Functions and Purpose of Human Resource Management

This document discusses the functions and purpose of Human Resource Management (HRM) in an organization. It explores the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection. It also highlights the benefits of HRM practices for both employees and employers, and the effectiveness of these practices in improving employee performance. The importance of employee relations and its influence on HRM decision making is also discussed. The document is based on a case study of B&M, a retail industry in the United Kingdom.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Contents
INTRODUCTION.................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1: Functions and purpose of Human Resource Management...........................................................3
P2: Strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection........................4
TASK 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P3: Benefits of HRM practices for both employee and employer......................................................6
P4: Effectiveness of different human resource management practices..............................................7
TASK 3.................................................................................................................................................9
P5: Importance of employee relation in respect to influencing HRM decision making.....................9
P6: Key components of employment legislation and its impact on HRM decision making...............9
TASK 4...............................................................................................................................................10
P7: Application of Human Resource Management practices in work-related context.....................10
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES....................................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
There are different departments in an organisation such as operation, human resource,
finance and sales department which performs different functions from each other in order to
achieve desired goals and objectives. Among such departments, the roles and responsibilities
of Human Resource department are discussed under this report. The manager of HR
department plays a valuable role in fulfilling the requirements of Human Resource in an
organisation. The present assignment is based on B&M which is a retail industry deals in
providing wide range of grocery products to the people of United Kingdom. The project
explaining the purpose and functions of HRM along with different approaches of recruitment
and selection in addition with their strengths and weaknesses. The importance of employee
relation and contribution of various HRM practices in achieving productivity and profitability
of company are also discussed under this report. The government legislations related with
employment has been also covered under this report (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
TASK 1
P1: Functions and purpose of Human Resource Management
Human resource management plays an important role as compared to other
departments of an organisation in achieving desired goals and objectives through providing
skilled and knowledgeable workforce to an organisation. Their roles start from the
recruitment process and continues till the employees gives maximum contribution in
achieving desired target of an organisation. It means HR management are wholly liable to
develop the personality of employees and makes them more effective through adopting
various HRM practices in order to give profitable outcome to company. HRM of B&M
performs different functions which are as follows:
Recruitment and selection: The roles and responsibilities of HR starts with recruiting
skilled and qualified candidates for an organisation with an expectation of gaining maximum
support from them in achieving competitive advantage. Recruitment can be done through
inviting qualified candidates to apply for the vacant job position offered by an organisation.
After passing all recruitment process, selection is the final stage in which an appointment
letter has been given to candidates (Flamholtz, 2012).
Orientation: It is a practice which is done with an aim of maintains good relation
with new candidates and defined company’s vision, mission and objectives towards them

with the purpose of motivating them to work hard and perform their roles and responsibilities
in profitable manner.
Creating healthy work environment: Collecting feedbacks and asking suggestions
will bring motivation and self-confidence among employees of B&M due to which the
working environment will be healthier. Supporting employees at every step help manager in
creating good atmosphere at workplace.
Managing employee relation: HR managers of B&M are held responsible to conduct
some interactive programs with the purpose of establishing good relations with new
employees so as to gain maximum support from them in near future.
Training and development: It is such a HRM practices which is essential for HR
management to adopt on regular basis in order to enhance the potential and capabilities of
employees of B&M so as to achieve maximum possible result (Huselid and Becker, 2011).
P2: Strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
Recruitment and selection are two important activities which are done after each
other. At first, recruitment process can be done through inviting eligible candidates to apply
for the vacant job position offered by an organisation and after passing all stages of
recruitment process, the HR Manager make selections on the basis of their performance in
recruitment process and their qualification. Both are further described as under:
Recruitment: It is the process of inviting skilled and qualified candidates through
giving an advertisement on newspapers, pamphlets, company’s website etc. in order to attract
large number of applicants. There are mainly two approaches of recruitment which are as
follows along with their strengths and weaknesses:
Internal approach: It is the process of identifying more skilled and knowledgeable
employees among existing ones and provides them opportunity to get higher position in
company (Renwick, Redman and Maguire, 2013). It can be done in the form of promotion,
extension of services etc. It has some strengths and weaknesses too which are as follows:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Promoted employees are very much
aware of the working environment
thus takes minimum to adjust.
 No changes in working procedure due
to restrictions on entry of new
candidates having new and innovative

