Human Resource Management - Chocola Fantastica Assignment

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
SECTION 1......................................................................................................................................1
a) Purpose and significance of Human resource function in the organisation............................1
b) Strengths and shortcomings of the selection methods adopted by the establishment............2
c)Improvements which can be utilised in enhancing the selection process................................3
SECTION 2......................................................................................................................................3
c) Recommendation for the job advertisements for vacancy of receptionist..............................5
SECTION 3......................................................................................................................................6
a) Benefits of graduate training schemes and internships to both the employees and
organisation.................................................................................................................................6
b) Benefits of flexible working arrangements in context of organisation and employee...........6
c) Evaluation of providing motivation to the employees by the organisation............................7
SECTION 4......................................................................................................................................8
a) Importance of employee relation in the decision making of the Human Resource
management................................................................................................................................8
b) Evaluation of different approaches to employee engagement and its benefit in improving
the communication in the organisation.......................................................................................9
c) Important elements of employment legislation and its impact on the decision making of
HR...............................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management organises the working of the manpower with the objective
of the organisation. It is responsible to ensure that an enterprise has mission, goals and vision to
provide the workforce a reason to work and perform several activities. HRM is a broad concept
to manage the workforce and the working environment culture (Arulrajah and Opatha, 2016). It
helps the company in establishing and changing the behaviour and improving the competencies
of individuals. Human resource manager satisfies the human capital needs of the firm by
attracting and selecting the employees through various processes. For better understanding and
assessment of HRM functions and purposes, a company Chocola Fantastica is taken in this study.
The merits and demerits of various approaches to selection in the company, importance of
Human resource management practices, need of employee relations in decision making of HR
and the effect of various employment laws are discussed in this study.
SECTION 1
a) Purpose and significance of Human resource function in the organisation.
HRM concentrates on the concerns related with the manpower in the company that
includes hiring, performance, compensation, health, safety, well-being, benefits, training and
development. It encourages the employees to contribute in the achievement of firm's objectives
expeditiously and effectively. Some of the functions of HR are given below-
Recruitment and selection- Recruitment process is required to acquire the candidates
needed by the organisation in carrying out the operations smoothly whereas selection is a
procedure for selecting the right individual with maximum potential and skills to fill up the
vacant place in the company. In Chocola Fantastica, both the processes recruitment & selection
can be utilised in employing best individuals in the production, marketing and special teams
and appraising the existing employees to boost their morale as well as performance.
Training & development- Training is basically a program which assists the employees in
learning specific skills and knowledge so as to improve their current performances whereas
development is much broader concept and focuses on growth as well as future performance of
employee (Binder, 2016). Chocola Fantastica can be benefited by this Human resource function
in growing profits, reducing employee turnover, enhancing employee engagement and
improving overall speed and quality in the production.
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Performance appraisal- It is the systematic assessment of performance of employees to
understand the personal abilities so as to make further improvement in their growth and
development. It upgrades the efficiency of an organisation by utilising the efforts of the
workforce in the best possible way (Bringezu and Bleischwitz, 2017). In Chocola Fantastica, use
of reward system like merit based compensation will assists in attracting the new individuals
who are concerned with upliftment activities and promotions. This will increase the number of
applicants in the company.
b) Strengths and shortcomings of the selection methods adopted by the establishment.
Selection process is also termed as screening process. It enables the organisation to
choose candidates with appropriate basic qualifications as required to fill the jobs. This
procedure commences after the completion of recruitment process. Chocola Fantastica uses the
methods of selection like assessment tests and interviews to pickup the correct person from the
pool of many qualified candidates.
Assessment tests- It provides a consistent basis to compare the performance of
individuals. It contains same kind of tests on a particular subject like mathematics or English for
every participant. The eligibility criteria are fixed as per the scores.
Merits Demerits
It will assists in reducing the labour turnover
and engage the employees in the company for
long term.
The conclusion drawn from this test do not
ensure that it is accurate. The skills of
candidate cannot be judged only through
specific subjects. Some of them may excel in
finance while others may be good in
production and marketing.
Interviews- It is the conversation between the job seeker and the interviewer. It consists
of questions to be asked by the interviewer and answered by the interviewee. It can be of any
form either formal or informal. In the firm Chocola Fantastica, informal kind of interviews are
conducted in selection process.
Merits Demerits
It is possible to understand the individual in a
better way.
It leads to negative assessment about the
company (Clark and et. al., 2016).
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It reduces the communication gap between the
applicant and the interviewer.
Informal interview diverts the mind of both the
interviewee and interviewer.
c)Improvements which can be utilised in enhancing the selection process.
