Program |
Diploma in Business |
Unit Number and Title |
Unit 22 Practical Issues in HRM |
QFC Level |
Level 4 |
The promptly revolutionizing scene of business has lead to various challenges in human resources, which is assumed to increase in the years to come. Hence, it is essential that the HR departments add real business value to the organization. Most the companies around the globe have recognized the importance of HRM for retaining the employees. HRM can be helpful in employee retention by emphasizing on events like training and engagement or by making investment into areas like integrated systems of technology, schemes for improving candidate attraction which eventually will help in optimizing the expense
It is proven fact that any organization irrespective of its sector can never build a good professional team in the absence of good human resources . HRM’s primary functions in general revolve around recruitment, employee training, performance appraisals, employee motivation along with establishing effective communication, workplace safety etc.
Human resource management means management of resources i.e. people within an organization in a macro perspective. In other words it means managing the collective relationship between the management and the employees by focusing on objectives and outcomes of HR function. This HR function is concerned with employee empowerment, development and fulfilling employee relationships. Whereas, The British Institute of Personnel management defines that personnel management is a management function that aims to focus on the well-being, development of manpower that constitute an enterprise to enable them give their best contribution for its success. In the process it also works in maintaining their relationship with the enterprise.
Factors |
Personal Management |
Human Resource Management |
Nature of relations
Leadership and management role
Contract of employment
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One can see the nature of relations in two varied perspectives namely Pluralist and Unitarist. PM is more focused on an individual employee and priority is given on individual interest over group interest. Employer and employee relation is just based on contract where employer hires and employee performs. Transport for London (TFL) which oversees transportation with London is where personnel management is practiced. In PM the top management enjoys the centralized power and has full authority of making decisions. (CHUANG and Liao, 2010)
In PM the emphasis is given on transactional leadership style where the leader is more focused on following procedures, punishments for poor performances and refusal in pursuing rules
In PM, employees are provided with employment contract and are expected to follow it strictly. At TFL, there is no room for change in the contact once set |
In HRM the focus is given more on Unitarist kind of relation where the management and employees share their vision in setting the company’s vision and mission that are linked with goals of the business. HRM emphasizes on fulfilling of mutual interest where employees are expected to satisfy the needs of the organization and in return, the organization takes care of the employees’ interest and needs. At Harrods HRM is practiced to focus on team management and considers the employees as business partners. The power is decentralized in HRM and the management shares it with the middle and lower management. In HRM, transformational leadership style is preferred as it encourages both employees and management to share the objectives of the business. The leader in Harrods is people-oriented and gives importance to sharing of vision. HRM does not focus on lifelong contract and being rigid on working hours and employment terms and conditions. The flexible approach of HRM further encourages the employees in choosing innovative ways of making contributions of their skills. HRM has adopted the approach of flexible working hours and open contract making a win-win situation for both employer and employee. (CHUANG and Liao, 2010)
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Harrods as a company has the objective of having higher sales figure, rise in revenue generation, increase in market share and expanding its business in the global platform. For the fulfilment of these objectives, it is important that the objectives are reachable, demanding and executable. Efficient handling of human resources is essential for growing the output which eventually is needed for achieving the objectives. (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014)
At Harrods more emphasis is given on the employee training function of HRM which is been imparted to employees at every level. Employee training at Harrods is highly structured and is initially provided to end level workers who are made aware of the very basic way of working together as a team. The training at times is on-the- Job and is broadly vocational. In the initial stage of the training, employees are oriented about the functions, rules and policies of Harrods. The staffs that are already trained and ready for promotion are provided training for managerial roles. In the management development training, primarily technical and management skills are imparted to employees. (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014)
Harrods has tied up with professional trainers for training the front line crewmembers. Apart from training the crewmembers, the managers are trained once in a year for enhancing their knowledge and leadership skills. They are trained about how to set a goal and build a team, development of employee etc. Harrods also focuses on satisfying the employees with rewards, recognition and other perks like lunch discount coupons, health insurances, annual bonus etc. for motivating and boosting their morale. Customer satisfaction is the ultimate objective of Harrods and hence, its HRM focuses on training and developing the employees for keeping them updated with the ever change concept of serving customers and preparing them to satisfy the customers with exemplary services during their shopping. At Harrods, attention is given to the preferences of every customer and one can easily see that the HRM implemented has been helpful in the key objective of achieving customer satisfaction. (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014)
