Human Resource Management Functions and Roles

This solved assignment analyzes the key functions of Human Resource Management (HRM) within the context of Unilever. It examines areas such as recruitment, training and development, performance management, compensation and benefits, employee relations, and legal compliance. The assignment emphasizes the strategic importance of HRM in achieving organizational objectives and driving success in a global business environment like Unilever's.

Human Resource Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Differentiating between HRM and Personnel management..................................................3
HRM ..........................................................................................................................................3
Personnel management................................................................................................................3
Personnel management performance functions of record keeping as well as it aims to establish
equitable terms and conditions of the employment.....................................................................3
1.2 Assessing how HRM functions helps the organization in achieving objectives...................5
1.3 Evaluating the role and responsibilities of line managers.....................................................6
1.4 Analysing how legal and regulatory framework impact on HRM........................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
2.1 Analysing reasons for HR planning.......................................................................................7
2.2 Outlining the stages involved in planning HR requirements.................................................8
2.3 Comparing current recruitment and selection process...........................................................8
2.4 Evaluating the effectiveness of the organisation recruitment and selection techniques.......9
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Assessing the link between motivational theory and reward.................................................9
3.2 Evaluating the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay at Virgin Media
....................................................................................................................................................10
3.3 Assess in different contexts how effective is the reward systems at Virgin Media............11
3.4 Examining the methods use to monitor employee performance at Virgin Media...............11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
4.1 Identifying reasons for termination of Faisal’s employment contract with The Chicken
Master........................................................................................................................................12
4.2 Describing the employment exit procedures used by the organisation................................12
4.3 Considering the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation
arrangements..............................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
2

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is a management that performs various functions within
an organisation to increase the profitability, production, employee performances etc. Its primary
activity is to maintain coordination and manage the human resources of the company. HR
undertakes various crucial activities such as training, development, performance appraisal,
employee recruitment, design, employee benefits as well as rewarding (Tang and Tang, 2012).
HR department is also concerned with the organizational changes and industrial relations which
help in maintaining balance between practices and requirements arising out of government laws
and collective bargaining. Unilever is an Anglo Dutch multinational organisation whose
headquarter is situated at London, UK. It serves range of products such as food, beverages,
cleaning agents, personal care products etc worldwide. It is third largest consumer good
organization after Nestle and Procter & Gamble. The company has expanded its services in 190
regions and it has owned more than 400 brands (About Unilever, 2016). Further the report will
include difference between HRM and personnel management. Also it will outline various stages
involved in human resource planning in the report. Later it will also evaluate the factors
determining pay as well as process of job evaluation. At last, it will focus on various reasons for
termination as well as impact of legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation
arrangement.
TASK 1
1.1 Differentiating between HRM and Personnel management
Basis HRM Personnel management
Nature of
approach
Human resource management is a
modern approach.
Whereas, personnel management is a
traditional approach.
Functions Human resource management
functions to implement corporate
goals, strategies as well as also
performs additional human resource
centred organizational development
activities (Difference Between HRM
Personnel management performance
functions of record keeping as well as
it aims to establish equitable terms and
conditions of the employment.
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and Personnel management, 2016).
Scope Scope of HRM is integrated with the
core mission and vision of the
Unilever. It seeks to optimize the use
of human resources for fulfilling
organizational goals of Unilever. This
philosophical and strategic context of
HRM makes it more relevant,
purposeful, and effective.
Scope of personnel management is
limited to activities such as labour law
compliance, training administration,
performance appraisal, payroll
administration, job evaluation,
analysis, recruitment as well as
manpower planning (Snow and Snell,
2012).
Difference
in Approach
Whereas, the HRM approach remains
impatient with the rules and
regulations. The human resource
philosophy helps in improving the
performance of employee and increases
the level of satisfaction and devises
strategies such as work challenges,
team work, and creativity to enhance
the motivation.
The personnel management approach is
concerned with the establishment of
policies, rules, procedures, contracts
etc. the following approach holds
employee satisfaction as a key for
keeping the employees motivated and
provide them with compensation,
bonuses, rewards etc to motive
employees.
Difference
in Nature
HRM remains integrated with
corporate strategy and takes a proactive
approach to align the workforce
towards achieving the corporate goals.
