Human Resource Management: Organizational Structure, Recruitment Strategies, Motivation, and Leadership Styles

This article discusses the impact of organizational structure, recruitment strategies, motivation, and leadership styles on employee performance in Human Resource Management. It also explores the contribution of HRM to organizational objectives and the impact of employment-related legislation on termination arrangements.

Human resource management
People and organizations

Human Resource management 1
Contents
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................1
Organizational structure and culture............................................................................................1
Factors influencing individual behavior at work.........................................................................1
Contribution of HRM to organizations’ objectives......................................................................2
Impact of legislation on HRM in the UK.....................................................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................3
Stages in recruitment and selection..............................................................................................3
New recruitment and selection strategies.....................................................................................4
Ways to motivate workers............................................................................................................5
Link between motivational theories, job evaluation, and rewards...............................................5
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................6
Effectiveness of different leadership and management styles on employee performance...........6
Impact of employment-related legislation on termination arrangements....................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Task 1
Organizational structure and culture
Organizational structure plays an important role in motivating employees and creating an
environment of work within the business. Every organization follows a different structure and
this is important to the success of the business (Daley, 2012). Centralized organizations have one
person or team at the center of the business and they hold the decision making authority in the
firm. Such a structure is often required by businesses. However, employees feel a lack of
participation and this adversely impacts their performance.
Decentralized organization structure, on the other hand, transfers the authority from the center to
local departments of the business and provides employees with a better opportunity at making
important decisions for the firm. Such a structure makes employees feel valued and hence they
feel a larger sense of ownership towards the business.
Certain organizations have a large span of control which means that a single person is
responsible for a large number of people. Certain businesses require this to ensure a similar flow
of information throughout the business. However, it often becomes increasingly difficult to for a
single person to take such a huge responsibility. This in turn impacts employee’s performance.
Similarly, a flat organizational structure divides roles and responsibility among people by the
virtue of their caliber rather than their designation. It encourages employees to take more
ownership in the business as opposed to in a hierarchical structure (Truss, Mankin, Kelliher,
2012).
Organizational culture refers to the ideas, beliefs and the values that are upheld by the
organizational employees. This culture is highly important and directly impacts employee
performances. A positive work culture with an effective flow of information and communication
builds trust and respect (Alvesson, 2012). This helps employees to perform better. Conducting
team building activities and encouraging communication among employees helps in building a
positive culture. Such a culture enables people to work together with better understanding and
deeper respect.

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Factors influencing individual behavior at work
For the success of any business, the performance of its employees plays a vital role. This
performance depends on various factors that exist in the workplace. Work timings, work culture,
communication in the organization, work-life balance at the job are all factors that influence
employee performance. A positive working environment and an open communication system
among employee’s leads to employees feeling motivated towards the business. This helps in
improving employee performance. Relationship with peers is crucial in creating the work
environment for employees. If the relationship among employees is based on trust and respect
then their performance also improves.
Rewards and recognition that is given to employees also create a positive atmosphere for
employees to work in. They feel motivated when they are rewarded as they realize that their
efforts are being valued by the business (Jehanzeb, Rasheed & Rasheed, 2012). The attitude of
the manager or leader also impacts employee performance. A vibrant, positive and charismatic
leader leads employees to work hard and fulfill organizational goals. Lastly, an individual’s
personality also impacts his or her performance in the organization. A punctual, sincere,
hardworking employee who aligns his or her goals to those of the organization will be self-
motivated and will also create a positive environment for those around him.
Contribution of HRM to organizations’ objectives
Strategic human resource management forms the backbone of every organization. Human
resource management’s primary function is to bring in the human resource by recruiting the right
people for the right job and at the right time (Bratton & Gold, 2012). This function is highly
important because employees are the most important assets of any business.
For the success of any business, it is important that every employee has a clear idea about his or
her roles and responsibilities and is motivated enough to fulfill them to the best of their ability.
This is the function of the HR department for any business. HR department ensures that
employee performances are frequently reviewed and all employees are given a transparent and
honest feedback about their performance. This is important for employees to understand where
they stand and work towards consistently improving their performance.

