Human Resource Management Theories and Practices

This assignment explores various theories and practices within Human Resource Management (HRM). It examines the role of HRM in achieving organizational goals and improving employee performance. Topics covered include talent management, job evaluation, diversity and inclusion, and sustainable resource management. The assignment requires students to analyze these concepts, apply them to real-world scenarios, and critically evaluate their effectiveness.

HRM

INTRODUCTION
With the globalization the market has become more competitive in the present era. Thus
the to attain the competitive edge in the industry, the company needs to have an efficient
employees. Now days with t his the human resource development is becoming more crucial
element in the organization. The management of human resources is the foremost task of the
company so as to perform their operations in an effective manner (Hendry, 2012). Among the
leading retail stores, Sainsbury is an efficient business store which is serving the customers with
a wide range of products. The company aims to grow and develop in the industry, thus for that it
has to manage human resources in an efficient manner so as to ensure the productivity of the
firm. Thus in this report various methods and theories are used to manage the employees in an
effective manner. This includes defining an efficient recruitment process, using motivational
factors like rewarding them so as to enhance the capabilities of the employees and the legal and
regulatory norms which must be considered to satisfy the staff members so as to retain them in
the company. Further, the cessation as well as exit procedures are determined.
TASK 1
1.1
Human resource management refers the fields which are involved in the acquisition,
maintenance, development and coordination of people at the workplace. This is done to ensure
the productivity. It is a systematic function of planning of training, giving compensation and
provisions for performance appraisal so as to retain the employees in the organization (Markos
and Sridevi, 2010). On the other hand, personnel management refers to the department which is
involved in the recruitment, hiring, staffing, development and compensation of the workforce so
as to achieve the objectives of the organization. Further, the difference between personnel and
human resource management are discussed below:
Human resource management Personnel management
 It is a modern approach of managing
the people in the firm.
 It is the traditional approach to manage
the people in the organization.
 It mainly focus on the development,
motivation and maintenance of human
resources (Pfeffer, 2010).
 It focuses on the personnel
administration, employee welfare and
labor relation.
 Under this, they consider people as an  It assumes people as an input to meet

important and valuable resource which
is used to achieve the goals of
company.
the objectives.
 In this, administrative function is
undertaken for meeting the goals.
 In this, personnel function is been
undertaken to ensure the employee’s
satisfaction (Smith, 2014).
 Under this, job design is formulated
according to the group work.
 In this, job is designed on the basis of
division of labor.
 The employees are provided with
training and development programs.
 Under this, less training is given to the
staff members.
 The staff members actively participate
in the decision making process of the
organization.
 Top management is responsible for
taking decisions for the company.
1.2
There are several functions within the HRM which helps in achieving the goals of the
organization. Further, the manager of Sainsbury should consider while improving the operations
of the company. Some of the functions are discussed below:
 Training and development- For developing the skills and knowledge of the staff
members, it is important for the company to organize regular training programs so as to
enhance their capability. The updated technical terms must also be explained to the
employees in an efficient manner so that they can work with them easily which will
directly help in increasing the productivity of the organization (Iles, Chuai and Preece,
2010). This program must be organized on the regular basis as this will help the staff
members to enhance their personal as well as professional skills.
 Employee career- The individual joins the company to develop their career goals. Thus
to ensure this, the HR manager must identify the interest of the employee and motivate
them to achieve it. Further, employees must be given challenging work which will help to
find the perception of them towards their work. Further, they must be rewarded for
achieving the goals or performing well. This will help them to motivate at higher extent.
 HR planning- This is a method used by the HR department to forecast and estimate the
demand and supply of human resources in the organization. This help to find as how