For example, HRM approach has a
more comprehensive and proactive
performance management system that
aims to improve performance rather
than make a report card of past
performance of the Unilever.
Personnel management remains aloof
from core organizational activities,
functions independently and takes a
reactive approach to change the
corporate goals or strategy.
For instance, while the personnel
management approach concern with a
reactive performance appraisal process
(Kehoe and Wright, 2013).
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1.2 Assessing how HRM functions helps the organization in achieving objectives
There are various functions that helps the Unilever in achieving its pre determined goals and
objectives.
(Source- HRM functions helps the organization in achieving objectives, 2014)
Planning- It is the primary function of HR which leads the organization towards achievement of
organisational goals. Planning is made on the basis of the goals and objectives. The HR manager
prepares strategies and policies on the basis of the determined goals only. If everything goes
accordingly then it will result in achieving the goals.
Recruitment, Selection & orientation- It is another important task that HR is required to
perform at its best because the employees are the one who have the responsibility to accomplish
task on time and with efficiency. So it is very important to recruit correct person at right job.
Effectiveness, specialisation as well as expertization of employees leads the organization toward
the increase in the profitability of Unilever (Bennett and Ho, 2014).
Training and development- Once the candidates are selected for the company next step is to
train and develop them to make them understand their job. This function is performed by the
HRM of the Unilever. This makes the employees expert in their work and it leads towards
achievement of goals effective and efficiently.
Performance appraisal- It helps in motivating employees to work with more enthusiasm and
energy. If the employee starts working with full energy it will automatically lead Uniliver
towards achieving the efficiency and effectiveness among employees (Haslam and et.al., 2012).
5
Illustration 1: Functions of HRM

Recognition and rewards- On the basis of performance, the HR is required to give employees
reward for best performances etc. HR can also grant employees with rewards such as bonuses
etc. this again lead the organization towards achievement of goals and objectives.
Retention- Also the HR is required to conduct various activities to retain its best talent within
the organisation. This will save training and development cost as well as maintain the level of
consistency in profitability every year.
1.3 Evaluating the role and responsibilities of line managers
There are various roles and responsibilities of line manager. Those are: Employee Engagement and Performance Appraisals - Line Manger deals with
supervision activities in which it supervises it employees to check their strengths and
encourage communication (Responsibilities of the Line Managers in HR, 2016). It tries to
create and open and friendly environment for employees Working in organisation. It is
also involved in the activity of performance appraisal in which it rate employees on the
basis of their performance and behaviours.
 Disciplining Employees - Line manager is responsible to maintain some discipline in the
workplace to achieve organisation goals. For maintain discipline line manager of
Unilever sets a target towards its team that is to be accomplished in a certain time.
 Performance- Related Pay - The Unilever has its performance related pay structure in
such case the responsibility of line manager increases itself. It is required to maintain the
level of pay structure ans should enforce that pay structure goes high instead of coming
down to the line (Paolin and et.al., 2012).
1.4 Analysing how legal and regulatory framework impact on HRM
 Equal Pay Act, 1970: This Act is related to protecting employee in terms of giving equal
pay to them. As per this act, the company have to pay the same amount of money to
every employee of the company working at the same level. HRM of Unilever will get
affected from this Act as it will creates legal issues for them. Other than organisation
employee of the company will also get affected from this as it will help to increase
working capacity of the people. Health and safety Act – Health is a emerging issue theses days. Health issues are caused
due to stress and exceed metal work which makes men like machine. Stress leads to
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various diseases. These days HR manager of Bank is conducting various activities for
reducing stress level of employees working in organisation (Abreu and et.al., 2014).
 Employment Right Act, 1996: The Act deals with protecting right of employees within
the company to make the comfortable work environment within the organisation.
According to this Act, all the terms and conditions of the employment contract should be
clearly describes before joining. Unilever should take care about this Act it will make
issue on the HR department of the company.
