Human Resource Management - Scope & Purpose

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
TASK1.............................................................................................................................................1
A). Purpose of HRM and its scope..............................................................................................1
B). Strength and weakness of current selection method used by organisation...........................3
C) Potential improvement that can be made by Chocolate Presence for enhancing selection
process.........................................................................................................................................4
TASK2.............................................................................................................................................5
A) Person specification for receptionist......................................................................................5
B) Advantages and disadvantages of current method of job advertisement...............................6
C) Recommendations for job advertisement at Chocolate Presence for receptionist.................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
(a) Adoption of graduate schemes and internships by Microsoft along with its benefits to
employer and employee..............................................................................................................7
B) Identification of arrangements and its benefits to Microsoft and employee's........................7
C) Evaluation of methods to motivate workforce and designing job roles.................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
A) Meaning of employee engagement and its importance in maintaining effective relation...10
B) Key approaches to engage workers and how to communicate them at workplace..............11
C) Key elements of UK legislation by explaining its influence on HR decisions....................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Human resources management is defined as the strategic approach which support in
effective management of people with the organisation so that their efforts could be directed
toward the accomplishment of organisational goals (Alfes, and et. al., 2013). This is basically
designed to maximise the employee performance by working over formulating policies, listening
the issues of employees, reward and remuneration to workers etc. This report contains a
description regarding The Chocolate Presence and Microsoft organisation. Among which The
Chocolate Presence which is an organisation based in North Yorkshire and provide tailor made
chocolate-based greeting cards throughout the UK. It maintains a group of small team that work
toward creating and designing the more specialist gift orders. On other side Microsoft is an
American multinational company which is headquartered in Washington. It basically develops,
support, license and market the computer software, personal computers and consumer electronics
throughout the world. This report contains a description regarding the purpose and function of
HRM along with strength & weakness of different recruitment & Selection approaches. Further it
contains explanation regarding benefits of HRM practices to employer & employee, its
effectiveness in increasing profitability and productivity along with significance of employee
relations and legislations over HR decision making.
PART 1
TASK1
A). Purpose of HRM and its scope
Human resources is consider to be the most essential part of an organisation as they are
responsible for the accomplishment of organisational objectives. But this become only possible
when they are managed and controlled effectively as it help in directing the efforts of the
employees in right direction (Amberg and McGaughey, 2019). Human resource management is
defined as the process of recruiting, hiring, deploying and managing the employees working
within the organisation. This work toward handling all the aspects that are related with
employees and is also responsible for maintain the better relationship with employees and
positioning the right person on right job so that organisational objectives can be accomplished
with their personal goals. The Chocolate Presence is increasing rapidly in marketplace by
offering tailor made chocolate greeting cards throughout the UK.
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But despite of this the staff turnover is also getting increased which is required to be
managed as it can affect the operations as well as performance of company at marketplace. This
can be minimised with the help of appropriate human resource management as HR manager act
as a link between organisation and employees who ensure the accomplishment of personal goals
along with organisational objectives (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Hence, the Chocolate
Presence is required to perform effective workforce planning and resourcing in order to keep
employees satisfied and retain them for longer period of time. For this following purpose and
function are required to be considered by the HR manager of The Chocolates Presence: Recruitment & Selection:- It is one of major functional part of Human Resource
Management which help in ensuring that the high skilled and eligible candidate must get
selected for the right position so that the goals and objectives of organisation can easily
get accomplished. The HR manager of The Chocolates Presence must focuses toward
hiring the high skilled employees for the vacant job position who have the capability to
deal with changes. So that they would be compatible with the operations performed
within the organisation and be remain connected for longer duration.
 Training & Development:- It is also an another essential function of HR manager within
which employees are being provided with proper guidance in order to improve their
current as well as future quality of work. By arranging regular training & development
program for its employees, HR manager of The Chocolates Presence will be able to
enhance the knowledge as well as skills of its workforce as per the external environment
so that they would be able to perform operations effectively. In addition to this The
Chocolates Presence will also be able to keep employees satisfied with their job that
reduces the staff turnover.
