Strategic Human Resource Management Analysis

This assignment delves into the realm of strategic human resource management, exploring its significance in enhancing employee relations and engagement. The importance of flexible working conditions, health and safety norms, and open communication is highlighted. Employee retention strategies, including learning and development opportunities, are also examined. The analysis concludes by emphasizing the role of HRM in shaping a positive work environment.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1. Purpose and functions of HRM........................................................................................1
P2. Strength and weakness of different approaches of recruitment and selection.................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices for both employer and employee...........................5
P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices........................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P5. Importance of Employee relation in reference to HRM decision making.......................9
P6. Key elements of employee legislation in respect to HRM decision making.................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P7. Application of HRM practices in work related context.................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is basically a tactic which is used by various organizations for
effective management of people working with them. This practice supports enterprises in gaining
competitive advantage. It is developed for maximising the performance of workers in service of
an employer’s strategic objectives. Human resource management includes recruiting, selecting
and providing training and development to employees. Present report will lay emphasis on
Barclays bank. It is a British multinational bank and financial services which has been
headquartered in London. The bank has been listed on London’s stock exchange. It deals in
personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management and investment management. Study
lays emphasis on the purpose and functions of HRM. It also presents the strength and weakness
of different approaches of recruitment and selection. Report focuses on the benefits of different
HRM practices. It also presents effectiveness of different HRM practices.
TASK 1
P1. Purpose and functions of HRM.
Functions of Human resource management and its various purposes for the benefits of
organization is mentioned below-
Recruitment- Recruitment involves designing job description, publishing the job posting,
finding out the required candidates, interviewing them, salary negotiations and making the job
offer. This is the challenging function for HR manager as Barclays bank, apart from its
investment banking, has organised its business in four categories that include personal banking,
corporate banking, wealth management, and investment management. So the main purpose of
recruitment function is to get best and efficient employees to be transferred in these different
categories organised by Barclays bank. Remaining purpose is to appoint right people for right
job(Bou‐Llusar, 2016).
Training and development- Training involves training of newly hired employees to become
familiar and learn the work they need to perform for Barclays requirements whereas
development refers to training of existing employees to keep them up to date for the changing
working policy of Barclays bank. Training and development of employees help them in being
efficient enough to perform their work and help Barclays bank achieve its goals and objectives.
Main purpose of training and development is to increase the efficiency of workers and make
them skilled and trained.
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Performance Appraisal- It is a periodic evaluation and observation on employee's tasks and
performance, by HR managers. The purpose of this function is that it helps Barclays in finding
out employees that are efficient enough and their dedication towards organizational goals and
objectives.
Compensation and Benefits- Barclays bank can attain its goals and objectives if it can adapt
the new ways of providing several benefits to its employees. These benefits may involve- be
working hour flexibility, Extended vacation, medical insurance, maternal leave etc. This function
will also initiate Barclays bank corporate social responsibility towards employees (Boon, 2018).
Human resource management is formal and systematic management of people within an
organization. The following are the scope of strategic HRM-
Personnel- It includes recruitment, training, manpower planning, posting, performance
appraisal, transfers, promotion etc. All these factors are important for the benefits of Barclays
bank and its employees.
Welfare- This aims at welfare of employees which includes their working conditions, medical
facilities, safety, transport and accommodation. This will improve the employee employer
relationship of Barclays bank and also improve company's responsibility towards employees.
Industrial relations- Industrial relations comprises of interaction of HR manager with the
unions, addressing the grievances of employees, settling the disputes etc. This will enable
smooth functioning of Barclays Bank as there will be no sort of such activities in the
organization(Bailey, 2018).
'Hard' and 'Soft' approaches in HRM
Hard approaches-
Treating employees simply as a resource of the business (like building and machinery)- This will
help Barclays bank to focus its attention on its primary goal of maximising profit and avoid
wastage of financial resources in any form.
To develop strong link in corporate business planning- This will help Barclays Banks to know
what resources they need, how do they get them and what will be the cost.
Soft approaches-
Treating employees as the most important resource in the business and a source of competitive
advantage- This will help Barclays bank to establish a good relationship between the
organization and employees.
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Treating employees as individuals and planning their needs accordingly. - This will avail
Barclays responsibility of providing rewards, motivation etc. to their employees.
P2. Strength and weakness of different approaches of recruitment and selection.
