Human Resource Management in UK - Marks and Spencer

Human Resource
Management

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
P1 Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning for human resource
requirements of an organisation.............................................................................................1
P2 Describe how the skills that employees require to carry out jobs in an organisation are
identified.................................................................................................................................3
P3 Outline how an organisation motivate its employees........................................................3
P4 Explain how organisations obtain the cooperation of their employees.............................7
P5 Explain how employee performance is managed..............................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
A human resource management is defined s an important function of an organisation. This is
effective for proper functioning of operations and activities of an organization. The human
resource planning is defined as the way by which enterprises manage and handle activities
related to their employees. There are basically two factors internal as well as external factors that
affects the functioning of a human resource management. The company which is considered in
this project is Marks and Spencer. This is a UK based retail company that is involved in selling
of clothes, luxurious accessories, mens and womens wear, etc. This report will help in
understanding several internal and external factors that are considered while planning for human
resource requirements of an organization and skills that employees require for carrying out jobs
in an organisation (Alfes and et. al., 2013). Other discussions in this report includes how an
organisation motivates its employees and how organisation obtains cooperation of employees. At
last hoe employee performance is managed in a company is discussed.
P1 Describe the internal and external factors to consider when planning for human resource
requirements of an organisation
There are some internal and external factors that affect the planning of human resource
management in an organisation. In context of Marks and Spencer different internal and external
factors that affects the planning of human resource management are listed below –
The Organizational Structure
It is very important for human resource management to review organizational structure of
the company before making changes in an organization. The several steps taken by the human
resource management in making several strategies for employee’s starts with various steps like
creating a comprehensive organization chart. The main key to maximize the effectiveness of
human resources function begins with determination of staffing needs. The next step includes
Creating an organizational chart, ranking each position and clearly analyzing workers on the
basis of who works for whom. The next step includes writing a job description for each position
and determining that every task assigned is completed in an effective manner. The human
resource management includes those positions which are vacant in the organization and how
these can be helpful in making an optimum organizational chart. This helps an organization to
make better plans and strategies for the organization.
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How Much Budget is Available
Budget is the most important factor while examining staff and employees of the company.
In context of Marks and Spencer there are some positions in the company which are demand-
sensitive like those in production, warehousing, customer service and shipping. The human
resource management of Marks and Spencer require money for maintaining these positions.
Money is required for filling position if revenue is increased (Budhwar, and Debrah, eds., 2013).
There are some other positions which don’t help in generating revenue but they provide value to
the company. If a human resource department wants to stretch the staffing budget and offering a
smaller base pay. A company can add voluntary benefits that will benefit employees and
workers. This can reduce payroll taxes and offer employees of the company an attractive, low-
cost benefits they can be used for paying for fund like health insurance.
Staff Skill Levels
As Marks and Spencer is an growing organization thus it requires additional administrative
or operational needs that can’t be fulfilled by current workers of the company. Instead of hiring
contractors or additional employees, this company focuses on offering staff training. Marks and
Spencer has added employee development in the human resources planning, including on-site
training, tuition reimbursement and sending workers to seminars and workshops.
Trends in Workplace Productivity
It is very essential for accompany to look at overall productivity of the company. This
helps in getting most out of the employees and giving them a positive workplace so that they can
work in an appropriate manner. The human resource department of Marks and Spencer offers
clear job descriptions and annual reviews, a wellness program, morale-building activities such as
contests or outings, an employee newsletter and frequent communications about individual,
departmental or company successes.
Compliance with Regulations
The legal requirements of an individual must be given by company. The different kind of
laws and regulations offered by Marks and Spencer are state and federal labor laws and
regulations and this creates a safe and secure office space, store, plant or warehouse, instituting
and enforcing company policies and procedures and paying all required taxes and insurance. This
provides the organization a good way to treat employees and motivating them to work better.
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P2 Describe how the skills that employees require to carry out jobs in an organisation are
identified
The employers of Marks and Spencer follows various strategies so that they may fulfil
their needs and requirements from the employee. Analysing and estimating the skill of an
individual is an important part of the organisation. The human resource management of the
Marks and Spencer has specific targets for analysing the performance of their employees. If the
employees are working effectively so that they achieve their targets in time then they are
appreciated by providing them rewards and appreciation (Chelladurai, and Kerwin, 2017). On
the other hand, if employees are unable to achieve their goals and targets in time then these are
provided training and development sessions so that effectiveness of company can be enhanced.
P3 Outline how an organisation motivate its employees
Marks and Spencer follows various theories of motivation to motivate its employees and
making them work hard for attaining goals and targets of the company. Some of these theories
are listed below –
Maslow – hierarchy of needs
This is the earliest theory of motivation which was given by Abraham Maslow (1943) in
the 1940s and 1950s. According to this theory, there are five basic categories of needs of an
individual. These five needs are psychological needs and continuing through safety, belonging
and love, esteem and self-actualization. According to this theory the company should take care
that needs of employees must be achieved-
Psychological needs- These needs include basic amenities of a human being like water,
food , shelter, clothing etc. Marks and Spencer takes care that these needs are fulfilled by the
company as employees are paid enough so that they are able to achieve their basic needs and
requirements.
