Investigating HR Practices in Staff Recruitment and Selection

This research proposal aims to investigate the role of HR practices in managing the process of staff recruitment and selection within an organization. The study will focus on Marks & Spencer and identify the challenges faced by the company in this process. The proposal includes research questions, aims, objectives, and supporting questions, along with academic theories and evidence to support them. Ethical considerations are also discussed.

Identifying a Research Question for the Dissertation/Project
WORKSHEET FOR RESEARCH DISSERTATION PLAN
This template is to assist you in preparing your Research Dissertation Plan. Your research Plan is
the foundation of your dissertation. Please bring the sheet with you to the research tutorials to
demonstrate your progress – this is a record of your work-in-progress
Student’s Name Supervisor
Student’s
Number Date Allocated
*2 What are the possible
sources of your
research question?
These may include
academic subjects you
have studied, your
(business related)
personal experience,
your future career
intentions. Above all the
topic should arouse and
engage your interest.
HR practices include the strategic operations of Human Resource.
They generally form the guidance and foundation to manage the
employees of the organisation and systematically coordination
with the appropriate business plan. Some of the common instances
of Human resource practices are: setting the appropriate mission
and objectives of Human Resource Department. The human
resource department adopts several practices to recruit and select
employees in the organisation. With the assistance of effective
human resource practices, companies easily get employees who
are talented as well as skilled in the workplace. This department
makes sure that organisation does not have any vacant job position
(Paillé, 2019). Thus, it assists in making company to work towards
the attainment of goals and objectives.
The existing investigation is related to examination of the role of
HR in the procedure of recruitment and selection procedure in a
systematic manner. In respect of an organisation, employees are
the significant resource in an organisation and they are generally
recruited and selected through Human resource practices. When
HR of the organisation performs their work with greater efficiency
then organisation has employees who are aligned with the
company's objectives and targets. This investigation is also quite
significant for researcher in respect of professional and personal
perspective. In respect of personal perspective, researcher will
learn about the behaviour and attitude of people. This will assist in
developing mind-set among researcher every individual can be
dealt with great patience and calmness. Researcher will also get to
learn about the various research methods generally used for the
collection of relevant and accurate information. In respect of
professional perspective, researcher will learn about the several

practices of human resource for the systematic recruitment and
selection of the relevant candidates in an organisation. I will also
increase my knowledge regarding the roles of human resource for
managing and organising employees in the company. Therefore,
this will assist researcher in making successful and developed
career.
*3 What is your
proposed research
question?
This states the business
problem – add a
comment – what is the
anticipated benefit that
may result from
investigating the
problem
In the current investigation, information about human resource
practices is collected especially in the area of recruitment and
selection. The main problem identified in the current investigation
is that HR of the Marks & Spencer face issue in forming unique
strategies for the recruitment and selection of the employees in an
organisation (Rawashdeh, 2018). Eventually, this issue becomes
barrier in the success and development of the organisation. With
the motive of mitigating this issue, company must research about
the techniques and HR practices used by competitors for the
selection of right number of employees.
The anticipated advantage of the current investigation is that it
will include different types of strategies that could be used by
Human Resource of the organisation so that right kind of
participants could be recruited and selected. However, this
investigation will also showcase the various roles of recruitment
and selection procedure to hire talented and skilled employee in
the company.
*4 How has the problem
arisen?
Provide the contextual
background to the
problem –
Summary of
organization and
summary of the problem
The problem of the present investigation has arisen when
company faced issue in recruiting and selecting talented
employees in the organisation (Saeed and et. al., 2019). This
ultimately impacted the performance and profitability level of the
organisation. This has highlighted problem in front of the
organisation so that it can be mitigated right time for the
attainment and accomplishment of defined aim and objectives.
The problem of the organisation can be summarised that due to
formation of ineffective HR practices company faces issue in
recruiting candidates in the organisation.
*2 *3 *4 with contrbution from Jan Green (2013) Senior Lecture Glyndwr University Wrexham

What are the aims
of the research
study?
One research aim
which will be
reflected in the title
of your dissertation
Title:
An investigation into role of HR practices in selection and recruitment
of staff
Aims of the study:
The aim of the study is to identify role of effective HR practices in
managing process of staff recruitment and selection within an
organisation. A study on Marks & Spencer
Research question:
What are the roles performed performed by HR practices to manage
process of staff recruitment and selection within Marks & Spencer?
Research Sub Questions:
 What are the different practices of Human Resource used within
an organisation for the motive of managing workforce?
 What are the roles of effective HR practices in managing
process of staff recruitment and selection within Marks &
Spencer?
 What are the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer in the
process of recruitment and selection?
Quantitative
Study What are
the objectives of
your research
study?
What do you plan
to do during your
research?
For quantitative
research list up to
up to three
objectives
(For quantitative research)
The objectives of the study are :
 To determine the different practices of Human Resource used
within an organisation for the motive of managing workforce
 To explore role of effective HR practices in managing process
of staff recruitment and selection within Marks & Spencer
 To investigate the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer in the
process of recruitment and selection

the fourth objective
is to recommend a
course of action
Based on the study findings it is expected to recommend ……
Qualitative Study
What are the
supporting
questions of your
research study?
What do you plan
to do during your
research?
For qualitative
research list up to
three supporting
questions
the fourth objective
is to recommend a
course of action
(For qualitative research)
The supporting questions of the study are
….
…..
Based on the study findings it is expected to recommend
What is the main
academic theme of
your proposal?
Include an
academic definition
of the key terms,
supported by
academic literature
cited using the
Harvard
referencing system
 What are the different practices of Human Resource used
within an organisation for the motive of managing workforce?
According to Hmoud and Laszlo (2019), Human resource management
is defined as the process of recruiting and selecting employees has to be
presented in the practices of the HR which helps in achieving success in
the organization. Different practices of Human Resource used in the
company for managing employees helps in achieving high productivity
in the competitive market. The main practice of HR department is to
recruit highly talented and qualified employees which helps the
organization in achieving high growth and success in the competitive
market. Creating positive working environment for employees by the
human resource department helps in achieving high working efficiency
and effectiveness that results in increased profitability. Providing
benefits and compensation to employees is also considered as the best
practice of HR which helps in developing the skills and knowledge of
employees in order to achieve their professional targets and tasks.
Employee retention for a long period of time in the company by HR