Selection is considered as the most vital function of the Human resource management as
the success of company largely depends on the performances of the employees. The selection
processes used by the Chocola Fantastica includes several shortcomings which are needed to be
resolved in order to increase labour turnover, hiring new talents and to solve the complaints of
applicants (Duarte, Gomes and Neves, 2015). The following two methods can be utilised by the
company for improvement-
General mental ability- It is the most effective test that can be conducted in selection. It
includes every subject related information and can be utilised for any type of job at different
departmental levels in the organisation. It consumes less time and costs of the firm. GMA can be
carried out in several ways and hence, the company can select any appropriate way for the
selection process.
Formal interviews- In this type of interview the time and questions to be asked by the
interviewee are already fixed by the HR manger. All the questions are related with job and
hence, there is no chance of interviewee getting distracted from the interview. It reduces the
personal biasness in the selection process which can be observed in the informal interview. It
saves the time of the company and the applicants will be satisfied by the results.
SECTION 2
a) Person specification for the role of receptionist.
Chocola Fantastica
Person specification- Receptionist
Basis Essential Desirable
Education Good standard in general
education.
Standard grades in Mathematics
NVQ in administration and
customer service (Grizzetti
and et. al., 2016).
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and English.
Certificate in IT.
Experience Experience of initiating a work-
related function.
Experience of client service.
Experience in computerised
and technical recording
systems .
Experience of managing
confidential data
Knowledge Excellent skills in communication
especially verbal and written.
Skills in problem solving
Interpersonal skills
Time management skills
Typing skills
Attributes Planning
Organising
Adaptability
Self motivated
Performing in environment of
pressure
Friendly nature
Other Understanding and meeting the
needs of the terms and policies
b) Strengths and weaknesses of different methods of recruitment.
Chocola Fantastica make use of both internal and external methods for recruitment. With
some advantages this type of advertisements carry some shortcomings. They are mentioned
below-
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Recruitment process:
It is termed as a process within which large base of applicants get shortlisted, attracted
and selected as to fill vacant position within organisation. With the help of this method company
can effectively able to select candidates those who fit for the job position in best effective
manner. In addition with this, with recruitment process aid company to cut down their
unnecessary cost and time and select candidate in time and cost efficient manner.
Internal recruitment- In this procedure company looks for the applicants to fill the job
vacancy in the existing workers (Gupta, 2016). The different methods of internal recruitment are
employee referrals, promotion and transfers. In the internal type job advertisements are
distributed personally to all the existing employees.
Advantages Disadvantages
It is less time consuming and cheaper.
The employees are familiar with the
environment of the company.
May create another job vacancy.
New ideas will be restrained from entering the
premises (Hitt, Xu and Carnes, 2016).
Selection Process:
As per according selection process, organisation appoint best and most suitable candidate
those who posses skills and talent with the help of which they can effectively able to accomplish
goals and objectives of organisation in best effective manner. Further it has been analysed that
selection process effectively aid an organisation to hire best and suitable candidate for the vacant
job role in organisation.
External recruitment- In this method the company searches for the job seekers from
outside the organisation. It can be accomplished through job boards, referrals, websites,
advertisements, campus recruitment and agencies. In the external method, the advertisement for
the vacant job is placed on the noticeboards outside the premises.
Advantages Disadvantages
New applicant may have different skills and
wider extent of experiences.
Larger vacancies can be fulfilled by this
method.
It is longer process.
Much of costs are incurred in recruiting outside
people.
In Some situation managers appoint unskilled
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With the help of this method company can
effectively able to save their unnecessary cost
and time.
This process allow no involvement of third
party as it is easy and simple method and
further aid company to select fresh, new as
well as potential candidates in best effective
manner.
and unqualified candidates.
It is a time consuming process and further
lower down morale of already existing
employees which in turn decrease their
workplace productivity.
c) Recommendation for the job advertisements for vacancy of receptionist
To provide information about the vacant position of receptionist Chocola Fantastica can
make use of several advertising tools. For internal recruitment, the vacancy can be posted in the
company's website career page or on the job board approachable by most employees. It should be
advertised in the internal working environment for the some weeks and after that time period it
should be removed. For external recruitment the advertisement can be placed in the newspapers,
job portals, campuses and job fairs.
SECTION 3
a) Benefits of graduate training schemes and internships to both the employees and organisation.
There are several benefits of graduate training schemes and internships. Both the
employees and company gains the advantage from this programs. They are designed for
permanent existing employees so as to train them about the requirements of the business
objectives and the goals (Hoye and et. al., 2018). Microsoft provides such types of training
programs to its employees.
