Human Resource Management Practices

This assignment delves into the critical area of Human Resource Management. It examines various HR practices and theories, including strategic entrepreneurship and the influence of human behavior in organizations. The text references prominent scholars and publications like 'The Academy of Management Perspectives' and 'Human Resource Management Journal', highlighting the evolving nature of HR management in a dynamic business landscape.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1: Purpose and Functions of HRM applicable to resourcing and workforce planning.............1
P2: Weaknesses and Strengths of various approaches to recruitment and selection..................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3: Advantages of various HRM practices in an organisation...................................................6
P4: Effectiveness of various HRM practices in context of increasing organisational profit and
development................................................................................................................................9
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5: Importance of employee relations in order to influencing HRM decision-making..............9
P6: Key elements of employment legislation............................................................................10
Impact of employee legislation on HRM decision-making......................................................11
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P7: Application of HRM practices in work-related context......................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is formed with an objective of recruiting and developing
employees so as to get maximum support from them in achieving desired goals and objectives
within short period of time. As it is obvious that improvement in skills and knowledge of
employees will make positive impact on the overall performance of an organisation. Therefore,
HR manager and leaders plays an important role in growth and success of employees as well as
an organisation. The present assignment report is based on Marks and Spencer, a multinational
retailer company of UK which deals in providing multiple products such as clothing, home and
expensive food products across worldwide. The project covers the functions and purposes of
Human resource management along with the merits and demerits of HRM practices. Importance
of employee relation in order to influence decision making of HRM has also been discussed
under this report (Dacin, Dacin and Matear, 2010).
TASK 1
P1: Purpose and Functions of HRM applicable to resourcing and workforce planning
Overview of company: Marks and Spencer (M&S), a UK multinational company which
deals in offering expensive clothing, home and food products across worldwide due to which the
company attained huge customers strength. The company was founded by Sir Michael Marks
and Thomas Spencer in 1984 and its headquarter is in London, United Kingdom. It has employed
more than 84,939 employees who contributes their maximum efforts in achieving growth and
success of an organisation (Pfeffer, 2010).
Purpose and Functions of HRM:
Human resource management refers to such a department which are wholly liable to
recruit and develop human resources with an objective of achieving growth and success of an
organisation. The HR management of M&S performs different functions such as staffing,
recruitment, selection, performance appraisal etc. in order to get skilled and knowledgable
employees for an organisation. The purpose of forming HRM is to increase productivity and
profitability of M&S through supporting employees in improving their performance. Following
are the some nature and scopes of HRM:
Nature:
 HRM is a continuous process.
1

 It perform several functions such as recruitment, selection, performance appraisal etc.
 It is considered as valuable part of an organisation. It connects with all departments of M&S.
Scopes:
 Conducting training and development programs to the workforce.
 Building self-confidence and motivation among employees.
 Recruiting and selection of skilled and knowledgable employees.
 Providing Job security to employees.
There are mainly five functions performed by HRM which are given as below:
Training and development: It is the responsibility of HR manager of M&S to identify
low-skilled and new employees and provide them sufficient training in order to develop their
skills and knowledge about different techniques and tools. This will help in improving the
performance of an organisation as well (Fulton and et. al., 2011).
Compensation and benefits: It is important for an organisation to have confident and
motivated employees so as to get better result. Therefore, HR manager is liable to bring
motivation among them through rewarding them on the basis of their performance. There are
various benefits the company can provide to their employees:
 Flexibility on working hours
 Paternal and maternal leave Providing holidays
Performance appraisal: HR manager is liable to admire the performance of employees
after identifying more skilled and knowledgable employees.
Planning: Before implementing something for the betterment of employees as well as an
organisation, HR manager should required to make an effective decision and plans so as to
achieve desired goals and objectives within limited period of time.
There are various activities HRM need to performed which are as below:
 Recruitment and Selection
 Making suitable plans and strategies for M&S.
 Bringing motivation and self-confidence among employees. Create communication channel so as to communicate employees.
Best fit approach v/s Best practice
2

