HRM Practices at Marks and Spencer

The given assignment is about Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Marks and Spencer company. The assignment requires analyzing the role of HRM in managing employees, imposing restrictions through ethical behaviors, recruiting employees, providing training, and motivating them to achieve targets. It also highlights the importance of securing employee rights and providing facilities for stress-free work. The assignment uses various references from books and journals to support its arguments.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P1 The purpose and functions of HRM.......................................................................................1
P2 The strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.............2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................4
P3 The benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for employer and
employee......................................................................................................................................4
P4 The effectiveness of different HRM practices........................................................................6
LO3..................................................................................................................................................7
P5 The importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-making......7
P6 The key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision
making..........................................................................................................................................7
LO4..................................................................................................................................................8
P7 The application of HRM practices in a work related context.................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
The human resource management is an approach for effective management of work force
working in an organisation so that they helps business entity to attain competitive advantage and
to gain an organisational goal. In this report, HR department of Marks and Spencer group plc is
taken into consideration for better understanding. The report will lay emphasis on purpose and
functions of HR department of Marks and Spencer. Strengths and weaknesses of different
approaches to selection and recruitment will be discussed in this report. This report will also
focuses on different HRM practices for both employer and employee. The benefit of different
HRM practices along with the effectiveness will also mentioned in the report.
LO1
P1 The purpose and functions of HRM.
Purpose and function of HR department of Marks and Spencer group plc.
There are numerous functions and purposes for HR department need to perform in order to
smooth functioning of Marks and Spencer.
 Recruitment and hiring – The main function of HR department of Marks and Spencer
group recruit and hire right person at right job role. They are responsible for conducting
hiring and recruitment process in the company Marks and Spencer. The hiring process
brings candidates which can aid an organisation like Marks and Spencer in achieving
their organisational goals. Also, it allows HR personnel to select candidates from the
available application of job seekers. The purpose of HR department to help the company
in attaining organisational objectives and goals.
 Job analysis and design – The HR department also designs job specification in which
skills needed for performing tasks in the company is mentioned, along with specific skills
and experience for the job position is a function of HR. Also, the task, responsibility and
duties for employees to attain a certain goal is also designed by the HR department of
Marks and Spencer. The purpose of department of HR of Marks and Spencer is to
maintain clarity with the expectations of employee and the company.
 Training and Development – Marks and Spencer have the best skilled and trained
people in their work place because of the proper and regular training and development
program in the company. It is a function of HR of Marks and Spencer to provide training
to work force of the company. The purpose states that employees should not only feels
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satisfied but also confidence is developed in them. This is because they work towards
attainment of goal of Marks and Spencer. The HR Department conducts various training
sessions for the employees of the company to stay focused and updated with
technological changes.
 Employee relation – It is a function of HR personnel of Marks and Spencer is to
maintain a good and transparent relationship between employee and the company. They
operate two way communication in the company and also redress grievance of
employees. The main purpose behind employee relation is to maintain a good working
environment in the company like Marks and Spencer. Also, to make employees satisfied
and focused towards organisational goals.
P2 The strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.
Recruitment
It is an activity which establishes the relationship between applicant and employer. It aims for
creating employment opportunity for numerous employees. The process of recruitment in Marks
and Spencer can be executed in two ways, that is :
Internal recruitment – It includes organisations fill their vacant job positions from their existing
available employees. Internal recruitment in Marks and Spencer group plc can be executed by
internal advertisement, transfer, reemployment of former ones, promotion, employees hired on
basis of contrast or part time employee earlier and retired employees.
Strengths
 It is quick and cheap process to operate in company like Marks and Spencer.
 Peoples are already familiar with organisation and in no time they get adjusted with their
position and job role.
 Motivates existing employees of Marks and Spencer, as they find growth opportunities
with their existing employment. Strength and weaknesses of existing employees of Marks and Spencer group plc is
already known to business entity.