many employees are needed and for which post (Schuler, Jackson and Tarique, 2011).
Thus it makes easy for the department to recruit the employees. This assists in developing
effective strategy and the measures to monitor the performance in an effective manner.
 Managing relationship- The core responsibility of the HR manager of Sainsbury is
to maintain harmonious environment at the workplace. They must ensure fair dealing
with the employees and also maintain industrial relations. Further, good relation with
every employee must be made so as to ensure peace in the company (Carter and
Liane Easton, 2011).
1.3
Line managers are the people who are responsible to keep a record of every employee in
the organization. All the staff members have to report the line manager for the accomplishment
of their daily work. They play a crucial part in the company. Their main task is to implement HR
plans and policies for the operations. Further, they are involved in providing training and
coaching to the employees so as to enhance their skills and knowledge (Lewis, Packard and
Lewis, 2011). They act as a backbone for the venture which helps the company to attain the
competitive advantage over the rival competitors. Moreover, they assist in managing employees
and their work in an efficient manner. Some of the roles and responsibilities of line manager are
discussed below:
 Engagement of employees- The Line manager must make sure that employees are
taken into consideration for making the decisions for the company. They must be
actively participating in every activity held in the firm. This help to increase the
morale of the employees which directly enhance their productivity.
 Discipline- It is the foremost duty of the manager to maintain discipline in the
organization. They must set rules and regulations for all the employees associated
with the working hours, standard of the work etc. This will help to create decorum in
the firm (Gutiérrez, Hilborn and Defeo, 2011).
 Appraisal schemes- The manager must make provisions to provide rewards to the
employees for their good performance. This will help to boost their capabilities and
will work with full determination.
 Recruitment process- The line manager plays an important role in recruitment of
people in the organization. They are responsible for making the plans for selecting

candidate. Thus the line managers must make sure that the people hired are talented
and skilled which will help them to enhance the performance, brand image and
turnover of the firm.
 Regular monitoring- The line managers must make provisions for regularly
monitoring the performance of the employees and provide them with feedback. Thus
this helps them to overcome their weak points and develop their skills (Griffin, 2013).
1.4
HR manager of Sainsbury need to understand and implement all the legal and regulatory
framework at the workplace so as t o ensure the performance of the company. Further, to
monitor that the work is done under the set guidelines and regulations. Moreover, Sainsbury is
recommended to become competent as they are working in the dynamic environment and it is
crucial for them to attain competitive edge in the market (Pierce and Aguinis, 2013). For this the
company must adopt several laws in the firm so as to fulfill the rights of employees as well as all
the members associated with the organization. Some of the laws which the manager of the firm
must consider and adopt are discussed below:
 Sex discrimination Act, 1975 and Race relation Act 1992- The stated Acts are
formulated to protect the men as well as women from any sort of discrimination which
can be on several basis like caste, creed, color, sex, religion and ethnic beliefs. The
manager of the firm must ensure that people are not prone to any such thing and equal
rights and opportunities are given to every individual (Sex Discrimination and Your Rights.
2016). This will help the company to retain their employees and enhance their morale to
do work efficiently.
 Equal pay Act 1970- This Act defines that all the individuals at the same level must be
provided with same pay without any sort of discrimination and biased decision. They
must not give more preference to men over women. This will encourage more women to
join the organization and perform well to attain the objectives of the firm.
TASK 2
2.1
Human resource planning refers to the systematic analysis of identifying the needs and
requirements of individuals in the organization and to ensure that the right number of employees
are being appointed which are having adequate skills to achieve the targets of the company

(Punnett, 2015). Further, the HR department in the organization are responsible for several tasks
like recruiting, training, career development and the services involved during retirement.
Moreover, HR planning plays a crucial role in efficiently dealing with all the activities. In this,
the managers need to collect the information, creating objectives, goals and coming to
conclusion which assists in achieving the targets of the company.
Further, HR planning is done to find out the need of employees are required and for
which post. In addition to this, they also provide with improvement and growth of staff members
by organizing training programs for them. They also ensure that all the employee’s needs are
fulfilled related to the pay scale, promotions and other opportunities (Townley, 2014). However,
HR planning also assist in improving the human resource assistance which leads to increased
productivity, sales and income of the company. Some of the important reason for implementing
HR planning in the workplace has been defined down under:
 HR planning help in determining the individual with certain quality which is required to
perform a specific job.
 HR planning assists the venture in identifying the needs and demands of workforce.
 HR manager also get assistance as they are able to make certain changes so that they can
cope up with both internal and external factors present.
2.2
In the planning of HR requirements there are several stages involved in it. The HR
manager of the Sainsbury needs to consider all the factors in an efficient way so as to ensure the
performance of the company. The following steps are been discussed below:
 Analyzing Organizational objectives- To make an efficient HR planning it is required
to find the objectives of the firm which need to be achieved in the future in different
fields which includes production, marketing, finance, expansion and sales. Thus it assist
in getting the idea about the work which is to be done in the organization.
 Inventory of Present Human Resources- By the updated information about the human
resources storage system, the number of employees, its capacity, performance and their
potential can be analyzed (Wright and McMahan, 2011). Further, to fill the various job
requirements, the internal sources which includes the employees from within the firm and
also the external sources which are the candidates acquired from various placement
agencies can be estimated.

 Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human resources- The HR which is required at
different positions according to their job profile is to be estimated. Further, the available
internal as well as external sources are measured which are required to fulfill the posts
(Hendry, 2012). Moreover, there must be proper matching of the job description and
specification for the particular work and the profile of the individual which is adequate
for the post.
 Estimating Manpower gaps- Comparison of the human resources demand and supply
will provide with the surplus or deficit of the manpower. The deficit will define the
number of the individual to be employed, whereas the surplus represents the termination.
For this, the extensive use of proper training and development program will help to
upgrade the skills and knowledge of employees.
 Formulating the Human Resource Action Plan- The HR plan is dependent on the
deficit or surplus in the company. According to it the plan is decided either for new
recruitment, training, interdepartmental transfer in the case of termination and voluntary
retirement schemes in case of surplus (Markos and Sridevi, 2010).
 Monitoring, Control and Feedback- In this it involves the implementation of human
resource action plan. They must be according to the requirements and inventories in the
company. The plan must be monitored to identify the deficiencies and take measures to
remove it. The comparison between the HR plan and the actual implementation is done
for ensuring the appropriate action and availability of the number of employees for
various posts.
2.3
Recruitment process of every organization is mainly different from one another in every
firm the HR manager have different perception of recruiting the candidates. They have different
requirements of skills for acquiring the individual in the company (Pfeffer, 2010). The selection
process is of every firm is based on the goals and objectives set by the organization.
Recruitment process in Sainsbury
In this for the recruitment and selection process the HR manager of firm prepares two
important documents namely job description and specification statement and according to that
emphasize on recruiting suitable candidates (Smith, 2014). Firstly, company advertises the
vacancies at the official website venture and calls for the application form. Prospective

candidates submits their CV and HR manager then short lists the same as per the capability and
talent which individual possess. The candidates who are short listed then called for the final
round of interview. Here, a panel of experts meets the candidate personally and identifies their
presentation and communication skills. Individuals who are finally selected are awarded with
offer letter.
Recruitment process in Tesco
On the other hand, the recruitment and selection process in Tesco is far different from
that of Sainsbury. In this the HR manager of the firm implements different practices for the
same. It involves series of steps which assist the company to select the efficient candidate which
will achieve the goals of the firm (Iles, Chuai and Preece, 2010). The following steps are been
discussed:
 Identify vacancies in different department
 Prepare job description
 Develop plan for recruitment
 Select a suitable panel
 Implement best recruitment plan
 Conduct interview
 Medical test
 Selecting hire
 Final recruitment and formalities
2.4
From the above stated process, it can be stated that the process which is closer to the ideal
process of recruitment and selection would be considered as the efficient and effective. By
studying the process of both the companies, it was found that Sainsbury is following more
effective process than the Tesco. As the recruitment process in the firm is simple and more
efficient. The managers of the company are more focused on selecting the talented candidates so
that the business operations gets stable and they earn more profit (Schuler, Jackson and Tarique,
2011). They also differentiate the process for hiring full and part time jobs. The process is cost
effective for the company as it involves less steps in selecting the candidate. They also take
measure to provisions for arranging training sessions for the employees so that they can work
more effectively in the organization. On the other hand, in Tesco the recruitment process

