HRM Practices and Knowledge Transfer in MNCs

This assignment delves into the complexities of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and their influence on knowledge transfer within Multinational Corporations (MNCs). It examines various factors that contribute to the success or failure of HRM initiatives aimed at facilitating knowledge sharing and diffusion across different organizational units and geographical locations within MNCs. The provided references encompass a range of scholarly articles exploring topics such as strategic HRM, performance management, ethical considerations in HRM, and the impact of globalisation on HRM practices.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ..........................................................................................................................................1
P1. Objective of workforce planning and role of human resource manager in it.......................1
P2. Strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection approach........................................3
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................4
P7 Application of Human Resource practices............................................................................4
a) Job advertisement ...................................................................................................................4
b) Advertisement channels..........................................................................................................5
c) Job description and Person specification................................................................................5
PART 2 ..........................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3 ...........................................................................................................................................7
P3 Benefits of HRM practices for employer and workforce.......................................................7
a) Difference between training and development.......................................................................7
b) Determination of training needs and different methods of training........................................8
c) Benefits of systematic approach to training & development .................................................9
P4 Effectiveness of training and development..........................................................................10
PART 3 .........................................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Significance of maintaining good employee relation and its impact on HR decision making
...................................................................................................................................................10
P6 Key components of employment legislations......................................................................11
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is an act of recruiting and managing employees in the firm.
It is an important function of every organisation as it is responsible for hiring skilled and
competent workforce in order to ensure successful accomplishment of objectives and targets.
Major responsibility of human resource manager is to identify manpower needs of company and
fulfil that the same (Baluch, Salge and Piening, 2013). The department oversees training and
development, recruitment, benefits, compensation, performance appraisal, rewarding, etc. of
employees. Roles of manager fall in three main areas i.e. staffing, defining work and worker’s
benefit. In the present assignment, three companies are given i.e. Woodhill College, Tesco and
ITV. The report is divided into 3 parts where first one includes recruitment and selection in
which objective of workforce planning and role of human resource manager are defined. It also
involves merits and demerits of recruitment and selection approach. Second part is related to
employee’s development, performance and reward in which benefits of providing training to
workforce as well as its effectiveness in terms of discharging return on investment are defined.
The last part includes employment relationship in which significance of maintaining healthy
employee relation, components of employment legislation and its impact on human resource
decision making are described.
PART 1
TASK 1
Case study: Woodhill College
The case covers requirement of recruitment for new staff in Woodhill College. As college
is rapidly developing, need of hiring skilled human resources arise. The organisation does not
have a particular strategy that emphasize on managing their present and future requirements
effectively. So, the college needs to change its recruitment process and explore other hiring
sources to select the best candidates from a large pool of applicants (Arrowsmith and Parker,
2013).
P1. Objective of workforce planning and role of human resource manager in it
Workforce planning refers to a process which is used to align priorities and needs of firm
with those of employees in order to ensure that it can meet its regulatory, legislative, production
1

and service requirements as well as organisational objectives. It is an ongoing process which
ensures that right number of individuals with appropriate competencies and skills are employed
at right place in order to deliver short as well as long term objectives of an organisation (Bloom
and Van Reenen, 2011).
The function of Human Resource Management is concerned with recruitment, selection,
management and motivating employees in company. The responsibility of manager of Woodhill
College is to extract best out of their workforce by administering them appropriate training and
development so that objectives of the firm can be achieved. Various decisions are taken by
human resource manager for the welfare of employer and workforce. They perform different
roles in order to manage resources of company. Some of the roles are defined as below:
Roles Responsibilities
Staffing In Woodhill college, human resource manager anticipates present and future
needs of workforce and identifies the gap between them in order to fulfil it.
They hire skilled candidates who are able to attain objectives of company. It
is necessary for manager to carefully identify needs of employees and bridge
the gap.
Training and
development
Main responsibility of the manager is to determine training needs of
employees and design appropriate training event in order to fulfil their needs.
It helps administrator in improving motivation level of workforce so that they
will be able to work in a better way and improve the performance of college.
Employee
advocate
Human resource manager handles and monitors the performance appraisal of
employees and follow method of 360 degree feedback. They organise
workforce planning process and develop a strong relationship in between
employer and employees. They handle all the grievances of workforce and
administer them an appropriate solution (Caligiuri, 2014).
Change agent Human resource manager identifies different management practices and
bridge the gap among them. They develop effective communication plans on
a regular basis so that issues of workforce can be handled in a proper manner.
They bring change in the organisation and accept those as per the situation.
2

