Challenges and Issues of HRM in Attracting and Retaining Workforce in Public Retail Sector

This paper outlines the key challenges and issue of HRM while attracting and retaining the workforce in public retail sector. It talks about the ways that HRM uses to attract employees towards the company and the retention issues that becomes a challenge for the company to continue the interest of the employees. It provides recommendation to solve the issues and suggest ways to overcome the issues. It explains that how the challenges and issues that can occur in the organization. The strategies followed by the human resource department gives a clear view to the organization to run the business and earn good amount of profits. The paper explains the role and significance of human resource management within the organization.

Running head: Human resource management
Human resource management

Human resource management
Introduction
The main objective of this task is to outline the key challenges and issue of HRM while
attracting and retaining the workforce in public retail sector. It talks about the ways that HRM
uses to attract employees towards the company and the retention issues that becomes a challenge
for the company to continue the interest of the employees. It provides recommendation to solve
the issues and suggest ways to overcome the issues. It explains that how the challenges and
issues that can occur in the organization. The strategies followed by the human resource
department gives a clear view to the organization to run the business and earn good amount of
profits. The paper explains the role and significance of human resource management within the
organization.
Key attracting and retaining issues
After the various studies, it has been found by Horwitz (2011) that attracting and retaining are
most of important and effective functions for the public retail sector in order to provide unique
products and services to the customers. In today’s era, there are various key challenges are being
encountered by the company while hiring and retaining the employees. The attraction of
employees is one of the major issues that HRM has to face in today’s competitive world. The
issues relate to the improper working of the business and ineffective implementation of
strategies. The bad functioning of HR becomes one of the major reasons why the human resource
department finds it difficult to facilitate the growth in the business (Horwitz, 2011).
The problem of attracting the employees is also because the human resource department fails in
fulfilling the expectations of the employees. They are unable to satisfy them by not giving them
the desired pay of their work, not giving them bonus and incentives, etc. This makes their
working an irresponsible activity and they are therefore unable to attract the employees towards
business. Employees function for the betterment of the company. They are the essential guide in
the retail sector. They do not follow proper strategies planned by the professionals of the industry
and therefore they are unable to meet the requirements of its workers. It is one of the significant
issue in employees attraction and hiring that could affect the success of the firm (York, 2010).
Cheese (2010) stated that the improper use of technology can also be a reason for employee’s
unwillingness. They cannot understand the working of the systems used by the companies. This
2

Human resource management
discourages them and employees are no further interested in working for the company. It has
been noted by Pilbeam & Corbridge (2010) that HRM does not provide proper wages and
salaries to the workers in public retail sector therefore it increases attraction and hiring issues in
the workplace. Proper planning is not done by the retail sector therefore the employees are not
interested to join the company. Improper planning, therefore, causes repulsion in the workers
(Nickson, 2013). The retail sector is unable to appoint qualified and talented candidates due to
lack of proper planning and strategies. There is intense competition present in the marketplace
for effective and unique workforce. Due to lack of knowledge and skills, the managers are
unable to prepare the employees for doing work in an effective and efficient manner. Ample of
vacancies and opportunities are being provided by the competitors, Therefore, various issues
related to the workforce are dealt by the retail sector. High and effective recruitment cost is
another issue for the public retail sector that affects the profitability and revenue of the firm.
It has been stated by Ehnert, Harry & Zink (2013) that stereotyping is other issue that is
entertained by the company while working in the public retail sector. Cultural and diversity
issues are also faced by the mangers and leaders at the workplace. It has been noted that top
management and leaders do not provide motivation to the workers at the workplace (Renwick,
Redman & Maguire, 2013). One of the major issues that undergone in the retail sector is learning
and development that put the direct impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the workers
(Larsen, 2017). It may also influence the long term objectives and goals of the firm. Effective
training and development sessions, seminars and programs are not held by the top management
hence it affects the mission and vision of the firm adversely. Along with this, health and safety
act and standards are not followed by the public retail sector therefore ample of attracting and
retaining issues related to the workforce are encountered by the top management (Boselie, 2010).
Globalization is another significant challenge that could have direct impact on the performance
and outcomes of the firm and employees as well. Brewster, Chung & Sparrow (2016) revealed
that leadership is the biggest and leading challenge for the HRM in the workplace. The company
is unable to supervise the activities and operations of the workers due to poor leadership at the
workplace. Due to lack of leadership, the public retail sector is failed to appoint new candidates
within the organization. Change management is the biggest threat for the personnel management
and it also affects the recruitment and selection process. Constantly changes within the
organization could have direct impact on the productivity of the firm. Along with this, the public
3

