Human Resource Management Functions

This assignment delves into the crucial functions of human resource management (HRM) within an organization, highlighting their significance for efficient operations. It examines topics such as flexible working arrangements, employee relations, company rules and regulations concerning employee welfare, and M&S's specific recruitment process designed to optimize operational efficiency and manage costs.

HUMAN
RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
The report HRM deals with different aspects and approaches of HRM practices by taking Marks
And Spencer for a better understanding. It starts with overview of the company and different
methods used by the company and its strength and weakness. The report consists of various
employment rules Marks and Spencer has to follow along with the effectiveness of employment
relationship. The report ends with job specification and special notes for selecting candidates.
TASK 1
Overview of organisation
Marks and Spencer is a UK based public limited company which deals in clothing, home
decor products and also food and beverages. It targets the women of upper middle class and
higher class for selling their products (Bondarouk, T., 2016).
It has expanded its stores and outlets in many countries with efficient workforce and clear vision.
Marks and Spencer has emerged as a threat to its competitors with continuous improvement in
the quality of its product which satisfy its customers.
It offers wide range of products to its customers with quality and innovation. Recently, Marks
and Spencer's profit has been decline and many of its stores shut down due to heavy competition
and financial performance of M and S has declined (Stone and et.al., 2015).
Purpose and key role and responsibilities of HR function
Human resource management is the process of managing people in the company. Marks
and Spencer involves recruiting candidates, selecting the best candidate, train them and motivate
them to work hard to achieve organisational goals.
HRM of M and S deals with maintaining relation with trade unions, ensure safety of
employees, their welfare in context to laws. HRM deals with different functions that are planning
the goals of the company, organising tasks to achieve that goal, then directing the employees to
give best services to their customers and then maintain it to give competition to other clothing
companies.
The HR of Marks and Spencer perform activities like recruiting the candidates at stores where
there is need then analysing their performance in context to their productivity and sales and then
motivation the employees of the company by providing them discount at their stores and then
train them for further development if new technology is adopted by the company.

M and S uses two model for HR strategy where the best fit model make sure that
strategies of the company are suitable for every situation and do not impact operations and
culture of work and on the other hand for gaining competitive advantage M and S use best
practice model because it focuses on committed employees and the company do it by hiring
selective candidates, providing high security and compensation (Berman and et.al., 2019).
M and S uses two models of HRM which are hard model and soft model. The company uses
hard model to minimise the cost in the company. The company makes sure that its senior
management are preventing the company from operational barriers.
The company uses soft approach more than hard approach as it involves motivating employees,
their training and development and also their importance in the company. M and S use the
advantage of team work for the achievement of goals and success of the company.
Weakness and strength of different approaches of HR
Different approaches of HR are needed to plan workforce of the organisation to meet goals of the
company along with efficient services and production. These need to be efficient for smooth
operations. They are -
Recruitment – The process of inviting the candidates for specific position to work and to
create pool of candidates so that the company can choose the best fit candidate. Marks and
Spencer both sources of recruitment whether internal or external.
In internal recruitment the company hire the candidate for a position from company itself by
promoting them or transferring them.
Strength Weakness
It saves time and cost of the company.
Training and induction is not required.
It does not provide company to have fresh
talent.
It lacks creativity and innovation in the work.
In external recruitment the company recruits candidates from outside the organisation by
advertisement and employee referrals.
Strength Weakness
It enables company to have fresh pool of
talent.
It is not cost efficient and time consuming
method.

This method treats each candidate equally
which reduce the chance of biasses.
New candidates demand more compensation
and security.
Selection – The process of selecting the best candidate and eliminating other candidates
who does not fit for the job. The two way in which Marks and Spencer select the candidates are -
Aptitude tests – M and S use aptitude tests to select the candidates on the basis of
judging their numerical, verbal ability. The candidates are judge on the basis of their knowledge
and performance in the test.
Strength Weakness
This helps the company to Judge the ability
and mental skills of the candidate
It does not show the performance aspect of the
candidate.
Situational judgement test – to see the ability of the candidate they are allotted with
unfamiliar situations that they likely to face while working in marks and Spencer.
Strength Weakness
It helps the company to judge the decision
making power of the candidate.
The answers can be manipulated and
interviewer can be bias.
Training and development – Every employee needs continuous training and
development to keep on improving their skills and knowledge. Marks and Spencer uses in store
technology strategy to train their staff for providing better services to the customers.
Strength Weakness
It leads to less employee turnover and
increases the sales skills of employee.
In case if employee leaves it leads to loss of
resources of company.
Effectiveness of employee relation and employee performance
Employee relation refers to the relationship between different employees among themselves as
well as the employer. If the relationship between employee and employer is efficient the working

