HR Manager Functions and Applications

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the various purposes and functions of an HR manager. It emphasizes the importance of internal and external approaches to recruitment, as well as employee relations and employment legislation. The report also highlights several applications of HR management, including preparing job descriptions, person specifications, and shortlisting candidates for selection.

Human Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM................................................................1
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.
................................................................................................................................................2
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices for both the employer and....................5
employee................................................................................................................................5
P4 Evaluate effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising profit and
productivity.............................................................................................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations to influence HRM decision making........7
P6 Key elements of employment legislation and the impacts upon HRM decision making. 8
P7Application of HRM practices...........................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management refers to the strategic approach to manage employees in
order to maximize organization's productivity, so that competitive advantage could be achieved
(Anderson, 2013). They play a vital role in employing, training, compensating and developing
policies for the employees. There are several purposes and roles of HR manager towards the
company such as staffing, recruiting, employee engagement within the organization. Marks &
Spencer (M&S) is one of the major British multinational retailer which came in inception in the
year, 1884. The organization founded by Sir Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer. This report
covers the purpose and functions of HRM along with strengths and weaknesses of different
approaches of recruitment and selection. In addition, it also incorporated benefits, HRM
practices, employee relations, employment legislation and application of HRM.
TASK 1
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM
Human resource management has a crucial place in the organization because they fulfils
the requirement of the company and employees the as well. They works as a bridge between the
both of the employer and workers because they designs the procedure to recruit the staff and
provide them training sessions so that organisational objectives are fulfilled. It develops their
knowledge and skills that helps them to work in the organization. M&S is clothing retailer that's
why they needs to hire the employees to attain the objectives and goals.
Purpose of HRM
Employee Management– One of the core purpose of HR manager is to hire and retain
the employees within the organization. They are responsible to recruit the best suitable person in
M&S who have skills and educational qualification according to the job role. For an example,
Marks and Spencer is an apparel store that offers a huge range of clothes if needs to manage its
finance then it should hire an efficient person. An individual who have a degree in finance
management and skills to manage the entire finance record as well. In order to do so, they needs
to follow the process like advertising, screening and interviewing the candidates (Aswathappa,
2013).
Benefits management – The human resource manager is responsible to provide the
benefits to the employees. As they are working in M&S that's why the organization needs to give
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them benefits. This will help them to reduce the employee turnover because the organisation is
taking care of their needs. HR provides them health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off,
leave of absence and disability, Family Medical Leave Act, Worker’s Compensation,
unemployment compensation.
Complying with Laws – The manager needs to establish some organizational rules to
hire and terminate the employees. They should establish some specific rules that indicates that
they are providing the equal employment opportunities. The government established some
legislation like minimum working hour, minimum wages, equality act, etc. that have to be
followed by the human resource manager while forming policies and regulations (Brewster and
Hegewisch, 2017).
Functions of HRM
 Recruitment – It is primary responsibility of human resource manager to recruit people
for the vacant position in the organisation. Numerous applications are invited in M&S so
that there are higher chances of recruiting a suitable candidate. Then, screening the
aspirants is carried out to hire the most appropriate candidate for the designation. It takes
a lot of time because the manager needs to develop a job description, job posting and
interviewing the candidates to hire the required person.
 Training and development – After hiring the qualified candidate the manager provides
them training to them. It is important for new and existing employees because it improves
the knowledge and skills of freshers to work in M&S. Whereas, the existing taskforce can
gain new knowledge and skills to explore within the organisation.
These are the purpose and functions of a human resource managers that carry out their
responsibilities in an effective way. It manages the employees and organisational working in a
systematic way that increases the productivity of the Marks and Spencer (Cascio and Boudreau,
2010).
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.
Recruitment and selection are major responsibilities of human resource managers as they
conducts a process to hire the employees for the vacant position in the company.. There are two
kinds of approaches for recruitment and selection that are named as internal and external. The
manager proceeds recruitment and selection process with the following criteria -
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Job analysis – Through this process manager gathers the information about the existing
job. For instance: finance manager. They also establishes activities that needed to be performed
to hire the perfect candidate for the job.
