Human Resource Management - Kingfisher plc Assignment

Human
Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Task1 ...............................................................................................................................................1
1. Purpose and functions of HRM ..............................................................................................1
2. Strength And Weakness Of Different Approaches Of Recruitment And Selection...............2
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................4
3. Benefits Of Different HRM Practices For Both Employer And Employee............................4
4. Effectiveness Of Different HRM Practices ............................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the systematic process for managing the employee of the
organisation. The human resource management of a company hires employees and train them to
work and motivate them as well which benefits the organisation. It includes various process,
such as recruitment, selection, training and motivation of employees. Kingfisher plc is a retailing
company who supplies DIY and home improvement products and services. It is a British
international organisation. The Kingfisher plc operates its business in 10 countries with approx
1300 stores. The research will explain about the functions and responsibilities of HR department
towards achieving the overall business objectives. Different approaches and its strength and
weakness, benefits of HRM practices will be discussed further.
Task1
1. Purpose and functions of HRM
The main purpose of human resource management is to coordinate personnel to meet the
objectives of the organisation. The HRM focuses on fulfilling the needs of employees to satisfy
them. It concentrates on best use of utilization of the human resource to bring good results in
form of outcome(Truss and et.al., 1997). Kingfisher's HRM must ensure to make effective use of
the human resources available in the organisation, so it aims at increasing the efficiency of the
employees to gain competitive advantage. And therefore, should perform the following functions
to do so:
HR planning is done in a way that manages the human resources at the retail shops of
Kingfisher plc. It helps the organisation in understanding the skills and knowledge of its
employees and their capabilities to do the given task or work. It needs to be effective as human
resource are the key elements who operates the business activities and accomplish the
organisational objectives and gain competitive advantages.
Employee relation enables the organisation to run its business functions in smooth way because
the employee relation maintains relationship between employee and employer and it avoids
conflicts in the organisation(Wright and et.al., 2003). So, kingfisher's HR focuses on maintaining
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the employee relation and which results in improving the overall performance of the
organisation.
Recruitment and selection is the focus of HRM, as this function enables the company to grow
through its effective and efficient workforce. The recruitment and selection of personnel can be
done using two approaches i.e. internal recruitment approach or external recruitment
approach(Gill, 1999). Kingfisher performs the recruitment and selection function in such a way
that they hire the best personnel and achieve the organisational objectives.
Hard and soft models of HRM are two different ways of managing the employees in the
organisation. Kingfisher's HR adopts both soft and hard models to deal with its employees
according to the situation(Truss and et.al., 1997). The hard model of management focuses on
creating plans, set up structure of plan and then monitoring the performance of employees.
Whereas, soft model treat the employees as valued assets of organisation and motivate them to
increase the efficiency and achieve the targeted goals of company(Hard and Soft Models of
Human Resource Management Essay, 2016).
The Best Fit and Best Practice are the practices adopted by the Kingfisher's HR to manage the
employees(Chan, 1996). The 'best fit' practice are more effective as this model aligns the HR
strategies and strategies of organisation. The 'best practice' model implies connection between
organisational performance and the practices adopted by the HR department which requires high
commitment management. This will also benefit the organisation in contributing to efficacious
brand development of the business.
Types Of Labour Market are internal and external market. It is a place where employer and
employees interact. In the labour market, employees try to get the best satisfying job, and
employer tries to hire the best candidate for the job. Kingfisher's HRM focuses on hiring the best
human resource for the company who has the potential to work and who is skilled enough to
achieve the organisational goals and objectives(Wright and et.al., 2003).
2. Strength And Weakness Of Different Approaches Of Recruitment And Selection
HRM of Kingfisher aims at recruiting and selecting the best human resource for the company as
it will help the organisation to accomplish the goals and gain competitive advantage in
competitive markets. The HR uses systematic approaches in selection and recruitment processes.
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Internal Source Of Recruitment Approach focuses on recruiting the employees internally, and
enables organisation to get new employees from the existing employees vacant place.
Kingfisher's HR uses various strategies while recruiting the employees(Gill, 1999). For example,
promoting the employees so that post can be vacant for new employees or transfer of employees
is done to vacant the post and recruit new employees.
Strength
 Employees hired from internal recruitment are effective and innovative who come up
with new and developed ideas
 Existing promoted employees are qualified and well experienced
 This approach is easy to conduct and takes less time(Chan, 1996).
 This approach don't need much time to recruit as, internal recruitment is done from the
existing employees.
Weakness
 The internal recruitment can lead to discrimination, as HR may promote its favourite
employees.
 And this leads to demotivation of employees who don't get promotion(Truss and et.al.,
1997).
 This approach limits the external recruitment of innovative and creative employees.
External Source Of Recruitment Approach focuses on recruiting the new employees outside
the organisation or from external sources. The external recruitment is done to attract the
applicants through different media-mix. The HR of kingfisher conducts the external recruitment
to fulfil the vacant places of the company.
Strength
 The external recruitment approach recruits the new minds and skills which increases the
chances of innovation.
 The external recruitment process generates creative ideas from candidates and lacks
internal politics.
 This approach of recruitment leads to better competitive advantage because of new
strategies and ideas(Veinot and et.al., 2017).
Weakness
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 The external recruitment approach takes much time as it has to recruit new people.
 It will cost much to company as to recruit, select and train new employee.
 This approach is also lacks understanding as new candidates will have less knowledge
about the company and its culture and environment and will take time to adjust(Truss and
et.al., 1997).