The kind of leadership role played by line managers at Harrods is imperative in nature. Despite of exhibiting a calm attitude and conforming a workplace atmosphere that is flexible, the only objective in their mind is customer satisfaction. It has been observed that the line managers in Harrods act as a link amid the HRM and employees and are responsible for conveying the employee’s issues to the HR Manager. Playing the role of line manager, they ensure that every employee is aware of the consequences and see that the job allocated is accomplished within the stipulated timeframe and no comprise is made on quality. Identifying the areas of problems affecting the employees’ productivity is also an essential role played by the line managers. Out of the various roles played by the line managers, there are many which support the HRM functions. (Anantatmula, 2010)
The enforcement of legal and regulatory framework is helpful in maintaining equality amid employees and elimination of discriminative practices at work. This restores employee satisfaction at work further binding the HR department to value the employees. (Jackson and Seo, 2010)
Impact of legal and regulatory framework on HRM
Thus it can be concluded that maintaining legal framework helps organizations including Harrods maintain HRM functions of considering employee empowerment, development and maintaining relationships by providing equality of development opportunities, fair working environment, supportive and secured culture that helps to nourish well being of employees making them more contributed towards their objectives and outcomes.
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Call us: +44 – 7497 786 317Human Resource Planning is a systematic analysis of the need of manpower with suitable skills and expertise so that the set objectives of the organization are fulfilled. Thus it is an integral part of organization and ensures its success by linking HR planning to business strategy and operations. There are various reasons for human resource planning which can be classified as internal and external.
Internal reasons for Harrods
External reasons for Harrods
Hence, both internal and external reasons for HR planning at Harrods is significant as it helps to match the skills and expertise of personnel with the specific necessities of activities so that desired outcomes can be achieved more efficiently and effectively. Thus it ensures smooth flow of operational activities by analysing the HR inventory and then planning for further skill development if required. So, proper utilization of resources can be carried out with suitable planning to cope with uncertainties and changes within external environment, so that long term sustainability of Harrods can be ensured.
Stages involved in the planning of human resource requirements:
For answering this question the recruitment and selection of Harrods is compared with that of Tesco.
Recruitment and selection of Tesco: In Tesco, screening of candidates is a very important stage in the process of selection further ensuring that the candidates chosen for interview meet the requirements of the job. In the screening’s initial stage, the HR executives thoroughly scan all the applications received and shortlist the ones that fulfils the job requirements. Tesco in its corporate site has added a tool naming it 'job type match' in the career section which makes it easier for the potential employees to look in for the vacancies matching their skills and qualifications ahead of applying. (Keep and James, 2010)
Selection of external management candidates in Tesco involves several stages
The candidates who pass the screening round are then scheduled for attending the assessment centre in any of Tesco’s stores organized by the manager. Assessment process helps in providing consistency in the selection process. The selected candidates are made to face multiple exercises such as activities of teamwork, problem solving drills etc. The applicants who survive the assessment round are finally called for a face to face interview with the HR Manager and the line manager. The chosen candidate is then offered the job. (Keep and James, 2010)
Recruitment and selection of Harrods: The candidates register in the corporate website and submit their applications in the online recruitment system of Harrods. The HR executive then scans and shortlists the eligible applications who have to undertake a short telephonic interview before they are invited for face-to-face interview and assessment centre process. The interview is conducted by the HOD and a minimum of 2 candidates are selected and informed to the HR Manager. The HR Manager then calls for a final interaction where the employment terms and conditions and pay is discussed and the candidate who agrees first is given the offer letter. In the assessment centre, candidates are provided with opportunities of demonstrating their strengths aligning the culture, beliefs and working style. In case Harrods opts for internal recruitment, the appraisal form is implemented for informing the selection process. The employees who are selected for the appraisal are finally provided with an adequate training. (Keep and James, 2010)
The recruitment and selection process that is followed by Tesco is mostly external in nature which means hiring is done by searching and then interviewing the external pool of applicants. Whereas, in case of Harrods recruitment is made from internal resources which means that the current HR inventory is promoted to fill upcoming vacancies. The process of internal recruitment at Harrods has its own natural advantages compared to external recruitment being done at Tesco because when employees are promoted from within the existing HR inventory then many stages of screening followed at R& S process gets eliminated. (Lin, 2010) Secondly, the internal recruits are familiar with Harrods business model, culture and process so no additional time or orientation is needed before they assume the new position. Hence, internal recruits can easily and faster contribute to their specified new roles without wasting time and cost on training, understanding formalities etc. Thirdly, internal recruitment serves as strong motivation for employees as they get opportunity of carrier advancement from promotions. So, it is beneficial both for Harrods and its HR inventory.