Weaknesses
 The number of applicants applied in Marks and Spencer who are potential have limited
opportunity for getting selected.
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 Lack of new ideas in the Marks and Spencer is the biggest weakness.
 The company by their recruitment demotivates freshers before the beginning of their
career. It also creates another vacancy whose filing is needed by the Marks and Spencer
company.
External recruitment – It manages by business entity from selecting suitable applicant from
outside. External recruitment in Marks and Spencer group can be operated by Job portals,
consultancies of jobs, Reference, recommendations, Campus placement, job seminars and fairs,
walk in directly, waiting lists, and advertisements on magazines, websites and newspapers.
Strengths
 New ideas from outside hiring people can help the company such as Marks and Spencer
in achieving growth.
 New hired ones have brought range of experience from outside which is beneficial for the
Marks and Spencer for attaining growth.
 For the best candidates HR department of Marks and Spencer can choose best from the
available applications.
Weaknesses
 It is an expensive process because it need interview and advertisement which increases
additional expenses of the Marks and Spencer.
 It is lengthy process and need more time for execution of external recruitment in Marks
and Spencer.
 It is not that effective in order to reveal best candidates for Marks and Spencer group.
Selection
It is a recruiting process for qualified person with the matching vacant job position. This process
occurs after recruitment process. Selections are done in numerous ways in the company Marks
and Spencer. These selection approaches will be discussed as follows :
Interviews – In this selection method Hiring personnel ask interview questions and the answers
of Interviewer is analyzed on a rating scale. This process is followed by HR department of Marks
and Spencer.
Strengths
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 It is preferable for measuring verbal and presentation skills of a candidate arrived at
Marks and Spencer for vacant job position. Expectation of employee from Marks and Spencer and roles of employees for the job
position in the company are clear at interview stage.
Weaknesses It is costly and time consuming, therefore the expenses of Marks and Spencer rises while
conducting interview.
Psychometric tests – It is a study which concerns with different techniques and theory of
psychological measurement of the candidates in Marks and Spencer.
Strengths
 This brings an opportunity to realize and comprehend skills and personality of employees
before they join Marks and Spencer. Due to standardized format everyone is fairly and equally treated.
Weaknesses
 Candidates does not give true opinion which leads to failure of this test in Marks &
Spencer and can be considered as biggest weakness.
LO2
P3 The benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for employer and employee.
Training and development
Benefit to Marks and Spencer
 Turnover rate among employees decreases in the company.
 Also, the achievement of growth and will gain competitive advantage in the Marks and
Spencer.
 Attainment of efficient and effective organisational goals of the Marks and Spencer
company. Image of the company Marks and Spencer enhances by regular training and development.
Benefit to Employees
 By training and development job satisfaction and employees morale will increases.
 Work efficiency of employees increases with regular training.
 Skills of the employees will develop by proper training and development.
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 The employees capacity to adapt technology in the company will increase with training
campaign in Marks and Spencer.
Reward system
Benefit to the Marks and Spencer
 The company able to achieve growth and organisational goal.
 Employees turnover will reduce by offering benefits and rewards to employees of Marks
and Spencer.
 Employees engagement will increase in the company. The benefits will boost loyalty of employees in Marks and Spencer group.
Benefit to Employees
 It motivates employees of Marks and Spencer for working hard in order to achieve
rewards.
 These monetary benefits are able to satisfy employees of Marks and Spencer's individual
needs.
Performance management
Benefit to Marks and Spencer group
 The performance management will enable company to increase their work productivity. Also, the company able to increase growth and attain competitive advantage.
Benefit to Employees
 The employees may able for their self assessment and also clarify accountability of their
job in order to improve performance.
 Performance management in Marks and Spencer enables to develop path for employees
career.
Recruitment and selection
Benefit to the Marks and Spencer group plc.
 The company may able to hire right personnel for right set of job position.
 Efficiency of the company increases with increase in number of employees in Marks and
Spencer. The company able to achieve organisational goal in time.
