Human Resource Management Strategies and Practices: A Case Study of Asda

This report discusses the changes in HR strategies by organizations due to the pandemic, the impact of environmental factors on culture and HR plan, and the use of HR models to assess the value created. It also examines the job design and hiring and firing strategies of Asda, a well-established British supermarket chain. The report concludes with recommendations for good HR practices to ensure high organizational performance.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................1
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................1
Discuss the changes in HR strategies by organization................................................................1
Discuss the impact of environmental factors on culture and HR plan ............................................2
Discuss using Storey’s 27 points of difference between HRM and Personnel Management ....4
Examine the job design strategies of the chosen firm.................................................................5
Assess the hiring and firing strategies of chosen firm ....................................................................6
Using corporate examples of firms using good HR practices and literature to justify your stand. .7
Provide recommendations regarding HRM practices to ensure that the organisational
performance is high.....................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
References ....................................................................................................................................10

Introduction
Human resource management is defined as one of the essential strategic approach used by
the business organisation in order to effectively and efficiently manage their people in an
organisation and enhance their overall performance leading to achieve desired goals and
objectives (Cao, Le and Nguyen, 2021). It is one of the essential process used by the organisation
in order to ensure that there is availability of right and skilled candidate in the organisation. For
this report Asda is taken as the base company. Asda is one of the well established British
supermarket chain. It was founded in 1949 by Peter and Fred Asquith and Sir Noel stockdale. It
is considered to be the largest super market chain across UK offering quality services to their
customers. This report highlights the strategies and practices needed to be determined as the
impact of the pandemic along with the impact of environmental factors. Also the use of HR
model in creating values along with the Storey 27 points of difference among HRM and personal
management is also highlighted. Also the job designing strategies and hiring and firing strategies
also highlighted. Also the good HR practices that can be taken into consideration is also
highlighted.
Main Body
Discuss the changes in HR strategies by organization
There are various changes made by the organization regarding their official work at covid
pandemic which are described below -
 Expanded data collection – It refers to gathering information of consumers with help of
technology. It includes tracking work computer usage, monitor employees through email
or internal communication etc (Schneider, A.M., Oppel, E.M. and Winter, V., 2021). Due
to covid pandemic, HR department initiated online services for customers. This strategy
created more benefits for both employee and consumers. In context to ASDA,
management must initiate best technology strategy which is necessary to increase
employment. And also for providing best quality products and services to consumers.
 Expanded employer as social security net – Due to covid pandemic the role was highly
increased in their employees financial, physical and mental well-being. For reducing risk
in these activities organization initiates new benefits for employees. It includes sick
leave, financial support, bringing flexibility in operational hours. In context to ASDA
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authority must initiate special policies which highly favourable for employees. Then only
employees give support to organization. In covid pandemic safety is more important
when they are doing job at risk such as delivering products to consumers at doorsteps.
 Increase in remote working – It is basically refers to work from home activity. In covid
pandemic they initiated this strategy for employees (Kim, K. and Shin, T.H., 2019).
Because at that time due to high positive cases lots of employees are terminated from
organization. In this strategy safety of employees are increased and most of the task
completed successfully. Remote working also helped to reduce the stress of the
employees. In context to ASDA, management must provide good and necessary facilities
to employees for doing the remote working with high productivity.
 Emergence of new top tier employers – Due to employee shortage in covid pandemic
organization faced increased the demand for professional employee. For hiring
professional candidates organisation used some strategies such as releasing vacancies
through online mode and and also in news papers, magazine and so on. In context to
ASDA, management must maintain flexible work culture in company. And also provide
good package to them for maintaining their trust in organization.
Discuss the impact of environmental factors on culture and HR plan
There are various types of factors which are affected on the culture and HR plan which
are described below -
 Technological factor – In covid pandemic the use of technology are highly increased.
The reason for increasing technology for both organization and customers are firstly the
purchasing power of customers are increased (Malkawi, N., 2018). Because at that time
lock down strategy are implemented by government. Due to this issue customers only
have online method for purchase the products, and today this method is trending.
Secondly, due to various restrictions organization started to provide best quality service
through online mode such as establishing good payment system. In context to ASDA,
management are responsible to facilitate quality technology services to them for increase
their convenience.