Best Practice Best Fit
It refers to the policies and plans made by HR
manager in term of providing rewards and
compensation to employees.
This is the practice which motivates HRM to
adopt suitable plans and strategies regarding
implement an effective systems.
In this practice, HR managers encourages the
employees to perform well.
Such practice is more helpful for M&S to
achieve competitive advantage.
Such practice i.e. Best Fit approach and Best fit approach is essentially required to adopt
by M&S in order to bring motivation and confidence among employees so that they can
contribute maximum efforts in achieving desired goals and objectives of M&S. It can be
adopted through providing training and learning programs, rewards etc. so as to improve the
skills and knowledge of employees which indirectly make positive impact on the overall
performance of company. The manager of M&S are reuqred to first identiy the low skilled
employees and accordingly choose an appropriate strategies in order to improve their
capabilities.
Soft and Hard skills of HRM
Hard skills: It refers to such skills which is developed though practising more in order to
achieve desired target. More hard work and dedication are required by employees in order to
gain such skills. Example: Typing, writing, ability to use software programs etc.
Soft skills: It refers to such skills which is developed over a period of time as no efforts
and hard work should required by employees to gain such skills (Guest, , 2011). It can be
developed through interacting with others. For example, Communication skills, Problems
solving skills etc.
Types of labour market:
Type of organisation Type of labour power market
Independent primary Subordinate primary
Core Staff monitored, technical and
professional salaried and also
line staff employees.
The production workers which
are unionised through
competing with labour union.
Periphery Craft Secondary
3

Employees having more
skilled and knowledge are
comes under this. There are
mainly grouped through the
craft union.
Under this the employees with
the low skills and abilities, job
security.
An internal labour is become a part of administration of company which are liable to
allocate workers on the basis of their skills and knowledge and control cost using administration
policies and rules.
In M&S there are number of employees attaining higher position who holds different roles and
responsibilities. Therefore, M&S should pay them accordingly on the basis of their contribution
to achieving desired goals and objectives of M&S. For example, A manager received high salary
as compared to supervisor or employees.
P2: Weaknesses and Strengths of various approaches to recruitment and selection
Recruitment is the process of giving invitation to maximum number of candidates to
apply for vacant job in company after matching the criteria required for the job. It can done
internally and externally. It is an essential activity which is performed by every organisation to
get skilled and knowledgeable employees. HR manager is liable to recruit eligible candidate after
analysing their skills and knowledge in order to determine whether the candidate fulfil all th
criteria required by an organisation for the vacant job. The recruitment process includes
availability of vacant job, inviting candidates for job, testing and recruiting applicants etc. There
are different factors which are included in recruitment which are given as below:
Job Analysis: It means the determination of need of job in an organisation. HR manager
is liable to to conduct research within an organisation and identify the job requirements on the
basis of activities performed in order to achieve desired goals and objectives (Hitt and et. al,
2011).
Job description: It refers to the process of providing description about the vacant job, its
roles and responsibilities, duties etc. attached with vacant job to inform applicants to determine
whether they are capable of performing such roles and responsibilities.
Personal specifications: It includes the description of skills and knowledge that a
candidate should possess to perform roles and responsibilities related with vacant job.
4