helps in gaining high satisfaction among employees for better growth
opportunities.
 What are the roles of effective HR practices in managing
process of staff recruitment and selection within Marks &
Spencer?
According to Fenech, Baguant and Ivanov (2019), Recruitment is
considered as a key responsibility of the Human Resource department
which includes employee engagement, statuary compliance, data
management and employee development. The main role of human
resource department in Marks and Spencer is to select and recruit best
talent that helps in achieving more customer base and employee growth
in the market. It is important for the HR managers to explain employees
their roles and responsibilities so that they work in right direction in
order to work with more accuracy and efficiency. The role of HR
manager in the company is to provide effective and productive trainings
to their employees for increasing skills and knowledge in order to gain
competitive advantage over other rival competitors companies. Human
resource management in the company mainly focus on implementing
effective procedures and policies with the objective of efficient and
effective management of people.
 What are the challenges faced by Marks and Spencer in the
process of recruitment and selection?
According to Nieves and Quintana (2018), Being a recruiter in the
company is considered as an exciting yet challenging job in hiring the
best suitable candidate for the specified job profile for achieving high
growth. Human resource department of Marks and Spencer faces
several challenges at the time of selection and recruitment. The main
challenge that HR manager faces the right talent in the company which
has the capability to achieve the desired results and high productivity.
Loosing talented employees to competitor companies as they offer
more benefits and salary for staring working in the company. Delay in
hiring process is another challenge which creates problems for the
company as it frustrates and irritate individuals when they do not get
confirmation regarding their job fixation and security. Lack of branding
is also a challenge that HR manger face because if the candidate have
never heard about the company than it is a problem for the company as
they will not get talented and qualified employees.
What Academic This is addressed for each objective.

theory underpins
the research
question?
You should use evidence drawn from six recent academic journals
and texts to discuss the objectives; and therefore the research question.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
336771720_Recruitment_and_Selection
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
238325774_Graduate_recruitment_and_selection_in_the_UK_A_study
_of_the_recent_changes_in_methods_and_expectations
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234669311.pdf
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1359432X.2021.1904898
https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume16/3-The-Impact-of-
Effective-Recruitment.pdf
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3851335
You should have at least two recent journal articles supporting each
objective if you have three objectives and at least three journal articles
supporting each objective if you have two objectives.
Evidence
underpinning
Objective 1
One sentence explaining what the evidence says in relation to
objective 1:
The selected academic journal defines fundamentals of human resource
management and also provides various practices of human resource to
recruit and select employees.
Evidence
underpinning
Objective 2
One sentence explaining what the evidence says in relation to
objective 2:
The second journal article used in the current investigation showcases
the role of HR practices to recruit candidates in the United Kingdom.
Evidence
underpinning
Objective 3
One sentence explaining what the evidence says in relation to
objective 3:
The third academic journal used in the current investigation showcases
the challenges faced by organisation while recruiting and selecting
employees.

List the academic
journal articles
Use the full
Harvard
referencing system
Paillé, P., 2019. Green recruitment and selection: an insight into green
patterns. International journal of manpower.
Rawashdeh, A., 2018. The impact of green human resource
management on organizational environmental performance in Jordanian
health service organizations. Management Science Letters, 8(10),
pp.1049-1058.
Saeed and et. al., 2019. Promoting employee's proenvironmental
behavior through green human resource management
practices. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 26(2), pp.424-438.
Hmoud, B. and Laszlo, V., 2019. Will artificial intelligence take over
human resources recruitment and selection. Network Intelligence
Studies, 7(13), pp.21-30.
Fenech, R., Baguant, P. and Ivanov, D., 2019. The Changing Role Of
Human Resource Management In An Era Of Digital
Transformation. Journal of Management Information & Decision
Sciences, 22(2).
SINGH, L.B., MONDAL, S.R. and DAS, S., 2020. Human resource
practices & their observed significance for Indian SMEs. Revista
ESPACIOS, 41(07).
Nieves, J. and Quintana, A., 2018. Human resource practices and
innovation in the hotel industry: The mediating role of human
capital. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 18(1), pp.72-83.
Yong and et. al., 2020. Pathways towards sustainability in
manufacturing organizations: Empirical evidence on the role of green
human resource management. Business Strategy and the
Environment, 29(1), pp.212-228.
Peerzadah, S.A., Mufti, S. and Nazir, N.A., 2018. Green human
resource management: a review. International Journal of Enhanced
Research in Management & Computer Applications, 7(3), pp.790-795.
Ethical considerations
The present investigation carries out qualitative and secondary information so there is no
requirement of taking consent from organisation or employees.
Consider issues of access to the participant organisation and individuals
Draft letter requesting access to the organisation;
Draft a Participant Information Sheet and Consent Form
Fill-in part of the university’s Ethics Form
Ethical Approval: Compulsory for all academic research

Explain how you
will obtain written
authorization to
collect research
data
Organisational level: Who is your contact? How do you know the
contact? At what level are they operating within the organization?
Individual level: Participant information sheet and consent form. Issues
related to implied consent (especially for survey questionnaires)