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HR department of the business also associates itself with conducting team building activities and
building the culture of the organization (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014). This is highly important for
employees and enables them to work to the best of their ability. It also sets the right environment
for the office, builds a strong value system and creates authenticity throughout the business
leading to increased trust and positivity.
Impact of legislation on HRM in the UK
The legislation is the field of HRM plays a vital role in ensuring that employees and employers
are protected against exploitation of any kind. Employment law of UK ensures that employees
across the country are paid above a minimum wage. The law also ensures that no discrimination
is made on the basis of race, caste, creed or sex during recruitment process at any business.
These laws also provide job security to employees. Employment laws also take responsibility to
ensure complete safety of employees at their respective workplaces. These laws are important to
make sure that employees are safe, have a secure job and are not exploited at work. This
ultimately results in employee motivation and increased value for employees efforts.
On the other hand, various data protection laws prevent employees from disclosing confidential
data of the organization to any outside resource. Such laws protect businesses by maintaining the
privacy of data.
Task 2
Stages in recruitment and selection
Recruitment and selection of the right employees in the business are very crucial to the success
of the business (Taylor, 2014). Therefore organizations take their recruitment process very
seriously. There are various stages between understanding the need of additional employees to
finally selecting the right employee for the role. These stages include:
 Defining requirements – This stage refers to organizations identifying the gap between
the current number of employees and the total required number of employees for the
smooth running of the business. A need is hence identified of recruiting additional people
in the business.

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 Attracting candidates – Once the need has been identified, efforts are made to attract
candidates from different parts of the world. This is done through social media, online job
portal and recruitment consultants (Garner, 2012). The company’s website also advertises
job vacancies so that interested candidates may send in their application.
 Resume shortlisting – The last step attracts various applications from different
candidates. Therefore, in this step, the organization’s HR department shortlists few
candidates for the next step from the applications that have been received. Ideally, the
application consists of a resume and a cover letter which has required details about the
employee’s previous work experiences and current qualification.
 Interview – The shortlisted candidates are then invited for an interview. This stage may
be followed by a telephonic interview or not. The interview is aimed at understanding the
candidate better and analyzing the candidate’s strengths and weaknesses. During the
interview process, the organization also tries to familiarize the candidate with the job
(Cascio, 2018). This stage is also often characterized by negotiation between the
organization and the candidate in terms of the remuneration.
 Selection – Once all the details have been finalized, the selected candidate is given a
formal offer letter which consists details of the candidate’s joining. This includes joining
date, documents to be carried at the time of joining, a person of contact as well as any
other important detail that might be important to the candidate
New recruitment and selection strategies
Recruitment process of different organizations is improving by the day. There are various
strategies that are adopted by businesses to ensure that the right candidates are attracted to the
right jobs. Social media recruitments have become an important part of the recruitment process.
This includes promoting job vacancies through social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram
or Twitter (Melanthiou, Pavlou & Constantinou, 2015). These platforms are used by
organizations to make people aware of the business.
Job vacancies for social media platforms are done via the company’s official pages as well as
various recruitment pages. For example, Facebook has many pages where recruiters post their
requirements and interested candidates send in their applications. Social recruiting also has an

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added advantage as recruiters are now able to see the social media profile of the candidate. This
helps them in getting to know the employee better.
Recruiting through LinkedIn is also very effective. The platform contains all the details about a
person’s work history and recommendations from their professional circle (Nikolaou, 2014). It is
a professional page and hence people work hard towards making that page an attractive
application.
Ways to motivate workers
In any business, it is highly important that the employees of the business remain motivated.
There are various ways in which employees should be motivated. This motivation helps them
perform better and feel valued in the business. Employee motivation also works towards
establishing longer-term relationships with employees. Strategies adopted by businesses to
motivate their employees are as below:
 Rewards and recognition – When employees are rewarded for their work or given
recognition in front of a large set of people, it motivates them to work harder and earn
that reward or recognition again (Dobre, 2013). This helps them feel that their efforts are
being valued and hence they build a deeper sense of ownership towards the business.
 Job description – While recruiting an employee, the HR manager must make sure that the
job roles are clearly defined. This will enable candidates who are genuinely interested in
the job to apply for the job. When employees’ job roles are clear, they are able to perform
better and it also helps them in aligning their personal and professional goals with those
of the organization. This motivates them and leads to an improved performance.
 Clear goals – There are various employees who are motivated when their need to
accomplish is fulfilled. Therefore, it is important that businesses set clear goals for the
employees and upon their accomplishment employees get motivated to perform better
(Lazaroiu, 2015). Vague goals demotivate employees and adversely impact their
performance.
 Positive work culture – Positive work culture of the business motivates employees to
work hard and achieve goals. A positive work culture brings an element of positivity,