 It requires less training due to having
experience of work.
 Already having good relation with co-
workers due to which healthy
environment are take place.
ideas.
 Dissatisfaction among non-promoted
employees which can cause conflicts
as well.
External approach: It is an effective method of recruitment in which the invitation
has been given outside of an organisation rather than inviting existing employees to apply for
the vacant job position offered by an organisation. Such invitation can given through
publishing advertisement on Newspapers, company’s official website, recommendation of
existing employees etc. It has also some strength and weaknesses which are given as below:
Strengths Weaknesses
 Entrance of new ideas and innovation
which help organisation in achieving
competitive advantage.
 Having lots of application due to
which HR manger find no difficulties
in recruiting skilled and qualified
candidates.
 New candidates are more confident
and energy to do any task.
 It is lengthy process due to which the
business operation may disturbed for
longer period of time.
 It increases cost of company through
investing amount in advertisement.
 Lack of support from existing
employees.
Selection: It is the final stage at which HR manager has giving legal employability to
new candidates who are successfully passing recruitment process through giving job offer to
them. It includes two methods which include:
Systematic: It is considered as a systematic process of selecting best candidates thus
must required to follow by B&M. It includes some steps which includes job analysis, person
specification, job description, short listing, selecting, offer letter, joining date of new workers.
Such steps should be followed in order to select an effective one.

Unsystematic: In this, no procedure and systems are followed as HR manager
randomly selected CV from number of applicant’s documents and on the basis of which
candidates has been selected (Boxall and Purcell, 2011).
TASK 2
P3: Benefits of HRM practices for both employee and employer
HRM Practices: It is such a practice which is more helpful in enhancing the
performance of employees due to which their contribution to company also increased.
Therefore, it is an effective method of managing workforce in an appropriate manner. The
main objective of adopting HRM practices is to establish a flexible, more open and caring
management model which will bring motivation among employees. Such HRM practices
include Training, learning and development programs, performance appraisal, rewarding
system etc. Their benefits to employee and employer are briefly discussed under the below:
HRM practices Benefits to employees Benefits to employers
Training and development It helps employees in
maximising their actual skills
and capabilities due to which
they can perform delegated
work in an effective and
efficient manner. It increases
morale and satisfaction level
as well due to which their
commitment with company
also strong.
It also brings advantages to
employers as well in different
ways such as increasing
productivity, required less
supervision, proper utilisation
of resources, decreases in
number of accidents and
errors etc. Getting maximum
contribution by employees
will help employer in making
suitable plans and policies.
Employee performance
management and
monitoring
It helps in employees in
providing actual requirements
and needs at workplace to the
employers due to which the
chances of fulfilling them
will be high. It also helps
employees in getting
It helps employers in
identifying the high and low
skilled workers due to which
HR manager gives more focus
on improving the performance
of low-skilled workers.
Employees enjoy greater

recognition among large
number of employees which
increases their reputation in
company.
autonomy.
Conflicts and issues among
employees are less due to
which employers are able to
focus on important matters.
Payment and reward
management
It helps employees in
increasing their standard of
living which maximises the
interest and working
behaviour of employees. It
will also help employees in
gaining recognition in an
organisation.
It help employers to retain
experienced employees for
longer period of time and gain
maximum support and
commitment from them fir
future. It will overall increase
the performance of an
organisation.
Flexible working options Providing the working hours
according to their willingness
of employees help in
increasing satisfaction level
as well as morale. In order to
minimise employee turnover,
HR manager of B&M should
required to provide different
options such as working from
home, job sharing, annual
hours systems etc. which can
make positive impact on the
performance of employees as
well.
It helps employers to gain
maximum support from
employees which strong the
position of company in
market. Du to allotting time to
employees for performing
business activities, the
efficiency in work will also be
improved.
P4: Effectiveness of different human resource management practices
HRM practices brings more profitable result to company as it helps in developing
employee’s performance due to which they can contribute maximum in achieving desired
goals and objectives. Such HRM practices include training, learning and development
programs, performance management and monitoring, rewards and payment and flexible