Approaches of recruitment-
Recruitment is the process of attracting pool of talented employees for the specific job role. The
various approaches of recruitment are as follows:
Internal approach-
1) Promotion- Promotion refers to appointment of employee to higher position than its
current one. This will increase morale of Barclays bank employees as they will be
upgrade their position and also for the company as it can serve more responsibilities and
targets to that employee.
2) Turning of temporary to permanent- This technique involves hiring of the existing trainee
employee or the interns for permanent job position. This will save time of Barclays bank
as they will get readily efficient employee for the company.
Strength-
 The employees will be familiar with working conditions of Barclays bank.
 The employees will be familiar with their tasks
 The employees can be trusted as they have already worked with the company in past.
 This approach will save valuable resources of Barclays Bank such as Time and Money,
as it can be noted that no cost of advertisement, recruitment and training is involved.
Weakness-
 There will be a lack of fresh perspective as the existing employees will be working with
the same old values and hunt for the new skills required and fresh talent will be
unsuccessful.
 The number of applicants required will be limited and as studied above Barclays bank
have different category of business and so the spaces would remain empty.
 This would create discrimination among the employees as if one is promoted to higher
position, others may not feel satisfied.
External approaches
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1) Recruitment agency- These are the agencies which contains specialists who train the
candidates as according to their area of specialisation. These agencies recruits candidates
as being required by the company through their vast databases of skilled candidates. This
recruitment is being done on commission basis by the agencies but its effective as the
organizations get the same line of employees they require.
2) Online recruitment methods- This includes Job boards and social media. Job board is an
online platform where thousands of job seekers have signed up and uploaded their
specifications. Job boards charges some amount from the company and posts the required
job profile and specifications which automatically gets connected to candidates having
similar qualifications, through email. As in today's trend, most of people are active on
social media platforms, Barclays Bank can just post it requirements regarding the job and
this will automatically attract the job seekers.
Strength-
 It brings fresher skills and inputs to the organization.
 It is a good way to get ideas from other businesses or industries. - This is the main
advantage Barclays Bank will get as getting ideas and facts about other companies
management from the new employees and accordingly improve its performance.
Weakness-
 It is time-consuming.- The main drawback of external approach of recruitment is that it
takes more time to process this function.
 It recruits candidates with limited understanding of your company. The new employees
hired won't have any knowledge of Barclays bank and thus it will create more effort to
explain them the policies and brief about the company.
Approaches of selection
1) Using Behavioural Questions- This method includes asking questions to candidates
according to the situation basis. Every employee would be prepared for technical and
general questions, but Barclays bank adopt this style and create situation for candidates
and ask for the answer, they could judge person's mindset and behaviour.
2) Conducting panel interview- Panel interview consists of number of persons interviewing
a single candidate. This could be beneficial to Barclays bank as if the one person asks the
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questions, the other may observe candidate's body language and expression and
accordingly judge personality(Rothenberg, 2017).
Strength-
 Can be administered manually or electronically. This helps in reducing complications
 It effectively analyzes potential turnover and performance rates of employees through
various tests and questions.
 It is easy to Measure presentation and verbal skills of employee.
Weakness-
 Individuals can easily manipulate the results by choosing favoured answers, which will
make difficult for Barclays bank to check the exact behaviour of candidate.
 These type of activities are time consuming, which will affect the working of Barclays
bank.
TASK 2
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices for both employer and employee
Benefits of different HRM practices are as follows:
HRM practices Benefits to employee Benefits to employer
Learning, development and
training practices
This will enhance the
employee's skills to perform
the task. It will notify the
employee about its areas of
improvement. Employee will
be learning new techniques
and skills which will further
increase his productivity. New
Employees will adapt the
working conditions of the
company. Existing could
develop themselves and gain
Barclays Bank will be
benefited by getting skilled
and trained employees.
Company can increase its
actual output through these
skilled employees working
with them. Barclay's can set
up new targets as if it gets
more efficient employees.
Barclays Bank could easily
attain its goals and objectives
rapidly with the use of skilled
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inner satisfaction regarding
their skills and qualities. Also,
effective learning could act as
career opportunities for them.
human resource. Barclays
Bank already has different
categories of business in
service sector, with the help
of its skilled manpower it can
gain better service output to
the customers and enhance its
growth.
Flexible working options Employees get flexibility to
meet family and personal
needs. Reduced commuting
time and travelling expenses
of employees. Employees will
have more control over time
schedule and working
environment. Employees can
work during hours that make
them comfortable to work
according to their energy
cycle.