Job description – After catering the information about the vacant posts, the manager
needs to prepare a job description about vacancy in Marks and Spencer. It gives a clear
information to the people and after getting this information they can apply for the job. A job
description consists of job title, reporting structure, statement and purpose of the designation
along with major duties.
Person specification – In this phase, the manager provides the information about the
skills and qualification that should have in the person who is willing to work with M&S. The
person can get this information to analyse themselves before applying for the job.
After completing the this process the manager can recruit and select the candidates from
internal and external approaches that has some strength and weaknesses. These are mentioned
below -
(Source : Types of Recruitment, 2018)
Internal recruitment and selection – In this approach, the manager fulfils vacant
position in the organisation with the help of existing employees. So that the desired workers can
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Illustration 1: Types of Recruitment

assist in the recruitment process as they can fill the application for the new job role and the
appropriate candidate can be appoint on the vacant position. It offers an equal opportunity to all
the employees and one of the qualified candidate can get the promotion (CHUANG and Liao,
2010). There are various strengths and weaknesses of the this approach that are mentioned
below -
Strengths Weaknesses
 Marks and Spencer does not need to
spend time and money on the training
of the employees as they are already
aware about the working of the
organisation.
 It is not time consuming because the
company can promote their talented
employee to the new designation.
 The employees will be retained with
the organisation because they will be
satisfied with the job role and growth
aspects. This will decrease the
employee turnover.
 As M&S will recruit the in – house
employees on the new designation
that's, why there will be lack of fresh
talent.
 There will be no new ideas and
innovation in the organization.
 The appointment of the existing
employees on the new job role this will
create a vacancy for their previous post.
That's why it will also create a cluttered
environment which will reduce the
productivity of the employees.
External recruitment and selection – The human resource manger provides the job
description and person specification in newspaper, social media websites, magazines. So that the
candidates can apply for the particular vacancy in the organisation. It also has some strengths and
weaknesses that are given below -
Strengths Weaknesses
 In this process, Marks and Spencer can
hire the new talented people who have
creative ideas that can raise the
 The firm needs to provide training to
develop the skills and knowledge to the
new employees. It will needs to invest
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organisation profit.
 The organisation can increase the
productivity as need for a capable
employee is being fulfilled.
 New employees can bring new
perceptions that can enhance the
business operations and avail
opportunities in the market.
money on the training and development
sessions.
 It is time consuming because the
managers needs to follow the entire
procedure of recruitment and selection
to hire the appropriate candidate.
 External recruitment decrease the
promotion possibilities for the existing
employees which leads to lower
morale.
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices for both the employer and
employee.
There are several benefits of HRM because it works as a backbone of the employer and
employee. It develops such polices that are beneficial for both employer and employee and that
are mentioned below -
Employer benefits
Organization culture – It refers to the values, working rules, vision and beliefs of Mark
and Spencer. The human resource management formulates the guidelines, procedures, standards
of the company that has to be followed by the employees. The formation of a right productive
culture within the organisation assures that corporate goals and objectives are fulfilled. This
directly contributes to attainment of higher productivity through employees resulting in better
economic gains for a business. (Glendon and Clarke, 2016).
On the other hand, the management can also adopt the flexible time management policy,
that gives a freedom to the employees to manage their schedule. Hence, the organization culture
affects on Marks and Spencer as people works in cooperation to manage their work within
specific time. It focuses on increase the productivity through establishing time management
policy.
Minimal disruption in operations - It is a responsibility of the human resource manager
to ensure the health and safety of their employees in the workplace. For an example, if there are
some heavy machinery in the organization that can cause of an accident then, the HR needs to
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put the warning signs on that. So that the employees can use the machinery with precautions
through avoiding the risks. It will be beneficial for the M&S because if an accident occurs then it
will help to avoid to take the legal actions against the organisation.
Employee Benefits
 Improvement in skills and knowledge– The employees get training and development to
work in the M&S. It assists to gain skills and knowledge which is beneficial for their
career and company as well. As the firm has a different working style and every
individual needs to adopt that because it makes their work in easy (Guest, 2011).
 Opportunities for growth – While working in M&S every employee wanted to get same
opportunities for the promotions so that they can achieve their higher goals. The
managers offers equal opportunities to their subordinates so that they can all participate
in the activities and get the promotion (Knowles and Holton, 2014).