Advantages in context of organisation-
Increase productivity- Graduate training schemes and internships provided by Microsoft
will assist in handling further problems arising in the company. The increasing contributions of
the employees through this programs will increase the overall productivity of the firm.
Encourage leadership skills- Microsoft engages the experienced employees in leading
graduate training programs and internships. This will assist the employees in gaining leadership
skills. Henceforth, they will be more accountable towards their responsibilities in the company.
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Improve the environment- It circulates enthusiasm and positive energy in the Microsoft
company. This work culture as well as positivity enhances the overall work culture in the
company.
Advantages to the employees-
New skills development -It provides the opportunities to employees to gain different skills by
working in different departments in the company.
Enhance practical knowledge- Internships assists the employees in improving practical
knowledge in various functions and graduate training schemes introduce new technical skills and
knowledge.
Development plan- Internships and graduate training schemes provides progression
opportunities in handling various projects. It clearly helps in identifying whether the job will be
permanent or temporary and hence, the employees will make further development plans.
b) Benefits of flexible working arrangements in context of organisation and employee.
The various flexible working options provided by the Microsoft company to its
employees are Flexitime and part-time working.
Benefit of the Flexitime and part-time working to the organisation-
 Microsoft manages the costs by replacing the part time workers in the areas where full
time workers are not needed.
 Flexitime working alternative increases the recruitment and decreases the labour turnover
in Microsoft.
 More employees are employed in part time options that assists in balance the peak loads
in Microsoft (Lasserre, 2017).
 It aids the company in reducing the workloads faced by the full time workers.
 Employees prefer working in the company when they are more productive and hence, this
improves the productivity of the firm Microsoft (Matošková and Směšná, 2017).
Benefit of the Flexitime and part-time working to the employee-
 It allows the workers to work on variable days and times.
 This flexible working options empowers the employees and make them feel valuable by
the Microsoft.
 It assists in managing the work-life balance.
 This options reduces the stress levels in the employees and boosts their health.
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c) Evaluation of providing motivation to the employees by the organisation.
Microsoft uses different types of job designs to motivate the employees. It consists of job
rotation, job enlargement and job enrichment. These designs assists the company in engaging,
maintaining balance and motivating the workforce to offer productive and fruitful tasks.
Job enlargement- It basically refers to expansion of operations performed by the
employees. Microsoft uses this effectively utilise the human capital and reduce the feeling of
boredom as well as monotony. The expanded tasks and the knowledge satisfies the employee and
enhances the level of qualitative customer services.
Job rotation- It refers to moving employees in the company from one job to another. In
Microsoft workforce feel motivated by applying various skills in their respective positions
instead of applying them in repeated operations. It increases the creativity and innovation in the
enterprise.
Job enrichment- It is the job design that helps the employees in controlling their
performances. It allows workers to take responsibilities and fulfil them efficiently. This feeling
of self control motivates them to increase the productivity. It also reduces the absenteeism in the
Microsoft company.
SECTION 4
a) Importance of employee relation in the decision making of the Human Resource management.
Employee engagement is defined as qualitative and quantitative relationship between
organisation and its employees (Mone and London, 2018). It is a workplace approach resulting in
the right condition for all the employees of the organisation. Employee engagement is based on
trust, integrity and two way communication and commitment between organisation and its
members. This is one of the important approach used to increase the chances of business success
while contributing towards organisational and individual performance, productivity and well-
being. It leads to establishment of emotional attachment of employees towards their workplace,
position and job role in the company.
Importance of employee engagement in Microsoft company-
Microsoft organisation is making progress for advancing environment sustainability at
workplace and foe this great work is performed towards employee engagement. Strong employee
engagement programs are implemented for long term success and shared value of business
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(Navimipour Gupta, 2016). Employee engagement is termed an important part in effective
employee relations because of the following reasons-
Engaged employees boost productivity: Employees who are working in an organisation
when invested in their job becomes more productive then those who are not. It is seen that when
an employee feel good regarding their contribution to company they naturally like to be proud to
work for the company. A effective relation is created among company and its employees through
achieving business objectives and individual objectives at certain level.
Communication- For engagement of its employees Microsoft organisation communicates
their long term goals with employees working with them. To enhance this engagement individual
goals are also completed and that makes a good employee relation among company and its
employees.
