Human Resource Management Practices

This assignment delves into the crucial role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in shaping employee behavior and organizational success. It examines key HRM practices like high-performance work systems and environmental management's impact on employee attitudes and performance. The analysis draws upon academic literature and real-world examples to illustrate the connection between effective HRM strategies and positive outcomes for both employees and organizations.

Human Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Functions and Purpose of HRM........................................................................................1
P2 The strengths and weakness of different approaches to recruitment and selection .........2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3. Advantages of different HRM practices in Tesco for both the employer and employee.4
P4. Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices ...................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P5. Analyse the importance of employee relations................................................................7
P6. Key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision-
making ...................................................................................................................................9
TASK 4 ...........................................................................................................................................9
P7.Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work related context..............................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is known as a discipline which engages with most dynamic
force that is functional within work environment of an organisation, i.e. Manpower or people. It
is a discipline which assist managers in dealing with individuals working in a company. It is
mainly focused on planning, organising, staffing, motivating and enhancing the work
environment so that the performance of people can be improved over a period of time. The
human resource department within an organisation is responsible with various policies and
procedures that are enacted to deal with the work force (Alfes and et. al., 2013). It is very
important for a company to manage its manpower in a effective manner so that its efforts can be
directed in a direction that leads to achievement of goals and objectives. This report is based on
the various HRM activities that takes places within Tesco, which is a multinational grocery and
general merchandise retailer. In this project different methods and techniques used by managers
in organisation is mentioned. It also covers various approaches that are used by employers and
employee to improve their relationship between people and management.
TASK 1
P1 Functions and Purpose of HRM
There are multiple functions that are undertaken by HR manager within Tesco as to
manage manpower in a proper manner. They assist in improving capability of human resource
and boost their productivity (Batt and Colvin, 2011). It is a very important function for company
as it makes sure that all individuals are placed at right job at the right time. The HR department
has to define all roles and responsibilities in a well defined manner as to make sure that no one
has any doubt regarding any policy and procedure. There are certain functions performed by HR
department which are as following: Planning: The human resource department prepares a plan as per the requirement of
manpower within organisation. It ensures that all the vacant post are filled in a set period
of time and all employees are aware of their jobs. Organising and staffing: There are different types of resources which needs to be
organised by HR manager as to undertake various activities as per plans. They are used to
staff new employees within organisation.
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 Compensation and benefits: HR department is engaged in compensating employees as
per their job profile and performance. Training and development: All employees need to be prepared so that they can face the
uncertainties in future (Boxall and Purcell, 2011). For making sure that they are ready to
overcome challenges in effective and efficient manner training is provided to them so that
they can develop skills required for completing certain task. Employee and labour relations: The HR department is responsible for ensuring good
relationship between workers and management of organisation.
 Safety and risk management: There are various risk within an organisation which needs
to be reduced by HR managers. He makes sure that all employees are aware of various
safety drills.
Purpose of HRM Internal customer management: The HR department has to esnure that is has well
establish as well as standardised set of policies for keeping internal customer/ employees
satisfied. Employee motivation and efficiency: It is enacted for maintaining the motivation level of
manpower so that their efficiency can be improved. Polices and procedures: There are various polices and procedures which are enacted by
HR manager as to ensure that there is discipline and proper management of work within
organisation.
 Communication: It has to keep all communication channel open so that the flow of idea's
is smooth.
The human resource department in TESCO has to complete all the task for achieving various
goals and objectives in a efficient and effective manner. It is not easy for organisation to manage
huge workforce of 460,000 people working in different countries (Bratton and Gold, 2012). This
makes HR department even more important.
P2 The strengths and weakness of different approaches to recruitment and selection
There are different types of methods and techniques that are used by Tesco as to staff
right candidates for the vacant post. Company required huge manpower as to manage its
expansion process and need people who can align their individual objectives with organisation
goals. The managers need to keep on analysing internal and external environment to check on the
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pool of talent that is waiting to get recruited in a certain field. There is requirement of strategy
that assist company in filling out the vacant post (Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017). The managers
needs to ensure that all task and are conducted in a efficient and effective way so that
organisation can achieve its goals and objectives in a set period of time. Tesco recruits and
selects people in the following way:
Internal Recruitment: It is a method that is used by managers as to save time and
resources for filing up a vacant post that can be handles by someone in the organisation easily.