TASK 2
2.1 Analysing reasons for HR planning
Human resource planning can be referred as a procedure which determines the current
and future requirement of subordinates in the company to attain overall objectives and goals. The
main reason for human resource planning is to make the optimal use of human resource of the
organization. The concept of HR planning is to maintain balance between desired and actual
employees in the company. The workers are whole part of an organization that a support
Unilever is towards attaining long term success (Kenis and et.al., 2013). With help of the human
resource planning, the organization can increase the productivity and profitability of
organization. However, it also ensures or make sure that the resources are available for short as
well as for long term availability within the business that which helps in developed products and
services. Therefore, with the help of human resource planning, business can increase its stores
and outlets in city so that it becomes comfortable for the consumer to purchase the products from
nearby outlets and stores. The main reason of human resource planning is that it helps in
ensuring the proper number of qualified employees available in the business so that employees
can perform in various task. Moreover, this will help to identify the requirement of resources in
the business (Ahn and et.al., 2012). Company require knowledgeable person in the firm because
they can maintain the demand and supply ratio and qualify employees which helps in completing
their task in an appropriate manner
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2.2 Outlining the stages involved in planning HR requirements Analysing organizational objectives- First step of HR planing, is of analysing the
organisational objectives. That involves setting up of objectives that are to be achieved.
Different field objectives are made such as finance, marketing, sales and expansion etc. Inventory of present human resources - In this stage capacity, potential and capabilities
of employees are analysed. So that can analyse future requirements of manpower in the
Unilever (Bohlander, Snell and Morris, 2015). Forecasting Demand and Supply of Human Resource - In this stage HR examines the
requirements of internal as well as external manpower in future. Estimating Manpower Gaps – In this stage, HR of Unilever compares the gap between
demand and supply of human resources. Whether the resources will result in surplus or
deficits. Deficits mean number of employees are employed whereas surplus refers to
number of terminations bank will have to suffer through. Formulating the Human Resource Action Plan - After analysing the deficit and
surpluses in bank HR will finally plan for retirements schemes in case of deficits. Will
recruit new people in case of surplus gap (Taylor and Armstrong, 2014).
 Monitoring, Control and Feedback – It is the last stage of HR planning process. In this
HR of Unilever implements the final action plan.
2.3 Comparing current recruitment and selection process
Unilever Nestle
 Invites applicants- Searches applicants
with the help of websites such as Jobvite
etc.
 Invites applicants- Trace applicants
through various websites such as Jobvite
etc.
 Screening- from various applications
suitable applications are selected.
 Interview- After tracing applicants their
interview is held .
 Preliminary Interview- Selected applicants
are called for the interview.
 Selection- After clearing interview
candidates are selected.
 Test- Aptitude test is conducted which
covers all papers related to the
qualification or job requirements (Morley,
Brewster and Mayrhofer, 2016).
 Offer letter -After selection Offer letter is
provides to selected candidate.
 Final Interview- After clearing aptitude
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final interview round is held by the HR.
 Offer letter – If the candidate impresses the
HR with its skills it gets the offer letter.
Evaluating the effectiveness of process- The process opted by Unilever is more effective as in
this the candidate selected will be completely screened and will be skilled and qualified (Biron,
Bamberger and Meshoulam, 2014). Whereas there is a chance of mistake in selection of
candidate in case of Nestle Recruitment process. Although it consumes less cost and time as
comparing to the Unilever.
2.4 Evaluating the effectiveness of the organisation recruitment and selection techniques
Unilever conducts various steps for recruiting workers. After analyzing the demand of
employees HR place vacancies on various job websites to attract candidates. Received
applications the HR start process with telephonic interviews. It conduct telephonic interview
screen out the unqualified candidates from the list. After that the shortlisted candidates are called
for aptitude test and Group Discussion rounds (Delahaye, 2015). The candidates who gets
selected while whole process is being interview by the HR. HR takes face to face interview of
the selected candidate. After that HR select employees.
Whereas, Nestle follows comparatively short process in recruiting employees. HR first
finds suitable candidates among the existing employees. In case if he fails to find suitable person
for job its goes for external recruitment. It announce vacancy through job websites newspapers
etc. HR himself screen out the application of the basis of skill and knowledge required for the
job. After that the selected employees are call and interview. It follows comparatively short
procedure of screening and select the best candidate (Evans and Berman, 2013).