Purpose:-
The main purpose of Human Resources Department is to ensure that the operations must
be aligned within right direction that support in maximising the productivity that further help
The Chocolates Presence company in achieving competitive advantage (Banfield, Kay and
Royles, 2018). Following are the purpose of The Chocolates Presence's HR manager:
 Performance appraisal:- The human resources manager is responsible for the evaluating
the performance of its employees that help in identifying the performance gap and try to
improve it. The HR manager of Chocolates Presence must regularly evaluate the
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performance of employees and try to identify the gap between actual and planned
performance so that proper guidance can be provided in order to fix up the gap. This will
support in keeping employees dedicated toward their work and happy with their job.
 Law compliance:- The purpose of HR manager is to ensure the operations must be
performing within the organisation by considering all the legal requirements and
standards for avoiding any sort of legal issues (Bloom and Van Reenen, 2011). The HR
manager of The Chocolates Presence must have a through knowledge of legislations so
that workforce planning can be performed in effective manner by considering all the
regulatory requirements.
B). Strength and weakness of current selection method used by organisation
Selection is refers to as a procedure through which interviewer organise several tests in
order to examine the candidates in term of their capability for selecting a new and perspective
candidates that contribute toward accomplishment of organisational goals and objectives
(Bratton and Gold, 2017). Therefore selection is consider as crucial function of HR manager
which support in placing a right candidate over the vacant job position. A selection process
initiated by Chocolate presence for hiring high skilled staffs which includes several steps to be
clear by aspirants for getting a job. In this, first of all the candidates have to go through an
assessment test which is of two section i.e. maths and English comprehensive. In these exams
candidates have to clear with 50% score to pass the test as it make them eligible for next step i.e.
direct interview. But before that the reference of the passed candidate will be checked and after
getting positive outcome the candidates are called for informal interview round. This selection
methods have both strength and weaknesses which are mentioned below:
Interview:- It is process through which interviewer judge the skills and capability of
individual by asking several questions and on which the final decision depends (Buller and
McEvoy, 2012). In Chocolate presence the informal Interview is being taken by the HR for
selecting a candidate and its strength or weaknesses are mentioned below:
Advantages Disadvantages
It support in evaluating the skills or
capability of candidate by making them
relax while meeting and testing their ability
by formulating questions as per situation.
This interview is not effective as it doesn't
involve any sort of formal interview questions
required test the capability of individual as per
designation rather it involve general questions
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that are not much linked with job role.
Testing:- In this method, company take several tests of candidates that involve aptitude,
knowledge, mathematical test etc. in order to evaluate logical as well as practical skills of that
person. The Chocolate presence conduct assessment test of candidates i.e. maths and English
comprehensive
Advantages Disadvantages
This support in evaluating that how well the
candidates is good in its analytical skills and
be able to communicate effectively
The major drawback of this is that it is time
consuming and lengthy process which makes
selection process more expensive.
C) Potential improvement that can be made by Chocolate Presence for enhancing selection
process
The Chocolate presence is facing an increase in staff turnover which require the human
resources depar6tment to change its selection process in order to hire such candidates that show a
better and long term sustainability within the organisation by staying it with longer time period.
In addition to this there are certain complaints found from the applicants that regarding the
fairness in test as they think HR present a bias behaviour. So in order to improve its brand image
it is crucial for the HR department to Chang its selection process. Following are the improvement
that it can made in this process:
 The Chocolate presence perform informal interview round for final selection of candidate
which not let determining the actual personality of a candidate. Hence company must
focus toward switching it with formal interview round so that proper evaluation of mind
and capability of individual can be done to select best out of available.
 The testing phase of selection process must also be added with reasoning to determining
the actual compatibility of individual. Despite of this it must also added with group
discussion that help in determining the presence of mind and cognitive thinking
capability of individual.