Safety needs – According to the safety needs, it is important that employers should take
care that safety needs and requirements of their employees are achieved. The safety needs
includes free from any harm against theft, crime or loss. The managers of Marks and Spencer
take care that all employees are given enough money that they are able to meet their safety and
security demands.
Belonging and love – Another requirement of an individual is the belongingness and love.
This is also a major requirement of an individual. It is important for the company to provide a
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good work culture at workplace so that all employees feel valued and engaged in working with
employees. This affects the environment of organization and make employees feel satisfied and
involved in the organization. Belongingness and love are two important things which every
human being requires.
Self esteem needs – The next level of needs of an individual is the self esteem needs.
According to this need, an individual must achieve self respect, recognition and self respect
among the society. The person working in Marks and Spencer requires to have recognition in
society so that he may feel good and valued.
Self actualization needs – The self actualization needs is the last stage of Maslow’s needs
of hierarchy and according to this need, an individual has some estimated parameters that are set
by him or her to be successful in his or her life (Huselid. and Becker, 2011). Once all the above
needs are achieved, this is defined as the last stage of need of a person. These differs from person
to person.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs is often shown in the shape of a pyramid: basic needs at the
bottom and the most complex need (need for self-actualization) at the top. Maslow himself has
never drawn a pyramid to describe these levels of needs; but the pyramid has become the most
known way to represent his hierarchy.
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(Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,2019 )
Alderfer – ERG theory: Existence needs, relatedness needs and growth needs
According to Alderfer, there are basically three steps or classes of needs: existence,
relatedness and growth. These needs are described below -
• Existence needs: These include needs for basic material necessities. This involves
physiological and physical safety needs of an individual.
• Relatedness needs: Individuals need significant relationships such as those with
families, peers or superiors. Love and belongingness are required by an individual for reaching to
a public fame and recognition. According to this class of need the individual requires to have
social needs and external component of esteem needs.
• Growth needs: Need for self-development, personal growth and advancement form
together this class of need. This class of needs contain Maslow’s self-actualization needs and
intrinsic component of esteem needs.
According to Alderfer, individuals generally move up the hierarchy in satisfying their
needs and they satisfy lower-order before higher-order needs. As lower-order needs are
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satisfied, they become less important. As higher-order needs are satisfied they become more
important (López-Nicolás. and Meroño-Cerdán, 2011). There are few circumstances in which
individuals may return to a lower need. Alderfer distributed the efforts of an individual which
are invested in a lower category need when higher categorized needs are not consequent.
McClelland – Need for achievement, affiliation and power
Mccllend provided this theory in the year 1960 and according to this theory Mccleend
affirms thatevery individual has three motivating drivers, and it does not depend on our gender or
age. One of these drives or needs will be dominant in our behaviour.The three different tyope of
motivation according to this theory are given below
• achievement: a need to accomplish and demonstrate competence or mastery
• affiliation: a need for love, belonging and relatedness
• power: a need for control over one’s own work or the work of others
The learned needs may lead to diversity and variety between employees. The prioritization
and importance of employees will help in analyzing behavior of a person. Every person has these
needs and he needs motivation to keep on developing his skills and knowledge.
Achievement motivation – a need to accomplish and demonstrate competence or mastery.
This is defined asneed of an individual so that he may have success and mastering of skills,
control or high standards. These are related with a range of actions. Individual seek achievement,
attainment of challenging (and also realistic) goals, and advancement in the school or job.
Affiliation motivation – a need for love, belonging and relatedness
These people have a strong need for friendships and want to belong within a social group,
need to be liked and held in popular regard. They are team players, and they may be less
effective in leadership positions. High-need-for-affiliation persons have support from those with
whom they have regular contact and mostly are involved in warm interpersonal relationships.
After or during stressful situation individuals need much more affiliation (Marchington and et.
al., 2016). In these situations people come together and find security in one another. There are
times when individuals want to be with others and at other times to be alone – affiliation
motivation can become increased or decreased. Individuals do not like high risk or uncertainty.
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Authority/power motivation – a need to control over one’s own work or the work of
others. These persons are authority motivated. There is a strong need to lead and to succeed in
their ideas. It is also needed to increase personal status and prestige. This person would like to
control and influence others. McClelland studied male managers with high need for power and
high need for affiliation and found that managers with a high need for power tended to run more
productive departments in a sales organization than did managers with a high need for affiliation.