Basically it is a method that is known to be efficient and effective in its approach as it uses
various modes of filing of vacant post such as, transfer, promotion and enrichment of an
employee job profile. There are certain advantages and disadvantages of this method:
Advantages Disadvantage
There are few benefits for Tesco:
It assist in gaining unconditional commitment
from employees as their morale and level of
interest is high (Chelladurai and Kerwin,
2017).
Higher level of productivity and efficiency
Workers are aware of company goals and
objectives
Motivates other employees to work hard and
get same opportunity to grow.
Few disadvantages are:
Innovation and creativity level decrease due to
non-agreement.
Those workers who are not promoted feel
demotivated
Creates conflicts between employees and
management.
Sources: Present employees, Referrals, Former workers, Past applications.
External Recruitment: It is a method that is used by HR department in Tesco as to get
new talent within company (Daley, 2012). It provides huge pool of talent that can be used by
organisation whenever there is new type of job that do needs certain qualification, this method is
used. It have some advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages Disadvantage
The benefits available for Tesco are:
Enhance creativity and innovation within
organisation
Disadvantages are:
There are Limited ways which can be used by
managers to assess and measure employee
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Managers have huge pool of talent which can
be accessed for growth of organisation.
abilities and skills.
Expensive mode of recruitment
New employees are required to be given
training and managers need to make them
aware about their task
Time consuming.
Sources: Employee exchanges, Advertisements, Agencies, Associations, Campus recruitment.
Deputation.
TASK 2
P3. Advantages of different HRM practices in Tesco for both the employer and employee
There are different advantages and disadvantages of HRM practices to employee and
employers. Managers in Tesco are responsible for developing rules and regulation for
recruitment and selection of employees within organisation (Flamholtz, 2012). This is not the
sole function but they need to make sure that relationship between employees and management is
at par with requirements. There are different functions that are performed by HR manager within
Tesco, such as, payroll, compensation, grievance handling, training and development, etc. They
are important and necessary as they assist managers in managing human resource in a much
effective and efficient manner. Following are the function which are beneficial for both
employees and employers:
For Employers:
 Conflict Resolution: HR practices assist in resolving different type of issues that exist
within organisation. Where ever humans work together, they tend to develop different
problems due to attitude or ego (Guest, 2011). These issues are related to salary and
compensation too. The HR department sorts these issues in a specified manner and boost
organisation productivity.
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 Training and Development: The HR department prepares different plans and policies for
making employees future ready. There are various methods and techniques which are
used as per requirement by HR manager. Building a flexible workforce: When employees are motivated and skilled they tend to
adapt to various situations easily. They do not resist to any changes which are required
for achieving goals and objectives.
 Compensation: The HR manager has to make job profile and with them they need to
prepare a compensation sheet which states about the salary and wages that will be
received by employees (Hendry, 2012). If it is done in a proper manner then workers will
be highly motivated and they will achieve all their targets in a specified time period.
There are various benefits of these HR practices to the employees too:
 Employees are able to gain more knowledge, improve their skills and abilities due to the
various HR practices.
 They are able to identify various opportunity as their abilities and skills are improved.
 Employee motivation level is increased which leads to enhancement of working
environment as they a take more interest in their job.
 Workers get more efficient and effective due to training and development
5
Source 1:
An Introduction to Conflict Resolution, 2017

 They tend to be more adaptive and flexible as they have all required skills and abilities to
overcome various issues.
 Usage of critical thinking and innovative approach improves.
These are some of the benefits which are enjoyed by both employer and employee due to
various HR practices undertaken by department (Jabbour and et. al., 2013). It is vital for
managers to prepare standardised policies and procedures as to motivate workers for efficient
and effective achievement of goals.