Mainly there are two methods of recruitment and selection which are as follows:
Internal recruitment and selection
Marks & Spencer is retailer organisation which are inviting candidates to fulfil their
vacant job from the existing employees working in an organisation. It helps company in saving
cost and time in order to recruit internally. Providing an opportunity to existing employees to
apply for vacant job brings motivation and self-confidence among them which indirectly brings
profitable result to company. Recruitment within an organisation can be done in form of:
Promotion: It is a kind of giving appraisal to employee on the basis of their past
performances. In this, the employees promoted to the higher post and achieve strong position in
company than before (Mellahi and Collings, 2010). It will encourages promoted employees as
well as other employees to work hard in order get promotional chances in near future. In this,
salary may incremented along with the roles and responsibilities.
Transfer: In this, the existing employees transfers from one department to another or
from one position to another after analysing their skills and capabilities.
Employee referrals: In this, the existing employees help their relatives, family members
of friend to provide them job in an organisation through giving their referrals.
Strengths:
 It helps in saving cost as well as time of an organisation.
 As existing employees are very much aware of the working environment thus faces no
difficulties in adjusting and gives their maximum efforts.
 Increases motivation to existing employees to perform better in order to get promotional
chances in near future.
Weaknesses:
 It restrict entry of new and fresh talent within an organisation.
 Conflicts or issues may arise between the existing employees. It includes biasness while giving promotional changes that harm the interest and working
behaviour of other employees.
External recruitment and selection
In this, HR manager inviting public to apply for the vacant job available in an
organisation. Their main motive of recruiting outside of the organisation is to get new and fresh
5

talent which help them in achieving competitive advantage (Mitchell, 2013). It can be done
through college placements, pool campus, through making an advertisement etc.
Strengths:
 It provide an opportunity to more skilled and qualified candidate to get their dreamed
job.
 It help company in achieving competitive advantage through using new ideas and
techniques developed by recruited candidates.
 No biaseness will be created.
Weakness:
 It requires lots of money and time.
 Bring demotivation among existing employees due to ignoring them in recruitment
process.
 Conflicts mat arise between new and existing employees.
Selection: It is the process of giving employability to candidates after passing all
recruitment process. After analysing the skills and capabilities of candidates required for vacant
job, HR manager should decide to give appointment letter and given them legal employability.
After selecting employees, training and development programs should required to be conducted
with an objective of adjusting them in working environment and perform their roles and
responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner. Before joining company, HR managers
required to organises following programs:
On-boarding: It is the process of introducing new candidates to the departments in
which they performed and work. Defining company's aims and objectives to the selected
employees in order to give motivation and confidence among them (Nabrzyski, Schopf and
Weglarz, 2012).
It is an effective process which need to be organised by every organisation such as M&S
so as to motivate new employees to perform their delegated roles and responsibilities in more
effective and efficient manner which indirectly makes positive impact on the performance of
M&S.
Induction: It is the process of introducing new employees with business culture, values,
vision etc. It can be organised for a day or week. The main motive of conducting induction
6

program is to help new employees in adjusting in working environment and the people they
worked with them.
Such programs also required to be organised by the M&S on regular basis in order to help
new employees in gaining knowledge about culture, values, vision of company which
encourages them to give their maximum efforts in achieving desired goals and objectives within
pre-determined period of time. It also help in maintaining healthy relation with employees due to
which the employees doesn't hesitate to provide issues and problems faced by them at workplace.
TASK 2
P3: Advantages of various HRM practices in an organisation
There are number of HRM practices which need to be performed by HR manager of
M&S which are determined as below:
Learning, training and development: Every employees working in an organisation have
different skills and knowledge. Thus, HR manager need to identify their weak areas and
accordingly make an effective decision regarding conducting training, learning and development
programmes in order to improve such areas. It helps in bringing motivation and self-confidence
among employees due to which they perform better than before.
Difference among Training and Development
Training Development
It is related with enhancing specific skills and
abilities.
It is related with overall development of
employees.
It is conducted for short term period. It is conducted for longer period.
The main objective is to improve the
performance of employees.
The main objective is to help employees in
achieving growth and success in their
professional career.
It is the responsibility of HR management to identify the needs of training in an
organisation and accordingly decide which type of training should they provide to their
employees in order to enhance their skills and capabilities. There are mainly two types of
training which HR manager provide to its employees such as:
On the job training: This type of training is conducted at workplace of an organisation in
order to adjusting them in working environment. It is cost effective but the chances of creating
7