Purpose of manpower planning:
Main objective of workforce planning is to administer knowledgeable, skilled, competent
and experienced workforce to the organisation in order to ensure that goals and targets are
successfully attained. As the college is developing so fast, need of hiring new staff is generated
so that short as well as long term goals can be effectively attained. Woodhill College needs to
recruit new human resource manager who is able enough to manage effectively the process of
recruitment and selection (Conesa-Zamora and et. al., 2011). It is necessary to be prepared in
advance for any kind of uncertainty that may occur in the organisation. So, it is necessary for the
college to anticipate manpower need and hire accordingly. By effective and proper planning,
manager can hire right number of employees for particular position at specified time. Human
resource department of the college can also design appropriate training programme for panel
members in order to make selection process easy. It is necessary to prepare proper plan so that
skilled and knowledgeable employees can be hired according to the requirements. Main purpose
behind workforce planning is to hire skilled and competent personnel in the organisation so that
objectives can be effectively attained.
P2. Strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection approach
Recruitment and selection refers to the process of encouraging individuals to apply for a
particular job. It is the major function of human resource management department that deals in
identifying skilled and competent candidates for the organisation who is able to attain objectives
of the firm in an effective and efficient manner. By the assistance of recruitment process, firm is
able to manage skills set of manpower in a constructive manner that will align to its future
objectives and initiatives. Woodhill College uses single method of recruitment for hiring
individuals. But, there are two sources of recruiting and selecting employees and each has some
strengths and weaknesses (Daley, 2012). These are defined as below:
Internal source: In this, candidates are selected from within company that means, hiring
those employees who are currently working in the college for various teaching posts by
promotion, transfer, demotion, etc.
Advantages Disadvantages
 Builds morale and develops loyalty of
workforce towards organisation.
 New talent will not be introduced in
organisation as the selection is internal
3

 Chances of errors in selection are less
as the organisation already knows skills
and capabilities of individuals.
 It is a cheaper process as it consumes
less cost and time.
and employee is working with same
skill.
 Reduce the opportunity for other
candidate who has applied for the same
position.
 Sometimes, create dissatisfaction
among other employees that are
working in company.
External source: In this source of recruitment, candidates are hired from outside the
college by publishing advertisement, direct selection, campus recruitment, etc (Functions of
HRM, 2017).
Advantages Disadvantages
 Fresh talent is entered in the
organisation which brings creativity
and innovation.
 Provides an opportunity to select
candidates from a large pool of
applicants who have excellent skills.
 Provides opportunity to outsider
candidates and increase their
motivation level.
 Expensive process as high amount of
funds are incurred in the procedure and
also consumes more time.
 Lack of coordination and cooperation
among existing and new employees.
 Lowers down the morale of existing
workforce.
TASK 2
P7 Application of Human Resource practices
a) Job advertisement
JOB OPPORTUNITY
Woodhill College search for knowledgable, skilled, competent & self-motivated candidate to
4

fill the job position of HR Manager that is available in Pretoria, South Africa
Profile : Human Resource Manager
Required experience and qualification:
 Masters Degree in Human Resource Management with experience of minimal 3 years,
candidate must have degree of MBA in HR.
 He/She must have the quality to handle the various areas of management, payroll,
employee benefits and communication.
 Have the quality to manage activities of organisation in proper way.
 Expert in MS-Word, Excel and other additional skills.
For more details about the above mentioned job position, please visit official web site of
College and apply there within 15 days of advertisement date.
b) Advertisement channels
There are various advertisement channels that cab be used by Woodhill college for
placing advertisement effectively about the current vacancy (Guest, Paauwe and Wright, 2012).
Some of these are as follows:
 Social Networking Sites.
 Print Media
 Digital Media
 Bulletin Board
 College Website
 Pamphlets
c) Job description and Person specification
Job description:
Job Description
Organisation Name Woodhill College
Job Designation Human Resource Manager
5

Location Pretoria, South Africa
Reporting To Higher Authorities (Principal)
Roles and Responsibilities  Hire knowledgeable, skilled and competent staff
 Develops Powerful Interpersonal Communication
 Administer appropriate training to employees
such as Soft Skill Training.
 Conduct different activities to motivate
employees.
Working Hours 10:00am to 5:00pm
Salary 8700 Pound per month
Working Facilities College render benefits, compensation, flexible working
hours, accommodation and other facilities to staff.
Person specification:
Name: ABC
Contact no.: 564432
Email: [e-mail]
Job Title: Human Resource Manager
Qualification:
6