P4. Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices
Human resource department is one of the core function that is functional within an
organisation. Its policies and practices have direct impact on the company's working and
productivity. That is why it is very important for them to carry out different functions in a proper
manner. In Tesco, HR department ensures that right individual is placed at right job and on right
time so that he can achieve all the objectives in a desired time period. This type of practices
assist company in gaining competitive advantage and a higher level of efficiency and
effectiveness (Kehoe and Wright, 2013). The HR practices within TESCO involves staff
engagement, compensation, performance appraisal, reward management and training and
development. Managers needs to analyse the job description and candidate profile first and check
whether they match or not. This is important before a candidate is chosen for organisation. There
are different activities of HR and they all are concerned with increasing quality, productivity,
market value and gaining competitive advantage.
As mentioned above, there are various functions which assist in managing the human
resource within organisation in a appropriate manner (Messersmith and et. al., 2011). In TESCO,
managers aims to align individual objectives with organisation goals. There are various
techniques which are used to analyse organisation practices and their effectiveness. The
organisational audit will assist Tesco top management in understanding the performance level of
employees. Whatever action is made by HR department has some impact on the employees and
their performance. The managers need to keep on analysing employees so that the gaps that exist
in their performance can be identified and removed.
There are different types of situation that can arise due to some decisions made by HR
department that can impact Tesco productivity and performance. Human resource manager is
responsible for the resolution of conflicts and building up of harmonious relationship between
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management and employees (Moutinho, 2011). They use the concept of employee engagement
as to reduce chances of any problem or issues from ever coming up. When employees grievance
is resolved at the very first stage then they will work with all their will powers and efforts. Tesco
aims to increase its efficiency and effectiveness in a specified period of time and to do so they
keep on auditing and evaluating various functions as to find out their productivity level and
effectiveness. Timely assessment will ensure that the HR department performs as per
requirements. Also it will improve organisation culture, polices and make them follow legislation
in a better way.
TASK 3
P5. Analyse the importance of employee relations
Tesco keeps employee relations in its priority list and it uses different tools and
techniques as to manage the relationship between workers and management. Managers and
leaders within organisation guide employees towards a path of achieving success and motivates
them to give their best (Ployhart and Moliterno, 2011). Basically the HR department engages
with each and every employee in a manner that their grievances as well as issues are sorted out in
a proper manner. There are many reasons which leads to conflict between employees and
management. The HR manager is responsible for controlling these issues and address them
before they become hazardous. They ensure that they have updated policies and procedures to
manage employees and improve their co-operation as well as co-ordination.
When the relations between employees and management are at par with requirement,
workers tend to perform well and assist organisation in achieving success in long run. Also it
increases their service delivery quality, which boost employee satisfaction (Renwick, Redman
and Maguire, 2013). Strong relationship between workers and management improves
environment within organisation and boost overall productivity. A human resource manager need
to take different decisions as to fulfil his own roles and responsibilities. Good relationship assist
management in formulating and implementing various strategies in a proper manner. There are
certain points which are mentioned below, they state about benefits of good employee relations:
 Team Building and Working: When the employees are satisfied and happy, they tend to
work in more co-ordinated manner. It is easy for management to create teams and give
them task to achieve in a more efficient manner.
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 Employee loyalty: When employee are satisfied and happy, the company automatically
gains their unconditional commitment towards organisation and its goals. They wont
leave the company as their issues are addressed and they are satisfied with working
environment as well as salary. Competitive advantage: Motivated employees perform more efficiently and effectively
than demotivated worker, which assist organisation in gaining competitive advantage
over its competitors. The company has more productive force which needs to be managed
in a proper manner.
 Higher productivity: When there is strong relationship between management and
employees, there is a positive environment (Storey, 2014). Workers follow all the orders
and try to achieve set goals and objectives in a set period of time.
These are some benefits of strong employee relations. These are the reasons because of
which Tesco invest so much in HR department as to ensure that the manpower is managed in a
proper manner.
P6. Key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision- making
Tesco makes sure that its every policy and procedure is at par with legislation. There are
various laws which are enacted by government as to ensure that all employees are protected as
well as employers do not suffer due to any event or situation. The legislations which are used by
Tesco to standardise its policies and procedures are as follows:
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Source 2: Christine Mbwayo, 2013

 Health and safety Act 1974: It is a law that states that employers needs to install all
required facilities to avoid any hazardous situation (Jabbour and et. al., 2013). Also they
need to make sure that employees are aware of different equipments and their use. Equal pay Act 1970: It states that there should be no gap between women and man
salaries and wages if they are working on the same position. There is no space for
discrimination on the basis of gender. RIDDOR 1995: This act ensured that all firms will report any disease or causality to the
authorities in a timely manner so that they can take corrective measures and avoid any
major situation. It is very important legislation as it makes the company liable for any
incident and also make sure that government knows about it. So that they can take proper
action.