Barclays bank can boost
employees morale by
providing flexible working
options. It will also reduce
irregularity and absenteeism
of employees. It will also
enhance Barclays bank image
as a family- friend place to
work. It will also reduce
overcrowding of employees
in the firm if the occupancy
space is less.
Employee performance
management and monitoring
Managing and monitoring by
the seniors and employers
benefits employees as they get
clarity towards all their doubts
and questions. Employee's
misunderstandings are reduced
and confusion are lessened.
Employees enjoy greater
autonomy.
Barclays bank management is
benefited by monitoring
performance as it show the
employees learning ability
and improvement over a
period of time. It let the
employers know about the
success of recruitment and
other training practices by
observing the performance of
employees. Employer can
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note down their employees
strengths by monitoring their
performance. By monitoring
employees, Barclays bank
will be able to see what they
are doing with their time,
which help in figure out ways
that can make employees
more productive.
Payment and reward system The main benefit of payment
and reward system to the
employees is that the
employees get a reason to do
their best. Employees hope to
provide some extra efforts also
increases for the achievement
of reward. Employees may
develop themselves more by
putting some extra efforts in
their tasks. Employees
interests also increases to
continue their job as for
availing the reward benefits.
Barclays bank can keep their
employees under control.
Organization will increase its
productivity if its employees
perform some extra.
Employers can make the
underperforming employees
work more in the name of
rewards and payment. This
technique also turn outs to be
motivation for some
employees which in turn will
benefit Barclays bank. It
increases the employee's
commitment towards the
organization. Also,
employees remain more
engaged to their tasks and
performance.
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P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices
1) Learning, development and training practices- Learning, development and training practise
used employees of Barclay's bank is effective in different ways. Employees become more and
more competent about working procedures and practises related with safety through proper
training. It ensures consistency of employees in respect of policies and procedures of bank.
Through training, every employee become aware about the expectations of bank from their
employees regarding different tasks. Training and development helps in improving the
performance and productivity of employees which is very essential for improving the reputation
of the bank. Proper training to the employees to develop skills helps to motivate them to work in
the organization. This will helps the bank to retain the skilled workforce and also in achieving
organizational goals and objectives(Noe, 2017).
2) Flexible working options- This Practice of flexible working options will effect Barclays bank
to boost the morale of employees. Bank's pending work will be done on time as due to flexibility
in working hours. Barclays Bank will not face the issues of irregularity and absenteeism as
employees will work from home. It will also develop Barclays bank image as friendly place to
work for. Also, the problem of overcrowding and occupancy of space in bank premises will be
resolved by adopting this flexible working practice.
3) Employee performance management and monitoring- Employee performance management
and monitoring practice will effect Barclays bank as the organization can monitor the
performance of its employees, their time management and guide them various techniques to
increase their productivity in limited time. Bank employees will have less misunderstandings and
confusion about the objectives of the Barclays. The organization can also know the abilities of
learning and timely improvement of employees and accordingly know their contribution in
achievements of goals and objectives of Bank.
4)Payment and reward system- Payment and reward system will effect Barclays bank in these
ways- Barclays bank will be able to keep control over their employees and make them engaged
in their tasks. Employees will be more focused in their work as in order to obtain more rewards.
Barclays Bank's productivity will also be increased due to more hours of engaged employees in
the organization. It will create good image of Barclays bank in the minds of employees as they
will get extra than they earn.
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TASK 3
P5. Importance of Employee relation in reference to HRM decision making
Employee relation refers to relationship between employee and employer for the benefits of the
organization.
Barclays Bank has adopted the following strategies of improving employee relation which will
further help them in HRM decision making-
Conflict management- It is one of the strategy which is been followed by Barclays bank for
enhancing the employee relation. There are many sources of conflict in the workplace -
differences of opinion, dissatisfaction with working conditions or remuneration, excessive
workloads, lack of recognition or promotion, perceptions of discriminatory or unfair treatment,
feelings of insecurity, fear of redundancy, clashes of personality, misunderstandings. This can
hamper the working environment of company. HR has framed many rules and policies related to
conflict. To overcome the situation of conflict, HR team of Barclays motivates employees to share
their problems with them. This support them in enhancing the employee relation and also reduces
the turnover. By listening to issues of worker’s employee turnover has also been reduced in the
company. This has directly resulted in increase in profit.