Human resource management
retail sector is unable to use effective and unique policies, practices and strategies to attract large
number of applicant towards the organization. It also affects the goodwill and financial position
of the firm negatively Ehnert, Harry & Zink (2013).
Apart from the attracting issues, there are various retention issues that are being dealt by the
HRM in public retail sector. One of the significant issues that faced by the retail sector is
compensation and reward system. The company is failed to provide good and attractive
incentives, bonus, and compensation packages to the existing employees. Therefore, they decide
to change the job or employment. Besides this, managerial and organizational change is also
biggest issue for the public retail sector. Training and development is an effective and significant
issue for the workforce in the retail sector. As a result, it could affect the productivity and
effectiveness of the firm (Guest, 2011).
It has been noted by Lengnick-Hall, Lengnick-Hall, Andrade & Drake (2009), the retail industry
has vacancies most of the times. This is due to the reason that the workers here do not prefer to
stay and hence end up changing their jobs. Getting a job in retail industry is not that difficult if a
person has the ability to attract the customers and some basic skills. But these candidates do not
stay in the company for long. Retaining an employee in retail sector is a difficult task. The retail
sector has a major issue related to retention because of the boring job environment and the
repetitive work given to the employees. There is no security for the employees. Another reason is
that there is no fixed schedule. The employer can be asked to work anytime of the day. Hence
this makes it problematic for them. The retention problem also arises because the retail sector
does not provide any opportunity for growth. Only the skills of the employee are used and no
excellence is gained by them. The workers do not see any benefits and hence avoid such industry
after working for short time period. Due to these increasing situations, the retail sector finds it
tough to stay in the market. It becomes really hard to attract the candidates who are customer
centric. The employees with long term commitment are not easy to find (Chen & Huang, 2009).
According to Kehoe & Wright (2013), the Employee turnover will always be an issue for some
industries. However if there is an excessive turnover then it can affect the efficiency of the
company. By making some changes in the policies of organization including some perks can
sharply reduce the number of employees who leave the business. The HRM of these industries
have to find out attractive ways which are innovative to recruit the employees and to retain them
4

Human resource management
as well. They should recognize that it is high time. They have to give the priority to the worker
and staff members over their targets (Farndale, Scullion & Sparrow, 2010). Ultimately these
people will help the industry grow and they are the number one assets of any company. The
HRM should keep in mind their responsibility towards the employees and listening to their
problems (Subramony, 2009). The retention of employees means keeping the employees in the
company by indulging them in various tasks. The factor of retention can be a positive as well as
an issue for the company. The HRM is responsible for retaining its employees at the workplace.
This can be seen as an issue as well as a solution for the company. Retaining the same employees
and not hiring the new ones can deprive them from new opportunities and hence it can become
an issue for HRM to maintain harmonized environment. The issues can be overcome by the
HRM by facilitating the growth of the employees and by fulfilling their requirements. In order to
retain its employees in the working for the retail companies they have to effectively manage the
business by focusing on the issues of employees as an individual (Shen, Chanda, D'netto &
Monga, 2009).
Messersmith & Guthrie (2010) stated that key issues generally raised in the retention of the
employees are because of the background, class, gender, etc. It is one of the significant issues in
HRM that dealt by the firm. The attracting and retaining issues of the employees can be a biggest
issue for the Human Resource Department. To retain the employees in the company is an
important task for the human resource department. They have to plan proper strategies to stop
them in leaving the company. The issues raised due to retention become a downfall for the
company. It can lose the best employees of the company. Therefore to manage these retention
issues is not an easy task. The responsibility is therefore given to the HR department as they have
professionals who can restrain the workers from leaving the business (Laumer, Eckhardt &
Weitzel, 2010).
Recommendations
It shall be noted that public retail sector entertains ample of attracting and retaining issue while
working in the firm. There are enormous ways and strategies that can be used by the retail sector
to handle and eliminate these issues. The main reason that an employee thinks of switching the
company is that they do not find the salary according to the work they do and also that could not
maintain the work-life balance. This gives them stress with which they cannot deal with. The
5

Human resource management
company should motivate and encourage these employees by providing motivation and
encouragement to them. In retail industry, the workers have to do continuous work as they have
to attract customers. They should promote their product or any service to huge number of people
for making profits and generate more revenue. The retail sector should promote the workers for
performing tasks and duties effectively so that they do not think of moving to another
organization. To decrease the employee turnover rate for organization is a big achievement. The
basic needs of the employees such as salary, some incentives in form of health insurance, holiday
packages, payment appraisal, flexible work timings and many more like these things should be
fulfilled to make happy them at the workplace.
If the organization will take care of its workers then it will definitely see the raise in its
productivity and turnover. Providing life insurance, incentives like travelling charges, mobile
bills given by company will not only attract the employee but will also make them stay there.
Moreover, providing free accommodation and food will make employees more willing to stay in
the organization. These perks are appealing and they should definitely be the part of
organization. Also, the company should provide small perks to the workers. For example, half
days or holidays on Fridays, picnics or meetings held at some fancy restaurant, gifts and rewards
on the basis of the performance, even holiday packages could be sponsored for them. Through
these bonuses, the workers can manage their lives in a much better way. In the retail sector, the
company can take all these small steps and it will make their company more preferable over
other companies in their field.
Another way to attract and retain the employee is to give them the responsibilities that allow
them to grow over a period of time. No one would like to work in a company that provides no
growth. Any candidate joins a company which provides them both personal and professional
growth. The retail sector companies can give the employees different kind of challenging works
and situations. This will maintain their interest and they will find it more relevant to remain in
that company. It will help to attract wide range of employees towards the organization. Providing
promotions to the workers according to their performance, giving hike in the salaries etc. are
major factors that play an important role in retaining of employees. Tarique & Schuler (2010)
revealed that HRM should maintain diversity at the workplace to attract and retain ample of
candidates within the organization.
6

