Functions and Purpose of Human Resource Management: Assignment

HRM in Practice

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................1
Functions and Purpose of Human Resource Management.....................................................1
Critical evaluation of Strengths and Weaknesses of LV= recruitment and selection process3
ACTIVITY 2 ..................................................................................................................................5
a) Creation of person specification document........................................................................5
Selection of applicant for interview.......................................................................................6
Questions for interview .........................................................................................................7
ACTIVITY 3....................................................................................................................................8
Critical evaluation of HR learning and development opportunities.......................................8
Critical evaluation of rewards and benefits provided by HR in increasing profitability of
organisation............................................................................................................................9
ACTIVITY 4 .................................................................................................................................10
Employee relation.................................................................................................................10
Importance of employee relation..........................................................................................11
Role of leadership in maintaining effective employee relations..........................................11
Key elements of UK employment legislation......................................................................12
Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Human resources management is a very vital part of every organisation which is
responsible for hiring and developing workforce of an organisation to make them more valuable
and effective. Human resources practices includes various job and activities like job analysis,
planing personal needs, recruiting and selecting suitable people for vacant job and providing
regular orientation and training. HRM is also important to mange the wages and salaries of
employees and also provide timely motivation through providing extra benefits and incentives.
LV= is the largest friendly society of UK which is mutually owned by its members. It was
established in 1843 and deals in a wide range of financial services which includes insurance, life
insurance, pensions and other investment products (Noe and et. al., 2017) This assignment
includes function and importance of HRM and also evaluate the strengthens and weakness of
recruitment and selection process. A person specification document and questions of interview
are also included in this project. It also includes the learning and development opportunities for
staff from both organisation and staff perspective. At last this report consist importance of
employee relation and identifies key elements of UK employment legislation.
1

ACTIVITY 1
Functions and Purpose of Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management (HRM) is process which handles all aspects related to
employees functions. Overall objective of this process is to achieve organisation objectives
through best skilled workforce. This process involves various steps starting with recruiting,
selecting, training, assessing performance and motivating workforce in organisation (Bratton and
Gold, 2017). There are different purpose and functions that HRM have in LV=, explained below:
Functions:
Recruiting and selecting: It is first and foremost function which is performed by every
HRM team in an organisation. Recruitment process involves screening and selecting qualifies
talent based on the requirements of particular job.
Training and development: This process is conducted in companies to improve
performance, developing new skills of existing and new employees. Introduction to new
changing technologies and work environment is importance to attain objectives effectively,
which is possible only when people working for those objectives are exposed to those changes
and gets comfortable while performing their tasks.
Managing Employee Relations: Workforce is a backbone of every organisation.
Maintaining good employee-employer relation is a very crucial function of HRM, it helps in
keeping employees satisfied and motivated ultimately benefiting organisation to achieve its
objectives.
Induction and Orientation:This function works for new employees, its a fundamental step
for new workers to know and understand company's environment. Orientation program help
employee to adjust and to gain knowledge in relation with organisational objectives and how
they are useful to company to fulfil their objectives (Cascio, 2015).
Purpose:
Staffing needs: Human resource teams first function is to recruit new talents in an
organisation. Here, they are involved in assigning job duties to candidates according to their
qualification, interviewing new potential personnel for for particular tasks and other staff

positioning tasks. HR team also looks into matters of termination of employees and ensure that
no laws are violated.
2

Benefits: Employee benefits schemes is an effective tool used in recruiting and selecting
of employees. HR department conduct market research while making different benefit programs
for employees, which will provide maximum benefits to workforce and minimizing organisations
cost.
Law Compliance: Human Resource department keeps company aware of different laws
and regulations existing. Many laws are present to protect workforce rights and in compliance to
them can bring multiple lawsuits to organisation affecting its performance. Human Resource
department keep up with these laws on behalf of firm to avoid any consequences in future
(DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016).
These functions and purpose mentioned above are important for LV= while planning and
resourcing workforce in order to run organisations operations effectively to attain goals.
Selecting best talents for business is done on recruiting and selecting stage which enhance
companies performance, giving employees knowledge about LV= and its operations for
understanding and adjusting in its environment and training employees with changing
technologies and strategies will bring better results to LV= improving their profits and
accomplishing objectives effectively and efficiently.
Critical evaluation of Strengths and Weaknesses of LV= recruitment and selection process
LV= has its own recruitment process which is used by Human Resource team to recruit
and select new employees for different jobs. LV= recruitment process has four different stages
through which all candidates have to pass for working with LV=.
Recruitment is a process of finding and hiring best candidates for particular task in
company with cost effective manner. It includes analysing job requirements, attracting people for
it, screening and sorting personnel and hiring employees (John and Taylor, 2016).
Advantages Disadvantage
 Speed up the recruitment process
making it cost effective.
 Use of technology will help in reaching
candidates globally attracting most
skilled people.
 Internal recruitment can restrict
company from exposure to new ideas
and rigidity increases in environment.
 Some extremely skilled candidates gets
ignored who do not get exposed to
computers and other online portals.
3

