group where the management can change their job location or they can change their job location as per their convenience.
• Flexible Workers: They are mainly the students who are attending the apprenticeships programs of Mc Donald’s of 12 months. The program enables them to make their career on the restaurant chains of global brand.  Often the students used to select the summer vacations or other holidays approved by the college for this program. They can select the flexible timing when they will be free to do their job. (Mc Donald’s, 2016)

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

The changes that are observed in the labour market have created an impact on the flexible working practices. The globalisation of the economy, development in the technology, changes in the education system, diverse situation of the business has result to an overall impact on the labour market. Apart from that Government has also implemented certain norms in the areas of the flexible working practices. The workforce are the strategy implementer for any organisation and for that the management adopted certain practices in order to keep maximise the productivity level of the organisation. For instance the Government of UK gives permission to the employees for asking their flexible working hours to their concerned employers but there is a condition that the employees is working in that organisation for more than 26 weeks. The management of Mc Donald’s is very much aware of the business goals and keeping the business goal into the consideration the provision for the flexible working practices or hours are being developed. The labour market also includes the education system where the employees who are working can take the vocational courses of the Government or the students by the Apprenticeships programs can make an entry in the organisation to make their career on the selected specialisation. Thus the flexible working hours is taken into consideration by the organisations to meet the norms and the system of the society. For instance Mc Donald’s offering the Apprenticeship program for 12 months which are equivalent to five GCSEs and that enables the candidates to gather the skills and knowledge in their specialisation.  In order to support the students part time working practices are followed in Mc Donald’s. Thus we can observe that the change in the labour market is also influencing the decision of the management at Mc Donald’s. (Mc Donald’s, 2016).

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 takes place at any reason in the organisation and for that strict codes of practices are needed to be followed and designed in the organisation aligning with the norms of the Government. One of the recent incidents in the year 2016 on the ground of discrimination was take place at Mc Donald’s at Virginia. The franchisee and the franchisor were alleged for discriminating 12 employees on the ground of race and gender. It was the supervisor who used to make offensive jokes, racial slurs to the 12 employees who are African American and Hispanic. The employees were harassed and terminated their services on this ground. The employees has appealed to the federal court and based on the racial and gender discrimination the case was made. The case was settled and franchisee was penalised. From the recent example we can find that there is a case for the discrimination at Mc Donald’s. The discrimination was made on the ground of gender and racial. The harassment by the supervisors was too high which force the employees to move their way towards the federal court of Virginia. Though Mc Donald’s have strict code of practice but still the franchisees are violating the norms and the goodwill is being degraded for the Mc Donald’s at the end of the day. It is needed to be implement in the strict practices that the franchisees who will breach the norms will be penalised and removed from the partnership as the brand name of Mc Donald’s is getting affected. As per the law of UK, the employees are given to right to make their claim based on the discrimination on the ground like recruitment, selection, training and transfer etc. The Government will give advisory support to the employees and also use the mediator to solve the issues. Following all the rules and regulation Mc Donald’s has developed their code of practices to prohibit the discrimination from the organisation. (Shaw, 2016)

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

The Equality Act 2010 highlights the protection of the employees from the ground of discrimination in the organisation on the ground of gender, race, and disability. Both the direct and indirect discrimination is not allowed as per the norms of the Government. With the purview of the Equality Act it is the equal opportunities that have came in front. The law has strictly restrict the discrimination on the issues like recruitment, selection, training or transfer. The employees can appeal to the trade unions, claim directly to the court, selecting the mediator to solve the issues or can take advice from the body like Equality Advisory Support Service (Gov. UK, 2016). With all these legislation the management of Mc Donald’s cannot discriminate the candidates on the ground like recruitment, selection, training etc. There are several opportunities given to the employees for appealing the discrimination by their employers. This will bring fear to the organisation about the erosion of the goodwill due to the court case on the ground of discrimination. In this time the close rival like Midway can take the undue advantage from the market. Not only that the other employees will be de-motivated to give their best performances in the organisation.