biasness among employees will be more. Job rotation, coaching internship etc. are the various
methods of such type of training (Ployhart and Moliterno, 2011).
Off the job training: This type of training is conducted outside of the organisation with a
motive of getting new knowledge about market. Foe this, HR manager of M&S hired mariner to
conduct such type of training for their employees. It is an expensive method and take more time
as well. Case studies, role playing, seminar etc. are some method of such type of training.
Reward management: It is also one of the HRM practices which is performed with a
motive of providing motion to the employees. HR managers are required to analyse the
performance of their staff members and accordingly decide to rewarding them in form of giving
promotion, increment in salary, bonus salary, incentives etc. It motivates other as well to work
hard and perform better to get rewards in future. There are mainly two types of rewards which
are as follows:
Intrinsic reward: It is type of reward which are intangible in nature. It includes
recognition, pride, satisfaction etc. It develop employees and make them strong internally.
Extrinsic reward: It is type of reward which are tangible in nature. It includes trophy,
increment in salary, certificate etc.
Flexible working options: It can be defined in different forms such as changing in
working hours or timing, locations, time schedule etc. As the employees are liable to work at
least 8hours in an organisation in order to get legal employability. Therefore, HR manager
should required to change in timing of working hours according to the preferences of employees
(Sirmon and et. al., 2011). As they also required to give some free time to their employees so as
to relaxing them and should not feel pressured. Providing the healthy working environment and
fixing the time of working hours according to the preferences of employees brings motivation
among employees which results in increasing productivity of employees as well as an
organisation.
Link among motivational theory and reward
Motivation refers to the process of improving the behaviour and attitude of people
towards their roles and responsibilities. It can be provided by the management of an organisation
in order to get better work from their employees. The motivational theories are divided into two
different view points. One is Maslow theory and other one is Herzberg theory.
8

Maslow theory: It is one of the most popular needs theories which tells that motivation
directs employees to put their maximum efforts in fulfilling their five basic needs such as
physiological, safety, social, esteem and self-actualisation. The main purpose of using theory is
to motivate employees to work hard in order to meet their needs of life.
Herzberg theory: Such theory has been dived into two factor theory which are Hygiene
theory and Motivational theory. Hygiene factors includes those employees who are not satisfied
with their work in an organisation thus need motivation in form of fringe benefit, job security,
physical working conditions etc. whereas Motivational factors includes those employees which
are very much satisfied with their work but instead motivation should be provided to them
regarding superior performance. It can be done through giving higher roles and responsibilities in
an organisation (Song, and et. al., 2010).
Therefore, providing rewards or appraisal to the employees brings motivation among
them due to which they give more efforts in achieving desired goals and objectives of an
organisation. Hence, motivation are directly interconnected with rewards.
Performance and reward: The employees should be rewarded on the basis of their past
performance which will help them in performing better than before in future. Regular appraisal
of employees brings motivation and helps in retaining experienced employees with an
organisation for longer period of time. Therefore, it is considered as an important HR practice.
HR manager should be rewards on the basis of:
 Work quality
 Behaviour and attitude
 360 degree review
 Punctuality
Types of payment and reward system
If the employees perform better than expected then they will be liable to get rewards from
the company. There are various methods of payment system which are competencies based
system, variable based pay system. These all are very effective. Whereas rewards system can be
of different types such as performance based, monetary and non-monetary, intrinsic and extrinsic
etc.
9

