Human Resource Management in Rolls Royce: Strategies and Practices during COVID-19

This essay discusses the strategies and practices of human resource management in Rolls Royce during COVID-19. It includes an analysis of environmental factors on organisational culture along with the HR plan. The essay also consists of an analysis of job design strategies along with hiring and firing strategies during pandemic.

Human resource
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
The process of human resource management consists of managing human resources
within an organisation through hiring, deploying as well as provide motivation to them in order
to achieve business objectives in an efficient and effective manner. Optimum utilisation of
manpower facilitates in risks reduction along with maximising returns on investment within
business. In this present essay, the chosen organisation is Rolls Royce which is a UK-based
luxury automobile manufacturing company. This essay includes the various concepts in context
to the respective company such as how strategies and practices are changed by organisation as
effect of COVID-19. It also involves an analysis of environmental factors on organisational
culture along with the HR plan (Al-Romeedy, 2019). Model of HR will also be discussed in
context to Rolls Royce with Storey's 27 points of difference between personnel as well as HR
management. Moreover, this essay also consists of an analysis of job design strategies along with
hiring and firing strategies during pandemic. In this existing essay different examples of
corporate firms will also going to be described that are making use of best strategies and
practices of HR and along with it recommendations will also be given to the organisation for
making sure that its performance high.
MAIN BODY
The concept of strategic human resource management includes different aspects of HRM
that performs together to initiate execution as well as environment that are needed to meet
organisational goals. Within Rolls Royce, the process of strategic HRM helps in optimising the
fertility through improving effectiveness of its workforce.
During COVID-19, the company had changed its HR practices and there are some
perspectives in relation to this. Remote working is a strategy that provides flexible working
arrangement which permits manpower to work from the remote areas outside official place.
Within Rolls Royce, organisational employees were working from their respective homes or
their remote areas after pandemic situation (Al‐Ghazali and Afsar, 2021). This strategy
facilitated organisation in maintaining workforce engagement, retention and morale. Virtual team
management is another strategy that involves the combination of business activities which are
used to gather, develop, arrange, monitor and supervise the virtual teamwork. Effective
management of virtual teams within Rolls Royce helps the manpower in attaining better

flexibility and concepts of work-life balance which they are perpetually wished. This kind of
strategy provides benefit to organisation through facilitating every human resource in seeking
what everyone is up to. This type of HR strategy helps in maintaining manpower collaboration
and the work can be completed anywhere. Rolls Royce also had made some personalised
software in order to operate various functions of business. These kinds of software help the
organisation in managing as well as monitoring human resource performance through a digital
way (Baran, Filipkowski and Stockwell, 2019). Automation system within company allows
superiors in tracking its workforce performance and measuring real-time progress of employees,
organisational management identifies the gaps in performance quickly and taking corrective
actions. Another kind of HR strategy in which the Rolls Royce has made changes is digitally
hiring process within the organisation. Dureing the pandemic situation of COVID-19, the
managers of the company had started hiring its human resources through a digital mode. This
process facilitates the organisation in saving its cost as well as time that provide assistance in
shorten the process of hiring and recruiting. With the help of this HR strategy, the organisation
has provided with the efficient as well as cheaper way regarding filling the vacant seats within
the company.
The framework of PEST Analysis has been used for making an analysis of the impact of
external factors on the organisational culture. Pest analysis consists of political, economic, social
and technological factors that have impact on functioning of company. In context to Rolls Royce,
political guideline of COVID-19 is the major factor that influence organisational culture and HR
planning of manpower in an adverse manner. Because of spreading of infection of this disease,
government of UK has made specific guidelines and policies such as social distancing and proper
sanitisation. To adhere such political guidelines and regulations, the company had to change its
organisational culture and it became typical for the human resources of the organisation to work
under the new organisational culture (Berman and et.al, 2021). Economic factors consist of
taxation rate, inflation rate, exchange rate, interest rate, employment rate, etc. Within United
Kingdom, infectious disease of COVID-19 has adversely influenced the performance as well as
culture of Rolls Royce. Ineffective hiring practices led to the increment in the cost of the
organisation and has also reduced the level of profitability as well as productivity that hampers
the financial statements of the company. Consumer buying behaviour, population growth, taste
and preferences of customer-base are some common examples of social factor which influence

