Evaluating HRM: Workforce Planning, Practices, and Productivity

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Human Resource Management (HRM) and its various functions within an organization. It begins by explaining the purpose and functions of HRM, particularly in workforce planning and resourcing. It then evaluates different approaches to recruitment and selection, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. The report further explores the benefits of various HRM practices for both employers and employees, assessing their effectiveness in enhancing organizational productivity and profitability. Additionally, it analyzes the significance of employee relations in shaping HRM decision-making and identifies key elements of employment legislation and their impact on HRM. Finally, it illustrates the practical applications of HRM practices in a work-related context, emphasizing the importance of HRM in today's competitive business environment. Desklib provides access to this and other solved assignments for students.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................2
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organization...........................................................................................................2
P2 explain the strength and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection...4
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organization for both the
employer and employee...............................................................................................................6
P4 evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organizational
productivity and profit.................................................................................................................7
LO3................................................................................................................................................10
P5 Analyze the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-
making.......................................................................................................................................10
P6 identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision- making........................................................................................................................11
LO4................................................................................................................................................13
P7 illustrate the applications of HRM practices in a work related context using specific
example......................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Strength and weakness of mode of recruitment................................................................4
Table 2: Training and development differences..............................................................................7

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Human resource management..........................................................................................2
Figure 2: Internal vs. External recruitment......................................................................................4
Figure 3: Effectiveness of HRM......................................................................................................7
Figure 4: Concept of training...........................................................................................................8
Figure 5: Employee rights.............................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management has become important part of businesses today. This is because the
tertiary sector is increasing and do not produce goods but only render different kinds of services.
for this purpose, the management of human resource is quite important. The abbreviation used
for human resource management is ‘HRM’. HRM is a step towards the different levels of
hierarchy of management. It focuses on the delegation and decentralization of authority and
responsibility. It is necessary to manage the human resource and motivate them because now
day’s businesses have high competitiveness. Through HRM we can achieve the objectives set for
the organization. Effectiveness and efficiency of the employees can also be achieved through
HRM. Here in this report we will study about the various factors involved in the concept of
HRM.
HRM is a wide subject and requires to be understood by every manager. Its importance is being
realized in the businesses in the recent years. The organizations set up a different department for
human resource because it is very crucial and needs human resource professionals for handling
and managing the department. Today, organizations consider their employees as an important
resource and take all the necessary steps to satisfy them. So, we can say that human element
plays an important role in every company.
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LO1
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organization.
Human resource management is a huge department of a company which is concerned with the
employees of the company and the concepts related to them like, hiring the employees, managing
the staff, training and development of employees and providing them proper working conditions.
It emphasizes. It is wide concept and requires lot of effort and time (Cascio, 2018). Every
company either large or middle sized has separate department for human resource management.
HRM is concerned with providing proper safety and security measures also to the company. It
has to carry out all the activities that prove to be beneficial for the employees.
Figure 1: Human resource management
(Source: Talent management with HRM, 2018)
Human resources management helps in keeping a healthy environment at a business place. They
are responsible for solving the disputes of employees with each other and also the organization.
They are responsible for bringing out best from the employees (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). In
general terms we can say that it is human resource management means to employ the employees,
utilizing and developing their skills and to mould their skills according to the requirement of the
organization.
Scope of Strategic HRM
Human resource management has wide scope. It has been explained below-
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 Analysis and design of a job position- job analysis and designing is the process of
gathering information regarding a particular job, analyzing the gathered information and
interpretation of the data in practical terms. It is the process of defining the duties and
responsibilities related with the job.
 Recruitment – the process of recruitment starts with advertising for the job in different
forms of media like newspaper, radio, magazines etc. then come selection. It is the
process of selecting the candidate from the number of candidates available (Sparrow et.al.
2016).
 Orientation and induction- next in the series in the orientation and induction program.
Here, the employee is informed about the background, culture and working pattern of the
employees. We can say it is an introduction program of employee to the organization.
 Training and development- after the induction, the employee is trained according to the
requirement of the job (Brewster et.al. 2016). Training involves different methods. It is
done to improve the performance of the employee.
 Motivation- motivation is the process of encouraging the employees of the organization.
Motivation can be in monetary terms and non monetary terms. It is done to bring the best
out of the employees.
The concept of hard HRM & soft HRM
HARD HRM- it is the process where employees are treated just like other resources of the
company like machine, furniture etc. it emphasizes on the needs of business only and thus recruit
the candidate according to their need. It does not involve much communication between
employee and management. There is little delegation of authority and follows autocratic style of
leadership.
SOFT HRM- it is a kind of HRM which consider the employee as the most important resource
of the organization. Here employees are treated as a person and their needs are also taken care of.
In this kind of HRM employees are motivated and are focuses to achieve objectives (Michael,
2017). There is strong communication between management and its employees. it uses
democratic style of leadership.
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P2 explain the strength and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.