Insisting on proper communication- Communication between employees will make them more
interactive and they will be able to know what they are working for. Poor communication leads
to misunderstandings and confusion which will lead to lack of consistency in performing a task.
Interactive employees can discuss the problems and their grievances with the management and
accordingly get clarity on goals and objectives of the bank. HR motivates employees to discuss
there problem with them which help them to improve employee relation . This will further help
Barclays bank to understand the entire scenario and accordingly help in decision making without
any complications
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Regular team meetings- Conducting regular team meetings will help Barclays bank know about
different views and ideas from their employees to solve a particular problem. The meeting would
not be too formal, it will be participation of all the employees and the manager may start and end
the meeting with a positive message. Similarly this strategy will assist Barclays bank in getting
ease of decision making process regarding various aspects of the organization. This will support
firm in enhancing employee relation and will also engage workers in organization.
Inspire and reward- Apart from their common task, Barclays bank will influence the employees
to set their short term goals which may be difficult but achievable. These goals may be quarterly
or weekly, which includes tasks more than the regular one. Each employee achieving these goals
and targets will be benefited through rewards and incentives. This will make employees of
Barclays bank to contribute more than their actual capabilities and benefit the organization. It
will improve relation between employer and employee. Also, Organization will be able to
perform more activities and improve its efficiency and expand its business.
Focus on company's mission and values- Every employee targets of achieving higher success
in organization regarding their jobs and performance. This is especially in younger employees.
This is the positive thought for Barclays bank. Managers can access the employees by sharing
company's mission and values which will turn out an inspiration for them to work as they know
their contributions and consider themselves as a part of Barclays bank.
P6. Key elements of employee legislation in respect to HRM decision making
The UK legislation is revised and as enacted 1267-present laws. The law becomes a act
of parliament when a Bill is approved by both Houses of Parliament and it receives the Royal
Assent.
Anti-discrimination Act 2010– Anti discrimination act of UK legislation, legislates
against prejudice based actions in the workplace. It protects the employees from discrimination
based on age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion and sexual orientation in the
organisation. The Anti-discrimination law includes Direct discrimination, Harassment,
Victimisation and Indirect discrimination in the work culture of an organisation. Direct
discrimination occurs when an employer treats someone less favourable in an organisation.
Harassment is being occur when anyone effects or violating the employee’s dignity in the
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workplace. Indirect discrimination involves the application of a provision and standardized
practice to everyone. (Morgeson, 2019).
Impact of Anti-Discrimination Act on HR decision making of Barclay's Bank
The human resource management of Barclay Bank has to take decision in accordance
with Anti-discrimination Act . They insures that every employee in the Barclay bank treated
equally on the ground of age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion and sexual
orientation. They resolve the disputes, Issues and Conflicts among the employees related to any
type of discrimination in the Bank. They provides justice to the employees in regards to any type
of discrimination they are facing in the Barclay Bank. At the time of recruitment, selection and
training process they insures that no favouritism or biasses is being done during the interview
round with any of the candidate. They treated every employee equally during decision making of
the recruitment and selection criteria of the vacant job candidate in the Barclay bank. (Guest,
2017)
The Data Protection Act 1998- The Data Protection Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act of
Parliament designed to protect personal data storage on computers or in any of organised paper
filing system of an organisation. It enacted the EU Data Protection Directive 1995's provisions
on the protection, security, processing and data mining(Nankervis, 2016).
The impact of Data Protection Act 1998 on HR decision making of Barclay's Bank
The Human resource management of Barclay Bank makes decisions in regards of
violation made by any of the employee regarding the Data protection and Data safety Act in the
Bank. They are responsible for securing the Data mining hacks in the Bank premises. The
Human resource department insures that no personal and private data of Barclay bank leaked
outside the bank premises, if it so than they take actions and implement decisions against the
Employee (DeCenzo , 2016).
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1974- The Health and Safety act 1974 is an Act of
the Parliament of the United Kingdom that insures Health and safety of employees in the
workplace. It comprises fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation
and enforcement of workplace health & safety and welfare within the Organisation (Guest,
2017).
