Human Resource Management Practices at WHSmith: A Comprehensive Analysis

HUMAN RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
LO1.................................................................................................................................................5
P1 & M1 PURPOSE AND THE FUNCTIONS OF HRM, APPLICABLE TO WORKFORCE PLANNING
AND RESOURCES........................................................................................................................5
P2 & M2 STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION................................................................................................................................. 8
LO2............................................................................................................................................... 11
P3 & M3 EXPLAINATION OF HOW DIFFERENT HRM PRACTICES BENEFIT THE MANAGEMENT
AND EMPLOYEES......................................................................................................................11
P4 EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT HRM PRACTICES IN WHSMITH IN TERMS OF
RAISINGORGANISATIONAL PROFIT AND PRODUCTIVITY.........................................................14
LO3............................................................................................................................................... 16
P5 IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS WITH RESPECT TO INFLUENCING HRM DECISION
MAKING................................................................................................................................... 16
P6 KEY ELEMENTS OF EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION AND THE IMPACT IT HAS ON HRM
DECISION MAKING...................................................................................................................18
M4 IDENTIFY THE KEY ASPECTS OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYMENT
LEGISLATIONS.......................................................................................................................... 20
LO4............................................................................................................................................... 21
P7 & M5 APPLICATION OF HRM PRACTICES IN A WORK-RELATED CONTEXT AT WHSMITH....21
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 25
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................26
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INTRODUCTION
Human resource department in an organisation has the responsibility to recruit and train the
employees and design rewards and bonus policies to improve employee retention. In current
assignment, various functions of human resource department at WHSmith will be studied,
along with methods of recruitment and the strength and weakness of each. In the next part of
the assignment, a study will be made on the effectiveness of different HRM practices and how
these practices improve the profit ratios and productivity of the company. The report also
discussed the benefits of different HRM practices to the employees and to the company. Next,
the assignment will discuss the importance of sound employee relations in a company and the
factors which improve or impair this relationship. The assignment will also highlight different
legislation which is in place to ensure the wellbeing of the employees and equality in the
workplace. In the final part of the assignment, the recruitment and selection practice of
WHSmith is studied in a work-related context. This will include complete recruitment process of
WHSmith from providing job specification to conducting interviews and giving offer letter to the
selected candidates.
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OVERVIEW OF WHSMITH
WHSmith is one of the UK's leading retailers and is headquartered in Wiltshire, UK. The
company was established in the year 1792 and at present, it is serving in 1300 location all over
the world. The company has opened its stores at railway stations, airports, hotels, and in high
street areas in Europe, Australia, Middle East and Asian countries (WHSmith, 2018). The
company is a household name in selling books, newspaper and stationery in the UK. WHSmith
employs over 14000 staff at its stores. In the current article, a discussion will be made on the
HRM policies of the company and factors that make an impact on the employee relations at
WHSmith.
FIGURE 1: WHSMITH STORE AT LONDON
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LO1
P1 & M1 PURPOSE AND THE FUNCTIONS OF HRM, APPLICABLE TO
WORKFORCE PLANNING AND RESOURCES
PURPOSE OF HRM IN WHSMITH
WHSmith is a 226 old organisation and employs over 1400 people at its various stores. The
human resource of the company is an important asset which ensures the smooth running of the
company. The purpose of Human resource management at WHSmith is explained below:
 One of the most important purposes of HRM is to recruit the best talent for the
company by following exhaustive recruitment and selection policy of WHSmith which
includes publishing job advertisement. Resume short listing, interview and candidate
selection (Hendry, 2012).
 After the selection of a candidate, HRM communicates work policies of the company
and provisions of leaves and overtime compensation to the employees.
 HRM also does the workforce planning in which employees are designated various tasks
on the basis of their expertise level.
 HRM department at WHSmith evaluates the performance of each employee and designs
the reward and bonus schemes to keep the employees motivated.
 HRM department also handles legal issues related to the recruitment and termination of
the employees at WHSmith.
FUNCTIONS OF HRM
Human resource department designs a formal system to manage the workforce of WHSmith.
Following are the functions of HRM at WHSmith:
Recruiting and staffing
Recruitment of the right candidate is the primary responsibility of HRM managers at WHSmith.
For this purpose, an assessment of the workforce requirements at the various department is
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done and based on the human resource needs of each department, the salary structure of the
employees is also finalised according to the budget of the company. After all these
assessments, job advertisements are published through different mediums.
Training, education and development
Technology is changing the way of operations in the companies and new systems need to adapt
to satisfy the customer needs and improve services. These new systems require an employee to
be trained in operating computers and other sophisticated machines. For this purpose, HRM
conducts a number of training and education programmes for the employees at WHSmith
which help them to learn new skills as well as polish their existing skills. These training and
development programmes are designed according to the individual needs of the employees and
the level of expertise for performing a certain task (Griepentrog, et al. 2012).
Compensation and rewards
Employees at all levels wish to be recognised for their good work. The HRM department has the
responsibility to assess the work of each employee and decide appropriate rewards and benefit
for each employee. These rewards must be provided according to the merit of the employee,
however, some facilities like healthcare and employee insurance can be provided to all the
employees equally. Appropriate reward and bonus policies improve employee retention and
attract new talent to the organisation.
Maintaining good working conditions
Good working conditions at the workplace include factors like safety and security provisions at
the workplace, an arrangement of proper ventilation, light and air. The workplace should be
free from any kind of pollution and unnecessary noises. Good working conditions also include
an environment of equality at the workplace and fair recruitment and promotion policies. All
these efforts by the HRM to improve the work satisfaction of the employees resulting in
improved efficiencies and better work-life balance for employees (Grohmann and Kauffeld,
2013).
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