Importance of Human Resource Management

This assignment delves into the significance of human resource management (HRM) for organizations. It emphasizes that effective HRM practices are essential for legal compliance, talent acquisition, employee engagement, and overall organizational success. The document highlights key HRM functions such as recruitment, training and development, performance management, and compensation & benefits. It also stresses the importance of adhering to labor laws and regulations to avoid legal ramifications.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the systematic procedure of effectively managing the
human capital of an organisation (Johnson and Szamosi, 2018). The HR department of the
company is responsible for formulating, implementing and monitoring the polices which governs
the workforce. It acts as a mediator between the company and its workforces. The present project
report is about the scope and purpose of HRM in Unilever which is a transnational consumer
goods organisation based in London, United Kingdom. The study will include the roles and
responsibilities functions of HR, different approaches of workforce planning, recruitment &
selection, development & training, performance management and reward systems. Further, it will
cover the effectiveness of employee engagement and employee relations. Lastly, the report will
highlight the areas of employment legislation and a detailed example of recruitment and
selection process and the reason for conducting appropriate HR activities.
MAIN BODY
1. Overview of the company
`Unilever is a Dutch- British business entity which is a transnational consumer goods
organisation headquartered in London, United Kingdom, Netherlands and Rotterdam. It is public
company and is listed on LSE, NYSE, FTSE 100 Component, TTSE. It was founded in 1929.
The product range involves beauty care, food, refreshments, beverages, cleaning products. The
company has a strong human capital and has 155000 employees. The company is headed by
Marijn Dekkers, the chairman and Alan Jope, the CEO of the organisation.
2. Purpose of HR function and roles & responsibilities of the HR functions
The purpose of HR function in the Unilever company is to manage the different needs of
the employees and to formulate the workforce strategies in a such a way that reflects optimum
level of coordination in the organizational objectives and employees' personal objectives (Leroy
and et.al., 2018). The aim of HR department in the company is to formulate, advise and execute
the workforce policies and aims to develop a way to keep the employees and managers happy for
the attainment of organizational goals and objectives.
Roles and responsibilities of HR function
There are different roles and responsibilities of HR in Unilever which are discussed
below:
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Illustration 1: Functions of HEM
(Source : Human Resource Management,2019)
Recruitment & Selection : This is one of the foremost and major responsibility of HR
function to determine the need of workforce in the organisation and find the suitable candidates.
The objective of recruitment and selection process is to put the right people at the right job. It
involves sub two responsibilities :
 Attracting the desired candidates
 Hiring them
Training & Development : It is the responsibility of the HR department of Unilever to
provide training to its employees for meeting the dynamic requirements of the business. The HR
function of the company has to also make sure that employees gets development opportunities
where they can learn, grow and develop themselves for the higher positions. Such training and
development is required as it helps in retaining the employees and is also acts as motivating
factor.
Appraisals : The HR function of Unilever is expected to carry out the performance
appraisals on time. Appraising the performance assist the company in motivating its employees
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which encourages workforce in giving their best to the organisation. The HR manager role is to
form an appropriate appraisal policy which involves communication from both the ends, that is ,
employees and managers (Tzabbar, Tzafrir and Baruch, 2017).
Maintaining work culture : It is the responsibility of HR of company to establish and
maintain a safe, happy and soothing working culture within the organisation. It has to make sure
that employee does not work in stress full environment as such factor can bring down the
efficiency of the employees.
Resolving conflicts : HR plays great role in resolving conflict in the company. It is
natural that conflicts could arise because an organisation is formed from different individuals
who have different opinions and perspectives. Thus, if any conflict arise between employees or
between employees and management, HR has the right to intervene in the matter and settle the
dispute. Such a thing is necessary because conflicting situation breaks the harmony and peace
culture which could adversely affect the efficiency of company.
Employee relations : The primary objective of human resource is to manage and deal
with the employees at work. It is the duty of HR of Unilever to maintain good and health
relations with employment (Op de Beeck, Wynen and Hondeghem, 2016). An employee shall
feel comfortable while putting any problem to HR and this is possible only when the HR
establishes a good image in the organisation.
Rewards and incentives : Rewards and incentives are one of the major motivation
boosting factor which is commonly used by the HR function in the organisation. Proper policies
such as monetary rewards, holiday packages, flexible working system, promotion, etc., helps in
creating a healthy competitive environment where employees desires to perform at their best.
The altogether impact of this, is that company's productivity and efficiency increases.
Law compliance : Organisation are responsible for the safety of its workers and for
ensuring that each employee is treated equally. It is the responsibility of HR for ensuring that all
the necessary law are complied as non compliance of legislation can result in numerous lawsuits
which can hamper the profits of organisation.
Thus, it can be seen that HR function in Unilever is mainly with hiring, training,
developing, motivating and retaining the employees.