P4: Effectiveness of various HRM practices in context of increasing organisational profit and
development
T6he main objective and aim of M&S is to earn huge profit and sustain in market for
longer period of time. It can be possible only when the management of M&S should adopt
various HRM practices which play a crucial role in enhancing the performance of employees
which directly make positive impact on the overall performance of an organisation. HRM
practices influences training and development programs, reward system etc. which play an
important role in maximising the interest and working behaviour of human resource. Through
this, they contribute more in achieving desired goals and objective so of an organisation. If
company provide effective technology to their workers for production process then it will help in
bring efficiency in performance and thus achieving huge profits and high productivity.
TASK 3
P5: Importance of employee relations in order to influencing HRM decision-making
Employee relation always brings positive result to company thus it is important for
employer of M&S to make efforts in maintaining healthy relation with their subordinated
through establishing communication channel with the help of which they can easily
communicate with each other. This reduces the chances of issues and conflicts at workplace. As
employees are the main asset of company on whose performance the performance of company
depends. Therefore, if the employees are not satisfied with their delegated work, working
environment etc. then it will negatively impact on their performance which results in decreasing
productivity of company.
Therefore, relationship should be maintained with them through identifying their needs
and requirements at workplace. Conducting training and development programs in order to bring
motivation among them through which they perform valuable efforts in achieving desired goals
and objectives of an organisation. The relationship between the employer and employee can be
emotionally or physically. The relation will be better among between two if the employer gives
an opportunity to their subordinates to get particulate in decision making process and gives their
suggestion and ideas in order to implement to make an effective decision. Through this, the
employees feels importance and motivated as well. The employers also required to create healthy
10

environment at workplace and resolve conflicts among employees through implementing
corrective actions.
Importance of employee relation
Effective decision making: Proper communication with employees help in getting new
idea and suggestions which help management in making an effective decision and plans for the
betterment of an organisation.
Easy to perform work: Giving proper guidance and direction to the employees through
establishing communication channel which help employees in performing their allotted work in
an effective and efficient manner.
Remove conflicts: Maintaining healthy relations with employees help in getting issues
and problems that may faced by employees at workplace. Through taking corrective measures,
the conflicts may resolved which helps in maximising the interests and behaviour of customers.
Influence of employee relation on HRM decision-making
 Maintaining better relation with the staff members help management of M&S to focus on
crucial matters which brings competitive advantage to company (Dacin and et. al, 2010).
 Providing an opportunity to employees in decision making process will help management
to make an effective decisions and plans.
 It also help in creating good atmosphere at workplace due to which the performance of
employees are also increases.
P6: Key elements of employment legislation
There are different legislation formed by government authorities which need to adopt by every
organisation if they want to survive in competitive market world for longer period of time. Such
legislation includes:
Equality Act, 2010: This act informs every organisation to provide equal rights and
duties to their workers and should be differentiated them on the basis of their gender. This act
restricts the management of M&S to not biased and support every employees.
Health and Safety Act: This act states that the company should required to implement
safety measures at workplace so as to protect employees from any damages and accidents which
may occurred at workplace. Therefore, M&S also required to adopt safety measures which
prevent their workers to indulge in any injuries (Human resource management, 2016).
11

Data protection: This act implied that an organisation should required to implement
various systems in order to protect crucial and important data form their rivals. Information may
be related with strategies, customer's information etc. which should not be leaked to outsiders.
As M&S attain huge customer strength and achieve strong brand image in market thus it is
important for them to implement such act within an organisation in order to protect the
information about the valuable information of their customers.
Impact of employee legislation on HRM decision-making
 The management of M&S should required to discuss about the implementation of such
legislation while decision making process in order to avoid penalties and fines.
 Implementation of such legislation helps in maintaining healthy relation with employees
and create good atmosphere at workplace.
TASK 4
P7: Application of HRM practices in work-related context
In order to recruit skilled and knowledgable employees HR managers need to advertise about the
vacant job and perform different recruitment process. Collecting relevant information and facts
in order to hire right person at the right time for the right job.
Job specification
Job specification
1. Job details
Title of the job :- HR Assistant
Department – Human Resource
2. Job Purpose
 To monitor business functions
 Improvement in performance of employees
12

 To fulfil requirements of Human resource
3. Duties and Responsibilities
 To motivate worker
 Determine performance of company
 Managing and controlling the business activities
Description of CV – Necessary information and qualification for Sales manager to
increasing the sales and turn over of company.
1. General Details
Name – Andy Jackson
Phone no. - 2358715580ales
E-mail id – [e-mail]
2. Qualification
MBA Oxford University 65.00%
BBA Oxford University 80.00%
Higher education Trinity Business school 72.00%
Secondary education Trinity Business school 67.00%
13

