Human Resource Management and its Impact

This assignment delves into the multifaceted field of Human Resource Management (HRM), analyzing its significance in contemporary organizations. It examines various HRM practices such as talent acquisition and development, fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, ensuring employee well-being, and aligning HRM strategies with overall business objectives. The document draws upon academic research and real-world examples to illustrate the impact of effective HRM on organizational performance and employee satisfaction.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INRTODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Applicability of Guest’s model of HRM in Harrods.............................................................3
1.2 Comparing differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR practices 4
1.3 Implications of developing a strategic approach to HRM for line managers and employees4
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................5
2.1 A model of flexibility applied in Harrods.............................................................................5
2.2 Types of flexibility developed by Harrods............................................................................6
2.3 flexible working practices from both the employee and the employer.................................7
perspective.................................................................................................................................7
2.4 The impact that changes in the labour market have had on flexible working practices.......8
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Forms of discrimination that can take place in the workplace..............................................8
3.2 The practical implications of equal opportunities legislation for an organisation................9
3.3 Comparing the approaches to managing equal opportunities and managing diversity at
Harrods .......................................................................................................................................9
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Identify and compare the performance management methods at Harrods..........................10
4.2 Assess the approaches used to managing employee welfare in Harrods.............................11
4.3 Discuss the implications of health and safety legislation on human resources practises....11
4.4 Evaluate the impact of another topical issue on human resource practise..........................12
CONCLUSION..................................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................13

INRTODUCTION
Human resource management is an essential part of the organization. It is the management
of the human resources. It is the main function of the organization to design and maximize the
employee's performance through different modes of human resource elements. Human resource
management works for the organizational development. It is the responsibility of the HR managers
to recruit the people and find the efficient employees for the organization (Boxall and Purcell,
2011). The efficient employees for the organization is selected from the recruitment and selection
process. After the final selection their training and development of the newly appointed employees
are held by the HR managers only. Considering this, present report has been prepared in order to
gain insight with respect to management of employees. For this purpose, Harrods has been taken
into account which is one of the giant departmental store.
TASK 1
1.1 Applicability of Guest’s model of HRM in Harrods
Harrods is a departmental store located at Brompton Road in Knightsbridge in London. It
comes under the private sector. This department store deals with the luxury and quality products.
Guest's model of HRM applied to this company has six dimensions of analysis which are discussed
as below:
HRM Strategy: Human resource management is such strategy which manages the human
resources that help in achieving the goals and objectives of organization. HRM strategy involves
differentiation which means that different and innovative ideas should be adopted by the firm to run
business. Under this strategy, main focus is on quality and cost reduction.
HRM practices: HRM practices refer to the activities of management for recruitment and
development of individuals according to the needs of company. HRM practices include selection,
training, appraisal, rewards and job design (Datta, Guthrie and Wright, 2005). These practices also
help in maintaining the status and security of employees of company.
HRM outcomes: Outcomes means the results from that are gained HRM in firm in terms that
whether it is effective for the development of employees and organization or not. These results must
be qualitative and the functions of management should be flexible.
Behaviour outcomes: From this dimension, behaviour of management is analysed through
their working. They have to make efforts and motivate themselves for better productivity. Their
involvement should be cooperative.
Performance outcomes: The working outcomes of management are analysed through their
performance. High productivity, quality and innovation in working make the performance of
management better (Liebowitz, 2010). On the other hand, absentees, conflicts and customers'