MBA University 87.00%
Graduation University 85.00%
High education London school 92.00%
Secondary education London school 91.00%
Experience: 4 years
Personalized information
Father's name: STV
Mother's name: XYZ
Achievements:
 Best Performer of the year.
 Receive recognition for good work.
PART 2
TASK 3
Case study: Tesco
Training and development of workforce is an essential component for constant growth of
Tesco. They require flexible and committed employees to aid its business expansion and it relies
on acquisition and retention of customers. Delivery of high standard service contributes in
7

success of Tesco by meeting its objectives. Structured approach of training and development
offer strong foundation for constant growth of company.
P3 Benefits of HRM practices for employer and workforce
a) Difference between training and development
Training is an activity of imparting skills and knowledge to individuals which help them
to perform well (Knowles, Holton III and Swanson, 2014). Development refers to a process of
growth that creates progress of a person. By this, additional skills are provided to employees
which are beneficial for them in their future career growth. Structured approach to training and
development is used by Tesco that provides a path for their constant growth. Some differences
among training & development are as follows:
Training Development
Training is an act of learning that provides an
opportunity to workforce of Tesco for
developing their skills and knowledge that
helps them in performing their job effectively.
Development is provided to workforce for their
overall growth. It administers long term
learning to individuals of Tesco.
Training is considered as job oriented as it
provides learning only related to job to
workforce of Tesco.
Development is considered as career oriented
as it provides growth to an individual of Tesco
in their career growth.
Training gives short term knowledge to
personnel of Tesco.
Individuals of Tesco gain long term knowledge
by development process.
The main aim of Tesco behind providing
training to its employees is to improve their
productivity and performance.
Main objective of Tesco behind administering
development to employees is to prepare them
for future challenges.
b) Determination of training needs and different methods of training
Generally, training needs are determined after settings goals and targets in business to
accomplish. The main aim of Tesco behind providing training to its employees are to diversify
and expand their business. For attaining objectives in effective manner, it is necessary to employ
right person in right position in specified time (Lengnick-Hall, Beck and Lengnick-Hall, 2011).
8

On the basis of targets of business, it is necessary to identify critical activities and perform them
in well manner. For this, manpower require different skills in order to make business more
productive. Training process of Tesco helps workforce in performing their job effectively on the
basis of understanding, knowledge, skills and resources. Training needs can be identified by
following below defined process:
 Monitor current skill level of manpower.
 Identify skills gap in the firm.
 Decide skills that are beneficial for business.
 Plan suitable training programme which is assistive in bridging the gap (Manroop, Singh
and Ezzedeen, 2014).
Managers need to prioritize requirements of training and design suitable training
programme according to that.
Training methods used by Tesco-
Tesco provides two methods of training, i.e., on the job and off the job. It is provided to
improve productivity and performance of employees and administer them opportunities for
growth. This helps in increasing skills and knowledge of employees.
On the job training: This kind of training is provided by Tesco at the same workplace.
Individuals perform real task in order to gain knowledge about work. They learn by seeing their
peers and managers when they perform task and try to copy them. On the job training can be
administered by mentoring, job rotation, shadowing and coaching.
Off the job training: This training is provided away from the job place. It is administered
for the purpose of development. Off the job training can be offered through role play, lectures,
business game, conferences, simulation etc. This training is given by experts or professionals and
study material is provided to employees so that they can apply their knowledge in work.
c) Benefits of systematic approach to training & development
Training and development of employees is necessary for every organisation as it highly
contributes in growth and success of the company (Pereira and Anderson, 2012). In Tesco,
systematic approach to training and development gives them strong foundation for its ongoing
growth. This method is used to build professional skills and improve competence of workforce to
do their work in better manner. The main emphasize of this training is to attain objectives of
business in profit and growth terms. Systematic training is an effective technique of increasing
9

business by administering high quality services to customers and equip the staff so that they are
able to perform relevant activities of business in professional way. Because of systematic
training programme of Tesco, efficiency of workforce has increased to greater extent. By this,
they are able to deal with any kind of situation by using their abilities and skills that are acquired
through training programme. Skilled workforce are asset of firm and their abilities are
enhancing day by day as they get knowledge.
P4 Effectiveness of training and development
Training and development programme is expensive one as it consumes high cost as well
as time. Companies invest a lot of funds upon it in order to enhance the performance of
employees as well as firm. It provides the ability to individual so that they are able to perform
their work in better manner and face challenges effectively (Vo and Stanton, 2011). The main
purpose of Tesco behind providing training and development is expansion of business by
delivering quality services to their potential customers. It provides learning opportunities to
workforce which help them in performing their duties effectively. Effective training assists in
improving profitability of the business that leads it towards high success. It assists the company
in acquiring and retaining customers by which the firm gets opportunity to expand its business.
PART 3
TASK 4
Case study: ITV
Healthy relationship among employer and employee assists in enhancing productivity of
company. It facilitates in maintaining healthy surroundings at work place and eliminating
conflicts that takes place in the firm. Different methods are used by ITV to increase engagement
of employees in activities of the company.
P5 Significance of maintaining good employee relation and its impact on HR decision making
Employee relation is defined as the relationship that is shared among employer and
employee within an organisation. It is necessary to maintain healthy relationship among them as
it highly contributes in growth of the company. It lowers down the chances of creating conflicts
and helps in improving productivity of employees. Several methods are used by ITV for
maintaining healthy relationship among employees (Vörösmarty and et. al., 2010). These
methods includes direct engagement with workers, collective bargaining etc. It assists in
10

