Strategic Human Resource Management Practices in the Modern Workplace

The provided assignment content discusses various aspects of Human Resource (HR) management, including personnel management, strategic HR management, and organizational learning. It covers topics such as human resource configurations, intellectual capital, and labor productivity, as well as the role of procedural justice in public personnel management. The content also includes references to journal articles, books, and online resources that provide insights into HR management practices.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Distinguishing between personnel management and human resource management........1
1.2 Functions of human resource management in contributing to organisational purposes. .2
1.3 Role and responsibilities of line managers in human resource management...................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Reasons for human resource planning in organisation.....................................................4
2.2 The stages involved in human resource planning.............................................................5
2.3 Recruitment and selection process in two organisations..................................................6
2.4 Effectiveness of recruitment and selection techniques of two organisation.....................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Link between motivational theory and reward management...........................................7
3.2 Job evaluation process and other factors determining pay...............................................8
3.3 Effectiveness of reward system in different context........................................................8
3.4 Methods to be used for monitoring employee performance.............................................9
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 Reasons for cessation of employment with an organisation............................................9
4.2 The employment exit procedure used by two organisation..............................................9
4.3 The impact of legal and regulatory framework on HRM and employment cesassion
arrangements.........................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management (HRM) is the process of conducting recruitment and
selection, developing skills, providing proper orientation and induction, motivating and assessing
the performance of employees. It is an essential function for organisations to fulfil their needs
regarding to human resources (Schuler and Jackson, 2008). . . This report describes about the
practices HRM followed by Macdonalds Highland hotels. Further, it illustrates the difference
between personnel management and HRM, along with including the description of recruitment
and selection procedure of employees and the mechanism for the cessation of employees.
Company overview of Hotel Macdonalds highland
This hotel was founded in 1990 which has 45 branches in various cities of UK. With its
excellent services, it has been growing by opening multiple branches in every year.
Company overview of The Coach House Inn Hotel
It is a 4 star hotel which has been providing services in UK since 19th century. This hotel
is operated in the multiple cities of UK with the huge variety of hospitality services.
TASK 1
1.1 Distinguishing between personnel management and human resource management
Personnel Management can be defined as an administrative function of organisation
which exists for planning, organizing, compensation, integration and maintaining of people at
workplace (Colbert, 2004). While, Human resource management is defined as a process which
an organisation undergoes to manage people for achieving business goals. The main difference
between personnel management and human resource management is the way of approach
(Armstrong, 2006). Personal management is a traditional approach whereas human resource
management is a modern approach for managing human resources. If examined critically, there
are few differences listed below:
HRM Personnel Management
Similarities Human resource management is used
mostly in the private sectors. Both
approaches are similar in terms of
administrative behaviour.
Personnel management is used in
public sector organisation. This
approach includes administrative
tasks that are traditional and routine.
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Differences Nature of relations: There is a clear
difference between PM and HRM because
personal management focuses more on
individual interests and HRM focuses more
on group or team based work (Kang, Morris
and Snell, 2007). Moreover, PM has
centralized power, where the top
management has full authority of decision
making. Personnel managers and employees
are not allowed to take part in any decision.
On the other hand, HRM follows the aspect
of decentralisation
In which all levels of management have
authority to involve in decision making
process.
Leadership and management roles:
Personnel management emphasizes
more on the transactional leadership
style, this styles focuses more on the
procedures that must be followed by
employees. Personnel managers use
punishment for non-performance and
non-compliance of rules and
regulations. They do not consider
these factors such as personal
bonding, interpersonal relationship,
trust and understanding (Meredith,
2011) On the contrary, HRM uses
the style of transformational
leadership which encourages that
business objectives needs to be
shared with both employees and
management. In HRM, leaders only
focus on people oriented procedures,
rules and regulations.
Thus, both aspects are involved in the same activities but some of the terms are different
from one another.