Task 2
3. Benefits Of Different HRM Practices For Both Employer And Employee
Human resource management is the process which focuses on linking the human resource
with organisation's strategies to improve the employee's performance and to achieve the goals of
the organisation(Huselid, 1995). The different approaches or practices aims at sustaining the
organisational profits and lending competitive advantages. The kingfisher's HR executes various
strategies and practices for the firm, aligns the HR plans to organisation's strategies and recruits
the best human resource personnel who brings success to the organisation by being innovative
and creative and it enables the company to sustain in the competitive market. So, the HR of
kingfisher provides various practices and approaches which benefits both employee and
employer.
Learning: The Kingfisher's HR provides learning and development programs for both employer
and employee so that they can develop their skills and knowledge. Employee feel motivated and
satisfied and aligns its focus with organisations, thus it increases the efficiency in processes
which benefits the employer in achieving the objectives.
Training And Development: The training and development provided to the employees by the
HR practices brings improvement in the performance of employees(Veinot and et.al., 2017). It also
increases effectual and skilfulness of human resource which results in loyalty of its employees
and thus benefits the employer as well.
Job And Workplace Design: The job and workplace design refers to the healthy and safe work
environment of the organisation, and HR of Kingfisher links the strategic plans to the workplace
design so that satisfaction of employees is achieved(Huselid, 1995). It helps in increasing the
morale and loyalty of employees towards the firm, which results in benefiting the employer and
business by retaining the skilled employees.
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Flexibility Of Organisation: HRM of Kingfisher provides flexibilities to its employees so that
they are comfortable at the workplace, and do their best, it will also improve the performance of
the employee as well as of organisation. This practice helps in increasing the efficiency of both
the employer and the employee and it also increases productivity(Brewster, Chung and Sparrow,
2016).
Types Of Payment And Reward System: This systematic approach is concerned with
motivating the employees and it contains various processes designed by HRM to retain the
skilled and knowledgable employees. It benefits the employer or business in retaining the current
staff, satisfied and motivated employees, employee's loyalty which together result in achieving
the targeted goals.
4. Effectiveness Of Different HRM Practices
Human resource management focuses on maintaining relationship with employees so that
it can result in improvement in performance of employees which benefits the organization. The
effective relationship created through various policies between employer and employee benefits
the organisation. Increased productivity, performance improvement, innovative and creative
ways to do work and finally the ultimate objectives of the organisation is accomplished i.e.
sustaining profits and holding a competitive advantages over its competitor through effective
relationship(Collings and et.el., 2018).
Kingfisher's HR provides learning, training and development programs to its employees.
The training and development program help the employee to eliminate the weakness and
improvise its strengths. The development program develops the skills and knowledge of
employees and result in building confidence, reduction of mistakes in process, improved and
skilled workforce. This brings innovation and effectiveness in work and employees feel
motivated, so ultimately, the organisational objectives are achieved.
The HR practices enables the organisation to satisfy the employees by providing them
with flexible organisation, safe and healthy working environment and monitoring their
performance to give rewards. This helps the organisation to retain its skilled employees and earn
their loyalty, which decreases the employee turnover. The reduction in employee turnover
increases the profits of the business. And it also helps to maintain the effectual performance of
the employees(Brewster, Chung and Sparrow, 2016).
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Kingfisher's HR aims at providing training and development programs to the capable
employees and to give rewards and promotion to the qualified ones, so the employees feel
motivated and encouraged and therefore, it helps to hold the skilled and experienced employees
which results in sustaining the profits and productivity of the organisation(Collings and et.el.,
2018).
CONCLUSION
The study intentionally focuses on practices adopted by human resource management to
manage the human resources of the Kingfisher plc organisation, as Kingfisher plc is a retailer
firm whose valued asset is human resource. From the above study it is concluded that human
resource management's intention is at accomplishing the organisational goals and objectives by
satisfying the employees and motivating them to be innovative and creative. This report also
explains the effects of different HRM practices and approaches adopted by HR to gain
competitive advantage and to increase organisational profits and productivity. The effectiveness
of using different approaches to both employee and employer are also explained.
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REFERENCES
Books And Journals
Becker, B. and Gerhart, B., 1996. The impact of human resource management on organizational
performance: Progress and prospects. Academy of management journal, 39(4), pp.779-
801.
Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource management.
Routledge.
Chan, W., 1996. External recruitment versus internal promotion. Journal of Labor
Economics, 14(4), pp.555-570.
Collings, D.G., and et.el., 2018. Human resource management: A critical approach. In Human
Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Gill, C., 1999. Use of Hard and Soft Models of HRM to illustrate the gap between Rhetoric and
Reality in Workforce Management. RMIT Business.
Huselid, M.A., 1995. The impact of human resource management practices on turnover,
productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of management
journal, 38(3), pp.635-672.
Truss, C., and et.al., 1997. Soft and hard models of human resource management: a
reappraisal. Journal of Management Studies, 34(1), pp.53-73.
Veinot, T.C. and et.al., 2017. Comprehensive process model of clinical information interaction in
primary care: results of a “best-fit” framework synthesis. Journal of the American
Medical Informatics Association, 25(6), pp.746-758.
Wright, P.M., and et.al., 2003. The impact of HR practices on the performance of business
units. Human resource management journal, 13(3), pp.21-36.
Online
Hard and Soft Models of Human Resource Management Essay, 2016 [ONLINE] available
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