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TASK2
A) Person specification for receptionist
Person specification is defined as a document which represent the skills, ability,
knowledge and quality required for a particular job position. With the help of personal
specification the HR manager of Chocolate Presence become able to understand regarding the
skills and capabilities that are required within an individual for gaining the job position of
receptionist. The personal specification for the receptionist job role in Chocolate Presence is
discussed under:-
Person Specification
Position: Receptionist
Department: Administration unit
Reporting to: Manager of Administration department
Attributes Essential Desirable
Qualification & Experience Candidate must have a
graduation degree with approx
60% marks from reputed
university. He/She must have
a experience of 6 months as a
receptionist which is
mandatory for job role.
Applicant must completed
post graduation in hospitality
sector and having an working
experience from a reputed
firm is more preferable.
Skills or Knowledge Candidate should have good
spoken as well as written skill
so that it would be easier for
them to communicate with
customers effectively over
telephonic communication.
Must be excel in IT skills
which are required to maintain
data gathered from different
departments and external
parties a well. Must have
multi tasking capability and
proficient at communication
skills.
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B) Advantages and disadvantages of current method of job advertisement
Chocolate Presence applies both type of advertising such as internal and eternal. In case
of internal adverting, it will helps an organisation to reduce their cost. Main purpose of using
these advertising is to encourage the existing skilled worker. On the other hand, under external
advertising, Chocolate presence advertise vacant position via notice boards outside the main
entrance. Therefore, there are some advantages and disadvantages of internal and external
advertising which will be determine as under:
Types of advertising Advantages Disadvantages
Internal advertising The existing performances of
workers act as a base for
finding their worthiness for the
given job role.
Internal advertising would lose
the employee's moral who do
not get chosen for new job
role.
External advertising With the help of external
advertising, Chocolate
Presence can easily reach to
the mass population via notice
board advertising at reasonable
price.
External advertising is more
time and cost consuming
method for Chocolate
Presence.
C) Recommendations for job advertisement at Chocolate Presence for receptionist
Chocolate Presence must use media advertising which is an effective method of external
advertising. Print media or social media are consider more effective part of media advertising
and helps an organisation to advertise their vacant post . Chocolate Presence must advertise for
the vacancy of receptionist on different social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter etc. All these websites helps candidate's by providing accurate information about nature
of job, experience required, person specification etc.
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PART 2
TASK 3
(a) Adoption of graduate schemes and internships by Microsoft along with its benefits to
employer and employee
Training Schemes and Internships: Microsoft mainly emphasis on training program which will
helps them to trained their employees about the specific job role. In classroom learning is used
by company to improve knowledge and understanding about the specific job role among
employees. Company also conducted its diversity educational program which will helps them to
identify knowledge and ability of workers while achievement of long term goals and objectives
within given time period. There are some benefits of training schemes and internship for
employers and employees which are determine as under:
Benefits To Employees Benefits To Employers
Effective training helps employees by
increasing its knowledge and skills about an
organisation and its business process, services,
products etc. As it will helps an organisation to
retain high turnover of employees and gain
better results within given time duration.
Training will also helps employers of
Microsoft by reducing high rate of employees
turnover. It will also effective for the growth
and success of an enterprise within given time
duration.
B) Identification of arrangements and its benefits to Microsoft and employee's
Human resource management plays a significant role within the management of
resources as well as employees working within the organisation so that operations can be
performed within the right direction. It is important for every business organisation as it work
toward protecting the interest as well as rights of employees within the organisation
(CHATTERJEE and RAMESH, 2015). The HR manager of Microsoft company must focuses
toward developing such policies and strategies that would be advantageous for both the
employees as well as employer so that objectives can be accomplished within effective manner.