increasing the involvement of workforce in activities of company which is a critical success
factor of it. ITV use methods such as watercooler, intranet, 60 second update etc. to make
interaction with workforce. Healthy relationship among employees rely on their engagement,
commitment, effective communication, work surrounding, motivation level etc.
Good relationship increases motivation level of employees that leads the firm towards
high sales and profitability. Employee relations influence decision making of human resource
manager. If relationship between them is good enough then, they can freely share thoughts and
issues to management. They help the managers in making effective decisions that helps in
increasing growth and gaining sustainability of ITV in the market.
P6 Key components of employment legislations
Equality act: As per this act, it is necessary for the employer to treat its all the employees
in equal manner (Wagner, 2011). ITV treat their workforce equally and fairly. They do not
discriminate on the basis of age, religion, gender etc. They emphasize on building healthy
relationship by giving them fair wages. They involve their staff in decision making process that
assists the manager in taking effective decisions.
Data protection: As per this act, employees of the company are obliged to prevent data of
ITV. They can not share confidential data or information of the company with other persons
outside the organisation. In order to secure the data of firm, agreement is signed by the
employees and different practices are used by firm such as collective bargaining method.
Health and safety: According to this act, it is necessary for ITV to provide health and
safety measures to their employees and for this, it is required to formulate appropriate plans and
policies. It must ensure that these are effective enough to resolve grievances of workers.
All these legislations influence the decision making of human resource manager of ITV.
So, it is necessary to keep in view all the legislations before formulating plans and policies of the
company. These assists managers in making effective decisions (Wright and McMahan,2011).
CONCLUSION
As per the above mentioned report, it has been concluded that human resource
management plays an effective role in hiring and managing skilled and competent employees in
organisation so that goals and objectives of the firm can be effectively attained. Human resource
manager plays an important role in identifying training needs of employees and administer them
11

appropriate training. It assists in developing skills of employees and attaining goals of
organisation. It is necessary to maintain healthy relationship among employees so that good work
surrounding can be maintained in the organisation.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Arrowsmith, J. and Parker, J., 2013. The meaning of ‘employee engagement’for the values and
roles of the HRM function. The International Journal of Human Resource Management.
24(14). pp. 2692-2712.
Baluch, A. M., Salge, T. O. and Piening, E. P., 2013. Untangling the relationship between HRM
and hospital performance: The mediating role of attitudinal and behavioural HR
outcomes. The International Journal of Human Resource Management. 24(16). pp.
3038-3061.
Bloom, N. and Van Reenen, J., 2011. Human resource management and productivity. Handbook
of labor economics. 4. pp.1697-1767.
Caligiuri, P., 2014. Many moving parts: Factors influencing the effectiveness of HRM practices
designed to improve knowledge transfer within MNCs. Journal of International
Business Studies. 45(1). pp. 63-72.
Conesa-Zamora, P., and et. al., 2011. Comparison of allelic discrimination by dHPLC, HRM,
and TaqMan in the detection of BRAF mutation V600E. The Journal of Molecular
Diagnostics. 13(5). pp. 467-473.
Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management,
pp.120-125.
Guest, D. E., Paauwe, J. and Wright, P. eds., 2012. HRM and performance: Achievements and
challenges. John Wiley & Sons.
Knowles, M.S., Holton III, E.F. and Swanson, R.A., 2014. The adult learner: The definitive
classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.
Lengnick-Hall, C.A., Beck, T.E. and Lengnick-Hall, M.L., 2011. Developing a capacity for
organizational resilience through strategic human resource management. Human
Resource Management Review. 21(3). pp.243-255.
Manroop, L., Singh, P. and Ezzedeen, S., 2014. Human Resource Systems and Ethical Climates:
A Resource‐Based Perspective. Human resource management. 53(5). pp.795-816.
Pereira, V. and Anderson, V., 2012. A longitudinal examination of HRM in a human resources
offshoring (HRO) organization operating from India. Journal of World Business. 47(2).
pp. 223-231.
Vo, A. and Stanton, P., 2011. The transfer of HRM policies and practices to a transitional
business system: The case of performance management practices in the US and
Japanese MNEs operating in Vietnam. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management. 22(17). pp. 3513-3527.
12