complaint tend to affect the performance of management.
Financial outcomes: Last dimension is related to the financial outcomes of organization.
Here, profits and returns on investment are calculated and it is analysed that whether recruiting new
employees is beneficial for the organization or not.
1.2 Comparing differences between Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR practices
Storey defines HRM as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of
organization's most valued assets, that is, the people who are working there and individually and
collectively contributing to the achievement of the objectives of firm. He also differentiated
between hard and soft HRM. Under hard HRM, management of Harrods manages the human
resources in such a way that will be helpful in achieving company's goals and objectives. Thus, it
totally concentrates on qualitative, control and performance management. Under soft HRM, HR
manager of Harrods consider employees as the assets of company (Khanka, 2007). Here,
commitment of employees and management along with integration and team work is required There
are four components which differentiate HRM from personnel management. HRM treats employees
as the assets and develop their knowledge and skills while personnel management consider
employee as a cost and thus, they reduce the cost (employee). It is one of the major differences
between two. The scope of human resource management is high as compared to the personnel
management as it (HRM) gives more attention to the culture, values and mission or vision of
organization while PM mainly emphasizes on organization's norms, practices and customs. In PM,
decision making process is slow as compared to HRM. There is strict monitoring over the
employees in personnel management while in human resource management; employees are free to
perform their work (Aghazadeh, 2003). From this, motivation level also increases and employees
work with high level of efficiency. In HRM, managers consider employees as an asset of company
while management at personnel management is totally different.
1.3 Implications of developing a strategic approach to HRM for line managers and employees
There is a big role of line managers and employees in developing a strategic approach to
HRM of Harrods. Company is a departmental store which deals in the luxury products with quality.
There are so many implications or benefits for both the line managers as well as employees for the
development in strategic approach to HRM.
Implications to the line managers are as follows:
Line management is such which has full control over the employees. There is a direct
communication between employees and line mangers. Line managers are involved in day-to-day
management of working people of firm. They effectively manage the operational costs. Whenever
necessary, they apply technical expertise and organize work allocation and rota (Brown and Posner,

2001). They guide, manage, monitor and evaluate the employee’s working under them. They check
the quality and operational performance of organization. These managers contact with the
customers and clients directly.
Implications on the employees are as under:
Employees play an important role in HRM. They are considered as an asset of company.
Their performance towards company helps in higher productivity of the firm. Leaders have to direct
the members under him and for this; they have to set directions to be given to employees. Such
leaders execute a corporate strategy and commitments. They support the workforce which will help
in increasing the productivity of company. In Harrods, employees have to work with sharing and
collaboration to improve their efficiency (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). Reward system for employees
increases their morale and motivation level as well as enhances the level of their performance.
Along with that, communication between employees and managers can reduce the frustration at
work. The feedback from employees also reduces the errors at work.
TASK 2
2.1 A model of flexibility applied in Harrods
Flexibility in the working environment is essential part of the organization. In Harrods
company the flexibility model plays a vital role in improvement of the performance of the
employees and productivity. Every organization has to make changes in the working environment
with the flow of time. The flexibility model applied in Harrods is discussed as below:
Responsiveness: the employees and the managers of the company has to be responsive
towards their work. While working in an organization a person has some responsibilities towards
their work. That what he/she has to do and when to do , where to do, and how to do. They have to
keep all this things in mind while working. In the company any changes occurs, the every individual
has the response to such changes (Bhagwat and Sharma, 2007). When the changes made and the
employees or mangers to the company does not response to it then it will show lack of interest in
them.
Differentiation: through the changes in the organisation it will affect different level of
management in different way. The changes can make the work easy or difficult. Sometimes the a
small changes in the rule and regulation of the company has a different effect on the employees and
the different effect on the managerial department. Thus, it is an essential element of the flexibility
model (Fried, 2011).
Efficiency: the changes or flexibility in any working area affects the working efficiency of