Employer is the person that has a power to direct and control the activities performed by
employees within Microsoft. The employer holds legal power and also responsible for the
performing different work with employees toward accomplishment of goals. On the other side
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employees are the one who work over the guidance of employer toward the accomplishment of
organisational goals. Hence HR manager act as a mediator among employer and employee and is
responsible for formulating policies that are beneficial for both employer and employee. The
benefits of HRM for both employer and employee are mentioned below:
HRM practices Employee Employer
Recruitment and selection Recruitment and selection is
beneficial for employees as it
provide several growth and
development opportunities
(Chukwuka, 2015). This is
because when the recruitments
are internal that it support
employees to get growth in
term of promotion and on the
other side when recruitments
are external then it brings new
talents in organisation that
sometimes support in bringing
new methods of performing
work.
HR manager held responsible
for recruitment and selection of
candidates that are capable of
working over particular job
position. This role of HR
manager support the employer
of Microsoft in developing a
high skilled workforce that put
efforts toward the
accomplishment of
organisational goals by
enhancing productivity so that
competitive advantage can be
achieved.
Training & Development It is consider to be the most
crucial factor for employees to
work effectively. The training
& development programs will
support employees of
Microsoft in enhancing their
skills and capabilities in term
of work which they have to
perform within the
organisation (Gogoi, 2015). In
The training program arranged
by HR manager of Microsoft
support employer in enhancing
the performance as well as
profitability of the organisation
that in turn will support in
accomplishment of
organisational goals or
objectives. Microsoft provide
graduate training schemes and
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addition to this skills and
capabilities within employees
support them in achieving
career growth from future
perspectives.
internship programs where
students can learn working
pattern of company and be able
to develop a better future
career.
Performance appraisal By conducting performance
appraisal on regular basis the
employees become able to
aware about the mistakes they
are performing and manner in
which it can be improved so
that future outcomes could be
more better that provide them
reward or other benefits.
It is considered to be the most
crucial role of HR manager of
Microsoft as it help them in
determining the gap between
the actual and planned
performance along with the
reason behind this cause so
that proper measures can be
undertaken to remove such
differences. This will support
the employer of Microsoft in
improving the overall
performance of employees that
provide higher profitability and
employees can also be retained
fro longer period of time.
C) Evaluation of methods to motivate workforce and designing job roles
There are different ways used by Microsoft for motivating their workforce. It includes
maternity leave, adoption fee assistance, paid time off for new parents, discount on child-care
services and backup care that gives temporary centrer-based or in-home care services. All these
are major ways which will helps an organisation to motivate their employees and retain them for
long time. Along with this, there are also various methods used by Microsoft for designing job
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roles such as job rotation, job simplifications, job enlargement etc. All these are effective and
useful ways for retaining employees long time.
TASK 4
A) Meaning of employee engagement and its importance in maintaining effective relation
Employee engagement: It is essential for almost all the firm to engage the employee in
progressive direction as it help to gain long term sustainable development. Strong employee
relation is the key factor for the firm to resolve the issues and enhance the overall productivity
via customer satisfaction (Huselid and Becker, 2011). There are various factor that affect the
employee engagement within the organisation like monetary or non monetary incentive for
employee satisfaction, internal communication system, right to put the views and feedback of an
employee forward, safe as well as healthy working environment. Herein, Microsoft company
needs to focus on the various aspects of business in order to build healthy relation among the
employer and employee as it decreases the turnover or absenteeism rate of company.
Importance of employee engagement in maintaining effective employee relation
Participate in decision making: It is not always suitable for the company to take all the
vital decision by their own so in order to make innovative decision company can engage the
employee to participate in decision making process. This is an effective process which cana be
adopted by the Microsoft company as this help the employee to gain job security as they tghink
they are the valuable part of an organisation. Therefore, it leads in establishing long term
employee and employer relation.
Effective communication: Microsoft can share all the necessary detail with their
employee as this help to maintain the transparency due to which employee remain clearly about
their role and what they need to accomplish in future. Further, employer must encourage two
way communication in order to flourish the relation between employer and employee for long
duration.
Performance appraisal: It is a kind of extrinsic motivation technique which maximizes
the existing potential of an employee and help them to attain the target successfully. As
Microsoft is a large company that have large pool of employee so it is essential that the
organisation needs to provide them constructive feedback. Along with that the use of positive
reinforcement technique that include promotion, reward, appraisal as well as salary hike assist
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the company to engage the employee, Thus, this help to sustain and retain the existing employee
by managing the relationship with them successfully.