1.2 Functions of human resource management in contributing to organisational purposes
In Macdonalds Highland hotels, human resource management have a variety of activities
including deciding staff needs, recruiting and training employees, ensuring their better
performance and also dealing with their performance issues (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). As a
largest hotels chain, its mission and vision is related to customer satisfaction and maintaining the
quality of service providing to them. There are some key functions of HRM which gives its
contribution to accomplish the goals of hotel Macdonalds Highland. These are as follows:
Functions of HRM Purpose of HRM
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Recruitment and
selection
Recruitment activities play a crucial role in the development of
Macdonalds Highlands. With the help of this process, hotel
management can recruit efficient workforce in order to achieve their
organizational goals.
Training and
development
This is a key function of human resource management which is
concerned with the betterment of performance of individuals and
teams working in the organization (Hamel, 2008.). By providing
training, hotel management gives support to their employees in order
to enhance their skills and abilities.
Reward system Reward systems includes the incentive programs that encourage
employees to improve their performance by offering bonuses,
increasing salary and rendering gifts. (Youndt and Snell, 2004).
Macdonalds highlands implements reward system for retaining
employees, motivating them, and increasing their morale as well as
improving overall service efficiency in hotel.
Performance appraisals: Performance appraisal is a systematic process that assesses an
individual employee's job performance and its effectiveness in order
to fulfil organisational objectives (Lakdawala, 2015). Macdonalds
highland monitors employee's performance to determine whether he
or she is to be promoted, demoted or removed as per the existing
criteria.
Employee relations: Furthermore, Macdonalds highland always put effort to manage
relationship between employees and employers. It is an underlying
philosophy which includes attitude and skills for managing
workplace environment.
1.3 Role and responsibilities of line managers in human resource management
Formally, line manager’s responsibility is to ensure that performance difficulties faced by
the staff members are managed properly and conducting a regular meeting for performance
review (Saari and Judge, 2004). Line managers play crucial role in Macdonalds highland as they
implement all the policies and practices of HRM including HR planning, induction, recruitment,
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selection, workforce retention, termination of employee, resolve conflicts and demonstrate good
leadership. HR Planning: Human resource planning is an essential responsibility of line manager by
which he or she identifies the current and future human resource needs for organisation to
achieve success. Induction: Induction process helps to welcome new employee in the organisation with
including the basic information to develop a sense of pride in it (Lægreid and Wise,
2007). The line manager's responsibility is to ensure that induction must meet the
requirements of human resources. Resolve conflicts: Resolving of conflicts in a successful manner depends on the ability
of line manager related to manage stress quickly while remaining calm and alert. Conflict
arises from large and small differences, therefore, it is the line manager’s responsibility to
resolve these conflicts and keeping the friendly and healthy work environment.
 Demonstrate good leadership: Leadership is an intangible asset which is essential for the
operations of organisation as well as successful completion of any task at workplace
(Grimsley, 2015.). Line managers needs to set an example of good leadership.
However, Decentralized HRM is defined as the delegating of HR responsibilities to local
business units as attached with them in specialist in centre location. For instance, in retail
business chain, local store manager performs activities such as recruiting, training,
compensation, motivational and payroll strategies with employees only.
TASK 2
2.1 Reasons for human resource planning in organisation
Human resource planning is a systematic analysis of HR needs which performs various
tasks related to employee's training and development, recruitment of talented employees and
restructuring work processes. Human resource planning plays a crucial role in the development
of Macdonalds Highland. These are mentioned below as: Forecasting future manpower needs: HR planning consists of selecting the right number
of people at right place at the right time for achieving the goals of organisation.
Forecasting future manpower needs is the process of estimating the future requirement of
organisation regarding the human resources (Collings and Mellahi, 2009).
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 Identify training needs: Furthermore, HR planning includes the process of conducting
the training and development of employees. Training needs are related to the shortage of
abilities and knowledge for performing assigned work in an effectual manner. Purpose of
training need assessment is to identify performance needs, knowledge and skills
required to perform effectively at work place. Restructuring work process: Restructuring is the management term used for reorganising
the work or work process (Belout and Gauvreau, 2004). HR planning can restructure the
work process to improve the efficiency and productivity in organization.
 Coping with change: The only mishap in today's workplace is change which often does
not allow employees and management to be mentally prepared. An ability to manage
change effectively is very critical for HRP.