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3. An assessment of approach to workforce planning, recruitment & selection, development &
training, performance management & reward systems
Workforce planning : It refers to the systematic process of determining the current and
the future requirement of human capital in the business entity for carrying out operations
effectively (Noe and et.al., 2017). In other words, it means a process which makes sure that
company has present and future accession of the workforce.
The HR of Unilever strategically plan its workforce which means workforce planning is
done by considering the overall business objectives and goals. There are two different
approaches of workforce planning that are discussed below:
Best fit approach : This approach emphasises that strategies of Unilever must aligned to
the overall objectives of organisation (Human Resource Management, 2019). It means that HR
policies shall be such which aids the business strategy of Unilever for achieving competitive
advantage.
Advantages :
 It helps in establishing a competitive advantage by matching the capabilities of
organisation with the human resources. It ensures that personal objectives of human capital or organisation does not collide and
remain in coordination.
Disadvantages :
 Formulating HR policies which are in consistent with objectives of organisation is a
tough job because every individual has a different needs and expectations which are
difficult to measure and align with organisational goals.
Best practise approach : This approach emphasises that a cluster of HR activities shall be
used for developing a competitive advantage irrespective of organisational size or industry. This
approach signifies a strong and concrete relationship between HR practises and performance of
company. Example of best practise could be procedure of hiring new people on check list
method.
Advantages :
 It helps in enhancing the performance of organisation. It is more flexible approach and has the ability of being applicable to large number of
business concerns.
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Disadvantages :
 This approach is very comprehensive and time consuming.
Recruitment and Selection : Recruitment is the process of attracting, short-listing ,
choosing and appointing the most suitable candidate at the job position in the company. In the
Unilever, HR employ different methods of recruitment :
Internal recruitment : In this method, the HR fills the job position from the existing
employees. Job are posted on online job boards, physical boards within the organisation
(Sheehan and et.al., 2016). Promotions and interdepartmental transfers are the most common of
internal recruitment.
Advantages :
 It is cost effective method.
 Promotions boosts morale of employees, acts as motivating factor.
 Speed of filling the vacancy is quick. Employee retention.
Disadvantages :
 It comes in the way of brining new and fresh talent in organisation.
 It hinders the creativity and innovation aspects of business because no new candidate is
employed (Recruitment: Internal v External Recruitment, 2018).
External recruitment : In this method, the HR department seek to fill the vacancy by
searching and selecting people outside the organisation.
Advantages :
 Fresh pool of talent generates new and innovation in the company. Wide choice available with the HR recruiter for selecting the most deserving candidate.
Disadvantages :
 The process of external recruitment is very lengthy and costly.
 Using of this method for filling up higher posts can demotivate the existing employees.
Selection : This is the process of choosing the right candidates with the requisite
knowledge , qualifications and experience for filling the post in the company (Cohen, 2017).
There are different methods through HR in Unilever pick the right candidate such as :
Tests : Aptitude tests, general knowledge, technical tests, helps in assessing the knowledge of
candidates regarding different fields.
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Advantages :
 Helps in assessing the technical knowledge of a person Cost effective
Disadvantages :
 Results of tests are subject to manual manipulation or judgement.
 The results may be unreliable.
Development and Training : Training and development sessions are organised by
company for enhancing the skills and knowledge of employees so that they can perform their
duties with more efficiency and could help the Unilever in achieving competitive advantage.
There are various methods of training and development such as :
On the job training : The training is provided to employees in the office premises while
carrying out their real job.
Advantages :
 Effective method Minimize error and does not lead to waste at work.
Disadvantages :
 Expensive
 No actual production
Performance Management and rewards system: Performance management is the
process of coaching, taking corrective action and termination of the employees. The Unilever
uses monetary methods for rewarding its employees.
Advantages :
 Motivates employees Decreases problematic behaviours at work.
Disadvantages :
 It motivates only for short term
 All employees are not satisfied by monetary perks.
Benefits of HR practises to employee and employer
Benefits to Unilever :
 It helps the organisation in creating and maintaining a fexibile and happy culture at
workplace.
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 It assists in developing the employees into more skilled personnel which increases the
productivity of the company.
 It resolves the conflicts within the organisation that helps in maintaining peace and
harmony at workplace.
 It represents the company towards Trade Unions and assists in settling the disputes.
 It provides company the most suitable people who can the perform the organisational
duties and responsibilities correctly (Mone and London, 2018).
 It motivates employees and focus on achieving employee satisfaction, thus, helps in
reducing employee turnover.
Benefits to employees :
 HR practises in Unilever provides development and growth opportunities to employees,
which makes satisfy with their jobs.
 HR department listens to the grievances of employees and put them forward to the senior
management.
 Proper incentives, rewards and recognition are all the activities of HR that motivates the
employees and helps in performing their duties better.