involves is quite complicated as it involves several steps for selecting the candidate. They are
more directed towards the task so they take much time in finding the appropriate person. In this
company there is no provision or entry for the part time job candidates. As it involves several
steps it becomes costly for the company to arrange all of them (Carter and Liane Easton, 2011).
TASK 3
3.1
Motivation refers to the driving force behind the actions as well as behavior of the person
in the organization. It helps in encouraging the employees to fulfill the objectives of the
company. Thus the HR manager of Sainsbury need to understand what will help in motivating
the staff members at work and thus ensures the productivity of them. It assist in boosting the
morale of the individuals and make the employees more competent (Lewis, Packard and Lewis,
2011). Sainsbury should implement several motivational theories at the workplace so as to make
them more satisfied. Thus, the Maslow’s need theory must be used to motivate the employees as
this theory emphasizes on increasing needs and demand of employees within the venture. With
this, the manager of mentioned company will be able to assess five major needs which
employees require within venture. These are psychological needs, safety needs, love and
belonging needs, esteem needs and self actualization needs. By examining all these needs,
supervisors can design different types of incentives and award schemes which will help the firm
to retain their existing workforce as well.
Further, there are extrinsic and intrinsic rewards which make the employee to work with
better performance. If any of the staff member gets the same, then their morale gets high and
they will work with best of the dedication to achieve the mission and vision of firm. Thus the
company must adopt several reward schemes in the firm to motivate and retain employees in the
company.
3.2
Job evaluation refers to the systematic way of evaluating the importance of particular job
in the organization. There is a close relationship between the job performance and the
determination of the pay. However, the payment strategy mainly varies from firm to firm. In
small sized firms they only use job evaluation method to determine the payment for the
individual (Gutiérrez, Hilborn and Defeo, 2011). However, in large scale business job
performance and several other factors help in fixing the compensation for the staff members.

Further, in Sainsbury they adopt mainly three ways of job evaluation for determining the
pay for the individuals. It involves ordering, classification and point method. The ordering
method is also known as the ranking method which help in marking the employees according to
the work done by them (Job Evaluation—Three Common (and Good) Methods. 2016). Further,
in classification method it uses different categories or classes of similar job content and value for
determining the pay. Thus, in point method, it uses an established scale which includes the key
job factors which help in finding the points for each individual for the determination of the pay.
3.3
There are mainly several reward system to be adopted by the organizations. This includes
intrinsic and extrinsic system, financial and non-financial system, job enrichment etc. to be
followed in the company. Thus in Sainsbury the intrinsic and extrinsic reward system is
determined as effective system in the organization. The employees are pleased and satisfied by
the adoption of this scheme. As in the intrinsic reward system it includes participation of staff
members in decision making, greater job freedom, responsibility, interesting work and greater
growth opportunities for the staff members (Griffin, 2013). On the other hand in extrinsic system
it includes generally the financial rewards which are given to employees as per their
performance. This includes bonus, increment in salary, gift, compensation, etc, which help the
company to satisfy the employees to a greater extent. Thus this all factors help the company to
motivate as well as retain the employees in the organization.
3.4
Monitoring the employees and performance is the crucial factor to be adopted in the
HRM. Thus, without proper monitoring of the activities the firm is not able to ensure the success
in the long run. Moreover, Sainsbury must used several methods of monitoring the performance.
Some of them are discussed below:
 Self evaluation: In the self evaluation, employee has been asked to evaluate themselves
as how they have performed throughout the year. Further, the evaluation of performance
is made in different categories and they have been given a form which needs to be filled.
Many times, it comes in multiple choice formats (Pierce and Aguinis, 2013).
 Benchmarking: In this, the manager of cited firm compares the actual performance of
employees with the set benchmark standard. If any gap persist, then manager undertake

certain measures to fulfill those gaps. Training and development is most opted method to
enhance skills and knowledge of their talented workforce.
TASK 4
4.1
Some major reasons behind the termination of Faisal’s from Chicken Master are as
follows:
 Poor performance at performing the activities
 Violation of company’s policy
 Cleaning process was not done properly
 The food prepared was not up to the standard
 Lack with leadership skills
 Taking many holidays without informing anyone
 Misusing the company’s property
Further, other reasons for the cessation of employee from the organization are stated below
(Punnett, 2015):
 Bad relationship between superior and subordinate
 Targets not achieved
 Workload on employees
 Unhygienic as well as unhealthy working environment
 Main reason behind conflicts in the firm
 Violating the company’s rules and regulations
4.2
The next step of cessation is to terminate the employee from the organization. Further,
every company has its own set of steps to cease the staff member. In Chicken Master, used the
informal way for the cessation of Faisal from the company. The person was not given any notice
period or asked for the explanation for his poor performance in the venture rather he was fired by
giving the termination letter. The dues were paid to him on the spot and were thrown out from
the organization (Townley, 2014).
On the other hand, Sainsbury uses formal way to terminate the employees from the
company. They give one month notice to the individual so that they can find other options after
leaving the job. Moreover, they are given with the rights to give explanation for the reason they