2.2 The stages involved in human resource planning
Human resource planning is an important component of human resource management. It
links management directly to the strategic plan of organisation. By using HR planning, cited
hotel can determine the staffing support and work processes which are needed in fulfilling its
business needs (Rubin, 2009.). There are varieties of consideration with regards to human
resource planning in case of Macdonalds highland. These are as follows: Analysis of organizational objectives: A very critical component of focusing on
organization objective analysis includes the procedure of evaluating the external factors
that can affect the firm's performance as well as the assessment of its resources and
potential. However, Macdonalds highland's organizational objective is to expand the
business and customer satisfaction. Therefore, managers of hotel are making more
effective strategic in the respect of HR planning in order to achieve its objectives. Conducting an audit of current workforce: To expand the level of business and
customer satisfaction, Macdonalds highland will require efficient workforce. Therefore
organization can adopt the method of auditing of employees for identifying the current
workforce. Forecasting needs: After conducting a workforce audit, human resource planning can
estimate how many new candidates are required to expand the business in future and
running the current business with effective customer's satisfaction (Naff, Riccucci and
Freyss, 2013).
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 Forecasting supply of labour: Furthermore, demand forecasting provides an estimate
about how many employees are required in each department to improve the efficiency of
performance. Forecasting the supply of labour will help managers to divide employees in
more effective manner. Matching demand and supply: Moreover, Macdonalds highlands are professional
hoteliers and often found them in a tightrope of demand and supply of workforce. HR
planning resolves this issue of matching supply and demand (Datta, Guthrie and Wright,
2005).
 Action plan and implementation of HR planning: In the above mentioned points, we
discussed about the different stages of HR planning. Performing and implementing those
steps in a proper way will help Macdonalds highland to achieve its organisational goals.
2.3 Recruitment and selection process in two organisations
The purpose of recruitment and selection procedure is to identify present and future need
of organization. Recruitment and selection process between two different hotels is as follows:
Hotel Macdonalds Highland The Coach House Inn
Recruitment Hotel Macdonalds Highland's recruitment
procedure starts with the advertisement
through using the method of newspapers,
social media, Job fairs, and campus
Interviews.
In comparison with Hotel
Macdonalds highland, The Coach
house inn starts their recruitment
process through using the method of
job portals, internal advertisement
and database of previous
applications (Storey, J., 2007).
Selection Macdonalds highland use several selection
methods such as aptitude tests, oral and
written communication test and measuring
the minimum qualifications for selecting a
suitable candidate.
Whereas, The Coach house inn
follows different selection
procedures like staff
recommendations, individual
interviews, panel interviews,
competency test etc.
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2.4 Effectiveness of recruitment and selection techniques of two organisation
Effectiveness of recruitment and selection techniques has been compared between the
two organizations. Macdonalds highland uses the techniques of job fairs and campus interviews
in the recruitment and selection process. Job fair is a common recruitment channel used to attract
candidates with full potential. It helps organisation in connecting with young talent along with
saving its time and money (Sun, Aryee and Law, 2007). However, recruiting candidates from
outside of organisation may damage the morale of current employees because it reduces the
chances of their promotion.
On the contrary, The Coach house inn uses internal advertisement process for recruiting
and selecting candidates. Internal recruitment process leaves a positive effect on the staff
morale. This process makes employee to feel that the organisation rewards their efforts and hard
work by offering new opportunities and responsibilities. Further, inernal recruitment is a cost
effective method of recruitment and selection as well as it makes positive effects of employees
moral. (Colbert, 2004). However, it contains some disadvantages as it does not give opportunity
to fresh and young talent. Internal recruitment process creates conflicts between employees by
increasing competition at workplace. Employees try to compete with each other for promotion
rather than trying to be proficient in their respective job and current position.
TASK 3
3.1 Link between motivational theory and reward management
There is a link between motivation and reward management which can be described with
the help of Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. This theory suggests that motivation is a result of
individual's attempt to fulfil their basic needs that are psychological, safety, affection, social and
self-actualization. By using this theory, management can build up effective relationship with
their employees and motivate them towards working hard (Armstrong, 2006).