These are advantages of HRM practices for both the employer and employees that
supports to achieve the organisational objectives and goals in an efficient way.
P4 Evaluate effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising profit and productivity.
There are several HRM practises that motivates the employees to raise Marks and
Spencer's profit and productivity. The HR establishes some policies that encourages workers to
accomplish their task in particular time so that they can achieve target. Human resource manager
plays a vital role in increasing the profit and productivity of the organisation through various
ways such as -
 Productive workplace environment – As manager always works to prepare such
activities that can promote the creative environment at workplace. It aids to assist in
improving the working process that can increase the productivity of the M&S. For an
illustration, they can innovate the packaging of the food and clothing that can allure the
customers. Therefore, it can increase the productivity and profit of the company.
 Performance management – The managers leads to develop a target that has to be attain
in a certain direction. A specific direction has a purpose and priorities task that needs to
be completed in order for achieving the goals. The actual performance of employees is
measured against set targets so that chances of improvement could be identified. In
Marks and Spencer manager recruits the appropriate employees that helps them to
enhance profit and productivity of the organization (Marchington and et. al., 2016).
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 Reward Management – Manager develops such policies that motivates employees to
increase their productivity which reflects to raise the profit of the company. They can
give monetary as well as non-monetary rewards to the employees regarding their
performance in the activities. M&S can identify the best performer to give them
promotions and it will motivate them to put efforts that can increase the profit and
productivity of the firm.
 Sharing and collaboration – Marks and Spencer can increase the profit and productivity
through sharing and collaboration of the work. When teams will work in sharing and
collaboration then they will be able to complete the task in time which turns to raise the
profit and productivity.
Through these practices the HR manager can help the organization increase the profit and
productivity of Marks and Spencer. As they will get the motivation to involve in the organisation
activities and tasks to complete them within specific time (Meredith, 2011).
TASK 2
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations to influence HRM decision making.
It is essential for the manager to maintain healthy can safe environment at workplace
through establishing strong employee relationship. If HR managers develops such policies that
connects the employee with the organisation then it is beneficial because it can increase profit
and revenue of the business. The employee relations can influence the human resource
management decision in the following way -
Productivity –The employee relation focuses on creating a productive environment
within the organisation which persuades people to perform their operation with full potential.
The extra efforts which are put forward by employees assure that organisational goals and
objectives are fulfilled in the right manner. Hence, it enhances profit of M&S because
coordination increases working efficiency of the employees.
Conflict resolution – The HR managers resolves the issues among the employees which
assist in develop a positive environment. It impacts on the HR decision making because if there
will be a no issues in the employees then they can manage their work with coordination. It will
also increase their efficiency because there will be minimum disruptions from operations that
will enhance their productivity. Hence, it will establish an optimistic environment which will
support in taking a right decision for the company.
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Positive environment – It is crucial for the organisation to establish a healthy
environment where individuals can work stress free. As they can share their point of views and
opinions relating to crucial matters in context of the organisation. It improves their productivity
because they can discuss about their work which needs some alteration in process. Therefore,
everyone feels connected with organisation because M&S cares for them. They put efforts to
increase their productivity which will increase the profit of the organisation (Purce, 2014).
Employee relations are important for the organization because employee works for the
company. Employees carry out organizational activities that leads to maximise profit of the
organization. It reduces the staff turnover and decrease the absenteeism because the employees
are provided with a suitable and productive work environment. . That's why the employees
works hard to attain the organisational objectives and goals.
P6 Key elements of employment legislation and the impacts upon HRM decision making.
Employment legislation can be define as the laws that governs the policies and practices
relating to human resource management in an organization. The core purpose of this legislation
is to protect the employee rights and setting up the employer obligations and responsibilities. It
provides a support to the employees for their well being in the working premises. The United
Kingdom has various employment legislation that are mentioned below -
Equality Act, 1974 – This act protects them employees through providing them equal
opportunities while working in the organisation. The employer cannot discriminate among their
employees regarding their religion, race, income, colour, nationality, disability and gender. The
employer cannot terminate or hire the employees on the behalf of these variables. The
government has established several acts for the security of an individual that includes Race
Relations Act, 1976, Disability Discrimination Act, 1995, Sex Discrimination Act, 1975 and so
on. If the organization discriminates their employees then the employees has the right to the sue
them. That's why it can made a drastic impact on the decision of the organisation because a firm
cannot discriminate an employee because of their colour or citizenship if they do so then
employee has right file a case against them. It will destroy the image of the organisation
(Scullion and Collings, 2011).