5. Personal details:
Father name – Handly Jackson
Mothers name- Saira Jackson
Date of birth - 18th April 1992
Achievement – Rugby winner at national level in 102h standard
Got 2nd prize in the debate competition
In Marks & Spencer there are some vacant positions and for this manager recruit and
select eligible persons. In the process of recruitment and section process, this company adopt the
new and latest technology like online source of searching candidates, social networking sites like
LinkedIn etc. Here is the advertisement given below:
VACANCY
Marks & Spencer recruiting for post of Sales manager
Post – HR Assistant
Qualification - Master in the field of marketing, Ph. D
Experience – Minimum 3 years in the retail sector
The chosen candidates will be call for interview.
The candidates will have to apply for job through email or post.
Last Date to apply- 3 January, 2018
14

Address: Southbank, Wilson St, Leeds 5AD
Email: hrm&[e-mail]
Contact: 2215474145
After advertising the vacant job position the management of M&S need to conduct
interview session in order to identify the communication skills and confidence level of new
candidates. There are some question which interviewer asks in interview:
Interview Question
Q.1. Introduce yourself?
Q.2. What are your strengths which brings beneficial result to company?
Q.3. Are you comfortable to deal with unknown people?
Q.4. Why you preferred our company for job?
Q.5. For convenience the person which technology will you use?
Among all the people, HR manager have to choose the skilled people for the vacant
position. It is necessary for the manager to use an effective selection practice for choosing the
right person, at right time.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded for the above project report that Human resource management is
require by every organisation which help them in gaining skilled and knowledgable employees in
order to get profitable outcome from them. For the betterment of employees, HR manager should
15

required to conduct training and development programs which increase productivity of
employees as well as an organisation.
16

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Pfeffer, J., 2010. Building sustainable organizations: The human factor. The Academy of
Management Perspectives. 24(1). pp.34-45.
Glover and et. al., 2011. Critical success factors for the sustainability of Kaizen event human
resource outcomes: An empirical study. International Journal of Production
Economics. 132(2). pp.197-213.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Dacin, P. A. and et. al, 2010. Social entrepreneurship: Why we don't need a new theory and how
we move forward from here. The academy of management perspectives. 24(3). pp.37-
57.
Fulton, E. A and et. al., 2011. Human behaviour: the key source of uncertainty in fisheries
management. Fish and Fisheries. 12(1). pp.2-17.
Guest, D. E., 2011. Human resource management and performance: still searching for some
answers. Human resource management journal. 21(1). pp.3-13.
Hitt, M. A., and et. al, 2011. Strategic entrepreneurship: creating value for individuals,
organizations, and society. The Academy of Management Perspectives. 25(2). pp.57-75.
Jiang, K. and et. al, 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational
outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of
management Journal. 55(6). pp.1264-1294.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource
management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Mellahi, K. and Collings, D. G., 2010. The barriers to effective global talent management: The
example of corporate elites in MNEs. Journal of World Business. 45(2). pp.143-149.
Mitchell, B., 2013. Resource & environmental management. Routledge.
Nabrzyski, J., Schopf, J. M. and Weglarz, J. eds., 2012. Grid resource management: state of the
art and future trends (Vol. 64). Springer Science & Business Media.
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.
psychology. 63(1). pp.153-196.
Sirmon, D. G. and et. al., 2011. Resource orchestration to create competitive advantage: Breadth,
depth, and life cycle effects. Journal of Management. 37(5). pp.1390-1412.
Song, C. and et. al., 2010. Limits of predictability in human mobility. Science. 327(5968).
pp.1018-1021.
Online:
Human resource management. 2016. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/hrm/human-resource-management-functions-
managerial-operative-and-advisory-function/27995/>.
17