functioning of industry. In context to Rolls Royce, market share of company preferred to stay at
homes or their places only during the pandemic situation instead of stepping out of their homes.
It greatly impacted the planning of HR of respective organisation as workforce had prepared
different marketing strategies to attract more target-base. However, human resources of Rolls
Royce have made changes in their HR plans and provided their services through understanding
changing perceptions of customers. It positively influenced the performance of organisation and
also facilitated in increasing productivity level (Carden, Kovach and Flores, 2021). With the
passage of time, utilisation of technology has enhanced within UK and Rolls Royce is using
highly upgraded technology in dealing with its business operations. In context to COVID-19,
respective company is using that technology which offers its automobile goods and related
services through online stores for attracting more consumers. It has favourably impacted the
planning of human resources and brought positive results within the organisation.
There are various models of HR that facilitates organisation in managing its manpower in
an effective as well as efficient way for meeting business objectives and goals. Some of HR
models are The Warwick, The Harvard, The Fombrum, The Guest model. In order to understand
the process of creation of values by the firm, the HR model of The Harvard is taken into
consideration that demonstrate the concept in context to Rolls Royce. This kind of model
consists of more holistic strategy to HR that includes different outcome levels as well as
components. The Harvard model starts with the stakeholders interest like management,
government, shareholders, employees, etc. All these kinds of stakeholders facilitated the
organisation in defining its policies regarding human resource management. Rolls Royce is
adhering all the rules and the policies that are framed by the different stakeholders of the
company and attain the organisational objectives and success of the business. Likewise, there are
some of the situational factors also that has great influence on the interest of stakeholders and
along with it, these determinants also include unions as well as characteristics of human
resources (Haak-Saheem and Festing, 2020). Such determinants are considered as temporary
conditions which impact buying patterns of customer-base. This includes physical factors such as
lighting, layout, music and buying locations of the stores. Rolls Royce has made efforts to make
such physical determinants in favour of the targeted audience in order to enhance sales of the
business. Situational factors and stakeholder interest influence HRM policies and involve key
business activities like hiring, training, etc. Managers of Rolls Royce have conducting effective

hiring practices and giving training sessions to manpower of the company in order to build their
skills as well as abilities so that organisational work can be accomplished in an efficient and
effective manner. When this process is completed in a correct and accurate way then policies of
human resource management lead to positive results. This consists of commitment, competence,
retention and cost-effectiveness of human resources of company. In respective company,
employees perform tasks in a precise way that facilitates in saving costs and time of organisation
as a whole. Such positive result of HRM lead to long-time outcomes and it can be individual,
team or entire organisation (Karman, 2020). In Rolls Royce, concept of HRM continuously
creating favourable consequences and facilitates in managing organisational sustainability within
market-place.
The model of Storey's 27 points of differences between the human resource management
and the personnel management expresses that there are several aspects of HRM as well as
personnel management that are on the basis of specific features. Human resource management
primarily concentrates on the manner of treating manpower as the valued assets of the
organisation which are to be used, valued and perceived. On the other hand, personnel
management mainly focuses on the the ordinary activities of the business like hiring of human
resources, remunerating them, providing training sessions to them along with the harmony.
Strategic perspectives, line management, key levers along with the beliefs as well as assumptions
are considered as some of the common dimensions that helps human resources in explaining the
differences between the two different management, that is, human resource management and
personnel management. In relation to the Rolls Royce, policies an regulations of human resource
management are being exercised by the organisation within UK as the strategy is associated with
the management of workforce within the workplace. Within the respective organisation, different
strategies and practices of human resource management are followed as the company deals with
the proper management of its manpower together with contributing to the success of the
company (Koirala and Acharya, 2020). Furthermore, the policies that are concerned with human
resource management are being used in order to build skills as well as capabilities of its
workforce. The main focus of the policies of HRM is concerned with developing dynamic
organisational culture through integrated initiatives, fast process of decision-making, nurturing
risks that are associated with the management of the workplace, direct communication,
harmonising conditions, de-emphasising conflicts managing labour with the individual contract