In contrast, the external recruitment process at Tesco helps to maintain a complete new flow of ideas when external prospects are hired. This on one hand bring freshness of creativity and diversity as external recruits may have new information or methodologies that can be put into use for Tesco’s best practise which is always not possible in case of internal recruitment. Further, external recruitment at Tesco eliminates the problems that may arise by promoting within diverse workplace and groups thereby bringing more team stability. (Lin, 2010)
Virgin Media is UK’s first provider of broadband, TV, fixed and mobile phone and home phone services. They have company headquarter at Hook, Hampshire. They are a leading communication provider who is interested not only in digital technology but also work for the cause to improve lives and prospects with use of digital invention. At present they are part of Liberty Global Plc, the world’s largest international cable company providing services to 24 million customers across fourteen countries.
It has been observed that Virgin Media is in urgent need of certain changes for its overall growth and development and for this the employee relationship needs to ensure that the changes are implemented in the work process. An improved and effective performance of employees ensures that the kind of changes Virgin media desires to bring in is successfully implemented. For escalating employee’s performances it is important that they are constantly motivated and in order to uplift the employees morale Virgin media needs to adopt different motivational theory. (Pearsall, Christian and Ellis, 2010)
Maslow‘s theory of motivation states that every individual has a certain set of needs and requirements and for fulfilling those needs and requirements they work as employees in an organization. Hence, it is important that Virgin media as an organization focuses on fulfilling the factors that eventually will satisfy the employees’ needs. It is a proven fact that as soon an employee’s one need is fulfilled, he/she will feel motivated in achieving the other needs. Implementation of this kind of motivation will ensure that employees work hard in attaining Virgin Media’s objective and targeted objectives. (Pearsall, Christian and Ellis, 2010)
Herzberg’s Theory on other hand classifies factors into two i.e. Motivators and Hygiene factors. Factors such as achievement, advancement, recognition and responsibility help to motivate employees at Virgin Media during any period of change when the management explains the benefits and outcomes. These motivators act as intrinsic rewards which are intangible in nature and inspire employee’s quest for development, empowerment and growth. On the other hand, hygiene factors such as salary, policies, working condition etc helps to provide employee satisfaction at work and has no contribution on motivation. These factors can be considered as extrinsic rewards.
On the other hand, rewards are helpful in ensuring that employees are motivated in working hard and that the organization can easily achieve success in the market.
The data above depicts the percentage of companies in marketing using rewards as a tool for motivating employees to work more effectively.
Job evaluation is a step wise process which consists of:
The other factors that determine pay are:
In case of Virgin Media, use of Job Evaluation helps to determine pay structure of job by analysing the complexity of responsibility involved in contribution made for outcomes achieved and the relative value involved in terms of productivity. Also, factors such as demand and supply are useful for Virgin Media to determine the pay as per changes in labour market conditions. More experienced employees with quality of education and skills are offered better pays so that their information and methodologies can be used for more improved outcomes. Further, market rates, cost of living and minimum wages Act are followed by Virgin Media to determine pay so that quality, skilled and competent workforce is maintained who can cope with changes in environment and industry demands.
At Virgin Media focus is always being given in creating employee engagement and motivating them with rewards, bonus schemes and competitive salaries. Example, ASPIRE which is a bonus reward scheme where every employee who scores 9 or 10 Net Promoter Score (NPS) is given a bonus of £ 10. In addition to these employees are also provided benefits such as private health care, insurance, pension schemes, staff saving schemes etc. These rewards and benefits act as motivating factors. Also, career progression is another factor at Virgin Media that helps to attract, motivate and retain employees. Example, Benjamin who joined in 2011 as apprentice at Virgin Media was promoted to service technician and then network engineer within 18 months. This progression in career helps to support employee’s ambitions and is a motivating factor for them to continue with Virgin Media.
