Human Resource Management

This document discusses the importance of human resource management in various organizations and their strategies for employee development and satisfaction. It covers case studies of Al Baik, KFC, McDonald's, Almarai, Flynas, and National Commercial Bank.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human resource management
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1.
Al Baik has achieved accolades and glory by emerging as major fast food restaurant
in Saudi Arabia. It is a public sector restaurant, operating under food and beverage industry.
Founded in 1974, the supply chain network of the restaurant has expanded to more than 91
locations. As a matter of specification, the restaurant deals in quick service foods like fried
chicken, shrimp and fish (Albaik.com 2019). Continuous improvement strategy is used for
luring the customers. The menus are constantly revised for luring the foreign customers to the
brand image. The restaurant envisions customer satisfaction through the provision of lip
smacking delicacies. The business is governed through the values of trust, respect, and
teamwork and strive for excellence, luring the clients towards the brand image.
The employees at Al Baik are the valuable assets. Conscious approach is exposed
towards enhancing their preconceived skills, expertise and knowledge. Training courses are
planned, which aligns with the strategic approach toward systematizing the management of
the human resources. Positive feedbacks from the staffs justify the training programs in terms
of the professional and personal development. The training programs are accredited by
National Restaurant Association (NRA) (Albaik.com 2019). This proves beneficial in terms
of exposing the staffs to the recent trends in food safety, hospitality, service management,
finance, sales, marketing and others, governing the supply chain network.
Mention can also be made of KFC, where human resource management takes place
according to the integrated cyclic process of selection-performance-appraisal, which leads to
the development of the staffs. On the other hand, Mcdonalds’ human resource department
works as a separate entity, responsible for the organizational development of the
contemporaries. Here, the main aim is to achieve higher competitive advantage. The basic
functions of HR manager is policy making, ensuring the welfare of the clients and the

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customers, bargaining and negotiating and looking after the administrative functions,
preserving the balance in the operrations (Albaik.com 2019).
Reference can be cited of the Guest Model of HRM, where the main focus is on the
strategic management. Al Baik is committed to the community development, which enhances
the corporate social responsibility. In McDonalds, the performance of the staffs is measured
according to the identified standards (Mcdelivery.co.in 2019). This helps in ensuring the
development of the skills, expertise and knowledge in an efficient and effective manner.
According to the Harvard Model of HRM, stakeholders’ interest is catered through the
development of policies, strategies. The outcomes are mapped for ensuring the extent to
which the targets have been fulfilled. For example, KFC HR managers are entrusted with the
responsibilities of developing policies, recruitments, performance evaluation, compensation
and great admin benefits (Kfc.co.in 2019). The recruitment process aligns with the sequence
of searching-selecting-registration-filling application form-quiz-official contact-interview-
final selection. One of the interesting points is that of the backup measures for resolving the
conflicts, which is reflected from the meetings and the grievance procedures.
Training programs of KFC and Al baik are somewhat similar, as the staffs are
involved in workbook exercises, quizzes and on-the-job training. Within this, mention can be
made of competency based training, where commitment is at the highest level towards
exposing the best of the talents (Arulrajah 2015).

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2.
Strategic management governs the business of Almarai. The main focus is on
resilience through quality, which assists in luring the clients and the customers to the brand
image. According to the agenda, one of the goals is to empower the workforce through
striving for vibrant and dominant economy. According to the program, Goals for 2025,
achieving top quartile employee satisfaction attains an important position. Innovation is one
of the crucial aspects in the business operations of the company (Almarai.com 2019).
Innovation strategy has lured more than 42971 employees. World class training programs are
developed for the staffs, which enhances the cultural diversity. The trainers are hired from 69
nationalities. The company has achieved recognition as one of the best GCC’s best
employers. This is due to the encouragement of the employees to participate in the training
programs.
Adopting cutting edge technologies adds value to the operations of the company. The
staffs are provided training about the usage of these technologies. Along with this, the staffs
are taught about the judicious use of the technologies for averting the instance of resource
inadequacies at the time of crisis. These technologies prove beneficial for the facilitation of
expansion and renovation of the workplace conditions, which is assistance for meeting the
growing demands for customer oriented practices (Almarai.com 2019).
In order to emerge as a preferred consumer brand, commitment of quality is crucial.
Mention can be made of Almarai Quality 4.0 program, which caters to the management of the
process, people and technology. This can be considered to be a wise step for upgrading the
standards and quality of the triple bottom line. Quality management systems are effective in
terms of connecting the operations to the specific needs and preferences of the clients and the
customers. This approach aligns with the strive towards enhancing the organizational

