Human Resource Management: Functions and Importance for Sainsbury’s

This report provides information on human resource planning and management of Sainsbury’s company which is retail supermarket chain in UK. It discusses the purpose and functions of HRM in workforce planning, strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection processes, workforce planning structure, employee relations and application of HRM, employee legislation, and job specifications for a human resource manager at Sainsbury’s.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
PROJECT 1.................................................................................................................................................3
Purpose and functions of HRM relevant for workforce planning for Sainsbury’s...................................3
Strengths and weaknesses........................................................................................................................4
Workforce planning structure..................................................................................................................6
Employee relations and application of HRM...........................................................................................7
Employee legislation...............................................................................................................................7
PROJECT 2.................................................................................................................................................8
Job specification......................................................................................................................................8
CV...........................................................................................................................................................9
Questions to be asked by interviewer....................................................................................................10
Selection procedures..............................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the process of managing the employees of the business
organization which helps understand the objectives of the company effectively. Due to increase
in competition in global market and lack of talent in market there are various activities which
helps business to attain higher potential and increase the efficiency to compete in the market
effectively. This report provides information on human resource planning and management of
Sainsbury’s company which is retail supermarket chain in UK which provides groceries to its
customers. This report also provides description about different activities which helps to develop
effective strategy to increase performance of employees and gain higher profit margins
effectively.
PROJECT 1
Purpose and functions of HRM relevant for workforce planning for Sainsbury’s
Human resource management is an essential part in ensuring employment of skilled and
productive employees in the workplace (Papa and et.al., 2018). The HR of the Sainsbury needs
to ensure that the employees that are working are productive and motivated along with adequate
skills and talents so that difficult times can be met adequately. Their functions or purposes can be
elaborated in following manner:
Hiring i.e. Recruiting and selection: Identifying and attracting the skilled and worthy candidates
is a crucial aspect of the duties that are to be performed by HRM. The HR manager needs to
conduct a detailed process where they search and scrutinise for employees that will contribute
maximum in the productivity of the organisation. The manager can recruit mainly through
external and internal sources of recruitment so that the quality of workforce maintained can be
kept higher. For Sainsbury as well, the major source of hiring is through external sources and
they test the skills that the candidate has rather than the certificates or degrees thus ensuring that
the company utilises a talented workforce.
Training and Skill Development: Once the employees are hired, they need to be adequately
trained with the working environment and other basic training that they require in order to

perform their duties (Cascio, 2015). Apart from this, even the existing employees need to be
regularly trained and developed in order to further expand the skills that they already possess and
thus increase their performance and skill level. In Sainsbury as well, the HR manager utilises
both training as well as development practices so that the company can enhance the performance
of existing employees and consecutively also motivate the new employees to perform better.
This ultimately improves the productivity and performance of the business.
Reward and Appraisals: This is another major function or purpose of utilising HRM in the
organisation is that they should regularly utilise techniques that increase the motivation level of
employees in the organisation. This can be done by giving them monetary and non monetary
rewards where incentives, appraisals, increments etc. are counted in monetary appraisals and
praising employees, giving them tokens of gratitude etc. are non monetary rewards (Brewster,
Chung and Sparrow, 2016). At Sainsbury as well, the HR manager of the company uses both the
techniques so that they can ensure that the employee base remains productive and committed
towards the work that they are doing.
Performance Review: Another aspect of HR management is regularly reviewing the
performance of the employees i.e. the quality of work that is being performed, the targets and
standards that are being achieved, the behaviour of the employee etc. All these collectively
formulate the manner in which employee is performing his duties and tasks and these are
evaluated by HR manager so that appropriate actions can be taken. For instance, Sainsbury uses
this method so that the employees who need to be trained in certain aspects can be identified
through performance management. They ensure that communication regarding performance is
clear so that overall productivity of organisation can enhance.
Strengths and weaknesses
Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of inviting candidates in the business organization to fulfill
their human resource requirements to achieve objectives effectively. This process helps to
identify the adequate skills and knowledge of candidates. Sainsbury's adopts recruitment in order
to analyse all the skills and reduce the cost of company effectively (Papa and et.al., 2018).
Advantages