working options. Therefore, it is important for B&M to implement such practices within an
organisation so as to reduce employee turnover and increment in amount of profits. All such
HRM practices are briefly discussed under below along with their effectiveness:
Training and development: B&M is retail organisation which deals in providing wide
variety of grocery products. The company has employed large number of employees which
gives valuable support in achieving desired aim and objectives (Flamholtz, 2012). Therefore,
the company mainly focuses on reducing employee’s turnover and increases sales figure and
it can be possible when the company have attained skilled ad experienced workforce. For
this, HR manager need to conduct training programs which includes on-the-job and off-the-
job for their employees so as to enhance their performance which in result increase in profit
and productivity.
Employee performance management and monitoring; HR managers of B&M are
liable to properly analyse the performance of employees through comparing the actual with
desired performance. This will help manager in identifying the high and low-skilled workers
due to which they give more concentrate on improving the weak areas of low skilled
employees. Identifying the deviations and correcting them within limited period of time will
help employees in increasing their performance level due to which they gives full efforts in
helping company in achieving huge profits and productivity.
Payment and reward management: Rewarding employees on the basis of their past
performance will help in boosting their performance due to which the company can able to
get enough support and contribution from them in achieving high profitability and
productivity. Money is an important factor which motivates employees to work hard thus
such payment and rewarding systems will maximises the interest and working behaviour of
customers (Hobfoll, 2011).
Flexible working options: B&M has employed large number of employees having
different nature and cultures. Therefore, HR manager should require to identify their
willingness of doing allotted task and accordingly make an effective decisions and policies.
For example, some employees are willing to work from home or at night shifts whereas some
employees show more interest to work at day shift. Therefore, proper allotment of time
should be done in order to increase their morale and satisfaction level. All such help company
in achieving huge profits as well as high productivity.

TASK 3
P5: Importance of employee relation in respect to influencing HRM decision making
Employee relation: It refers to establishing healthy relation with the human resource
through providing help in resolving problems and issues that may arise at workplace.
Maintaining a good relation with employees strong the loyalty and commitment with an
organisation due to which they can get employee’s services for longer period of time. Apart
from this, there are various advantages as well which can be received by B&M in order to
maintain healthy relation with employees:
 It helps in avoiding exploitation and discrimination among employees on the basis of
their position attained in an organisation.
 Getting maximum support from employees in order to achieve desired aim and
objectives.
 It builds strong image in market due to which the company can receive maximum
number of applicants for the job offered by an organisation.
 Establishing healthy atmosphere in working environment which makes positive
impact on the performance of employees (Manroop, Singh and Ezzedeen, 2014).
 Delegation of roles and responsibilities among employees becomes easy for
management of company.
 Getting valuable suggestions and ideas from employees who help management in
making an effective decisions and planning for the betterment of an organisation.
Therefore, it is must fir HR manager to build good relationship with employees which in
results getting maximum possible outcomes. It can be done through creating an effective
platform where the managers and employees can easily communicate and discuss about
important matter with each other.
P6: Key components of employment legislation and its impact on HRM decision making
An organisation in which the country they are operated their business functions need
to followed their government laws and legislations related with employment in order to avoid
any penalties and fines. Such employment legislation has been formed with an aim of
protecting employees from any exploitation and discrimination. Therefore, it is important for
B&M to implement such acts within an organisation in order to maximise the level of