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effectiveness through digitalization (Almarai.com 2019). Feedback process suffices the need
for evaluation, which is vital for improvising on the approach towards executing the
operations according to the identified and the specified targets.
For developing high potential new business, Almarai aims to achieve growth and
development in the foodservice operations. The planning behind this is the optimizing the
assets through waste reduction for improvising on the working capital management. Along
with this, the planning also caters to adopting acquisitions from the new markets for
strengthening the workforce. Typical evidence of this lies in the development of the e-
commerce platforms, which can be of great assistance in terms of conducting offshore
marketing for gaining an insight into the prospective clients, who can contribute in the
enhancement of the sales revenue and profit margin (Almarai.com 2019). Succession
planning is of assistance and support for maintaining the balance within the supply chain
network.
The business model defines the framework, which is used for completing the
operations. Management is at the core of the operations, which proves effective for assessing
the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility in the current workplace conditions. Quality
control tests are the example, which forms the key activity for ensuring the wellbeing of the
clients and the customers.
3.
According to the arguments of Arulrajah, (2015), importance of HRM has
transformed according to the raising demands of creating and sustaining ethical culture within
the workplace. In the survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management,
five serious unethical events are recruitment based on favouritism, sexual harassment,
inconsistent discipline for managers, usage of non-performance factors in appraisals and

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differences in pay, discipline and promotion. The role of HR manager in promoting ethics is
vital. Ethical behaviour is the key towards attracting and retaining prospective talents (Noe et
al. 2017). Typical evidence of this lies in the fair and ethical decision-making process, audits,
training, whistle blowing mechanisms and disciplinary measures.
All these aspects seem true for Flynas, which has achieved accolades and glory as the
leading airlines in the Middle East. The supply chain network of the company is spread to 17
domestic and 53 international destinations. Bagging the Skytrax Award for Middle East’s
leading low cost in 2017 has enhanced the fame and glory of the company. Conferences are
held for enhancing the corporate social responsibilities. The target audience in this are the
public officials, internal counsels, heads of the law firms, lawyers, CEO, business owners,
wealth management advisors, compliance officers among others (Flynas.com 2019). The
focus of these conferences is on making effective contribution to the development of the
society through the application of vision 2030. In this, consideration of the integral
frameworks is vital for the achievement of positive outcomes. Saudi law Conference acts as a
legal platforms for the law experts to share their ideas regarding finding solutions for the
issues regarding development through the acceleration of innovation. The main topics of the
conference included dissemination of the recent trends in law policies, information and legal
services and youth engagement (Flynas.com 2019).
HR manager of Flynas needs to be praised for ensuring that ethics is maintained in the
execution of the workplace conditions. This is through the means of appropriate leadership
selection and recruitment. Consultation with the Ethics Resource Centre is apt for
undertaking fair decisions. Involving the top management and the Board panel is fruitful in
terms of ensuring that the decisions and strategies are in alignment with the standards and
protocol of the Ethical Code of Conduct. One of the crucial functions of the HR manager at
Flynas is to promote gender diversity, which adversely affects the workplace ethics. Herein

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lays the importance of Equality Act (2010), Anti-Discrimination Act among others
(Flynas.com 2019).
Reference can also be cited of the programs and policies, which is accounted as the
integral functions of the HR manager in the workplaces like Flynas. In this, governmental
assistance proves beneficial in aligning the code of conduct with the latest version of the
employment legislations. Punishment is awarded upon violation of the laws, which is
supervised by the Sentencing Commission. Awareness is exposed towards every emerging
ethical issues. Environmental scanning techniques are used for helps in remaining proactive
for the social environment (Flynas.com 2019).
Hard HRM indicates a contingency approach towards motivating the employees. In
this, the approach is to enhance the skills, knowledge and expertise of the staffs in terms of
the identified and specified goals. Reward programs are planned for luring the staffs to brand.
As the motive is to polish the skills of the staff, therefore, non-monetary rewards are focused.
Typical evidence of this lies in the provision of motivation and encouragement for generating
an urge to expose better performance (Cascio 2015).
4.
Lewin’s theory of change management
Lewin described organizational change as a trial and error process. The organization
goes through several transitions and misapplication before it can settle on a change strategy
that is effective for the organization. He uses the three phases of Unfreeze, Change and
Refreeze for successful change management (Cummings, Bridgman and Brown 2016).
The first stage involves the initial preparation that needs to be taken before a change
process can be initiated. In this phase, the organization and its people needs to be prepared for
the upcoming change. The major challenge here remains the readiness of the employees and