Moreover, reward management system includes financial and non-financial rewards
which are used to motivate employees. Financial rewards are related to increased salary and
bonus etc. whereas, non-financial rewards consist the elements of appreciation, certificate,
flexible working hours, recognition, social rights and new responsibilities etc. According to
Maslow's theory of motivation, individual who belongs to the psychological phase feels more
motivated when firm provides them financial rewards. By giving financial rewards, organisation
can enhance the motivation level of its workers. (Rubin, 2009). Moreover, a safe and secure
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work environment is also an important need of employees that reduces the threat of physical
injury. Thus, the firm can reward these employees by providing job securities by promoting them
to higher posts and by performance appraisals to motivate them for their work. Thereby, it can be
said that there is a link between motivational theory and reward management.
3.2 Job evaluation process and other factors determining pay
Job evaluation process in Macdonalds Highlands involves the following steps that are as
follows:
 Job analysis/ Description: Job evaluation at Macdonalds highland begins with the job
analysis in order to determine job duties and responsibilities. In this process job is
evaluated under responsibilities and qualification that is essential to perform the job.
 Approval: In the next step, the management will take approval form president on job
description, responsibilities and requirement in the organisation. The HR manager is
responsible to get the job approvals and working with compensation in this process. The
job evaluation is conducted after HR manager gets all these approvals.
 Review: Human resource department will review the job description and ensure that there
must have consistency and equity in job description.
 Job Evaluation: In this step, job evaluation committee ensures about the equity among
jobs by using the established and consistent criteria for evaluation process and validating
the changes in job content made in review process (Kang, Morris and Snell, 2007.).
Finally, standard salary with regard to the specific job is mentioned in this phase
Furthermore, there are some important factors needs to be considered by management at
the time of determining the pay scale of employee. These factors are related to skills, knowledge,
competence, qualifications, responsibilities, environmental conditions, occupational hazards,
productivity, cost of living, government regulations, employee's perceptions of wage, demands
and supply of labours etc. (Rubin, 2009). All these factors plays significant role in determining
the pay of employees.
3.3 Effectiveness of reward system in different context
Macdonalds Highlands is using reward systems as a positive strategy of motivating
workforce. There are many factors that help in making reward system more effective in this
organization. For instance. Hotel management offers rewards to its employees for delivering
better customer service by giving them bonus, incentives and paid holidays (Youndt and Snell,
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2004). Similarly, if some employees are working part-time in organization than firm can provide
them pay on hourly rate daily, weekly and monthly basis. With the help of it, morale and
performance level of employees gets increased that aids in attaining objectives. Along with this,
job security is also needed to involve in the HR policies through which employees work with full
zeal and motivation. Further, bonus and incentives helps in meeting the financial needs of
employees along with improving the level of commitment. By giving rewards to the employees
for their performance, the firm recognize their efforts and encourages them to work hard in the
future. This strategy not only motivates the employees but also help in achieving short term and
long term goals and objectives of the organisation.
3.4 Methods to be used for monitoring employee performance
Macdonalds highland can monitor employee’s performance by using the following methods: Performance appraisals: It is a systematic process that helps in assessing the individual
employee’s performance and productivity in relation to achieve established criteria and
firm's goals. Feedback from supervisor: In order to monitor the performance of employees,
management can take feedback from supervisor, as they set standards and expectations
for their employees which will help in achieving organisational success (Aswathappa,
2005). 360 degree feedback: Moreover, management uses 360 degree feedback procedure by
which employees receive confidential feedback from their colleagues, supervisors and
co-workers.
 Feedback from customers: the one more effective method to monitor employee's
performance tracking employee complaints for quality assurance. This the most effective
method of monitoring employees performance. As per this procedure the supervisor can
take reviews and feedback from the customer whom employee is assisting.
TASK 4
4.1 Reasons for cessation of employment with an organisation
The reasons for cessation of employment with an organisation can be following:
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 Medical ground/ death of an employee: An employer can terminate employees from
services if they found employee who is suffering from any disease, and whose continued
work is prohibited by government (Saari and Judge, 2004.). At the same time, death of an
employee can also be a reason for the cessation of employment. Unsatisfactory working conditions: This is one of the reasons for employment cessation
if an employee does not work according to company policies, rules and regulations
decided by the organisation.
 Retirement Age: It is another reason of employment cessation. Voluntary employment
cessation can be initiated by the employee at the time of meeting age, length of service,
or other criteria for the retirement from the firm.