Human resource management
The next way that an organization should follow is to have a dedicated human resource team that
continuously takes care of the employee and any problems they face. The HR manager should be
efficient in his works and they should regularly communicate with the employees. The
communication should not only be about work but also personal. This is helpful in a situation
where employees are remotely located and they belong to different cultures and backgrounds. A
friendly HR will help in making personal connections between the workers by arranging
meetings. A positive environment should be in the organization and this healthy environment is a
key factor in long term commitment of the employee towards the company. Another major
concern is the work-life balance which employees find very difficult to maintain. The retail
sector companies should lower the stress of overwork on the employees and help them in
achieving the life they want. This could be through offering non-traditional work routines, for
example, a compacted work week, strategic scheduling or additional holidays. This will help the
employer as the productivity is increased. All these recommendations will somehow make the
company grow. It will be helpful in making the work more efficient and effective. These will
definitely be beneficial to both the employee and the employer.
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it has been concluded that retail sector faces ample of challenges during
its operations. The main issue to handle large workforce and retaining them in the company is
properly elaborated. Having proper retention strategies are must for the business. To make a
company more famous and well known in its sector, the key role is played by the employee
turnover rate. The above analysis shows that how HRM plays an empirical role to attract and
retain the workforce in a large extent. At the end, various suggestions have been given to handle
and control these issues and challenges at the workplace.
7

Human resource management
References
Boselie, P. (2010). Strategic human resource management: A balanced approach. Tata
McGraw-Hill Education.
Brewster, C., Chung, C., & Sparrow, P. (2016). Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Cheese, P. (2010). Talent management for a new era: what we have learned from the recession
and what we need to focus on next. Human Resource Management International
Digest, 18(3), 3-5.
Chen, C. J., & Huang, J. W. (2009). Strategic human resource practices and innovation
performance—The mediating role of knowledge management capacity. Journal of
business research, 62(1), 104-114.
Ehnert, I., Harry, W., & Zink, K. J. (Eds.). (2013). Sustainability and human resource
management: Developing sustainable business organizations. Springer Science &
Business Media.
Farndale, E., Scullion, H., & Sparrow, P. (2010). The role of the corporate HR function in global
talent management. Journal of world business, 45(2), 161-168.
Guest, D. E. (2011). Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal, 21(1), 3-13.
Horwitz, F. M. (2011). Future HRM challenges for multinational firms in Eastern and Central
Europe. Human Resource Management Journal, 21(4), 432-443.
Kehoe, R. R., & Wright, P. M. (2013). The impact of high-performance human resource
practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management, 39(2), 366-391.
8

Human resource management
Larsen, H. H. (2017). Key issues in training and development. In Policy and practice in
European human resource management (pp. 107-121). Routledge.
Laumer, S., Eckhardt, A., & Weitzel, T. (2010). Electronic human resources management in an
e-business environment. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 11(4), 240.
Lengnick-Hall, M. L., Lengnick-Hall, C. A., Andrade, L. S., & Drake, B. (2009). Strategic
human resource management: The evolution of the field. Human resource management
review, 19(2), 64-85.
Messersmith, J. G., & Guthrie, J. P. (2010). High performance work systems in emergent
organizations: Implications for firm performance. Human resource management, 49(2),
241-264.
Nickson, D. (2013). Human resource management for hospitality, tourism and events.
Routledge.
Pilbeam, S., & Corbridge, M. (2010). People resourcing and talent planning: HRM in practice.
Prentice Hall.
Renwick, D. W., Redman, T., & Maguire, S. (2013). Green human resource management: A
review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(1), 1-14.
Shen, J., Chanda, A., D'netto, B., & Monga, M. (2009). Managing diversity through human
resource management: An international perspective and conceptual framework. The
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(2), 235-251.
Subramony, M. (2009). A meta‐analytic investigation of the relationship between HRM bundles
and firm performance. Human resource management, 48(5), 745-768.
Tarique, I., & Schuler, R. S. (2010). Global talent management: Literature review, integrative
framework, and suggestions for further research. Journal of world business, 45(2), 122-
133.
York, K. M. (2010). Applied human resource management: Strategic issues and experiential
exercises. Sage.
9