TASK 3
3.1 Assessing the link between motivational theory and reward
As per the research conducted by the Fredrick Herzberg he has broadened the
understanding of various motivating factors as well as job satisfaction factors while working at
the office premise of Virgin Media. Further the research also concluded that the work whereas
have two sets f requirements at the workplace. Those are related to hygiene and other is related
to motivator factors (Link between motivational theory and reward, 2016). Hygiene factors
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includes working condition and salary. However, these factors on their own do not lead to job
satisfaction and can lead to dissatisfaction if pay and conditions are poor. Motivators are factors
includes recognition, responsibility, achievement as well as opportunities for progression.
Herzberg found that a combination of these factors increased motivation and improved
individual performance. In order to implement the above theory Virgin Media has a variety of
programmes that support this theory. Its established position scheme recruits beginner based on
their behaviour as well as their ability, looking for people that show potential as it offers
successful candidates mentoring, coaching and training. The organization recently opened a new
office in Birmingham where all apprentices are trained (Williams, 2013). Role play is an
important part of the training and actors are hired to perform the role of the customer with
apprentices. This approach creates a safe environment for the apprentices to learn, ensuring they
are qualified before meeting Virgin Media customers. The training suite, designed to simulate a
customer’s home, gives the apprentice the opportunity to see how their role is seen by the
customer through watching footage back to analyse their performance.
3.2 Evaluating the process of job evaluation and other factors determining pay at Virgin Media
Job evaluation process consist of various steps such as :
 Job Analysis- It involves two dimension first is job description and job specification. In
this stage the HR identifies number of employees and skills needed in the organization.
 Job Ratings- This process is related to adding worth to each job by rating it on the basis
of ranks, point ratings etc.
 Money Allocation- After job rating another step followed by HR of Virgin Media sets a
pay structure for each job on the basis of ratings. Job Classification- In this HR categorizes jobs into top, middle and lower level on the
basis of pay scale (Ulrich, 2013).
Factors determining pay at Virgin Media depends on following:
The organisation believes that its employees are required understand and believe in the journey
of the business and the personal role they can each play in its success. This applies to all
employees. There are a range of careers at Virgin Media from apprenticeships out in the field in
areas such as installation and service to a variety of graduate opportunities. Virgin Media’s
apprenticeship programmes, which consist of light work using screwdrivers rather than heavy
10

duty maintenance work, are attracting a growing number of females into its technician roles year
on year. As well as work experience and traineeships there are a wide range of career
opportunities in the three main business areas:
 Serve which includes roles in customer support and service technicians.
Growth which includes sales and retail (Hendry, 2012).
Support which includes roles in finance and health and safety.
3.3 Assess in different contexts how effective is the reward systems at Virgin Media
The reward system used at Virgin Media is quite effective as they are doing a lot of
actions through which it is possible for them to give rewards to the workers. And also, it will
help to make people motivated at the office premises. Along with it, Virgin Media also gives
incentives and bonuses to its employees (Evaluating reward effectiveness, 2016). That further
results in increasing motivation level of employee at the workplace. Also the various form of
theories that are used to make the worker dedicated towards the job.
Apart from it the Virgin Media also work on mitigating the negative factors from the
workplace through workplace so that workers can work more comfortably. Reward theory help
the employees to get attracted towards the workplace. They also provide insurance facility to
their employee so that they will be able to make the people feel secure at the workplace. It will
also make them sure that the company is caring for them (Valentine and et.al., 2016). In addition
to this, Virgin Media also uses variable pay to the different employee so that it will be possible to
give payment to the employees on the base of their performance within the company.
3.4 Examining the methods use to monitor employee performance at Virgin Media
Virgin Media uses various methods to monitor the employee performance. Such as:
Graphical scale
It refers to the graphical presentation about the development of the workers. This will
help Virgin Media to evaluate the monthly, quarterly and annual performance of the worker. In
this method the senior manager have to make performance graph of every employee through
which it will be possible for them to measure their performance.
Ranking methods
This is an another methods through which the managers of Virgin Media can evaluate the
performance of the workers. As per this methods, the organization have to give ranking to each
11

and every worker on the basis of their work. This rankings are given on the basis of performance
of employees (Tang and Tang, 2012).
Feedback
Usually Virgin Media take feedback from the seniors about the working performance of
the employees. Through this, people will be also able to deal with their weaknesses. On the other
hand it will also help Virgin Media to know about the skills and abilities of the employees so that
they will be able to find the hidden talent of the organisation.