Positive implications are:

• Employees will be treated fairly without any discrimination and the actual talent can also be exposed
• The working environment will be healthy and positive that can drive the employees towards productive performances.
• The reputation of the organisation like Mc Donald’s can be good in the market due to the strictness in following the equal opportunities.

Negative Implications are:

• Allegation from the employees can result to the court case where the company can be penalized
• The reputation of the company like Mc Donald’s can be hampered due to the allegations.
• Employees will be de-motivated to give their performance and that will result to the increase turnover rate.

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 and diversity are the key attributes of the organisation and they are needed to motivate the staffs towards productive performances. Managing equal opportunities are mainly focus to the discrimination whereas managing diversity implies the changes that are implemented to get a positive result (Aswathappa, 2013). The approaches of the equal opportunities and diversity are different and in the context of Mc Donald’s it can be discussed. For instance in Mc Donald’s equal opportunities is given to all the employees by the management on the ground like achievement of the target, initiatives taken, giving creative ideas etc. Other than that a panel is created before the recruitment drive who will look after the question settings, vacancy issues etc. The recruitment in Mc Donald’s is fair and transparent. The advertisement is given where clearly the post, requirement, pay scale, job location is given clearly. Discrimination policies on the ground like sexual harassment, gender or race differentiation are prohibited in Mc Donald’s. All the employees including the manager have to sign the contract before joining the organisation Mc Donald’s and if they break the norms they will be dismissed and legal actions will be taken. All the employees are given equal opportunities to get the incentives or car program based on their performances. On the other side it is the diversity which involves the job rotation where the employees from diverse culture are selected and periodically they are shifted to make them efficient and also to manage the diversity. The customers visiting the stores are from different cultural background and this can serve the customers more effectively for Mc Donald’s.

Apart from the differences, the similarities between the two approaches will be the management and the employees. It is the top management who enforces the codes of conduct for equal opportunities and diversity for the employees at Mc Donald’s in order to maximise the productivity and to establish a healthy working environment.

Task 4

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

Performance management is the process of measuring the performances of the employees in an organisation to check the actual and the desired result. After checking sufficient measures can be taken in order to meet the deficiencies in order to achieve the business goals effectively. The management or the employees need to know about their contribution in the work process for increasing the efficiency. The organisation that I want to select is Mc Donald’s where the employees are being monitored by the tools used by the franchisees. There are several methods used by the franchisees on the ground of performance management are as follows:

• 360 degree feedback: It is the method where the responses are gathered from every working member for an employee based on certain parameters like team work, punctuality, responsiveness, behaviour, target etc. The ratings are been given on the parameters which are analysed by calculating the mean values. (Wilton, 2010)
• Observation method: The supervisor of the stores is responsible to monitor the performances of the employees and based on his/her evaluation performances of the employees are being measured.

With these two methods the performances are being monitored by the employees. In case of 360 degree feedback the biased views can be stopped as all the members are giving the ratings. Certain discrimination can be stopped. In case of observation method the supervisor can directly observe the performance without any medium which reflects the true nature. But on other hand if there is a negative relation between the supervisor and employees than effective views on the judgement cannot be gathered.

Apart from that the other approaches followed by Mc Donald’s in order to maximise the productivity based on the performance management are as follows:

• The structure of the organisation is flattered which will help the management and the employees to get connected easily
• Participative leadership styles are being followed where the employees are given respect and opportunity to give their opinions.
• The briefing at the start of the day to all the employees will make the communication process transparent

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

Employee’s welfare is one of the techniques applied by the management of the organisation to increase the motivation among the employees to give their best performances. The objective of the organisation is to maximize the profit and for that they need to implement the strategy in a correct way. For implementing the strategy it is the employees who are responsible and for that a motivation is needed to be given for maximizing the productivity. Maslow’s theory states that needs are developed one after another when they are fulfilled and for that organisations have identified the needs and develop the strategy according to it.