 Labour market – In covid 19 scenario short of employees in organization are highly
increased. Because due to fear of covid organization fired huge employees from job
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(Arasli, H., and et. al., 2020). Due this reason demand of employees are highly increased
by organization. Actually this is a big mistake which was made by organization. For
recovering this problems HR department initiated various strategies which is useful for
increase the productivity of organization. In context to ASDA, management have
responsibility to implement effective policies and strategies for reducing employee
shortage with hiring new candidates.
 Economic factors – At the time of covid organization faced huge loss because due to
covid perching power of customers are highly decreased. This leads to reduction in
financial profits of organization (Hasan, I., Islam, M.N. and Chowdhury, M.A.F., 2020).
Due to low favourable conditions, cancellation of programmes, due to weak operational
activities organisation faced lots of challenges. Due to these problems organization are
not able to maintain their performance constantly good. In context to ASDA, organization
must effective strategies to reduce these problems such as taking orders of products from
peoples through online mode. With help of innovating new type of apps.
 Legal factors – It refers to those factors which directly effect the organization's
operations, performance, productivity and so on. The best example for legal factor are
lock down which was implemented by all countries of government. In lock down
transportation facility are stopped, all factories are closed. In context to ASDA, authority
must follow these restrictions to run the organization smoothly.
Using Human Resource Management Model assess the value created
It refers to how responsibilities are divided between HR units and employees in human
resource management. It described the key tasks of HR which is delivered to employees in
organisation. The model which is chosen for analysing how value was created by the firm are
human resource management model. This model contains all human resource activities and with
this activities organization able to increase the employee productivity and workforce (Mansaray,
H.E., 2019)I. In context to ASDA, they applied these model for model for maintaining good
coordination and communication between all departments. The activities which are involved in
HRM are -
 Human resource management – It is generally a management function which is to
manage whole and employees properly. In this step other functions also done by HR
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department such as recruitment, selection, training and development of employees in
organization.
 Human resource planning – It is a process which is used to identify present and future
HR needs of an organization to achieve company's goals, vision and mission. It is also a
connecting link between HR management and overall strategic plan of organization.
 Job analysis – It is a method for studying and collecting information. And these
informations are related to the operations and responsibilities of a specific job. This
method is used by organization to find right candidate for right job.
 Recruitment - It is a technique which is used by them to find and attract capable
candidate for employment. This method starts when new recruitment are ends when their
applications are submitted.
 Selection – It is the final stage where selecting the right candidate who is perfectly suited
for a vacant job position in an organization.
After analysing above information these are the most important elements for running
organization smoothly in time of covid pandemic also.
Discuss using Storey’s 27 points of difference between HRM and Personnel Management
As per storey, the personnel management is a different aspect from the general
management of the organisation (Zhou, Zou and Liu, 2021). Whereas the HRM model refers to
managing the overall human resource of the organisation, the personnel management is
considered to be part of overall human resource management of the organisation.
Benchmarks Human resource
management
Personal management
Communication Human resource management
ensures proper and direct flow
of information among the
workers with the aim of
ensuring accomplishing
desired goals and objectives.
In case of Asda, the company
focus on conducting various
It refers to the individualistic
approach towards the
communication with the
workers in the organisation.
There is direct and indirect
channels in order to smooth,y
carry out the operational
activity and achieve desired
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group task in order to enhance
the effectiveness of all the
employees as well avoiding
any kind of misunderstanding.
goals and objectives. In case of
chosen company, the company
maintains the personnel
communication to enhance
their overall performance.
Job design Another factor is the job
design, the effective use of job
design helps the organisation
to effectively handle the job
role and enhance their overall
performance. In case of Asda,
the company promote their
employees to work in a group
and offer quality results.
In case of Personnel
management, the various
functions are divided between
the individuals and does not
focus on building team work in
the organisation.
Conflict management The main focus of human
resource management is to
eliminate any kind of conflict
in the organisation or among
the employees through using
various practices and policies.
In case of personnel
management the conflict are
resolved on the temporarily
basis and does not focus on the
cause of conflict happening.