environment of company get smooth and efficient. There are few ways used by Marks and
Spencer to maintain employee relation which are -
Open communication – To promote and improve employee relation the company used open
communication which increased the productivity of the company and increased its sales
(Jabbour, 2016)
Motivation of employees – Marks and Spencer motivates its employee by providing them
incentives and appraisals.
Vision sharing – The company share the vision with its employees to make them feel sense of
belongingness in the company.
To make the relation effective and performance better Marks and Spencer use reward
management to distribute the reward among employee fairly. The company uses both intrinsic
and extrinsic factor to motivate it employees. It makes them feel recognised and they feel sense
of achievement. Intrinsic factor are appreciation, word of mouth whereas extrinsic factor
includes pay, bonus etc.
Marks and Spencer uses Atkinson's model for flexible arrangements where it divided the
employees in two parts core and peripheral group. The core group consists of people who cannot
be replaced and are important to company whereas other group consists of less skilled workers
(Shipton, H., and et.al., 2016).
There are 3 forms of flexibility -
Functional flexibility – In this Marks and Spencer allocate there core workers to different tasks
in different teams and allot them training and their pay is re evaluated.
Numerical flexibility – This is for peripheral group in which M and S hire temporary unskilled
labour to match their labour demands.
Financial flexibility – M and S uses this to adjust the supply and demand of labour and to
maintain workforce.
This model helps M and S to achieve employment flexibility which lead to increase in
productivity and also can fill the staff when labour are required. It also leads to flexibility in
work which help in technology updation and to have flexible operations.
Marks and Spencer provide its employee with flexible working operations which include
suppressed weeks in which employees just have to work 5 days a week after completing their
working hours, the company allow its workers to share job and work as well as provide them

with flexible working arrangements where employees can work from anywhere. It has benefit to
both the employer and employee -
Benefit to employee Benefit to employer
It increases employee's morale and
productivity of employees.
It leads to motivated employees and increases
the loyalty of employees.
It reduces the absenteeism in the company.
It reduces employee turnover in the company.
Other important practices performed by HR are following –
Employee performance management – Employee performance management refers to strategy,
practices and policy of an organisation with respect to developing performance expectations for
its employees along with measuring as well as monitoring the outcomes. Hr department plays a
essential role in establishing and implementing performance appraisals, the human resource
management team act as a mediator between the employee and functional heads.
Reward management – Reward system is essential for motivating employees to work towards
achieving strategic goals or objectives which are set by entities. Reward management is not only
concerned with employee benefits and pay. It is also concerned with non-financial rewards for
example training, recognition, increased job responsibility and development.
Employee Motivation – Motivating employees is also very essential for improving workforce as
well as organisational performance, in order to motivate employees in an organisation the HR
department performs and a wide range of activities & techniques for example providing bonuses,
conducting team activities, trips etc.
Key areas of employment legislation
The law that governs employees and employer within the code of conduct and laws imposed by
government at the workplace is known as employee legislation. There are different laws that are
need to be followed by marks and Spencer in order to protect the interest, privacy and safety of it
employees which are -
Forced labour – All the M and S employee work on voluntary basis and not under any threat .
The termination of employee cannot be done without any reason but only after giving proper
notice to the employee.

Working hours – In M and S the working hours of employee are fixed according to the national
law and the company make sure that employees are allotted with proper breaks and time off.
Healthy and safe working conditions – The working condition of M &Sis clean, safe and
healthy to promote and support its employees and, maintain their health.
Harassment and abuse – Marks and Spencer make sure that the environment of company stay
positive and free from bullying and everyone treat each other with respect (Presbitero, 2017).
Data privacy – M and s handles all the data of its employees with context to data protection
laws which ensures that the data of employees containing their personal details is safe and
secure.
Information about employment – M and S provides employee with information about their
wages, condition of employment, holidays etc. in the written form.
TASK 2
Job specification for the position of HR
Job specification refers to the statement of requirements and skills and experience and duties for
a particular job. The job specification for the manager of HR for M & S -
JOB SPECIFICATION
Job title HR Manager
Department Human Resource Department
Educational
Qualification
Requirements
Bachelor's degree in HR.
Masters degree in Human Resource.
Experience Experience of 3 to 5 years preferably in the similar industry.
Experience in managing professional staff.
Experience as a trusted member of executive team.
Experience in HR leadership and organisational development.
Knowledge & Skills Ability to manage different projects.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to act under pressure.
Ability to handle customers.

Ability to work alone and as a team.
Ability to be self motivated and motivate others as well.
Proficiency in more than two languages
Other Requirements Watch out for employee's complaints, safety, welfare and health.
Oversee employment law and its implementation.
CV of candidate applying for interview
CV stands for curriculum vitae which includes candidate's accomplishments, education,
objective, interests and references who is applying for the job. The candidate applying for HR
manager's vacancy in M and S -
HR MANAGER
David Anderson / 24, South road, Wedlock, UK / 0513459806 / [e-mail]
Professional Summary
A reliable, knowledgeable, skilful and experienced HR professional with confidence. Offering a
wide understanding of employment law as well as performance management along with
capability and disciplinary procedures. Able to learn quickly and have a good knowledge and
experience about team work. Currently looking for permanent post as a Human Manager.
Professional Qualifications
Certification in employee engagement, talent development and employment law.
Full driving license.
Approved instructor in health and safety at workplace
Staff training course from Howard college.
Key skills
Capable of analysing situations and suggesting solutions
Excellent verbal and written communication
Proficiency in 3 languages.
Experience
Interviewing potential and existing employees