Benefit to Employees
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 The employees of Marks and Spencer finds growth opportunity with their current
employment.
 Also, motivation among work force increases with recruitment and selection process.
P4 The effectiveness of different HRM practices.
 Training and development - By conducting training in Marks and Spencer on regular
basis is profitable for both employee as well as the company. The company Marks and
Spencer in order to attain profitability and increase their productivity conducts training
and development sessions for their employees. Employees feel confident and want to
retain in the organisation like Marks and Spencer because proper training. The employees
works in effective and efficient manner in order to achieve individual as well as
organisational goal. Efforts of employees lead the organisation Marks and Spencer
towards attaining profitability and increases their productivity.
 Reward system - The reward system is helpful in creating motivation and job
satisfaction among employees who are working in the company Marks and Spencer. The
HR department of company offers rewards to their employees on their engagement and
contribution of ideas in organisational decision making. The employees also work to
attain benefit of incentives for satisfying their individual goals and organisational goal.
The rewards system in Marks and Spencer helps in attaining employees loyalty and
engagement towards the company. This affects directly in enhancing productivity and
profitability in Marks and Spencer.
 Performance management – Marks and Spencer in order to regulate and control the
working of employees and providing them proper guidance conducts approaches of
performance management in their work place. The HR department manages performance
of employees identifies their weaknesses as well as strength and make a measurable
analysis of their performance. The capabilities of employees of company is measured in
process of performance management. By figuring out their internal capabilities
employees work for the company to achieve profitability and growth of the company.
 Recruitment and selection – The activity of recruitment and selection motivates existing
employees as they find an opportunity to grow in their current employment. This helps
them to stay motivated towards working of Marks and Spencer. Also, the external
employees brings new and innovative ideas for the company which enhances profitability
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of the company Marks and Spencer. The company also able to manage and increase their
productivity with the help of their right selection of employees only.
LO3
P5 The importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-making. Flexible working – The HR department of company Marks and Spencer has a flexible
working environment for which companies relationship with their employees are strong.
The employees are capable to meet their family and personal needs. This builds morale of
employees and reduces absenteeism in Marks and Spencer. The good working
environment builds and image of family friendly place to Marks and Spencer. The
decision making is quick in organisation like Marks and Spencer. Flexible organisation – Flexibility in Marks and Spencer is important because it
increases efficiency of employees and enhance team working in the company. The
decisions of HR Department are accepted by employees working in Marks and Spencer
because they trust them. Also, this will decreases turnover cost of employees and saves
hiring cost of the company.
 Communication – The communication in Marks and Spencer is important as it promotes
employees to stay motivating by clarifying and informing employees about their task
which they need to be done. Also, for HR decision making process and conveying
decisions to work force of the company becomes easy with a good channel of
communication in Marks and Spencer. This helps the companies work force in
socializing with their peers and superiors for better communication and employee
relations.
P6 The key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision
making.
As in cases of Marks and Spencer company, employees plays a vital role to achieve targets and
to accomplished objective which helps companies to raise profits. There are various employment
laws in the organisation which imposed by the government and it's the duty of the every
company to fulfill such laws and regulations.
 In terms of Equality Act, 2010 it is the right of every person to work in the organisation
and the business can't judge the person or discriminate them according to their caste, sex
and colour. It is the duty of company to treat every employees in equal way and the work
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assigned to them are equally and accordingly wages are determined. The impact is that if
they judge the people according to their sex, they remain the bad image of their company
which affects the employees working and also demotivate them to achieve targets.
 In terms of Data protection Act, 2018, it is the responsibility of the company senior
mangers to not disclose their important information to the junior employees and also the
data are secured under high security so that there are no chances of infringement of data.
As company stability depends upon the data and information through which they make
strategy to achieve goal. The impact in having the HRM to take decision is that if data are
not secured it results in hacking the company information which affects the goodwill and
reputation of the company.