 This helps Sainsbury’s to understand all the factors to increase the performance of
business and attain higher profit margins effectively.
 Due to high competition in retail market it is also very essential for Sainsbury’s to
attract effective candidates and increase the competiveness in the market.
 Sainsbury’s also increases the productivity of business to reduce the cost of their
products and services to increase customer’s satisfaction effectively.
Disadvantages
 This increases internal disputes in Sainsbury’s and increase employee turnover
negatively.
 There is lack of proper filtration process which also recruits ineffective candidates
which reduces the efficiency of other employees (Knies and et.al., 2017).
 This also increase threat for Sainsbury’s to survive in the competitive market and
increase their customer base effectively.
Selection process
Selection is the process which helps business to determine the right candidate for for
business according to their overall aptitude by going through various stages of selection and
increase the efficiency of the company effectively. Sainsbury’s also needs to develop effective
job description and appoint effective manager to select candidates according to required job
profile to achieve objectives and also innovates with better knowledge and enthusiasm.
Advantages
 As this helps Sainsbury’s to evaluate their candidate in every aspect by adopting
written tests. This also helps the company to understand all the additional skills and
knowledge which can increase the cultural values of the organization to achieve their
objective effectively.
 Selection process also helps employees to gain to increase the communication within
the organization to share better skills and knowledge to increase performance to
compete in market effectively.
Disadvantage

 Selection process of Sainsbury’s discourages existing employees to perform
efficiently due to entry of new employees which also increases the politics in the
company negatively (Brierley and Gwilliam, 2017).
 Due to selection process of Sainsbury’s is also not able to focus on resources planning
due to time and finance consumption in the process which impact efficiency of
company to generate higher profits effectively.
Workforce planning structure
This helps business to analyse all the factors which are very essential for business in the
market. Workforce is very essential resource in any business organization and it helps to achieve
objectives effectively. HR manager has the responsibility to determine all the required skills and
knowledge for the job to increase the performance of Sainsbury’s and helps them to compete in
market to gain higher profit margins effectively. Workforce planning also helps company to
develop effective strategy which helps to understand all the internal issues and resolve them
effectively.
 Sainsbury’s uses training and development programmed which help to increase the
healthy working environment of the company and increase skills and knowledge of
employees to reach objectives of the company effectively with less cost.
 Workforce planning also helps Sainsbury’s to increase their brand value by increasing
customer satisfaction and engagement level to make them loyal and gain higher profit
margins effectively.
 This reduces the performance gap from the organization by implementing effective
motivation strategy (Ahammad, Glaister and Gomes, 2020). This also provides better
opportunity to Sainsbury’s to compete in market and increase the profit margins to invest
and expand effectively.
 Effective financial performance of Sainsbury’s also helps to increase the potential of
employees to achieve their objectives with lower cost and high shared value integration
with vision of business organization.

Employee relations and application of HRM
There are strong leaders in Sainsbury’s which are making the functioning and the
changes in the company are adapted to very quickly (Moore and Jennings, 2017). There is a
interpersonal skill development, motivation and strong communication which takes place
because of this factor. It is very important to hire the right leaders in the company which is why
Sainsbury’s is being able to have such a better functioning for them which is good as a
competitive advantage.
 There is a platform which is provided by Sainsbury’s for the employees so that they can
show their talents, skills, etc. Employees will have to be provided with a healthy
environment and a
 There are rewards, incentives, etc given to the employees who are giving their best in the
organization which is a very important factor for the company. This is going to make the
company achieve their objectives and goals. This motivates the employees more and the
creativity level of Sainsbury’s will increase which is a great advantage for the company
for a long run. Creativity will attract more customers in the company which is going to be
very helpful for a long run of the organization and the company will be able to get high
profit margins (Boon, Den Hartog and Lepak, 2019).
 Path goal theory is a motivational theory which can be used by the leaders of the
company so that the employees in the organization can give their best. There are training
and development which is provided to the employees of the company so that there is a
better functioning and the organization will be able to get higher highs in the market. The
customer’s satisfaction with the company will be better and there will be a lot of
innovative ideas generating in the company which can get a lot of ideas in the
organization.
Employee legislation
Sainsbury’s have to follow the legislature which has been given by the government which
gives a guideline to the organization. This includes the safety and standards of the company
which have to be followed so that there is a better functioning and the organization will be able
to achieve them from time to time. To make the employees give the best to the company and the