Selection process is assigning right employee to right jobs according to their skills and
abilities with matching requirements. Evaluation is done amongst employees for a specific job on
certain criteria and needs. Selection procedure can be very simple or complicated based on
complications involved in tasks (Stone and Deadrick, 2015).
Advantages Disadvantage
 Selection of best suited candidates for
specific job with required skills.
 Internal selection of employees for
different jobs develop more skills and
keep employees motivated.
 Sometimes this process can get bit
complicated and time consuming.
 Involves a lot of costs in training is
experts are not hired.
Every system has its strong and weak area here, LV= also has some strengthens and weaknesses
in their process which are evaluated below:
First up is Research on this stage LV= is suggesting candidates to take an overview about
it through different social media pages and its own website. They suggest interested candidates
to have basic idea about company and see themselves is it suitable for them, they can work in it
and deliver what is expected from them.
Next stage is Apply Online, once candidates have decided that LV= is suits with their
skills and knowledge, personnel will be answering some online questions. If answers to those
questions is YES they have to post their CV'S with application and a colleague in HR team will
tell candidates if they are shortlisted or not.
Third stage is The selection Process, here shortlisted candidates are called for interviews
through call on telephone after that face-to-face interview. Different personal and professional
questions are asked by interviewer those are predetermined by HR team.
Outcome, stage is last in recruitment process, personnel are informed whether they are fit
for the job and selected or not. Talked about other details if selected and if not then HR team
member is comfortable in explaining reasons for not selecting them (Jabbour and de Sousa
Jabbour, 2016).
Strength:
4

 Removes unnecessary applicants as they take an overview they understand if LV= is
suitable and best opportunity for them.
 Double screening of candidates helps in better understanding their skills and make a
judgement about befits they bring to LV=.
 Gives employer good idea about talents and capabilities of applicants.
Weakness:
 Sometimes good talented personnel also opt-out after taking an overview of organisation
because of some mistakes in branding or website presence.
 Ways of interviewing personnel are lengthy and duplicating. Interviewing same
candidates again can demotivate them and build a thinking in their minds that they
weren't good enough in first time and start questioning themselves (Hecklau and et. al.,
2016).
ACTIVITY 2
HRM is responsible to keep balance between desire and available number of employees
through ensuring a continuous supply of employees to fill the vacant positions of an
organisation. LV= is one of the largest friendly society operating in different parts of UK and
provides various insurance and investment facilities to its customers. LV= is employing more
than 5500 staff which are working at over 14 offices of LV= across the UK. At present it is
having a job vacancy for post of personal assistant thus, application of HRM Practices or HRM
process is executed to attract a pool of individuals from which best and most suitable candidate
can be selected. For this purpose a detailed person specification document is reparsed by LV= to
shortlist most skilled and talented individual for the vacant job (Shen and Benson, 2016).
a) Creation of person specification document
Person specification- it is basically a written document prepared by an organisation to
provide a description about required qualification, skills, experience and knowledge and other
attributes which a candidate must posses to perform a job effectively and efficiently. It provide a
basis or framework for recruitment and selection process and helpful in shortlisting an candidate
for interview and further selection stages. LV= is preparing a person specification document for
the role of personal assistant to set a criteria for proper analysis and review of application
5

received and to shortlist most suitable applicant for interview process (Brewster and Hegewisch,
2017).
Person specification
Job Title : Personal assistant
Service area: Chief Retirement advices and commercial finance directorate
Grade: A
Criteria Essential Desirable
Skills required Time management
Communication skills
Team management
Planning skills
Computer skills
Attainment/ Qualification Diploma holder in any field or
having HNC business course.
BA( honours)
Knowledge Managing dairy and emails
Handling incoming calls
Preparing daily meetings
schedules
Managing all travel and
arrangements
Basic knowledge of Maths
and English.
Maintaining good relations
with other staff
Relevant experience Between 1-2 years -
Other attributes Polite nature
Obedient
-
Three applications are received by LV= for the job of personal assistant amongst them
two are shortlisted for interview Job Application 2 and Job Application 3.
6