as well as broad ranging personnel along with the structural strategies. Within Rolls Royce, the
policies of human resource management are being used with the behaviour referent of mission/
vision, transformational leadership and unitarist nature of the relations. The concept of strategic
HRM helps the respective company in maintaining all the employees of the organisation as well
as the administrative system along with the forecasting requirements of the human resources and
adjusting the organisational systems with the help of continuous monitoring situations within its
country.
The concept of job design consists of developing the responsibilities and roles of
workforce along with the organisational systems and the procedures which are to be adhered by
them within workplace (Legge, 2020). In context to Rolls Royce, the process of job design
provides assistance to management of organisation in optimising and coordinating the method of
performing work in order to create values as well as increase level of performance of the
business as a whole. There are different types of strategies of job design and some of them are
described in relation to Rolls Royce. Job rotation is considered as the systematic movement of
the manpower from one place to another within workplace in order to attain various objectives
concerned with HR such as preventing job boredom, enhancing career development, training of
employees, orienting new workforce, etc. It facilitates Rolls Royce in generating the
environment of business more challenging and getting manpower learning new skills for facing
challenges within business. Job enrichment is that job deign strategy in which organisational
employees get motivated through adding dimensions in present job roles. There are some
examples of job enrichment like creating autonomy, adding means to job, increasing skills,
giving feedback, adding extra task, etc. within Rolls Royce, manpower gets motivated in order to
work hard so that performance of organisation as a unit can be improved. It also facilitates in
lessen the absenteeism along with getting improvements in productivity and quality of
organisation as a whole (Ling and et.al, 2018). In job enlargement strategy of job design, scope
of a specific is enhanced by increasing duties of job generally within same level. This consists of
combining various business activities at same level within organisation and adding them to
current job. In context to Rolls Royce, job enlargement assists in diminishing monotony of task
and helps manpower in learning more skills that helps business in achieving its success. Job
simplification is another kind of job design strategy which is concerned with removal of tasks
from existing roles for making them more focussed. This type of job design tool facilitates Rolls

Royce in enhancing its operational efficiency along with improving customer satisfaction as well
as manpower productivity.
The aspect of hiring and firing strategies is considered as key perspectives of a business
in which the process of hiring is stated as the more engagement of workers in order to offer
different services of the organisation. There are some hiring and firing strategies in relation to
Rolls Royce during the post COVID-19. Hiring strategies involve telephonic recruitment, video
conferencing, social media, etc. At time of post COVID, Rolls Royce is making hiring practices
through video calls. This kind of strategy facilitates organisation in making an analysis of
communication behaviour as well as body language of manpower (Oluwatayo and Adetoro,
2020). Rolls Royce is also practising hiring through telephone calls at the time of post COVID.
This telephonic strategy assists recruiters in determining whether the candidate is matching with
initial requirements of specific job role or not. Social media is another kind of hiring strategy
which is practised by Rolls Royce as it facilitates in spreading information regarding company
and its job openings which assists passive and active candidates in getting these messages or
informations. Contrary to it, the process of firing is concerned with the declining in the number
of human resources which are not properly providing services of the company. Firing strategies
within Rolls Royce include taking decisive actions, feedback basis and many more. Respective
company is firing its employees on the basis of their feedbacks through making an analysis of
whether the workforce is properly responding feedbacks or not. If feedbacks given by managers
of company are not appropriately responded by human resources and are continuously working
in same way as before then, administrators of organisation fire those workers. Taking decisive
actions is another kind of firing strategy in context of Rolls Royce. At the time of post COVID,
the management within the respective organisation fire manpower through measuring their real
performances in comparison to the standard performance by making use of a software (Popescu
and Kyriakopoulos, 2022). This strategy helps the company in maintaining effectiveness within
the business by taking corrective measures as well as actions at right time.
There are different kinds of corporate firms that are making use of best practices and
strategies which are concerned with HR and some of the corporate firms are Sainsburys, Marks
& Spencer, Nissan and many more. Sainsbury is making use of best HR practices such as having
more abilities and skills in relation to the innovation of the products and adding uniqueness
within its services. It does not matter that how tight the margin of profitability is within the retail