National Minimum Wage – In the UK government established a law, and according to
that every labour should get minimum wages. If a person is 25 years old then they are
automatically enrolled to gain the minimum wages per hour for their working. They are able to
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get minimum £7.83. If organisation paying them less than this then they can file a petition
against the company. Hence, it can demolish the organization's reputation because they will
become a part of conspiracy. That's why the organisation should not take a decision to reduce
the amount of their employees.
Data Protection Act – This act abides the organization to use employee's personal
details fairly, lawful and transparency. It specifies that the stored details should not leaked by
their information system and it happens then employees can sue them. Therefore, the
organisation has to follow the legislation to avoid the issues that can harm the firm (Anderson,
2013). As if the personal information will be lost by the system then employees can sue them in
court.
P7Application of HRM practices
There are various HRM practices that needed to be follow by the manager while
recruitment and selection process. These are as follows -
Job description : The manager provides a complete information about the vacancy that
contains the title, qualification, responsibilities. The format of job description as follows -
Job Title – Human Resource Manager
Reporting – Administration
Major Responsibilities
 Providing job information to the candidates
 Screening and interview
 Hiring the candidates
 Developing policies
 Maintain the working environment
 Performance appraisal.
Person Specification
Human Resource Manager
Description
The roles or responsibilities of Human Resource Manager includes recruitment and selection
with establishing polices department in order to manage organizational activities.
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Experience
 3-5 years of experience in the Human resource department
Education
 Master degree in Human resource management
Skills
 Management capabilities
 Communication skills for effective interaction
 Decision making skills to recruit best candidate for the organisation
 negotiation skills to resolve major disruption.
After getting the above information the desire candidates can send their curriculum vitae that is
shown below -
Curriculum Vitae
Jane Cambridge
14 January, 1989
Phone : +44 XXXXXXXXX
Email Id : [e-mail]
Objective – To build a long term career where I can get growth opportunities through gaining
skills and knowledge.
Educational qualification
 Master degree in Human resource management from University of London
 Bachelor's in Business Studies from University of London
Skills
 Fluent is communication skills
 Friendly with the specialised HR software
 preparing employment contracts
I hereby declares, that the above information is true according to my knowledge.
Dated : …......
Signature
…..............
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be summarized that HR manager has various purposes and
functions that helps in recruitment and selection. It also emphasizes on internal and external
approaches to recruitment so to appoint the desired candidates. In addition, it also clears that
employee relations and employment legislation are essential in an organisation to raise the profit
and productivity of firm. Moreover, a manager has several applications like preparing a job
description, person specification and shortlist the applications to select an appropriate candidate.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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Management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield Survey. Taylor & Francis.
Cascio, W. and Boudreau, J., 2010. Investing in people: Financial impact of human resource
initiatives. Ft Press.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.
CHUANG, C.H. and Liao, H.U.I., 2010. Strategic human resource management in service
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psychology. 63(1). pp.153-196.
Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management.
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Fulton, E.A. And et. al., 2011. Human behaviour: the key source of uncertainty in fisheries
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Glendon, A.I., Clarke, S. and McKenna, E., 2016. Human safety and risk management. Crc
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Guest, D.E., 2011. Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal. 21(1). pp.3-13.
Knowles, M.S., Holton III, E.F. and Swanson, R.A., 2014. The adult learner: The definitive
classic in adult education and human resource development. Routledge.
Marchington, M. and et. al. 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page
Publishers.
Meredith Belbin, R., 2011. Management teams: Why they succeed or fail. Human Resource
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Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New
Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals), 67.
Scullion, H. and Collings, D., 2011. Global talent management. Routledge.
Online
Types of Recruitment, 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.tutorialspoint.com/recruitment_and_selection/types_of_recruitment.htm>
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