the organization. As the changes made by the organization for the benefits of the employees the then
the employees will work with full efficiency and which will in turn help in development of the
company.
Impact: through the changes in the one area of the company may impact the other area. In
Harrods the impact of the changes can be in two ways, positive and negative ways. When it impact
a company in positive way then it can ensure that the changes is working effectively. And when it
has some negative impact than the changes tends to be ineffective (Priti, 2009).
Illustration 1: Flexibility Model
(Source: Williams and Mohammed, 2009)
2.2 Types of flexibility developed by Harrods
There is generally four types of flexibility developed by Harrods such as locational
flexibility, functional flexibility, financial flexibility and numerical flexibility.
Locational flexibility: the company has to change its location so that will achieve the set
targets or goals and objectives of the firms. Harrods company located in a particular city, then to
achieve the goals it has to expand its business in other cities or places also. Flexibility in the
location of the company will help in expanding the business.
Functional flexibility: every organization has to change its functions time to time so that will
help in achieving the goals of the organization (Mellahi, 2009). For example if a company is
engaged in manufacturing of the products then with the flow of time it has to change its function
like distribution and selling the manufacturing production. From the changes in the functions both
the employees and the managers will find interest and innovative and different working.

Financial flexibility: as the Harrods is a departmental store, it has to think about how to
increase the capital of the company. Is has to adopt such policy which will help is in increasing the
capital of the company. If it issues its shares to only its employees then it has to issue the shares to
public also which will increase in the capital of the company. It has to listed its shares on the
recognised stock exchange to receive for funds and to make it financially strong (Deakin and
Morris, 2012).
Numerical flexibility: numerical flexibility is related to the numerical data set by the
company to achieve it. At the starting stage of the financial year every company or organization sets
the target or goals to achieve it at the end of the year and such goals and targets are set in the form
of the numerical data.
2.3 flexible working practices from both the employee and the employer
perspective
The flexible working practice helps both employees and employers to work in effective way.
Which in return helps in achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. The flexible
working practices are as follows:
Flexible working hours or flexi-time: flexible working hour means the person can work in
any hours of working but he has to complete his working hours in day. For example, an employee
can work from 11a.m to 8p.m instead of 9a.m. To 6p.m. if he want, but he has to cover the 9 hours
in a day. It is beneficial for both employees as well as employers. From this more rush can be
avoided and more control on the time (Bratton and Gold, 2012). Can schedule the work during the
quiet working hours which impact positively on the working
Flexible work location: the location of the work of the employees and employers effects the
work of both. Sometime a person become bore by working from the same place and thus, he want to
change his place of working to work with full efficiency. The change in location of working make
both the employees and employers to work in the different environment with full efficiency.
Flexible work arrangements: it is most important to focus on the quality of the employees
and employers rather than the number of hours worked. The work which is provided to the
employees and employers should be flexible (Guest, 2011). It means that the work which is allotted
to the employees and employers should not be given repeatedly. The work should be innovative for
them so that they get interest in doing it.

2.4 The impact that changes in the labour market have had on flexible working practices
Labour market flexibility refers to the ability and the willingness of the labour in the
changes in the production area. Generally the labours work at the lowest level and from their efforts
an organization runs smoothly. There is a great impact on the working of the workers and labours.
Here, the performance of the labour increases through the training provided to them. To develop the
high efficiency power among the labours the proper training is to be provided to the labours. Under
training their skills and efficiency increases through that they get the idea of working, that how
much they have to produce and what is the target and what is the deadline of the production. The
labour market flexibility is the central side of the macro- economy (Schuler and Jackson, 2008).
Demand for a labour is a derived demand. The flexibility in the wage of the labours can also affect
the working of the labour. For example, if a labour work very hard and work with full efforts to
complete the task assign to him then the wage rate of that worker or labour will be increase
according to the performance. And if a worker does not work properly and do not complete the
assignment on time then the wage rate of that can be decreases by the company.
TASK 3
3.1 Forms of discrimination that can take place in the workplace
Employee discrimination is an unfair treatment of an employee according to the law. The
discrimination form can be depend upon the equal pay orientation, national origin, language, sex
orientation, religion, disability, age and race. The employee discrimination is discussed as bellow:
Discrimination based on race: race discrimination means the inequality among the persons
based on locality, nationality and the origin. Sometimes people feel such type of discrimination at
the workplace in the form of harassment.
Discrimination based on sex: this type of discrimination is such where the people see make
differences between the men and women. A man can get the job with the less qualification but a
woman cannot get that with the highest qualifications (Baker and Doran, 2007). This is known as
the sec discrimination.
Discrimination based on religion: so many time a person with the different religion treated
very badly among the same religious persons in a group. Here, the people are discriminated in the
form of harassment and negative and preferential treatment.
Discrimination based on disability: the persons so many times discriminated on the basis of
the disabilities they have. A disable person discriminated in the form of harassment by their friends