performance of their employees. Such employment legislation includes different acts which
are as follows:
Equality Act, 2010: According to this act, the manager of B&M should required to
give treatment to all employees equally and should not be differentiated on the basis of their
race, culture, religion and other characteristics. For example, during recruitment process,
female candidates has given less priority as the manager thinks that they are less capable of
doing work as compared to make candidates (Song and et. al., 2010).
Working time regulation Act, 1998: According to this act, HR manager are not
allowed to force employees to work more than the standard working hours. Such act also
directs management to give free time to their workers during working hours in order to
reduce their stress and tension due to heavy workload.
Health and safety act, 1974: This act states that maintaining employee’s health will
bring profitable outcome to company thus need to provide them healthy and risk free
environment at work place due to which the employees of B&M are not indulge in any
accidents or hazards which can affect their healthy in adverse manner.
Data protection act, 1999: It is an act which is formulated by government for the
betterment of an organisation. Such act states that the manager should required to keep all
crucial information about customers; suppliers, investors etc. with themselves only with the
help of modern IT systems such as management information system (MIS) so that such
information should be not leaked by their rivals (Functions of HRM, 2018).
Minimum wages act, 1998: It is an act which determines the minimum amount of
wages the employer is liable to pay to their workers for the services they provide to company.
Such act direct employer to pay fair amount of remuneration to employees who are attaining
legal employability of company. Therefore, it is essential for B&M to adopt such act in an
organisation for the welfare of their employees.
TASK 4
P7: Application of Human Resource Management practices in work-related context
Human resource is an important factor which play an important role in achieving
growth and success of an organisation. Therefore, HR manager need to focus on adopting an

effective HRM practices in working environment so as to resolve all issues and difficulties
face by workers during performing allotted roles and responsibilities. B&M is a retailer
organisation which deals in offering wide variety of grocery products in the United kingdom.
Thus, to expand its business the company need to apply an effective HRM practices which
are explained as under:
Planning of manpower required: It is essential for an organisation to have adequate
human resources in order to perform different business activities in more effective and
efficient manner. If any shortage of manpower are found then HR manager need to adopt
recruitment and selection process through which they can acquired skilled and
knowledgeable candidates for their company.
Decision making: With the help of using Management Information System (MIS), the
managers are able to make an effective decisions and plans for the betterment of an
organisation through giving adequate support to their employees in performing allotted task
(Vörösmarty and et. al., 2010).
Development and training of employees: It is important for every organisation to
attained motivated employees which help in bringing profitable outcomes in near future.
Therefore, HR managers of B&M need to conduct training and development programs for
their employees so as to enhance their skills and knowledge about different fields of work.
Maintaining quality of business products: B&M deals in providing varieties of
grocery products thus it is more important to have such goods in good quality in order to
maximise the level of satisfaction of customers. Adopting an effective and advanced
technology will help company in maximising the wastage of resources as well as cost of
products thus help company in providing grocery product at an affordable prices to the
customers. It will help in retaining loyal customers for longer period of time (Human
resource management, 2017).
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above project report that Human resource department
plays an important role as compared to other departments of an organisation as it help
company in attaining skilled and knowledgeable employees who are more capable in giving
maximum effort in achieving desired goals and objectives. Different HRM practices should

require to be adopted by management in order to bring motivation and maximising the
efficiency in work of employees. Maintaining good relation with employees is also must
which in results increasing profits of company.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Boxall, P. and Purcell, J., 2011. Strategy and human resource management. Palgrave
Macmillan
Flamholtz, E.G., 2012. Human resource accounting: Advances in concepts, methods and
applications. Springer Science & Business Media.
Flamholtz, E.G., 2012. Human resource accounting: Advances in concepts, methods and
applications. Springer Science & Business Media.
Hobfoll, S.E., 2011. Conservation of resource caravans and engaged settings. Journal of
occupational and organizational psychology. 84(1). pp.116-122.
Huselid, M.A. and Becker, B.E., 2011. Bridging micro and macro domains: Workforce
differentiation and strategic human resource management.
Manroop, L., Singh, P. and Ezzedeen, S., 2014. Human Resource Systems and Ethical
Climates: A Resource‐Based Perspective. Human resource management. 53(5).
pp.795-816.
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.
Song, C. and et. al., 2010. Limits of predictability in human mobility. Science. 327(5968).
pp.1018-1021.
Vörösmarty, C.J. and et. al., 2010. Global threats to human water security and river
biodiversity. Nature.467(7315).pp.555-561.
Online
Functions of HRM. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.keka.com/5-major-
functions-human-resource-management/>.
Human resource management. 2017. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/hrm/human-resource-management-functions-
managerial-operative-and-advisory-function/27995/>.