B) Key approaches to engage workers and how to communicate them at workplace
Key approach to engage the worker to improve communication within the workplace
Training and development: Training and development is an essential part of an
organisation which include various conferences and session in order to enrich the existing
capability and skill of an employee (Jiang and et. al., 2012). In terms of Microsoft company
update their technology and basic system on the constant basis so they develop the skill of
existing and new employee which makes them competitive and adopt the changes wisely.
Therefore, such technique help to build the better communication as the employee gains
foresight vision and share the innovative concept effectively.
Conflict management: Conflict refer to the interpersonal clashes that may arises within
the same or different department of an organisation. Thus, for the better functioning the manager
of Microsoft need to resolve these situation by replacing the competition with cooperation within
the internal member. Along with that the internal member needs to be engaged in their work and
conduct productivity discussion to managing the communication process and come up with
valuable suggestions to achieve the shared objective.
C) Key elements of UK legislation by explaining its influence on HR decisions
An Organization is bounded by legal jurisdictions when it employs people. It attracts a
number of labor laws which bounds the company with employee-employer agency relationship.
Employment legislation propounds the mutual propensity of collaboration, cooperation and
respect between the employer and the employee (Renwick, Redman and Maguire, 2013). The
legislation manifests a consortium of several labor laws which provides a legal support to the
employees and workers about their work related rights in an entity. A global organization like
Microsoft has a reason to comply with the laws ensuing to its global presence. It on boards more
than 130 thousands employees internationally which makes it more accountable towards the
employee rights. More specifically in UK, the government has chartered laws to safeguard the
interests of employees at the hands of employers and Microsoft. The following are the prominent
labor laws in UK :
Equality act 2010 : This law was promulgated after dissolving few other related laws.
This act prohibits any discrimination on the basis of religion, belief, sex and age. This act offers
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protection beyond European union directives providing protection against discrimination based
on citizenship or nationality of a person, and ensures individual rights of life at workplace and
the right to practice religion, belief, disability provisions, and gender reassignment. This act
broadly provides a shield to the employees at the workplace from any possible threat of
harassment, discrimination or victimization at all private as well as public employment work
places. This act helps the Microsoft in labor related decision making and provides a road map to
deal with the labor legislation in UK.
Health and safety at work etc. 1974 : It is abbreviated as HSWA 1974 act , which
fundamentally proposes health, welfare and safety measures at work place. This act creates
duties on employers, contractors, job owners, suppliers, employees to provide proper amenities
like toilet, safety from hazardous equipment , proper sanitation at work place, toilet facilities, rest
rooms for kids and ailing employees, proper medicinal facilities. Etc. This act provides a pursuit
to the organization for better decision making prospects related to ensuring health and safety at
work place and what provisions to be addressed compulsorily.
Equal pay act, 1970 : This act has been subsumed in the equality act 2010. This act
proposed prohibition on any unfavorable treatment between men and women at the work place
related to pay scale, compensation, seniority and promotion. It provides the right to equal pay for
equal work. It was made to seek equality, representation and human integrity for women workers
in industries. The women workers had the right to go to the tribunal for grievances (Schalk,
Timmerman and Van den Heuvel, 2013). Decision making related to compensation plan and
designing wage rates, pay scale, incentives modeling has been improved within the companies
by making them compliant to the laws.
CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned information it has been found that HRM plays a significant
role in organisational growth and performance by managing the work done by human resources
within the organisation. But for effective management of employees, HR manager is required to
maintain good relation with its employees so that they work toward the accomplishment of
organisational goals. The positive employee relation support HR in formulating effective
decisions. The relations can be better managed by providing a positive working environment and
by following the employment legislations which support company in ensuring fair treatment to
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employees. This also support HR in formulating effective strategies for employee management
which contribute toward retaining a high skilled workforce for longer period of time.
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