Examine the job design strategies of the chosen firm
Job design is refers to the process of creating or developing job that allows the business
organisation to accomplish their desired goals and objectives as well as effectively motivate and
reward their employees effectively (Kabalina and Outila, 2021). It is refers to well designed job
leads to higher effectiveness and productivity as well as offering quality services or work. It also
helps in higher job satisfaction, low absence and retaining customers for long period of time. In
context to Asda, the various job design strategies that can be considered by the company are
mentioned below:
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Job rotation: It refers to practice of moving the workforce among the jobs in an business
organisation. This will helps in enhancing the skills and knowledge of the employees, as well as
orientating in potential new job roles and enhancing their experience. In context to Asda, the use
of this strategy will help the organisation to increase their motivation and create flexibility in the
organisation as well as enhance the skills of their employees (Burman, 2021).
Job enlargement: Another strategy of the Job design is job enlargement, it refers to
adding additional activities across the same hierarchical level to an already existing job roles.
The work needs similar skills but work requirements will differ. This will helps the chosen
organisation to increase the skill variety and task identity, as well as motivating employees to do
more similar activities effectively.
Job enrichment: It refers to focusing on adding more motivators to employees existing
roles, the job enlargement is the process of adding additional task to the task, whereas the job
enrichment refers to the process of addition more motivational dimensions to the job role in order
to motivate employees to perform better and achieve desired goals and objectives. In case of
chosen company, the use of this will help company to receive proper feedback through adding
more opportunities.
Job simplification: The last strategy of job design that can be considered by the
organisation for effective job design is job simplification. It refers to removing the additional or
unnecessary task from the job role in order to make is simple and effectively and enabling
employees to focus more. In context to chosen company, it will help the management to make
the job more simple and easy for the employees to be focused (Lindström and Janhonen, 2021) .
Assess the hiring and firing strategies of chosen firm
There are various strategies used by organisation for hiring the candidates which are
described below -
 Review applications – It refers to screening of candidate application for analysing that
the particular candidate is fit for applied post or not. In this method organization mostly
focus on the candidate previous academic performance (smail, A.I., Abdelrahman, S.E.
and Abdul Majid, A.H., 2018). With this method organization also understand that in
which field candidate was highly specialized. In context of ASDA, management are
responsible to review the applications properly. After reviewing they shortlist the
candidates according to specialized field.
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 Direct interviews – In this process the interviewer asked question directly from
candidate and it is a face to face process. The main motive of this interview is to observe
behaviour, various skills, body language and so on. With this Interviewer get all
information accurately about the candidate. The other purpose of this method is to
analyse the problem solving ability of that candidate. Because problem solving ability is a
important concept for candidate to handle any type of situation. In context to ASDA,
authority must initiate effective interview strategy to hire right candidates for right job.
There are different types of strategies which is used by company for firing the candidates which
are described below -
 Unable to work in culture – It refers to employee are not able to do work with their
team members or in organization culture. Due to this reason organization think that
particular employee are not useful for organization. And that particular employee are not
able to increase the productivity and work efficiency of organization. And due to this
negative image are created in organization. In context to ASDA, management are
responsible to initiate some motivational activities for increase candidate confidence.
 Code of conduct violations – It refers to employee are not following the rules and
regulations of organization. When employee are not passionate regarding their job he
tried to break the code of conduct of company. Due to this reason employee also tried to
do illegal activities which is harmful for organization. In context to ASDA, management
must organize highly effective strategies for reducing these type of violation by
employees.
Using corporate examples of firms using good HR practices and literature to justify your stand
The human resource practices are the activities taken into consideration by the business
organisation to effectively optimise and carry out their operational and functional activity leading
to achieve desired goals and objectives effectively. The outbreak of current covid 19 pandemic
has changed how the organisation work and in some way lead to shifting employees expectation.
Many business that has never considered to work remotely has now allowed their employees to
work remotely and effectively carry out their work. Some of the most effective human resource
practices used by the business organisation to enhance their overall performance. Such as
managing employees performance, offering rewards and recognition to the employees, offering
required training and development practices (Ren, Wang and Collins, 2021). In case of managing
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employee performance, the top organisation like Asda, follows proper 360 degree performance
review technique in order to evaluate the performance of the employees. As well as uses
feedback method to determine the performance of their employees. This use of this practices will
help Asda to effectively determine the performance of their employees and as per the determined
gap offer them required training leading to enhance their performance effectively. In addition to
this offering rewards and recognition will also help in motivating them to achieve desired goals
and objectives (Qaiser, 2021).