Selection of applicant for interview
Applicant 2 and 3 are selected for interview because of almost all the criteria are met by them
they have work experience in two different companies with relevant jobs have worked for
directors ,marketing officer, worked as receptionist and for insurance person too. Applicant 2 and
3 have good knowledge of different fields of job as they have worked in finance department,
marketing department, for the higher level management etc. which has widen their learning and
skills. They know how to maintain good relations with different people. They are well known
with different management and communication skills managing telephonic conversations,
messages through emails and maintaining daily diary for their past employers. Well Exposed to
using computers and various tools like Excel, MS word, Power Point etc. for making daily and
future schedules of meetings and other engagements. Overall these applications are fit for job
and can be called for interviews, further decisions of appointment is taken on the basis of
analysis done on face-to-face interviews conducted for them individually.
On the other hand Job Application 1 is not shortlisted for interview because of its
irrelevant job experience which is totally different from needs specified by LV=. Applicant 1 had
a job of fitness trainer which is totally different from requirements of a Personal Assistant. Their
is no similarity in both jobs and working environment leading to making applicant 1 incompetent
with other 2 applicant. Also, information about education qualification and other personal
required data was missing from application making it more difficult to judge for HR team
member that if applicant is qualified for the job or not. Do they have needed skills and talents for
effectively performing given tasks and enhance operations of LV= leading to smooth running of
business.
Questions for interview
Some competency question asked by interviewer for selection suitable candidates for the
job of Personal Assistant:
Q1.Tell us something about yourself?
Q2.What's your educational qualification?
Q3.Tell us some communication jargon's used in business?
Q4.Where have you worked in past and how was your experience?
Q5.what all computer tools you know and which one you're most comfortable with?
Q6.What is your salary expectations?
7

These are some questions that will be asked by interviewer to applicant in interview to
know something about them and to make them feel comfortable. Some are job related questions
which are asked to test their knowledge for Personal Assistants job and what they expect out of
it.
ACTIVITY 3
LV= is fast growing and successful organisation of UK thus, exited about its future and
plans and execute many ides for better growth of its organisation. The objectives and targets of
growth and success can not be achieved without having an efficient manpower. Thus use of a
variety of learning and development programmes are made by LV= to keep its employees
motivated and they are also useful in enhancing their skills and performance. The various
learning and development opportunities provided by LV= includes following:
Communication training- timely training is provided by mangers of LV= to improve
the communication skills of its employees as this skills is necessary to maintain a healthy and
long lasting relationship with its customers. The main aim of this training is to makes its
employees more friendly and polite with customers (Al-Refaie,2015).
Time management training- for timely achievement of goals and objectives it is
necessary that employees must complete their work on time thus. It is essential to provide
training to employees for proper management of time. Knowledge of work break down structure
and Gantt chart is provided to make employees for efficient and effective.
Providing growth opportunities- for better development of an employed many growth
opportunities are provided to employees of LV=. Growth opportunities include increased role
and responsibility to make an individual more capable for handling an adverse situation.
Critical evaluation of HR learning and development opportunities
the learning and development opportunities provided by LV= is very effective in
enhancing performance of employees and overall organisation. The various training and growth
opportunities is having following benefits from perspective of both staff and organisation of
LV=.
Benefits for employees Benefits for organisation
Communication training improves the
communication skills of employees which
Communication training provided by LV= is
enhancing skills of its employees and making
8

reduce the chance of personal conflicts and
chaos, thus enhance the performance of
employees.
them more polite and friendly thus, thus more
customers attracted which will increase the
profits of organisation (De Lange, Kooij and
Van der Heijden, 2015).
Time management training is helpful in making
employees more efficient thus, they become
able to complete their work on time which
improves their performance.
Time management training ensures timely
achievement of goals and targets of
organisation thus, improve its productivity and
profitability.
Growth opportunity provide a chance for
employees to prove their skills and intelligence
and enhance their confidence level which lead
to overall development of employees.
Growth opportunities makes employees of
LV= capable to handle any adverse situation
thus, ensures smooth flow of operations and
future growth.
Various kinds of rewards and benefits are also provided by LV= to its employees to
improve their performance and helps in increasing sales and probability through providing better
customer satisfaction. Rewards and benefits provided by LV= includes:
Recognisation and appreciation- On the achievement of some specific targets and for
efficient performance of an employee, recognisation and appreciation is provided by LV= to
motivate them for repeating this performance in future. It also create a better atmosphere and
working environment in LV=.
Better incentives and perks- On the basis of performance appraisal of employees of
LV= incentives and extra perks are provided to encourage them for better performance
(Cavanagh and et. al., 2017).
Timely rewards and benefits boost morale of employees and it has also increase the
loyalty of employees of LV= which is helpful in improving employees wellness and retain best
employees for a longer period.
Critical evaluation of rewards and benefits provided by HR in increasing profitability of
organisation
Timely rewards and benefits are provided by HRM of LV= to motivate its employees for
better performance and for increasing overall productivity and probability of organisation. Use of
9