P4 Explain how organisations obtain the cooperation of their employees
The organisations are benefited if there is an effective human resource management in the
company. The different ways by which organisations obtain cooperation of employees of Marks
and Spencer are listed below -
Conflict solving: Human resource management of the company provides a positive
environment at workplace so that there are no conflicts in the organisation (Messersmith, and et.
al., 2011). The cooperation of employees helps human resource management for developing
healthy relation among themselves and meeting the goals and objectives of the company. In
Marks and Spencer, this helps in making efforts to provide appropriate solutions for different
organisational issues like improper language, poor attitude, insubordination, etc.
Training and development: - It is the role of human resource management to provide
effective training and development to employees. In context of Marks and Spencer the human
resource management execute different training programmes. This helps employees to improve
their skills and knowledge and build their ability to perform well.
Information resources: - The human resource management of Marks and Spencer gives
relevant information which is associated to employees such which consists of – assisting
programmes, different benefits, compensatory advantages, leave of absence, etc. this can be
given by an example like If an employee's leader is not able to provide answer for any question,
then it will be answered by HR department.
Flexible workplace: - The Human Resource Management of Marks and Spencer
provides a flexible environment in workplace. In context of Marks and Spencer it is said that all
employees of the company have to work hard for achieving the goals and objectives of the
company and improving their skills. A flexible workplace is an important need of the employees
so that they can work effectively and achieve their targets in less time. This makes easy for the
managers of the organisation to accept the contrasting conditions of the company. A Flexible
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workplace consist of various aspects like work location, work groups composition,
accountability, work assignment, communication types, etc.
Developing better relations: - It is important for nay company to make effective relations
among employees so that productivity and efficiency of the company. In context of Marks and
Spencer, it is important for the company as if employees will have healthy relationship with
employees then this will help them in achieving their targets in less time. The managers of Marks
and Spencer help their employees by giving them a better workplace and developing healthy
relations.
Encouraging optimistic behaviour: - The human resource management of Marks and
Spencer helps in encouraging the behaviour of employees and making them believe that
employees should be treated with good behaviour so that there is a positive relation among all
employees (Renwick, Redman, and Maguire, 2013). In context of Marks and Spencer it is
important that they should encourage a positive behaviour art workplace and build efficiency and
productivity of employees. This helps in attaining the goals and objectives of the company in
given time.
Retaining educated employees: - The Human resource department of Marks and
Spencer is able to retain employees by providing them effective trainings. The individuals who
are recruited by Marks and Spencer have sufficient knowledge and they are skilled enough for
fighting in this competitive market. This will help in making a positive environment in
workplace. It provides a casual approach that benefits employees for making well educated
employees and making their benefiting employees. Organisations must gain well educated and
qualified staff for enhancing efficiency and productivity of the company. This helps organisation
in reducing turnover and controlling risk in business.
P5 Explain how employee performance is managed
Employee performance in a company is important for any organisation so that it is easy to
analyse that company is working in an appropriate manner or not. If employees are skilled and
knowledgeable it will make the productivity of the company good and effective. Every
organisation has some expectation from a person and it is important for a company like Marks
and Spencer to continuously keep check on performance of employees. The business personnel
director of Marks and Spencer analyse the performance of their employees on an annual basis or
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quarterly basis. This helps in keeping a record by which employers are able to improve skills and
knowledge of their employees.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been analysed that human resource department of the
company is an essential department of the company as it is involved in the recruiting and hiring
of employees. This helps an individual as well as organisation to be competitive in market. The
main objective of human resource management is to improve the skills and abilities of
employees. This is done by providing motivation to employees and building a healthy and
positive environment at workplace. Several theories are adopted by human resource management
of company to motivate employees and improving their performance.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Alfes and et. al., 2013. The link between perceived human resource management practices,
engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model. The international journal
of human resource management. 24(2). pp.330-351.
Budhwar, P. S. and Debrah, Y. A. eds., 2013. Human resource management in developing
countries. Routledge.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.
Huselid, M. A. and Becker, B. E., 2011. Bridging micro and macro domains: Workforce
differentiation and strategic human resource management.
López-Nicolás, C. and Meroño-Cerdán, Á. L., 2011. Strategic knowledge management,
innovation and performance. International journal of information management. 31(6). pp.502-
509.
Marchington and et. al., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
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). pp.1105.
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.1-14.
Rubery, J. and Urwin, P., 2011. Bringing the employer back in: why social care needs a standard
employment relationship. Human Resource Management Journal. 21(2). pp.122-137.
Schermerhorn and et. al., 2014. Management: Foundations and Applications (2nd Asia-Pacific
Edition). John Wiley & Sons.
Sheehan, M., 2014. Human resource management and performance: Evidence from small and
medium-sized firms. International Small Business Journal. 32(5). pp.545-570.
Sparrow, P., Brewster, C. and Chung, C., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Storey, J., 2014. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals).
Routledge.
Unger, J. M. and et. al., 2011. Human capital and entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytical
review. Journal of business venturing. 26(3). pp.341-358.
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Welch, C. and et. al., 2011. Theorising from case studies: Towards a pluralist future for
international business research. Journal of International Business Studies. 42(5).
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