Advising, guiding and counselling current employees
Maintains HR administrative record in accordance with company's policy.
Academic qualifications
Manchester university (2011 -2014) – Human Resource Management – (A) level passes in
English.
References
It will be supplied upon request.
Documentation of preparatory notes
To select the perfect candidate for the post of HR manger the candidates must fulfil some of the
basic requirements at the time of interview.
 Meet all the requirements mentioned in job specification.
 A well organised resume by the candidate provided to the manger.
 Confident and soothing personality
 Well dressed and well spoken
 Carry all necessary certification and degrees
 Knowledgeable and trust worthy
 Logical thinking and quick decision making
 Dynamic personality and high IQ
 Well behaved and soft spoken
 Knowledge about current business scenarios
 Know about new technology updation
Based on all these requirements and notes interviewer select the interviewee for the post of
Human resource manager.
Format of offer letter of selected candidate
John Lee
145 Business road, London City 56789 – 89067543 – [e-mail]
March 1, 2019
David Anderson

24, South road, Wedlock,
UK / 0513459806
This is an offer of employment as a HR manger at M & S. This offer is contingent upon our
receipt of all the certificates you have awarded with.
In the role of HR manger, you will be expected to carry out the duties and responsibilities
described in the enclosed job description.
We are offering you a base salary of £40,000,00 which will be subject to deduction of taxes and
other things required by law or policies of company.
For employment with M and S, you are required to sign the agreement prior to your joining date.
As an employee of M and S, you will receive paid holidays decided by the company. All
employee benefits are subject to periodic company review and can be changed without
notice(Korff,, 2017)
Process of recruitment
Recruitment planning - The HR manager of marks and Spencer make a draft of vacant position
in the company, and outlining the responsibilities of the job, with skills and requirement of
qualification.
Strategy development - After evaluating the requirements of job, the next step is to invite the
applicants and for that M & S use external as well as internal recruitment.
Searching candidates – After making the strategy the HR manger choose the method of
recruitment and invite the applicants.
Screening – It is important step of recruitment as in this step HR shortlists the candidates who
were fit for the job. The screened applicants are then invited for interview which is situational
based and ability based and that let HR know the suitability of the candidate in the company. In
this step the candidate does not know bout the job specification but all of them compete to p-
rove their efficiency and skills as best (Human resource management 2016).
Evaluation and control – The last step of recruitment is to evaluate and control office expenses,
cost of unfilled vacancies, cost of recruiting unfit candidates, cost of advertisement etc. to
control the cost and operations of the company.

Rationale for conducting HR practices
Recruitment – The process of inviting applicants for vacant position in the company. It allows
company to have new and fresh talent, whereas its disadvantage is that it is expensive method.
The reason for conducting this practice is to have better human resource in the company.
Selection – The process of eliminating candidates and selecting the best one. Its advantage is
that new employee bring enthusiasm and disadvantage is that it is time consuming. The reason to
conduct selection process is to increase efficiency of operations by having skilled employees.
Training & development - The process to train employee to increase their work efficiency and
develop their knowledge. Its advantage is to have a skilled developed workforce that can work
efficiently and disadvantage is that it creates unnecessary competition among employees. The
reason to perform it to make the optimum utilisation of human as well as other resources.
CONCLUSION
The report concluded the importance of different HR functions and their purpose for efficient
working of organisation. It stated the importance of flexible working arrangements and
employee relations. It concluded the rules and regulations used by company in context to
employees and their welfare. At last the report concluded the process used by M & S for
recruiting candidates for better operations and to maintain cost of operations.
REFERENCES
Books and journal
Berman, E.M., and et.al., 2019. Human resource management in public service:
Paradoxes, processes, and problems. CQ Press.
Bondarouk, T., 2016. Human resource information systems. In Encyclopedia of Human
Resource Management. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. eds., 2017. Policy and practice in european human
resource management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.

Jabbour, C.J.C. and de Sousa Jabbour, A.B.L., 2016. Green human resource management
and green supply chain management: Linking two emerging agendas. Journal of Cleaner
Production.112.pp.1824-1833.
Korff, J., Biemann, T. and Voelpel, S.C., 2017. Human resource management systems and
work attitudes: the mediating role of future time perspective. Journal of Organizational
Behavior.38(1).pp.45-67.
Presbitero, A., 2017. How do changes in human resource management practices influence
employee engagement? A longitudinal study in a hotel chain in the Philippines. Journal of
Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism.16(1).pp.56-70.
Shipton, H., and et.al., 2016. Human resource management, innovation and performance:
looking across levels. In Human Resource Management, Innovation and Performance (pp. 1-12).
Palgrave Macmillan, London.
Stone, D.L., and et.al., 2015. The influence of technology on the future of human resource
management. Human Resource Management Review.25(2).pp.216-231.
Online
Human resource management 2016. [Online]. Available through: <Bondarouk, T., 2016.
Human resource information systems. In Encyclopedia of Human Resource Management.
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited>

1