human resource to keep the internal environment of the organization strong it is very important
that the company follows them so that they can get a competitive advantage which is good for a
long run in the market (Chams and García-Blandón, 2019). There has to be a fair treatment and a
healthy environment with no conflicts in the employees in the organization which has to be
maintained by the human resource so that they can achieve their objectives and the company will
be able to achieve their goals from time to time.
PROJECT 2
Job specification
Job Role
Requirement in Sainsbury’s of a human resource manager
Reporting To
The human resource manager will be reporting to the management of the company which is
Mike Coupe who is the chief executive of Sainsbury’s.
Timing
There are flexible working hours but the manager of human resource will have to complete 58
hours of duty per week.
Qualification
The candidate should hold a degree of bachelors in human resource as well as a master’s degree.
In addition to that there must be some other degree related to this file.
Hard Skills
 Should be able to look at the bigger picture for the company and have time management
in them so that the organization will be able to achieve their objectives on time.
 There should a strong control of the manager on the employees of the company so that
they can be supervised and Sainsbury’s will be able to achieve their objectives.
 The changes implemented in the company should be adapted by the manager and make
sure that all the employees are following them so that there is a better functioning.
Soft Skills
 Manager must understand the employees working under them so that they can control

them, building a friendly and professional environment at the same time is very important
in Sainsbury’s.
 There should be a strong communication in the organization so that there is a better
functioning and the company will be able to have clarity while functioning.
 Experience in the past must be used in making decisions which are best for the
employees of the company so that the best can be given to the employees and the
productivity of the company is maintained. Flexibility should also be given by the human
resource of the company so that the employees of the company feel comfortable working
with the human resource manager.
CV
Name: Charles Blacksmith
Address: #565, Rosewood, London
Email: [e-mail]
Education
 Graduated from Queen Mary University, London.
 Masters from Imperial College London in human resource management.
Working Experience
 I have worked in a small firm as a team member of the human resource where I got to
learn, observe and increase my knowledge in this field which is a very important factor
for me in the growth of my career.
 I have interned with Sainsbury’s in 2018 for 5 months in the same field which gave me a
better understanding of the company and the functioning of the organization.
Skills
 I can make the team work as one which is very helpful for achieving the mission and
vision of the organization.
 Rules and regulations which are implemented or changed are taken very seriously by me
so that the functioning of Sainsbury’s is not disturbed.
 Guiding the employees and giving them a direction so that they can increase the
productivity of the company is my good quality.
 I have a basic knowledge of computers and know as much as required for a human

resource managers must know to operate for the better functioning of the company.
 Understanding the employees and giving them time so that they can be trained and
understood by the company is another factor which is required in the organization so that
there is a better functioning.
The interview has been scheduled for the candidate on 1st May, 2020
Questions to be asked by interviewer
 What the experiences and qualifications you have in this field?
 What are the measures you take when there are situations which come up in the
organization?
 What is the competitive knowledge you gathered from the internship you did with this
organization?
 How is your team work and do you have an experience of working with a supervisor?
Selection procedures
On the bases of their skills, principles, knowledge and work ethics of the candidates and
the past experience as well will be considered while hiring them. The human resource manager
has to have a lot of experience and skills to make it to Sainsbury’s manager of human resource
department (Peccei and Van De Voord, 2019). The soft and hard skills of the candidate must be
their strong points so that the decision making in the organization can be better which is going to
be very helpful for a long run of the company in the market.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the functions of Human resource manager
is huge in the organization which can make the organization function effectively and smoothly
which is a very important factor for the organization to achieve their goals and objectives. There
is training and development provided to the employees of the organization by the human

resource department so that the company can maintain their standards and increases their
customer base which will result in higher profit margins.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ahammad, M.F., Glaister, K.W. and Gomes, E., 2020. Strategic agility and human resource
management. Human Resource Management Review. 30(1). p.100700.
Boon, C., Den Hartog, D.N. and Lepak, D.P., 2019. A systematic review of human resource
management systems and their measurement. Journal of management. 45(6). pp.2498-
2537.
Brewster, C., Chung, C., and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Brierley, J.A. and Gwilliam, D., 2017. Human resource management issues in accounting and
auditing firms: A research perspective. Routledge.
Cascio, W.F., 2015. Managing human resources. McGraw – Hill.
Chams, N. and García-Blandón, J., 2019. On the importance of sustainable human resource
management for the adoption of sustainable development goals. Resources,
Conservation and Recycling. 141. pp.109-122.
Knies, E and et.al., 2017. Strategic human resource management and public sector performance:
context matters.
Moore, L.F. and Jennings, P.D. eds., 2017. Human resource management on the Pacific Rim:
Institutions, practices, and attitudes (Vol. 60). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Papa, A and et.al., 2018. Improving innovation performance through knowledge acquisition: the
moderating role of employee retention and human resource management
practices. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Peccei, R. and Van De Voorde, K., 2019. Human resource management–well‐being–
performance research revisited: Past, present, and future. Human Resource
Management Journal.