two factors motivational theory is made to critically evaluate and analysis the role of rewards and
benefits in motivating employees and improving productivity of organisation.
Two factor theory
it is also known as Herzberg's motivation theory or dual factor theory. This model states
that there are many factors at workplace out of which some causes satisfaction and some creates
dissatisfactions (Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018). The factors are broadly categories in two
main groups which are as follows:
Motivators- these are those factors presence of which causes motivation in employees to
work harder. Motivators includes, achievement, recognition, extra responsibility, growth, etc.
Hygiene factors- these are the factors which aim at reducing the level of dissatisfaction
and keeps employee motivated for its work. Company polices, supervision, relationship, work
conditions, remunerations, salary, security, etc. are included in hygiene factor (Kim and et. al.,
2019).
LV= is aim at providing a balance between hygiene factors (better incentives and perks)
and motivators factor (recognition and appreciation) to motivate its employees for better
performance. This is beneficial from prospective of both staff and organisation as staff is getting
better incentives and perks and it is also cresting a healthy workplace environment which
improves the overall performance and productivity of organisation.
ACTIVITY 4
Employee relation
Employee relation is also known as employee engagement which is an approach for
establishing better relationship between an organisations and its staffs. Basically it represent an
emotional attachment of manpower towards the culture, supervision, position, role, etc. of an
organisation. It also shows the level of dedication and loyalty felt by employees for their work
and also determine the dedication of employees for achievement of goals of firm. It mainly
includes maintaining a deep connection and coordination with people working in an organisation
to improve effectiveness and efficiency of a company (Noe and et. al., 2017). It shows the level
of workers loyalty, passionate and responsibleness towards achievement of their goals and
objectives. Employee engagement is very crucial for any business organisation as it improve the
productivity of a company. LV= is aim at achieving better growth in future which can be only
10

possible through maintaining good relationship with the manpower as it ensure timely
completion of work as reduces chances of conflicts and confusion and also make employees
more responsible and loyal towards organisation. Other benefits of employee relation or
engagement for LV= are described below.
Importance of employee relation
 Retain loyal employees – proper relation between employees and organisation maintain
or retain its best employees for a longer period of time. Losing an efficient employee can
be devastating for any organisation as it reduce the level of efficiency and productivity of
an organisation thus, employee engagement is a good tool have a amicable relationship
between employee and employers. For LV= proper employee relation is saving cost of
recruiting, hiring and training new worker and also retaining its best and experienced
employees for future growth and success (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
 Fewer Workplace Conflicts- employee relation and engagement practices create a better
and positive atmosphere at workplace thus, reduce the chances of of conflicts between
employer and employee and also eliminates chaos and issues among workforce. A
peaceful workplace created trough employee engagement polices of manger of LV=
provide a better environment and atmosphere to motivate and improve the performance
of employees thus, lead to overall success and growth of LV=.
 Increased productivity- an employee who is having positive and healthy relationship
with its employer fells much motivated and loyal towards organisations and its employer,
thus their efficiency and productivity gets improved. In LV= employees fell happy and
motivated as proper employee relation is maintained by HR Manger of LV= thus, its
employees put their best efforts for success and growth of organisation and also maintain
a personal stake in a project which improves their productivity (Cascio, 2015).
Thus, it can be said that maintaining proper employee relation and engagement is useful and
beneficial for LV= as it reduces the chances of conflicts and maintain and retain its best
employees for longer span of time thus, increase the productivity and probability of LV=.
Role of leadership in maintaining effective employee relations
Leadership styles plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining an effective
employees relations as they directly influence the attitude and motivation level of employees. In
LV=, leaders are making use of democratic leadership style to provide relevant freedom to its
11