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workers of the organization. The second stage is the transition phase where the members of
the organization are now ready for the change. After the initial chaos, the situation will settle
and stability will be achieved following that. In the final stage, the refreeze stage the main
problems arise. The change that finally takes place needs to be made permanent. Refreezing
gives the employees and opportunity to accept and practice the new methods before they can
fully assimilate all the aspects (Sarayreh, Khudair and Barakat 2013).
Figure: Lewin Change management model
Source: (Sarayreh, Khudair and Barakat 2013)
Kotter’s theory of change management
Kotter introduces an eight step change management model so that the change
becomes effective and ling lasting. The first step is to create urgency. Communicating the
aspects of change, the potential benefits, expectations of the organization and the aim and
objective of the organization regarding the change, is effective. It creates the Urgency that is
needed to initiate change. In the next step, leaders that have the ability to lead the
organization through the changes that has to be made (Pollack and Pollack 2015). A team
needs to be created specifically for this purpose and stakeholders has to be informed of the
plans. The third step is to create a vision for change where the company goals and objective,
the ideals and values so that the alignment between change and these aspects can be assured.
In this stage, the plan for the change is created. Following this, the employees and other
personnel needs to be intimated with the plan and the needs for the proposed change.
Unfreeze Change
(Transition) Refreeze

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Through communication and discussion, the vision and necessity can be communicated. In
the next step the Obstacle removing stage, the barriers and resistances to the change needs to
be eradicated. The sixth step is to create short term goals and achieve them so that it
culminates to the achievement of larger goals. In the next stage, is analysis of the procedure
in which the managers evaluate each stage and determine the right and wrong steps and
necessary improvements. In the final stage, is making those changes permanent and recognize
the help and cooperation of the key operators (Parker et al. 2013).
Integrated Telecom Company, Saudi Arabia, brought changes in their technology by
introducing metro-fiber rings. The main goal for the change was to provide faster and
uninterrupted high speed traffic. While making this technological change the company had to
communicate to the employees the need for the change, create a plan and implement that
plan. After the execution, plans had to be created for the maintenance of the network (Itc.sa,
2019).
5.
National Commercial bank adopts continuous improvement approach for attracting,
retaining and optimizing the top talents. Systematizing the processes through software is the
typical example of this. The plans also cater to restructuring of manpower and staff relation
areas. As a matter of specification, the human resource functions are divided into the
following divisions:
 People, Pay and Policy
 Talent acquisition and Employee Services
 People development (Alahli.com 2019)
These areas relates with the resource based theory, people and process conglomerates for
adding value to the functions. High commitment increases the flexibility in the performance.

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Reliance on teamwork is assistance for completing the operations within the stipulated time.
The main focus is on saudization, where qualified nationals are hired. Staff and management
relations are valued through the achievement of rewards for leadership and management.
Staff surveys are crucial for gaining an insight into the ways in which the HRM operations
can be improved. Training is one of the vital areas of HRM. Major investments is made for
organizing training for the staffs. These programs are divided into internal and external
programs. In this, the relevant legislations are Equality Act (2010), Anti-Discrimination Act
and Diversity (Alahli.com 2019). The main emphasis is on the attribute of equality is of great
assistance in terms of enhancing the workplace culture. Adherence to the standards proves
effective for retaining the leadership competencies, abilities and skills.
The voice of the staffs are valued through engaging them into the mainstream business
activities. This is through the means of surveys, which is assistance for excavating the main
issues, which the staffs encounter while executing the duties and responsibilities. Reference
can be cited of the Human Capital Survey, which was completed by the bank in the era of
2006. The target audience was management and executives. Within this, one of the important
parameters was Compensation and Benefits, which included fixed bonus, allowances,
performance bonus, social insurance, medical and life insurance, priviledge access to loans
and end of service loans (Alahli.com 2019). All these are included in the reports for
enhancing the awareness of the clients and the customers regarding the initiatives undertaken.
Mention can also be made of Training, one of the other important areas of the human
resource management of the Bank. Training schedules are provided to the staffs, which are
based on the recommendations of the managers. In this, reference can be cited of training
needs assessment done after the selection and recruitment process. Direct approvals are also
provided on the request of the staffs. The data in this regard is as follows:

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Fig 1: Traning expenditure of NCB
(Source: Alahli.com 2019)
One of other aspects is talent retention, which ensures the success of National
Commercial Bank. Limited talent in the native region and growing competition increases the
demand for labour. Strategic planning in this case is effective for preserving the choice
regarding the choice of the talents. In this case, reporting is done for the training
opportunities, promotions, stretch assignments and continuous improvement strategies.
Typical evidence of this lies in the Long Term Executive Plan for the executives.
End of the Service is also accounted as an integral aspect of Human resource
management in National Commercial Bank. Here, policies undertaken for catering to the
termination and exits are reported. Dignity and respect are the crucial elements, sufficing the
need for preserving the interest of the employees (Alahli.com 2019).
According to the principles of corporate banking, every customer is provided with the
access to market information and business opportunities. Comparative information is
included in the reports for evaluating the extent to which sustainable development has been
achieved. Performance management systems are used for measuring the performance at the
division, sectorial, subsidiary and group levels. Performance reviews are done for all of the

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sectors through the support of the Chief Executive officer. Mention can be made of Basel 2,
which has proved assistance in risk assessment and capital governance. Senior management
team and board levels collaborate for the formation of performance management frameworks
(Alahli.com 2019).
Audits are conducted for assessing the use of information technology in terms of the
policies identified. Internal Audit Standards are followed in this aspect. In this, Key
Performance Indicators are identified for adding focus to the execution of the operations.
Refinement of the basic KPI’s is assistance for upgrading the standards and quality of the
performance. Global reporting initiatives collaborate with the supplement indicators, Equator
Principles, Unites Global Compact and others for the audit process.
Fig 2: KPIs of National Commercial bank
(Source: Alahli.com 2019)

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For measuring the performance of the staffs, balance scorecards are used. This is in
terms of scoring their performance for estimating the future courses of actions. Performance
appraisals are also conducted by the bank for assessing the capability of the staffs to make
practical application of the learnt skills to complete the assigned tasks. Post training tests are
taken for measuring the competencies of the staffs with the workplace conditions. Hiring of
the staffs from different countries is an initiative towards enhancing the cultural diversity
(Bratton and Gold 2017).
6.
The research conducted by Kim and Sung-Choon (2011), takes 953 employees across
different firms to determine the average number of career building courses offered by them. It
was found that on an average each company offered two development course for the
employees. They use direct courses, career counselling, assessment centers, and career
workshops to facilitate increase in performance. The findings also suggest that human
resource management and HR functions have direct correlation with performance intensity of
the firm.
Most of the research has been carried out using measures that are relatively new. In
spite of that they serve the content validity. All the measures that has been taken satisfy the
previous literature and methodology. The lack of guidelines and directions for the
management of human resources to create high performance organizations lead to adoption of
new methodology and procedure to provide findings. The research includes primary data
collected by survey as well as secondary data supported by previous literature review. Thus
the findings and the conclusion that the paper reaches valuable and trustworthy. The
justification that the authors provide for the adoption of new methods and approaches
reliable. The study, at the end, reevaluates the hypothesis and assumption that it had made at

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the initial stage and finds that HR functions have direct implications in firm performance
provided that the firm is offering the employees opportunities to develop their skills through
courses and workshops. The presence of labor unions and cooperation between the two
bodies increases performance in the organization. The limitations that this paper highlights is
the lack of training of the sample size. The lack of data related to firm performance is also
another limitation.
From the paper, the result that findings suggest are believable. It is possible that the
performance of the employees are related to the management work of the Human Resource
team. It has been seen through examples of many companies that, the companies that engage
themselves in continuous training and career development programs see much growth as
employees are updated regularly, they are involved and enhanced in their skill. Innovative
companies use career development plans so that the motivation of the employees increase as
well which will in turn increase the productivity of the company. The function of Human
Resource Management is to ensure the employees perform better, grow in their skills and
most importantly the firm that they work for is increasing their performance (Zehir et al.
2016). The presence of union creates a sense of unity among the employees that leads to
employee satisfaction and involvement. Through union the organization is able to
communicate with the employees effectively and the opposite is true as well.
Thus, the study implies direct relation with firm performance and HR functions,
provides possible solution to increase firm performance and also states the limitations and the
possible solution for those problems. These relationship has been debated for long but the
research gap that provided no concrete answer to the relationship between these two has been
answered by the study. This adds hypothetical approach to the role of human resource
management in the workplace.

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