and employers and others (Cartwright, 2005).
3.2 The practical implications of equal opportunities legislation for an organisation
The organization is at the responsibility to promote the equality of the opportunities and to
avoid discrimination among the employees and employers. Every organization should adopt some
policies and strategies to over come from the discrimination in the working environment. The
policies should be in the following way:
Each person should not be treated unfavourably on the basis of the age, sex, religion,
nationality, race, disability, colour, etc. The work of the staff and the management should reflect
ethnic composition of the local public and the clients of the organization. The organization should
be abide by the discrimination like race and disability and to make the provisions of equality among
the employee and employers (Eckel and Grossman, 2005). The company has to make aware the
clients and the staff members about these provisions and policy of the company and to review
policies and practices to make sure that discrimination does not exist in the organization. If any
unfair behaviour happened with the any person in the organization then the management will be
held responsible for it.
3.3 Comparing the approaches to managing equal opportunities and managing diversity at Harrods
There are various kinds of approaches that are taken by the Harrods manger in managing
equal opportunities and managing diversity. Equal opportunities are defined as that there should be
no discrimination in the organisation. In managing equal opportunities the approaches used by the
management of the company is :
1. combined effort : in this the combined effort are taken by both the employee and employer.
2. Equal participation. The management can take the active participation of employee in
making the decisions.
3. Sharing of responsibility: in this approach the management gives various kind of
responsibility to all the genders and with disability (Deakin and Morris, 2012).
Managing diversity: There are the various kinds of approaches that re used by the management in
managing diversity at Harrods:
1. encourages organisation: in this management tries ton encourage the organisation and
employee.
2. realisation of potential: in this approach manager realises the capacity of the employee
that how the employee can work and at what time.
3. Ignores the inequalities: in this approach manager tries to ignore the inequalities of the
employee (White, 2005).

Differences between both: managing diverse help in improving the quality of Harrods and
improves the decision of management. They provide the positive attributes to organisation. While
equal opportunities solves the problem of organisation. Diversity gives a help in request and
acceptance. They provide uniqueness to employee while equal opportunities provide equal rights to
employee.
Similarities between both: Although they both are the different term but they provide a similarity
related to remove inequality in the organisation. they both remove the discrimination problem.
TASK 4
4.1 Identify and compare the performance management methods at Harrods
Performance management is defined as managing the performance of an employee in
organisation by different methods. It tells about the performance of employee whether they meet
with the expectations of the company or not. It is very important to check and take the regular
reviews of performance of employee so suitable measures are taken to improve the performance.
The performance of employee at Harrods is measured by the context of organisation and capacity to
achieve the goals. Harrods measure the performance of employee by following methods:
1. Allocation of work: under this method work was allocated to different employee. After that
they measure the performance of the employee on time basis that how much time they take
to complete the task (Rao, 2009).
2. Absenteeism: the next method used by the company is to see the the absenteeism of
employee. They check that how much employee was absent from their work. They measure
the performance on absenteeism rather than their capacity to work.
3. Giving appraisal: they can also check the performance of employee by giving various kind
of appraisal to employee.
4. Checking the quantity of employee: they also check the quantity and quality of the
employee. They check it on setting different different parameters.
5. Management by objective : under this method the performance was measured at
supervisory level. The management carry out the different goals for the employee and then
they find out the ways to achieve that goals (Squires, 2005).
This all are the methods that are by the Harrods in measuring the performance of employee.
Rather in compare to the methods that are used by another company to measure the performance of
employee. The methods used by different companies are graph rating method, forced ranking,
taking regular reviews meetings from employees.
4.2 Assess the approaches used to managing employee welfare in Harrods
It is very important for all the organisation that they include various approaches in managing