Virgin Media not only uses extrinsic reward but also uses intrinsic rewards like recognition to motivate employees. Example, NPS Hero Championship is a scheme where personalised congratulation letters are provided to employees who score perfect 10. Secondly, Virgin Media’s online peer to peer recognition scheme, SHOUT is a platform where individuals involved can be thanked for appreciating and contributing to companies value making them turn into reality. Another forum VOICE is a platform where Virgin Media empowers employee engagement. Thus all these tools help to motivate employees at Virgin Media as they feel worthy, participated and involved with company where measures are taken to create an environment and culture that makes everyone feel heard.
Virgin Media has adopted a set of process for monitoring employee performances and ensuring that the tools used are helpful in evaluating the performances and simultaneously recognizing the star performer in workplace. An employee’s performance can be monitored by reviewing their performance on a weekly basis, manager can monitor the employees by frequently visiting their desks, evaluation and review of the work done report made on an employee’s performance can be monitored. Apart from these, employee performance can also be monitored by conducting a face-to-face discussion with the employees. (De Jong and Elfring, 2010)
Methods used for monitoring employee performance in Virgin Media
In Chicken Master, number of reasons is observed ahead of an employee’s termination for keeping itself in a strong and safe position with a valid reason behind terminating any staff. Under UK governance and employee laws, an organization can face legal actions if found guilty of unreasoningly terminating an employee. The key reasons behind Faisal’s termination where his constant violation of the restaurant’s policies. The owner Bob Jones found that Faisal’s performance was very poor despite of having 15 years of experience. Bob found that Faisal failed in keeping the store and kitchen clean and stocked, employee supervision. Moreover, Faisal would take the store’s equipment for personal use and watching pornography on his computer which was against the restaurant’s policies. In spite of Bob coaching Faisal, no improvements were seen finally leading to his termination on the grounds of unethical behaviour. (Arnow-Richman, 2010)
Other reasons for cessation of employment
As Bob has not followed the general guidelines for dismissal process, so Faisal filed a case in Tribunal against The Chicken Master on the discrimination charges.
Tesco’s employment exit procedure: An employee wanting to quit his/her job must first fill up a form and submit a resignation letter to the HR Manager who tries to know the reason behind resignation and if the employee is skilled tries to retain him/her by offering a hike in pay or facilities. But if the employee has made up his/her mind then must attend an exit interview with line and HR manager. Then Tesco provides an experience and reference letters for the employee’s future career. On the last day of work, the employee needs to return equipments including uniform provided by Tesco and due salary is credited in the account. (Pilbeam and Corbridge, 2010)
Under UK legislation, Chicken Master needs to follow numerous rules and regulations in employment cessation arrangements. The impact of legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation arrangements are:
ACAS Code of Practise on discipline and grievances is a basic guideline to the employer, employee and their representatives to handle situations at workplace. This does not hold to dismissal due to redundancy or non renewal of fixed contracts after expiration. Any failure to meet to these codes is liable for proceedings at Employment Tribunals. If Tribunal finds that the employer has unreasonably failed to comply with the codes, then upto 25% increase in award can be made. Similarly, if Tribunal finds that employee has unreasonably failed to follow the Code of Guidance then reduction upto 25% can be made in awards. Both ACAS and Employment Tribunal states that issues at workplace should be resolved for which either employer or employee can seek third party mediator ship who should not be directly or indirectly involved in the disciplinary or grievance issue.
At the end it can be concluded that an organization for managing its internal process must first manage its human resources for which it must ensure that it has implemented an effective HRM system. In addition, organizations must also adhere to the legislative rules and regulations for further maintaining the culture in the workplace along with the discipline of employees. Thorough this project we have also developed an understanding about the process of employment cessation and the legal frameworks that are attached with the process.
Armstrong, M., 2010. Armstrong's essential human resource management practice: A guide to people management. Kogan Page Publishers.
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Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Anantatmula, V.S., 2010. Project manager leadership role in improving project performance. Engineering Management Journal, 22(1), pp.13-22.
CHUANG, C.H. and Liao, H.U.I., 2010. Strategic human resource management in service context: Taking care of business by taking care of employees and customers. Personnel Psychology, 63(1), pp.153-196.
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