Provide recommendations regarding HRM practices to ensure that the organisational
performance is high
With the changing environment and increasing competition in the marketplace it is
essential for the business organisation to regularly scan their environment and make necessary
changes and implement required strategies. It will help the organisation to enhance their overall
performance and gain competitive advantage in the marketplace. At the present situation of
Covid 19 pandemic which has lead to directly impacting the performance and profitability of the
organisation. In order to continue to grow and survive in the marketplace it is essential for the
business organisation to update their HR practices. It growing remote working the organisation
should focus on offering effective training and development to their employees related to remote
working. In addition to this it is also recommended that chosen company should focus on
managing the multi generational workforces. This will help company to effectively manage their
workforce and motivate them towards achieving desired goals and objectives. Another human
resource practices that can be taken into consideration by the organisation is to diversity and
inclusion initiatives to promote cultural diversity and promote effective and positive workforce
environment. In addition to this, the practices like motivating employees should be continuously
taken into consideration to continue to motivate their employees towards adapting to new
changes and work effectively and efficiently (Valeau and Guenin, 2021).
Conclusion
After analysing all the report it is understood that HR played a most important and crucial
role for managing whole organization. HR is essential part for preparing strategies, policies
which helped to run the organization smoothly. For launching new product in market use of
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various strategies are important to popularise the product between customers. At the time of
covid 19 HR department played a major role managing financial activities in organization. HR
department also helped to secure the jobs of employees in organization with various strategies
and policies. It includes providing work from home facility by organization to employees foe
make their work easy. In short for running whole organizational activity smoothly HR
department is necessary. HR department is connected with other departments such as finance and
marketing.
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References
Books and Journals
Cao, T.T., Le, P.B. and Nguyen, N.T.M., 2021. Impacts of high-involvement HRM practices on
organizational innovation capability: the mediating mechanism of tacit and explicit
knowledge sharing. International Journal of Innovation Science.
Zhou, Y., Cheng, Y., Zou, Y. and Liu, G., 2021. e-HRM: A meta-analysis of the antecedents,
consequences, and cross-national moderators. Human Resource Management Review,
p.100862.
Kabalina, V. and Outila, V., 2021. 4 International HRM Practices of Russian MNEs.
International HRM and Development in Emerging Market Multinationals.
Burman, R., 2021. Role of perceived HRM toward workplace bullying and turnover intention:
mediating role of resilience and psychological health. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
Administration.
Lindström, S. and Janhonen, M., 2021. Interdependent HRM practices as active responses to
paradox in Finnish growth enterprises. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise
Development.
Ren, S., Wang, Z. and Collins, N.T., 2021. The joint impact of servant leadership and team-based
HRM practices on team expediency: the mediating role of team reflexivity. Personnel
Review.
Qaiser, R., 2021. The impact of remote working on Green HRM practices.
Valeau, P., Paille, P., Dubrulle, C. and Guenin, H., 2021. The mediating effects of professional
and organizational commitment on the relationship between HRM practices and
professional employees’ intention to stay. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 32(8), pp.1828-1864.
Schneider, A.M., Oppel, E.M. and Winter, V., 2021. Explaining variations in hospitals’ use of
strategic human resource management: How environmental and organizational factors
matter. Health care management review, 46(1). pp.2-11.
Kim, K. and Shin, T.H., 2019. Additive effects of performance-and commitment-oriented human
resource management systems on organizational outcomes. Sustainability, 11(6).
p.1679.
Malkawi, N., 2018. using electronic human resource management for organizational excellence-
case study at social security corporation-Jordan. International Journal of Engineering
Technologies and Management Research, 5(5). pp.146-166.
Arasli, H., and et. al., 2020. Human resource management practices and service provider
commitment of green hotel service providers: Mediating role of resilience and work
engagement. Sustainability, 12(21). p.9187.
Hasan, I., Islam, M.N. and Chowdhury, M.A.F., 2020. Transformational human resource
management: Crafting organizational efficiency. In Handbook of research on
managerial practices and disruptive innovation in Asia (pp. 264-281). IGI Global.
Mansaray, H.E., 2019. The Role of Human Resource Management in Employee Motivation and
Performance-An Overview. Budapest International Research and Critics Institute
(BIRCI) Journal. pp.183-194.
Ismail, A.I., Abdelrahman, S.E. and Abdul Majid, A.H., 2018. Closing strategic human resource
management research lacunas with mediating role of employee creativity. Academy of
Strategic Management Journal, 17(1). pp.1-18.
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