employee welfare at their HR policies. Harrods is very much conscious about the policy they used
for welfare of employee. Harrods consider their employee as their family and do a lot for doing care
of their family. There are various approaches which are adopted by the Harrods in managing
employee welfare:
1. Recognition of employee: this method was used by the company in managing employee
welfare. In this method the management find out the employee from various department
who has very good performance. After finding all the employee they give the particular
reward to the employee for their best performance (Barak, 2013). By this method employee
are motivated.
2. Leave system: in this approach the management improve the leave system of employee.
They give the permission to employee to plan their leaves whenever they need. They also
give some kind of additional leaves in the case of maternity and marriage.
3. Policy regarding timing: Harrods also give a flexible timing system to their employee. In
which employee are free to choose their starting and ending time of work.
4. Training programs: It is another approach that are used by the company. They give various
kind of training program to employee so they made the various kind of skills for work. They
also give various training in making the planning relating to their career. This will help in
doing best in their career (Khanka, 2007).
4.3 Discuss the implications of health and safety legislation on human resources practises.
The human resource policy of Harrods always include various kind of acts which is related
with the health and safety legislation . Acts that are include in human resource policy of Harrods is
health and safety workplace act 1990 and health and safety act 1974. Company runs very smoothly
and all the work in the company is going very well. By this two acts all the employees in
organization working very well. They are not affected by and kind of problem. Apart from this two
act Harrods also include various kinds of act which is related with the activities that re running in
the company like computer, electricity and lifts facility. This act gives a lot of benefit to the
employee regarding their health and safety. All things are good in the organization by following this
policy. But sometimes company faces problem in following the rules related to health and safety
legislation (Brown and Posner, 2001). For example: health and safety legislation say that company
do not do any kind of wastage. For following this policy the company has to buy various kind of
special equipments in which company has to spend a lot of money. The health and safety legislation
always put a positive impact on the company because by this policy the workers are safe their
workplace. There are no accident happen in the organisation related to fire, production activity etc.

4.4 Evaluate the impact of another topical issue on human resource practise
Another topical issue that put their impact on human resource practise of Harrods is
employee cessation. Employee cessation id defined as basically a termination and leave the
employment. It a very important issue for the HR department at Harrods. It is very important
responsibility to handle this issue because they put lot of impacts like:
1. In hiring a new employee the company has to waste too much of time.
2. The company has cost too much to engage various training programs for new employee.
3. It also faces the difficulty in productivity of the company because new employee does not
know anything (Baker and Doran, 2007).
4. The leader of the team do not trust on new employee for the work and they do not a want
anew employee in their team.
5. The company has also waste too much time in making induction program for the employee.
It is a very critical issue because by various kinds of legal regulatory in the company. The
company and employee has affected lot by this issue. In order to handle this issue Harrods is
making lot of strategy and plan so their company turnover is very low. They give various kinds of
motivation program to the employee so there is engagement of employee. They give various kind of
flexible work hours so the employee would survive for long time in the company. They launch
employee engagement program and give various kinds of fringes and benefit (Guest, 2011). This all
the program and various kind of benefits and rewards help a company lot in reducing the turnover.
CONCLUSION
From the above report we can conclude that human resource management plays an
important role in the Harrords. This will help lot for gaining the success of the organisation. This
report throws light on the various topic guest model of HRM various methods used by the
management on measuring the performance of employee. This report also give the knowledge about
employee welfare is very essential and management has to launch various kind of employee welfare
program. This report gives the knowledge regarding the equal opportunities and managing diversity
which is very important in the organisation. So this all the activities which are given in the report
are very important in effective management of human resource.

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