 In terms of Health and Safety Act, 1974, it is the government strict rules that employees
at the time of working should be protected with proper precaution kit and they use it
during the working hours. No employees should work in any dangerous places without
the safety kit. If any person is injured during working hours, it is duty of the company to
provide proper compensation for the loss incurred and also other benefits which balance
their life and family. The impact is that HRM had to maintain so many facilities
regarding protection their employees life at the time of working and the facilities which
are provided are in hands of HRM only.
LO4
P7 The application of HRM practices in a work related context.
Rationale of Job description
A job description is used a means to make communication regarding expectations from
employee regarding job roles and responsibilities. Also, it helps in preventing company from
legal issues. Therefore, it is an essential and most desirable while execution of hiring process.
The roles and responsibilities access most suitable candidates to come forward. It saves time of
recruiters in short listing. It is helpful as an evidence if company faces law suits and this is the
most viable evidence in court.
Sample of Job description for Human resource consultant in Marks and Spencer
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Job Title Human resource management consultant
Reports to Human resource department
Roles & Responsibilities  Conduct recruitment
 Training and development
 Employees health and safety
 Legal compliance
 Employee relation
 Need to perform administrative and specialized
duties.
 Employee engagement
 Assist in planing and organising
 Contribution of ideas in decision making
 Motivate employees
 Conduct regular audit of human resource activities
Qualification Bachelor degree in Human resource.
Rationale of Job specification
A job specification is designed to analyze eligibility of candidate to apply to particular
vacant job role. Job specification is developed as part of analysis process of job. It also help
recruiters of company to understand qualification level, characteristics, qualities must be present
in candidates to fit in a job position. It offers details about physical and technical skills including
job responsibilities.
Sample of Job specification
Title of the job Human resource assistant
Date: 25/05/2019
Qualification required Essential Desirable Met
Bachelor degree in
Human resource
Yes
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Need of Experience
A junior HR consultant
for 5 years Yes
Personal
characteristics &
conduct
A Motivator
A good leader
An Excellent
communication skill
Ready to adapt
according to situation.
A learner
A great speaker
Good at team leading
Innovative and creative
Friendly
Flexible
Problem Solver
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Roles and
Responsibilities
 Conduct
recruitment
 Training and
development
Yes
Yes
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 Employees
health and safety
 Legal
compliance
 Employee
relation
 Need to perform
administrative
and specialized
duties.
 Employee
engagement
 Assist in planing
and organising
 Contribution of
ideas in decision
making
 Motivate
employees
 Conduct regular
audit of human
resource
activities
yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that Human resource management plays vital
role in organization and regarding employees to balance the company structure in a better way.
The decisions of HRM are affected in many ways, so they have to take effective decision which
provide more growth to the company and also maintain the employees interests towards the
organization. The duty of HRM is not only to manage the employees of Marks and Spencer
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company but also impose various restriction by way of ethical behaviors in premises. As HRM
duty is to recruit the employees, provide training to them and also motivate them to achieve the
targets. There rights are also secured at the time of working and various facilities are also
provided so that they can work stress free to achieve goals.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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processes, and problems. CQ Press.
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employee job satisfaction in nonprofit organizations. Annals of Public and Cooperative
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Management: A Review of Literature. Library Philosophy and Practice. 1(2015). pp.1-23.
Mone, E. M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
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Management. 46. pp.51-58.
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management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management. 33(2).
pp.291-298.
Chandler, J., 2017. Questioning the new public management. Routledge.
Sparrow, P. R. and Makram, H., 2015. What is the value of talent management? Building value-
driven processes within a talent management architecture. Human resource management
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Onik, M. H., Miraz, M. H. and Kim, C. S., 2018. A recruitment and human resource
management technique using Blockchain technology for Industry 4.0.
Online
Job description. 2016. [Online]. Available through : <http://ebs-consulting.com/why-
you-need-a-job-description/>.
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