4.2 The employment exit procedure used by two organisation
There are some different exit procedures for employment that organisations follow:
Hotel Macdonalds Highland The Coach house Inn
Employees of Macdonalds highland needs to
submit duly signed resignation letter to the line
manager. After that HR department writes to
the employee for the invitation of exit
interview and encloses an exit questionnaire to
be filled.
On the contrary, in The Coach House inn hotel,
HR department sends a confirmation of service
form to the employee to complete and return.
The form is retained in the employee’s file for
any reference letter to be given by the board
and after that HR staff conducts an independent
interview with an employee in strict confidence
(Kang, Morris and Snell, 2007).
4.3 The impact of legal and regulatory framework on HRM and employment cessation
arrangements
As per the legal and regulatory framework of HRM in UK, the employment relations and
cessations are directly affected by the laws of government. It means that no one can terminate
employee without providing a valid reason (Lakdawala, 2015). In accordance to law,
organisation has to treat people equally and they cannot terminate any applicant on the basis of
gender, race, sexual orientation, beliefs or age. However, discrimination can be done with the
availability of proper justification.
Some of the important laws are described below which affects HRM, such as,
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 Health and safety: According to this, all workers are entitled to work in proper working
environment without any risk of their health and safety. Under health and safety law in
UK, responsibility of employees lies down with employers (Belout and Gauvreau, 2004).
 Wages Act: UK law has defined minimum wages policies for workers in UK. According
to that, every employer has to pay that much wage to their labour equally.
According to the Employment Right Act (1996), both have to give notice in advance for
the termination of employment. The law places liability of employers to pay to the employee in
case of infringement of the law.
CONCLUSION
In this report, the core process of human resource management had been described. In
organisation, department of human resource management is responsible for creating and
implementing policies in order to manage employees and organisations behaviour towards its
human resources. However, this report clearly illustrates the difference between Personnel
management and human resource management in order to provide an understanding of the HRM
roles and functions within the key areas of resourcing, reward, development, legislation and
relations for the businesses.
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REFERENCES
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practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Aswathappa, K., 2005. Human resource and personnel management. Tata McGraw-Hill
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Naff, K. C., Riccucci, N. M., and Freyss, S. F., 2013. Personnel management in government:
Politics and process. CRC Press.
Schuler, R. S., and Jackson, S. E., 2008. Strategic human resource management. John Wiley &
Sons.
Storey, J., 2007. Human resource management: A critical text. Cengage Learning EMEA.
Journals
Armstrong, M., 2006. Strategic human resource management: a guide to action.
Belout, A., and Gauvreau, C., 2004. Factors influencing project success: the impact of human
resource management. International journal of project management. 22(1). pp. 1-11.
Colbert, B. A., 2004. The complex resource-based view: Implications for theory and practice in
strategic human resource management. Academy of Management Review. 29(3). pp. 341-
358.
Collings, D. G., and Mellahi, K., 2009. Strategic talent management: A review and research
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Datta, D. K., Guthrie, J. P., and Wright, P. M., 2005. Human resource management and labor
productivity: does industry matter? Academy of management Journal. 48(1). pp. 135-145.
Hamel, G. 2008. The future of management. Human Resource Management International
Digest. 16(6).
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Century. Comparative Perspectives. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 169-81.
Meredith, R., 2011. Management teams: Why they succeed or fail. Human Resource
Management International Digest. 19(3).
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Rubin, E. V., 2009. The role of procedural justice in public personnel management: Empirical
results from the Department of Defense. Journal of Public Administration Research and
Theory. 19(1). pp. 125-143.
Saari, L. M., and Judge, T. A., 2004. Employee attitudes and job satisfaction. Human resource
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Sun, L. Y., Aryee, S., and Law, K. S., 2007. High-performance human resource practices,
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Youndt, M. A., and Snell, S. A., 2004. Human resource configurations, intellectual capital, and
organizational performance. Journal of Managerial Issues. pp. 337-360.
Online
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<http://www.scribd.com/doc/73756687/HRM-Assignment-Hum#scribd/>. [Accessed on
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Personnel Management. 2015. [Online]. Available through:
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