Strategic Human Resource Management In Barclays

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management (HRM) is the effective management of people in an
organisation, so that they can help the business in gaining the objectives and goals of the
organisation. It includes recruiting right people, training, managing wages and salary and
communicating with all employees at all levels. BARCLAY's Bank is a British multinational
investment bank and financial service company, headquartered in London. The report will
discuss the purpose and function of HRM. Also, it will give an idea about the strength and
weaknesses of different types of recruitment and selection methods. The report will also
highlight the different HRM practices and with that it will also show the applicability of different
HRM practices for increasing profit and productivity in the organisation. It will also discuss the
need of employee relation and the importance of employment legislation and their impact on
HRM decision making. At last, with help of an example, the report will show the application of
HRM practices.
TASK 1
P1 Function and purpose of HRM
Human Resource Management is the integral part of system, policies and management and
practices to support the organisation to meet its desired goals with help of recruitment and
selection of employees. It is the process of recruiting, selection, and managing the organisation's
employees.
Strategic HRM is the relation between the human resources and its strategies, objectives
and goals (Peltier, 2016). The scope of strategic HRM is to ensure that HR strategy is not a
means but an end in itself as far as business objectives are concerned.
Purpose and function of HRM
HRM means increasing employee performance to their highest level according to their role in
the organisation. The following are the functions of HRM:
 Selection and recruitment- Recruitment is the process of inviting and selecting potential
and qualified candidates based on the need of the organisation. The purpose of this
function is to attract the applicants and to grab the opportunity to work in the
organisation.
 Orientation- It is a process in which new employees are introduced to the existing
employees and to the organisation's culture(Storey, 2014). The purpose of this function is
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to help the employee to know his job, organisation, assigned duties and his exact job
description, job role.
 Maintaining good working condition- It is the responsibility of the human resource
management to provide good working conditions to the employee so that they like the
workplace and the work environment. The purpose is to Employee welfare which in turn
promotes job satisfaction.
 Training and development- Training and development are the indispensable functions of
human resource management. It is the attempt to improve the current or future
performance of an employee (Brewster, Chung and Sparrow, 2016). The purpose of this
function is to educate and increase the skills and knowledge of employees in particular
concept.
 Managing employee relations- It is a very broad and crucial function of HRM.
Employees are pillars of any organisation. So, it is necessary to maintain good relations
with the employees. The purpose of this function is to provide numerous services,
benefits and facilities provided to an employee for their wellbeing.
Hard HRM approaches- In this approach the employees are viewed as a passive factor of
production and are treated as an expense. It emphasizes on cost in form of 'headcount' and places
control firmly in hands of management. Their role is to manage numbers effectively, keeping the
workforce closely matched with requirements in terms of both body and behaviour. This
approach is suitable where autocratic leadership style is followed. For this Barclay's Bank uses
some practices like, short- term changes in employee numbers, minimal communication from top
to down, little delegation, following taller organisational structure etc.
Soft HRM approaches- this approach stresses the 'human' aspect of HRM. It concerns with
communication and motivation. The soft model emphasizes individuals and their self- direction
and places commitment, trust, and self-regulated behaviour at the centre of any strategic
approach to people. This approach treats employees as the most important resource in the
business (Mone and London, 2018). It promotes employees’ rights, empowerment, involvement,
participation etc. It is suitable for an organisation where democratic leadership style is followed.
Barclay's bank uses the soft HRM approaches like strong and regular two- way communication,
competitive pay structure, use of flatter organisational structure, using performance- related
rewards etc.
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