employees and also taking views and opinion of employees in decision making process. Timely
rewards and incentives are provided by leaders to make its employees more motivated and to
improve their performance. Timely recognition and appreciation of employees by leaders is
creating a positive relation between employees and organisation. Timely communication training
is also a major role played by leaders of LV= to establish a better coordination and connection
with employee which is helpful in reducing chance of conflicts. Leaders of LV= is providing
more emphasis on board diversity policy which ensure that board has a varied skill base,
experience, education and professional background so that they treats all employees equally
which lead to sense of fairness, harmony and equality in minds of employee and result as better
employee relation (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016). A theory of open mindedness is
implemented in whole organisation by leaders of LV= to provide better chance to employees to
share and discuss their views which is helpful is developing a feeling of mutual concern and
personal stake in employee. Thus, leaders of LV= has created a atmosphere of mutual concern,
coordination and employee engagement in its organisation for timely achievement of gaols of
both employee and organisation.
Key elements of UK employment legislation
Many labour laws and employment legislation are formed by government of a nation to
protect the rights of employees and to fix the employee's obligation and responsibility towards its
workforce. Employees act and legislation ensures equal job or work opportunity and reasonable
pay for all employees. It also focuses on employee's physical and mental well being and safety
(The employment act, 2019). LV= is employing more than 5500 staff working in 14 offices
across the different parts of UK, thus for them it become essential to implement the provisions of
UK legislation which creates a significant effect on its decision making and recruitment and
selection process:
Equality Act- This act is formed by government to protect its employees from various
kind of workplace discrimination which includes favouritism on the basis of sex, nationality,
caste etc. which is continuously going on at workplace. The provision of equality act are
properly executed and implemented by LV= to provide a positive and healthy atmosphere to
employees (Discrimination, 2019). It also provide a equal chance to all employees to express
their views and opinion which positively effects the decision making process of LV=. Provisions
of equality act eliminates the chances of biasness in recruitment and selection process and
12

provide equal chance and opportunity to all applicants to apply for an specific job (John and
Taylor, 2016).
Employment Act-this act provide information about different provisions and rules which
regulates or establish a proper relationship between employee and employers. This act includes
all the terms of job agreement and also ensures desirable pay and incentives for an employee.
These terms and conditions are followed by both employer and employees to ensure the smooth
functioning and operation at workplace. LV= is following all the provisions of employment act
and providing adequate amount of salary and incentives to its employees which get fixed after
the selection and appointment of a candidate. These terms of employment all effects the decision
making of LV= as it become necessary to consider all provisions before making any decision
(Stone and Deadrick, 2015).
Conclusion
Above report, concludes that Human resource management is a very important aspect in
operations of business for smooth running of organisation. HRM is a process of recruiting and
selecting best suitable personnel for the specific job either from external or internal environment
of company. Foremost function of HRM is to hire best suitable workforce with required skills
and knowledge for particular job. Different techniques are used by leaders to motivate their
employees like giving them rewards to appreciate them, additional benefits etc. for them to be
satisfied and happy with their job.
13

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Al-Refaie, A., 2015. Effects of human resource management on hotel performance using
structural equation modeling. Computers in Human Behavior, 43, pp.293-303.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A., 2017. Human resource management in Europe Issues and
opportunities. In Policy and Practice in European Human Resource
Management (pp. 1-21). Routledge.
Cascio, W. F., 2015. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.
Cavanagh, J. and et. al., 2017. Supporting workers with disabilities: a scoping review of the role
of human resource management in contemporary organisations. Asia Pacific Journal
of Human Resources. 55(1). pp.6-43.
Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T. and Szamosi, L. T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
De Lange, A. H., Kooij, D. T. A. M. and Van der Heijden, B. I. J. M., 2015. Human resource
management and sustainability at work across the lifespan: An integrative
perspective. Facing the challenges of a multi-age workforce: A use-inspired
approach, pp.50-79.
DeCenzo, D. A., Robbins, S. P. and Verhulst, S. L., 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management, Binder Ready Version. John Wiley & Sons.
Hecklau, F. and et. al., 2016. Holistic approach for human resource management in Industry
4.0. Procedia Cirp. 54. pp.1-6.
Jabbour, C. J. C. and de Sousa Jabbour, A. B. L., 2016. Green human resource management and
green supply chain management: Linking two emerging agendas. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 112. pp.1824-1833.
John, R. and Taylor, B., 2016. Human resource management.
Kim, Y. J. and et. al., 2019. The effect of green human resource management on hotel
employees’ eco-friendly behavior and environmental performance. International
Journal of Hospitality Management. 76. pp.83-93.
Noe, R. A. and et. al., 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Shen, J. and Benson, J., 2016. When CSR is a social norm: How socially responsible human
resource management affects employee work behavior. Journal of Management.
42(6). pp.1723-1746.
Stone, D. L. and Deadrick, D. L., 2015. Challenges and opportunities affecting the future of
human resource management. Human Resource Management Review. 25(2). pp.139-
145.
Online
Discrimination. 2019. [Online] Available
through<https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hr/equality/focus/equalityact/types>./

The employment act. 2019. [Online] Available through<https://cartwrightking.co.uk/areas-of-
practice/Employment/employee-rights/>/.
2