are being fired from the organization. If they become successful in telling the reason than they
are given one more chance to perform in the firm. However if they do not succeed in doing that
they are terminated. The dues are made within the one month notice period only. They follow
proper norms of the government for this process (Wright and McMahan, 2011).
4.3
There are several legal norms stated by the government for performing the termination
procedure. Thus, the company has to follow all the rules to be secure in the future run. The
following are some legal Acts: Employment Relations Act, 2000- As per this Act, organization is highly required to
build a strong employee employer relationship within the workplace. This relation so
made will make employee dedicated towards the job and they will not leave the venture
soon. With this, employees will also be able to meet their personal and professional life
(Punnett, 2015).
 Employment Rights Act, 1996- In this act, if the cessation of an employee takes place
without proper rule and procedure, worker has all the right to file a case against the HR
practices of business venture and get their justice accordingly.
 Discrimination Act- Under this, it is stated that the company has no right to cease the
employee on the basis of any kind of discrimination related to sex, creed color, sex and
religion. If the company is unsuccessful in following this rule than the employee has right
to case a file against them (Sex Discrimination and Your Rights. 2016).
Thus, in the scenario of Chicken Master, they do have not followed the legal norms for the
termination of Faisal from the organization. This has become a problem for the company as
the person done a case on the company that the cessation was made on discrimination done
on the basis on gender. Further, this has given a bad or negative impact on the brand image of
the organization in the market.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the HRM practices are very important in
improving the performance of the organization. The study of personnel and HRM management
was done efficiently to know its difference and usage in the company. Further the functions of
HRM in Sainsbury were given to improve the performance of the company. In addition to this,

the cessation process of Chicken master and Sainsbury was defined to learn different processes.
Hence, at the end the legal impact of cessation on the company was dicussed.

REFERENCES
Journals & Books
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. Routledge.
Markos, S. and Sridevi, M. S., 2010. Employee engagement: The key to improving
performance. International Journal of Business and Management. 5(12). p.89.
Pfeffer, J., 2010. Building sustainable organizations: The human factor. The Academy of
Management Perspectives. 24(1). pp.34-45.
Smith, L. G., 2014. Impact assessment and sustainable resource management. Routledge.
Iles, P., Chuai, X. and Preece, D., 2010. Talent management and HRM in multinational
companies in Beijing: Definitions, differences and drivers. Journal of World Business. 45(2).
pp.179-189.
Schuler, R. S., Jackson, S. E. and Tarique, I., 2011. Global talent management and global talent
challenges: Strategic opportunities for IHRM. Journal of World Business. 46(4). pp.506-516.
Carter, C. R. and Liane Easton, P., 2011. Sustainable supply chain management: evolution and
future directions. International journal of physical distribution & logistics management. 41(1).
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Lewis, J. A., Packard, T. R. and Lewis, M. D., 2011. Management of human service programs.
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Griffin, R. W., 2013. Fundamentals of management. Cengage Learning.
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Punnett, B. J., 2015. International perspectives on organizational behavior and human resource
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Townley, B., 2014. Selection and appraisal: reconstituting. New Perspectives on Human
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Wright, P. M. and McMahan, G. C., 2011. Exploring human capital: putting ‘human’back into
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Online
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<http://www.civilrightsmovement.co.uk/sex-discrimination-your-rights.html>. [Accessed on 8th
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Job Evaluation—Three Common (and Good) Methods. 2016 [Online]. Available through: <http
http://hrdailyadvisor.blr.com/2012/05/09/job-evaluation-three-common-and-good-methods/>.
[Accessed on 8th October 2016].