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The impact of Health and Safety Act 1974 on HR decision making of Barclay's Bank
The Health and Safety Act 1974 of United Kingdom impacts the Human resource
management decisions of Barclay Bank. Under this Act the HR department insures that every
employee in the organisation feel secure while working in the Bank premises and they insures
that there is proper canteen facility in the Barclay Bank. They also insures sufficient water
supply and water availability in the Barclay Bank in order to fulfil health demands of the
employees. They insures that proper first aid facility is being given to the employees in case they
get any harm or injury while working in the Barclay Bank (Bratton and Gold 2017. Human
resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave).
TASK 4
P7. Application of HRM practices in work related context
Job description for Human resource assistant in Barclays bank
Job Title Human resource assistant
Reports to Human resource manager of Barclays bank
Roles & Responsibilities Recruiting efficient talent
Maintain work culture
Resolving conflicts
Providing training
Maintain employee relations
Strategic planning
Qualification Bachelors Degree in any stream
MBA in Human resource
CIPD qualified
Person specification for Human resource assistant in Barclays bank
Title of the job Human resource assistant
Date: 28/02/2019
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Qualification required Essential Desirable Met
Bachelor’s Degree in any
stream
MBA in Human resource
CIPD qualified
Yes
Yes
Need of Experience
Two years of experience
in any investment ban
or financial service
sector
Yes
Personal characteristics
& conduct
Interpersonal skills
decision-making,
organizational,
leadership, and
speaking skills;
Yes
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ability to use human
resource management
software
Yes
Roles and
Responsibilities
Recruiting efficient talent
Maintain work culture
Resolving conflicts
Providing training
Maintain employee
relations
Strategic planning
Yes
Yes
Rationale for Job description and person specification
Job description is being created to point out the main duties and responsibilities that is
been required for a job. This document is fully based on job analysis. It assisted Barclays bank in
selecting appropriate candidate for a job. It also assisted firm in describing the legitimate
minimum qualification required for a job. A job description must first accurately reflect the
duties of a particular position. In addition, other elements of the applicable exemptions must also
be present with respect to each individual worker to qualify as exempt (Brewster, 2016).
Person specification is a description of the qualifications, skills, experience, knowledge
and other attributes (selection criteria) which a candidate must possess to perform the job duties.
It makes the process of interview more streamlined. It helps to communicate equal opportunities
policies within the recruitment culture of a business. A person specification ensures company
that they are assessing a candidate on their abilities related to the role (Cooke, 2018).
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CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarised that training and development has assisted
organization in enhancing the efficiency of employees. Competitive advantage has been gained
by company by recruiting and selecting efficient and skilled employees. Also, flexible working
conditions has motivated workers to perform better. It has assisted firm in attracting more new
talent and retaining the skilled ones. Organization has also implemented various norms related to
health and safety. This aspect has made the environment of firm more better and effective for
employees. Company has been engaged in providing safe and healthy working conditions for
employees. Firm has used open communication as the strategy to enhance employee relations
and engagement. It has assisted employers to know about the loopholes coming in their training
part. It has also improved the relationship between employer and employee. Employee retention
has been increased by making use of various strategies such as open communication, conflict
management and negotiation. This has created a feeling of belongingness in the mind of workers.
Also providing learning to workers has supported firm in increasing the knowledge base of them.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bailey, C. and et.al., 2018. Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press
management. Kogan Page Publishers.
Boon, C. and et.al., 2018. Integrating strategic human capital and strategic human resource
management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management.29(1).pp.34-67.
Bou‐Llusar, J.C. and et.al., 2016. Single‐and multiple‐informant research designs to examine the
human resource management− performance relationship. British Journal of Management.
27(3). pp.646-668.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C. and et.al., 2016. International human resource.
Brewster, C and et.al., 2016. Globalizing human resource management. Routledge.
Cooke, F.L., 2018. Concepts, contexts, and mindsets: Putting human resource management
research in perspectives. Human Resource Management Journal. 28(1). pp.1-13.
DeCenzo and et.al., 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, Binder Ready
Version. John Wiley & Sons.
Guest, D.E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal. 27(1). pp.22-38.
Morgeson, F.P and et.al., 2019. Job and work analysis: Methods, research, and applications for
human resource management. Sage Publications.
Nankervis, A.R. and et.al., 2016. Human resource management: strategy and practice. Cengage
AU.
Newell, H. and Scarbrough, H., 2017. Human resource management in context: A case study
approach. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Noe, R.A. and et.al., 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Rothenberg, S and et.al., 2017. The impact of human resource management on corporate social
performance strengths and concerns. Business & Society.56(3).pp.391-418.
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