For Mc Donald’s it is the Mc Resource which assist the employees and their families by giving financial assistance but for that they need to enroll themselves in the program by contributing a very little amount. Apart from that safe drinking water, health and safety measures are also taken at the stores to prevent the employees from any risk. The employee’s welfare scheme at mc Donald’s is only for the full time and permanent employees. For the contractual and the part time employees several incentives are there (Ritholz, 2012).

In this way Mc Donald’s can support the employees to meet their basic and security needs by giving protection to them and also to their families which will increase their motivation and enthusiasm for the Mc Donald’s. The result will be the positive and productive performances of the employees.

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

The legislation specifying the Health and Safety Act 1974 in UK is one of the important criteria for the organisation to maintain at their workplace. The objective of the health and safety legislation is to reduce the accidents, hazards in the workplace by establishing a secure and safety atmosphere. For instance the risk assessment as per the Health and Safety Act 1974 made it compulsory that the organisations have to assess the risk. For that Mc Donald’s conduct the risk assessment at the outlets and adopt the safety measures like fire alarms, extinguisher, CCTVs etc. Apart from that Reporting Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) are also being maintained by recording the injuries if happened in the outlets at UK. The other measures which are taken by Mc Donald’s like risk proper checking of the equipments, food are tested by the quality team; suppliers are selected based on the licence provided by the Food Safety Agencies etc (McCarthy and Rose, 2010). The implication will be:

• It will establish a sense of security to the employees working at the Mc Donald’s outlets
• Employees will feel secure top work which will improve their performances
• The reputation of the organisation will also be maintained by following the safety policies

The other initiatives taken by the management of Mc Donald’s is the training to the employees in order to make them aware about the safety practices and also ensure the confidence among them for getting productive performances.

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

One of the important topical issue that most of the organisation faces is the “Organisation Change”. None of the market is stable and for that the organisations have to adopt the changes in order to establish them in the dynamic business environment. In order to implement the changes in the organisation it is the human resource that act as a restraining forces. For that, the key human resource manager of the organisation is responsible to manage the teams for adopting the change. In this case the managers used several methods for implementing the change to the organisation. The driving forces that influence the change are the development in the technology, level of competition, economic situations, political and social factors etc. But in this respect to implement the required changes certain aspects are needed to be considered. Participation can be the way in which the employees will share their views and the management in that time can justify the needed change in front of them. Training session can be another way to aware the employee about the required change. But implementing the change forcefully can result negative due to the rejection of the ideas by most of the employees. Thus integrating all the functions and considering all the employees are needed to be done. For example when Mc Donald’s install the smart table in some outlets, the employees are given necessary training in order to understand the system of taking the order. (Edgar, 2010).

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Conclusion

To conclude this report has given the glimpses of the areas covering the human resources in then organization. HRM is the approach which is very much different than the traditional personnel management. Starting from planning a strategy to implement the strategy there are different aspects which have the direct relationship with the value added business. Flexibility is one of the important aspects in the organisation which gives several opportunities to the employees. Flexible working hours will motivate the employees to work as per their convenience and in turn the productivity level is also high. The legislation specifying the Health and Safety Act 1974 in UK is one of the important criteria for the organisation to maintain at their workplace. The objective of the  health and safety legislation  is to reduce the accidents, hazards in the workplace by establishing a secure and safety atmosphere. All the aspects are covered in this report.

References

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Edgar H., S. (2010). Organisational Culture and Leadership. John Wiley and Sons
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Martin, J. L. (2008). Human Resource Management. SAGE Publications Ltd.
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Mc Donald’s. (2012). How flexible are your working hours? [Online] Available: http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/whatmakesmcdonalds/questions/work-with-us/working-hours/how-flexible-are-your-working-hours.html, Accessed as on 25.6.16
Mc Donald’s. (2016). Apprenticeships Program. [Online] Available: https://people.mcdonalds.co.uk/early-career-opportunities/apprenticeship-programme/, Accessed as on 25.6.16
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