industry of supermarket, the respective company has always been considered as a consistent
performer. The principle reason behind its considerable level of profitability is the consistent
ability of Sainsburys regarding innovating its products as well as related services within the
workplace. Marks & Spencer is another corporate firm that is using best HR practices and
strategies. The respective organisation is loved by many of the customer base and the company is
having strong customer loyalty. Retention and engagement of human resources within the
organisation keeps Marks & Spencer at the top level of the business success. The respective
organisation has a strong value in maintaining the employee relations, getting honors and awards
(Reina and Scarozza, 2021). From constant conference calls to the administration to day-to-day
huddles among workforce of the company, communication process is considered as the key to
success of Marks & Spencer. Nissan is considered as the most recognised manufacturing
company with the British productivity. Kaizen is a principle philosophy of Nissan which
encourages employee to make continuous improvements in the way the job is done. Teams hired
within respective organisation are considered as the best of their kind and every team member is
geared towards improvement of skills for shining among the rest companies. HR practices at
Nissan consists of transaprent salary scales as well as full autonomy for the leaders in order to
hire and develop their own teams (Shaw, 2021). Such kind of practice is not seen in the
automobile industry however, in Nissan it is the core key to manufacturing and production
success.
From above discussion of the essay, it has been cleared that there are different practices
and strategies of human resource management like effective hiring practices, providing security
to manpower, best onboarding experiences, far competition, performance based compensation,
etc. It is recommended to the managers of Rolls Royce that they must use effective hiring
strategies to recruit human resources within the organisation. The company is also recommended
to motivate its employees through various ways like providing financial and non-financial
incentives. Effective recruitment strategy facilitates the company in declining its business cost
and also helps in increasing market share of the organisation. When management of Rolls Royce
would motivate its employees then the workforce would like to do more hard work that lead to
enhancement in the level of viability as well as productivity of the company. There are also
another strategies that are recommended to the superiors of Rolls Royce such as building self-
managed as well as effective teams, providing fair and performance based compensation,

providing security to manpower, giving training sessions in order to develop more skills. Such
kinds of human resource management practices and strategies would assist the respective
company in the achievement of its business growth as well as success. It would also facilitate the
management of the company in enjoying greater level of profitability and productivity within the
organisation. It is also recommended to the managers of Rolls Royce to concentrate on employee
retention and developing trust among subordinates within the workplace. By offering
extraordinary opportunities to workforce, level of abilities and skills of human resources would
be enhanced and help them in facing different complexities that occurred within organisation. All
such strategies and practices of HRM would provide assistance to Rolls Royce in making
improvements in performance of its workforce and the business as a whole.
CONCLUSION
From above explanation of the essay, it has been concluded that HRM is a significant key
in order to monitor and maintain the performance of human resources as well as organisation. In
this present essay, the strategies of HR that were changed by the company after post COVID-19
have been described and along with it, the pest analysis has also been used for making an
analysis of the influence of environmental factors that impacts the performance of the industry.
By making use of such analysis, the management within the organisation can frame better
business decisions to gain competitive benefits. HR model has also been explained in the above
essay stating the ways in which the company gains the value with the help of that model.
Moreover, various strategies of job design have also been discussed in this essay in relation to
Rolls Royce that facilitate the company in achieving its success in an effective as well as
efficient manner. Furthermore, hiring and firing strategies also have been explained in this
existing essay that would facilitate it in improving its functioning. Some corporate firms have
been described in this essay that are making use of best HR practices and along with it
recommendations have been given to company for ensuring performance of the business is high
by as it has been using HR practices as well as strategies.

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