 Equality Act 2010: It is a law that states that there should be no discrimination against
anyone on any basis. It describes these basis as, caste, creed, religion, gender, race,
ethnicity and background. If any firm discriminates against anyone while offering job or
at the job then it will be punished and that person will be compensated.
These are the laws which act as a basis for formulation of various polices and procedures
within Tesco.
TASK 4
P7.Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work related context
The human resources departments conducts different types of activities with Tesco as to ensure
that employees are motivated and achieve all desired objectives in certain period of time (Kehoe
and Wright, 2013). These activities are related with performance appraisal, safety, motivation,
learning events, compensation and payroll as well as training and development of employees.
Tesco is on expansion drive which means they require more manpower to accomplish certain
task.
The managers in Tesco are formulating strategy for recruiting people for filling up vacant
post. The very first thing the HR manager needs to do is job analysis and job evaluation as to
know about what is required to fulfil the job and the most important fact, is recruiting some one
for job will be beneficial or not. Once a list of all qualities and attributes required in a candidate
is identified, the HR manager will float the advertisement of job on company site and other
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portals to gain attention of candidates. Once he has a pool of talent, he will shortlist and appoint
the best candidate.
Whenever there is vacancy in company, manager will follow this process to ensure that
they choose worker as per the requirement (Wright and McMahan, 2011). The HR department
will also focus on training and development of existing as well as new employees to ensure that
they perform their task as per requirements and achieve all goals and objectives in a efficient and
effective way.
CONCLUSION
In this report, the importance of various activities conducted by human resource
department is stated. Any organisation in world can not survive without HRM , as it assist in
managing the most crucial and dynamic factor that is manpower. There are various policies and
procedures that are formulated by managers as to direct workforce towards achieving different
goals and objectives. Basically this report stated that HRM is a discipline which provides a
strategic approach to the managers which enables them in using manpower in a most effective
and efficient manner. It also aids them in gaining competitive advantage over its competitors.
There are different laws and legislations which are used as a basis for formulating different
strategies and implementing them. It provides a standardised environment to the employees.
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REFERENCES
Books and online
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Batt, R. and Colvin, A. J., 2011. An employment systems approach to turnover: Human
resources practices, quits, dismissals, and performance. Academy of management
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Boxall, P. and Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2012. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave
Macmillan.
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. eds., 2017. Policy and practice in European human resource
management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.
Daley, D. M., 2012. Strategic human resource management. Public Personnel Management,
pp.120-125.
Flamholtz, E. G., 2012. Human resource accounting: Advances in concepts, methods and
applications. Springer Science & Business Media.
Guest, D. E., 2011. Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal. 21(1). pp.3-13.
Hendry, C., 2012. Human resource management. Routledge.
Jabbour, C. J. C and et. al., 2013. Environmental management and operational performance in
automotive companies in Brazil: the role of human resource management and lean
manufacturing. Journal of Cleaner Production. 47. pp.129-140.
Kehoe, R. R. and Wright, P. M., 2013. The impact of high-performance human resource
practices on employees’ attitudes and behaviors. Journal of management. 39(2). pp.366-
391.
Messersmith, J. G and et. al., 2011. Unlocking the black box: exploring the link between high-
performance work systems and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology. 96(6).
p.1105.
Moutinho, L. ed., 2011. Strategic management in tourism. Cabi.
Ployhart, R. E. and Moliterno, T. P., 2011. Emergence of the human capital resource: A
multilevel model. Academy of Management Review. 36(1). pp.127-150.
Renwick, D. W., Redman, T. and Maguire, S., 2013. Green human resource management: A
review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews. 15(1). pp.1-
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Storey, J., 2014. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals).
Routledge.
Wright, P. M. and McMahan, G. C., 2011. Exploring human capital: putting ‘human’back into
strategic human resource management. Human resource management journal, 21(2),
pp.93-104.
Online
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