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trust, and respect among employees. Such a culture reduces employee stress and helps
them in performing better.
 Empower employees – When employees are given more authority, responsibility and
decision making power then they feel motivated to perform better owing to an increased
sense of ownership for the business. Therefore organizations must empower employees.
Link between motivational theories, job evaluation, and rewards
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs explains that once physiological and safety needs are fulfilled,
people crave for love/belonging as well as esteem needs (Anderson, 2014). Organizations must
ensure that employees are given roles that help in fulfilling their esteem needs. This would lead
to increased employee satisfaction and hence better work culture.
Herzberg’s two-factor theory suggests that there are two sets of factors that motivate or
demotivate employees to work hard. Effective rewards can help in motivating employees. It is
important that managers can identify these factors and work towards ensuring a positive
workplace culture for employees (Alshmemri, Shahwan-Akl & Maude, 2017).
Vroom’s theory explains that an employee’s behavior is a result of the conscious choices made
by the employee. He stated that employee’s level of motivation, their efforts, and their
performance are all interlinked. Therefore, organizations must ensure their employees are
motivated to ensure better efforts and performance from their end.
The motivation of employees plays a vital role that largely influences employee performance.
Rewards are an effective way of motivating employees. Frequent job evaluation also helps in
understand employee performance, their expectations as well as their strengths and weaknesses.
Effective job evaluation is aimed at improving employee performance.
Task 3
Effectiveness of different leadership and management styles on employee performance
Leadership and management styles adopted by the seniors of the business widely impact the
performance of the employees working under them. Certain managers believe in rewarding
employees for their hard work while some leaders are bureaucratic in nature. If a leadership style

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is democratic then the environment and work culture are positive with open communication and
transparent feedback. This positively impacts employee performances as they remain motivated
in that structure.
Leaders leading by example also affect employee performance by motivating them through their
own actions (Bello, 2012). A dynamic and positive leader can create a highly optimistic
atmosphere in the workplace. Such a leader can motivate employees to work hard and perform
better. Charismatic leaders have a vibrant personality and they work towards encouraging
employees.
Autocratic leaders create a strict environment to work in. They do not create a transparent flow
of communication and often levy penalties. This kind of a working structure also motivates
certain employees to work hard. No leadership style can effectively work for all the employees.
However, every leader must put in efforts to motivate their employees and enhance their morale
from time to time. This will widely affect employee performance.
Impact of employment-related legislation on termination arrangements
Laws ensure that termination of an employee of any employee’s exit from an organization takes
place in an effective manner. Employees must serve a notice period to the organization in which
they work. Such laws also prevent employees from absconding organizations and ensuring that
they do not leave the organization suddenly or without a prior notice. These laws are made to
ensure that employees leave the organization in an effective manner by following the required
protocol.
Such laws also protect the employee from unlawful termination. Organizations cannot fire an
employee without a valid reason or a prior notice. Exit interviews must be conducted for every
employee that makes an exit from the firm.
If an employee resigns from the firm, these laws ensure that there are no dues towards the
employee or the business. At the time of retirement of an employee, these laws play an important
role in making sure that employee gets his or her due in the form of gratuity bonus, pension or
retirement bonus as discussed at the time of joining. The reason behind having these laws in
place is to make sure that employees exit the organization in an effective, transparent and highly

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professional manner. The advantages of these laws run both ways and this also ensures that
employees are protected against unlawful or wrongful termination.

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References
Alshmemri, M., Shahwan-Akl, L. and Maude, P., 2017. Herzberg’s two-factor theory. Life
Science Journal, 14(5).
Alvesson, M., 2012. Understanding organizational culture. Sage.
Anderson, A., 2014. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The Prairie Light Review, 36(2), p.7.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bello, S.M., 2012. Impact of ethical leadership on employee job performance. International
Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(11).
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. United States. McGraw-Hill Education.
Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management,
pp.120-125.
Dobre, O.I., 2013. Employee motivation and organizational performance. Tabel of Contents.
Garner, E., 2012. Recruitment and Selection. The United Kingdom Bookboon.
Jehanzeb, K., Rasheed, M.F. and Rasheed, A., 2012. Impact of rewards and motivation on job
satisfaction in banking sector of Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Business and Social
Science, 3(21).
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Investigations, 14, p.97.
Melanthiou, Y., Pavlou, F. and Constantinou, E., 2015. The use of social network sites as an e-
recruitment tool. Journal of Transnational Management, 20(1), pp.31-49.

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Nikolaou, I., 2014. Social networking web sites in job search and employee
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Taylor, S., 2014. Recruitment and selection. Strategic Human Resource Management: An
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