Recognisance- Appreciation of hard work of an employee is very important to keep them
motivated and improve employee engagement with business. Recognisance in financial or non-
financial terms will help to boos moral employee and make them work hard to achieve
objectives. Microsoft organisation recognise contribution of each employee ad that helps in
establishing good employee relationship with more and more employee engagement with
company.
b) Evaluation of different approaches to employee engagement and its benefit in improving the
communication in the organisation
Various approaches are utilised in engaging the employees and reducing the communication gaps
between the workers by the Microsoft company (Hitt, Xu and Carnes, 2016). They are
mentioned as below-
Yammer- This communication solution helped the employees in Microsoft by
communicating openly by building transparency, sharing outstanding practices and ideas (Hoye
and et. al., 2018). It constructs different communities with same interests to share information on
various practices and topics.
The hub for teamwork- It is type of chat which is used to keep everyone connected
within the company. It is the communication solution of employee engagement that initiates
either a group chat or private and benefits in sharing several contents and files.
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Sharepoint- It is a sort of mobile and intelligent intranet communication. The workforce
in Microsoft are engaged through useful information, currents news and policies of the company,
various sites and compiling content through Office 365.
Microsoft Stream- It assists the employees in communicating effectively with the use of
videos. It is used to manage the overall environment of Microsoft by creating, searching and
transferring videos among teams and the company.
c) Important elements of employment legislation and its impact on the decision making of HR.
Human resource management is one of the important department in an organisation that
helps to arrange human resource required for achieving business objectives. While performing
various activities related to human resource management all the laws that can influence HR
decision must be considered to avoid legal compliances. Following are certain laws that are
mentioned in UK legislature that must be considered while performing HRM practices.
Employment Rights Act: All the employees in United Kingdom are entitled for contract
of employment to form the basis of employment relationship. As per Employment Rights Act,
1996 each employer in UK are required to provide contract of employment within two months
from job is started. A written document specifying all the terms of the employment is mentioned
in this contract. All the rights of employees while working with businesses are taken care
through employment rights act.
Equality act: To maintain equality the Equality Act, 2010 is implemented in UK to
legally protects people from discrimination, harassment in the workplace. This helps employees
to gain equal opportunity, pay and recognition despite of their gender, religion and skin colour.
This act covers all employers and all the employees and agency workers regardless of the size of
the business (Lasserre, 2017). This helps employees form different forms of discrimination in
legal manner by providing them an opportunity to take stand against all the wrong dowers at
workplace. All the rules and regulations that needs to be follow to bring equality in organisation
is mentioned in this act and they all are implemented to bring effective results.
Health and Safety Act: The Health and Safety Act, 1974 is an act of parliament in UK
and defines the fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement and enforcement of
health and safety at workplace. This act defines duties of everyone from employer and employee
to owners, managers for maintaining health and safety at workplace. The Health and Safety
Executives is the governmental appointed body that is responsible for enforcing health and safety
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at workplace in UK. This act was implemented to protect employees from accidents due to
negligence at workplace and certain diseases that is because of unhygienic environment. For
Health and Safety of employees various policies are designed and government support is
received by businesses so that health can be given priority then work.
All the above mentioned key essential legislation ensue that there is contractual
agreement if workers match with organisation in compliance with legislation. As all these
element have far reaching impact on organisation employment legislation when HR is required
to undertake decisions in relation to job. In addition with this, it has been analysed that very first
impact of these legislation on HR decision making is related to safety and design measurement at
workplace for workers as in this situation it is essential for an organisation to ensure that there is
proper compliance of minimum requirement. As negligence of this may lead company towards
heavy penalty. One of the most important roles of legislation is to shield workers from any kind
of inequalities and discrimination. Thus, for this it is essential for HR managers to frame special
HR plans in order to implement each and every required legislation at workplace in best effective
manner. Further it has been determined that employment legislation also impact on HR decision
relating to remuneration and other form of payroll policies as in this HR manager is required to
frame these policies while considering equality and fairness. In addition with this, it has also
been analysed that legislations also impact on HR decision related to special provision nature of
job and social security plan of company. Thus, it is essential for HR to effectively undertake
proper understanding of each legislation which is required to be implement in organisational
structure and frame decisions accordingly.
From the above acts that are defined in UK legislature it can be seen that employees must be
given priority at workplace. All the laws related to employees and human resource management
must be implemented in business organisation in most effective manner to bring positive results
(Matošková and Směšná, 2017).
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above study there is requirement of HRM in the
management of activities like hiring, selecting, training and motivating employees. HRM play an
important to hire qualified employees which make their contribution in the growth of the firm by
using their skills and knowledge. For this there are various methods of recruitment and selection
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which can be used by the company such as interview, ability test and others. Flexible working
option is effective to provide motivation to the employees. By following different laws and
legislation, the management of the company can make effect employee engagement and provide
a healthy and safe environment to employees.
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