Selection- it is the process of selecting a right person for right job at a right time. It is the process
in which large number of employees are interviewed and evaluated on the basis of their
qualifications and abilities needed for a particular job and then selecting the best suitable one.
Recruitment- recruitment is the process of advertising for the vacant position to identify the
potential candidates and to let them know about the job. It is a process that is basically done for
the search of candidate who has the ability and knowledge required for the job. A large number
of candidates who are in search of job are invited for the process of selection.
Figure 2: Internal vs. External recruitment
(Source: Modes of recruitment, 2018)
The strength and weaknesses of different methods of recruitment are-
Table 1: Strength and weakness of mode of recruitment
Methods Strength Weakness
Internal Internal process is the process
that recruits the employee
from within the organization.
The employees are the
The weaknesses of this type
of recruitment are that the
organization does not get
much option; also the other
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strength of this method of
recruitment. The existing
employees do not need any
training and also feel
promoted. This is cost
effective method of
recruitment (Alonso, 2015).
employees get discouraged
with the promotion of few. It
restricts the entry of fresh
talent into the organization
(Rees and Smith, 2017).
External External recruitment is the
process of recruiting the
individual from outside the
organization. The strength of
this method is that it invites
fresh talent into the
organization. The
organization has so many
options to select from. The
best candidate can be selected
from the potential candidates.
The weakness of this method
is that it requires lot of effort
and expenses. It is the
method. It is also time
consuming and long method.
Third party In this method a third party is
appointed for the selection of
the candidate. In third party
method, company has to
disclose its detail to a party
external to organization. But
it saves the time of company
(Alonso, 2015).
This method is also costly.
Also, the individual
appointed may not be
according to the requirement
of the company as it is
selected by third party.
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LO2
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organization for both the employer
and employee.
HRM is wide and quite beneficial for all the people in an organization. It has so many
advantages for both employer as well as an employee. These advantages are as follows-
Advantages for employees as well as employer-
Resolving conflicts- When too many people work in an organization at several positions that
arises conflicts. These conflicts can arise in between the employer and employees and amongst
the employees as well. HRM helps in solving these conflicts and also define a standard
behaviour for the employees (Meijerink et.al. 2015). HRM helps to bring cooperation between
the employees in an organization and they work in coordination. It helps in bringing good
behaviour. The resolution of conflicts is necessary to bring harmony and good working
environment in the firm.
Training and development- the strategic HRM is a subject which focuses on training an
development of employees. When a company uses this type of HRM technique then it organizes
training and development program for employees where employees gain knowledge and learn
many new things about the corporate world. The development programs help employees
throughout their career.
Employee relations- HRM helps in making better employee relations within the organization.
HRM brings the people of the organization together. It supports the employee. Those employees,
who feel that they are not provided rights in their job, are supported by the management. This
also avoids discrimination in the organization (Yang et.al. 2015). Employees who are being
harassed by their immediate boss can contact human resource manager and can lodge their
complaint. A special complaint desk is there in the organization that looks after these complaints
and resolves them.
Source of information- HRM helps in building strong communication between employer and
employee. To build a strong communication in an organization is the duty of human resource
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manager (Sanz-Valle and Jiménez-Jiménez, 2018). A good communication channel helps in
smooth flow of information in the organization. Information can be related to work, policies,
procedures, new targets etc.
Encouraging employees- one of the most advantages of HRM is that it motivates employees.
HR managers motivate their employees towards the work. This encouragement induces them to
perform better. The encouragement of employees is very necessary as it creates the interest of
employees towards the job.
Achievement of goals- HRM was introduced when it was discovered the employee is not just a
person but he is an important resource. The motivation of this resource towards the work helps in
better achievement of goals (Bell et.al. 2017). As the motivation brings out the efficiency of
employees and they work more effectively.
Figure 3: Effectiveness of HRM
(Source: Response of HRM to business, 2018)
P4 evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organizational
productivity and profit.
Difference between training and development
Table 2: Training and development differences
Training Development
Training is the process of making an employee
learns the skills required for the job. This
program is organized by the company itself to
Development is the process of overall
development of employee. It is not only related
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make the employee learn new skills and
abilities (Ford, 2014).
with a particular job of the employee.
It is a short term process and concerned with
only particular job.
It is long run process and is helpful for an
employee throughout his career.
It is organized by the company because they
derive the main benefit from it.
It is not organized by the employee. Employee
gets developed through the experience he gets
from his job of many years (Sundstrom et.al.
2016).
Training is an expensive and time consuming
process. Sometimes it requires a lot of
expenses to be made.
Development is a cost effective process. No
special cost is incurred for development of
employee.
Figure 4: Concept of training
(Source: Training in business, 2018)
Different types of training-
On the job training: On the job training is that type of training in which the employee is trained
while working. No special time is provided for training purposes. Also, company does not spend
any extra cost for the purpose of training an employee (Phillips and Phillips, 2016). This type of
training is preferred when company does not have a huge budget for training its employees. The
different types of off the job training methods are-
 Mentoring
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