TASK 4
4.1 Identifying reasons for termination of Faisal’s employment contract with The Chicken
Master
As per the given scenario there are various reasons that leads Faisal towards the
termination of employment from Chicken Master. It can be seen in the case scenario that Faisal
is not performing his duties effectively within the company and is against the policies of the
restaurant. Faisal is not performing his duties according to the policies of the organization. It is
much essential for Faisal to make sure that he is considering the responsibilities and roles in the
ethical manner (Snow and Snell, 2012). As he is in the restaurant management so it is his duty to
make sure that front of the store has been properly cleaned, kitchen has been cleaned properly so
that it will make customer attracted towards the work. As all of this are explained in the
guidelines of the policies of restaurant. According to this, he is not making proper cleansing of
the kitchen on time which is the reason behind the termination of Faisal.
Faisal is responsible for supervision of the activities of the employees and he is not able
to do this thing also. It will shows that he is not following the rules and regulations of the
company. Other than this, food is also not prepared on time and delivery of the food is also not
taking place (Kehoe and Wright, 2013). All of these factors make negative impact of Faisal. All
of them are the major reasons behind the termination of Faisal.
4.2 Describing the employment exit procedures used by the organisation
Exit employment procedure can be considered as one of the most critical procedure in
which the HR conducts four stages. It includes resignation, exit interview, reference requests
and review. Taking the example of given scenario, firstly the Faisal is required to give
resignation letter in the respective restaurant in which he was working. It must cover the
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confirmation of job resignation and the last working days within the organisation. At the next
stage the information of resignation given by the Faisal has been passed on to the line mangers
of the restaurant (Bennett and Ho, 2014). So that all the pending work of the employee will get
completed. At the last step of exit interview has been conducted with employee through which
the reason behind the exit can be identified. In the given case the procedure is not followed by
the restaurant which may create legal issues for the company.
On contrary to this, KFC is also the food chain and they are having quite easy exit procedure for
the employees. As the individual have to give resignation before 1 week so that the management
of the company can complete the procedure. After that, manager will take exit interview of the
candidate to find the reason behind exit (Haslam and et.al., 2012). Apart from this, he also
oppose to the rules of the disciplinary procedure of the organization. As it is written over their
that the employee will not be supposed to share any information of the organisation to the third
people. Other than this it is also written over there that employee have to manage the duties
which are assigned to them.
4.3 Considering the impact of the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation
arrangements
There are various legal and regulatory framework Acts that place impact on the employment
cesaation arrangements. Those are:
Equality Act, 2010: It states the equal treatment should access to employees in private and public
services. This will protect the rights in terms of characteristics of age, disability, gender
reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, and sexual orientation.
ACAs code of conduct: It is the Code of Practice that regulates on governing discipline and
grievance employers, employees and their representatives and also has some principles for
handling disciplinary and grievance situations in the workplace (Paolini and et.al., 2012).
Employment Tribunal procedure: It is the Statutory jurisdiction that hear various kinds of
disputes among employers and employees. It is the part of the UK tribunals system that is
administered by the Tribunals Service and regulated by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals
Council.
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CONCLUSION
HRM is a modern approach whereas personnel management is a traditional approach and
also the scope of human resource management is wide than the personnel management approach.
Planning, recruitment, selection, training development, performance appraisal, retention etc are
the functions of human resource management that further helps in attaining the pre determined
goals and objectives of the organization. Employee engagement, performance appraisal,
disciplining employees as well as performance related pay are some of the roles and
responsibilities that line manager have to perform in any organisation. Equal Pay Act 1970,
Health and Safety Act, Employment Right Act are some of the legal regulatory frameworks that
palaces either positive or negative impact on the organisation. Analysing organisational
objectives, inventory of present human resource, forecasting of demand and supply, estimating
manpower gaps, formulating HR action plan as well as monitoring controlling etc are the stages
involved in the human resource planning. Jo analysis, job rating, money allocation and job
classification are the steps involved in the process of job evaluation. Also graphical scale,
ranking methods as well as feedbacks are some of the methods that bare used by the Virgin
Media to monitor the performances of employees. Equality Act 2010, ACAs code of conduct,
employment tribunal procedure are the legal and regulatory framework on employment cessation
arrangement.
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