Effectiveness of different HR practises in raising organisational profits and
productivity
The HR practises in Unilever has resulted in to increase in profits and productivity.
Motivation tactics used by the HR department of company such as monetary rewards, incentives,
soothing working environment helps employees in performing with high level efficiency.
Facilitating employees with proper training and development programs helps in creating highly
skilled and competitive workforce which helps in increasing the productivity of organisation
(Shields and et.al., 2015). All such practises allows Unilever to raise its profits and retain its
employees.
4. Effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement in decision making
Employee relations is a term that describes the relationship between the employer and
employee. For developing a comfortable working environment, Unilever provides its employees
stress free working culture. The concept of employee relations is based on four pillars;
open communication where employees of company talks freely with their supervisors
and managers which is necessary in fulfilling their duties;
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showing recognition : Giving proper recognition to employees helps the employees in
performing better and this generates the feeling that company cares for them and values their
work.
Constant feedback : A culture where mangers provides continuous feedbacks to
employees regarding their good work and criticism on areas which requires improvements,
develops good employee relations.
Investing in employees : Avoiding favouritism, involving employees in decision
making, offering them flexible working hours etc., are all the things that must be invested in
workforce.
These are the elements of employee relations that HR of Unilever needs to consider in its
decision making for enhancing the relationship between organisation and employees (Jeske and
Shultz, 2016).
Employee engagement
Employment engagement refers to the degree to which an employee feel attached towards
its work, job and the organisation in whole and to what degree it put its discretionary try into its
work. The HR of Unilever employs different tools for enhancing employee engagement which
are discussed below : Flexible working system : If the employees are facilitated with the flexible working
system , it allows employees to balance its work and personal life. Such system leads to
reduction in absenteeism, higher productivity and reduction in workforce turnover. This
system will make the employee dedicated towards the organisation and it will enhance
the employee engagement.
 Organisation establishing itself as employer of choice : Employer of choice means a
company which has a great working culture that assist in attracting and retaining highly
competent workforce. This great working environment serves as a tool for engaging
employees (Farndale, Nikandrou and Panayotopoulou, 2018). If Unilever does not make
efforts in creating exceptionally good working environment for its employees, the
competent workforce will simply ditch the company for employer of choice.
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5. Key areas of employment legislation
It is the duty of the HR of Unilever that all the required legislation are followed and duly
complied. Legislation are created for protecting the interests of employees at work. Some of the
laws that organisation must comply are :
Equality Act, 2010 : This act has replaced all the previous anti-discriminatory acts in the
country. The act provides that no one shall be discriminated on the base of caste, religion, colour,
disability, belief, gender etc. The HR of Unilever has to ensure that its policies does not imply
such discrimination and people are recruited fairly and with equal probability. Also, it has to
make sure that existing employees are treated equally in the company.
Data Protection Act, 2018 : This act is concerned with processing and maintaining
confidentiality of the employees data by the organisation. Unilever if fails to comply with this
law, can attract lawsuits from employees which could serious damage its reputation and
profitability.
National Minimum Wage Act, 1998 : This provides that workers musty be paid
minimum wages set by the legislation. As per the law, a worker must get minimum wage of
£7.83 who is above the age of 25 years. Unilever's HR policies must abide this rule for avoiding
any legal disruptions in its workings.
Employment Rights Act, 1996 : This act facilitates employees , a right to leave for
caring its child and the right of requesting flexible working hours from the employers. All these
elements must be present in the HR practises of the Unilever so as to avoid any legal action
against company
6. A detailed example and evaluation of recruitment & selection process
Unilever 's HR follows the external recruitment method in which it uses online job
portals for filling the gaps in the company. For this purpose, the HR follows a systematic process
which is described below :
Identification of the requirement of personnel in the company : The HR first starts with
workforce planning in which it examines what department needs the employees, for example
accounting department requires an executive for book keeping.
Analysis of job : The HR department then performs the activity of job analysis in which it
analyses what skills, education, capabilities of the person is required and what the job role
demands.
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Job Description : It then prepares the hob description which details out the job roles and
responsibilities.
Posting of Job description on Online job portals : At here, the HR manager posts the job
description on the job portals for inviting applications from the potential candidates.
Screening and shortlisting : The HR then screens the Cvs and online applications on the
job portals and send them an invitation to apply for the job (How human resource management
benefits a company, 2017). If the HR finds that the candidate is suitable for the job role , it is
shortlisted and the same is communicated to the candidate.
Selection : The potential candidates are called for the selection process which consists of
technical test and personal interview. The technical test will allow the company in assessing
accounting knowledge of the candidate and if the person is passes written test, it becomes
eligible for the personal interview in which the HR manager and departmental head interviews
the potential candidate. If the person gets selected in the PI then it is put to the job role in the
organization.
This is how recruitment and selection process takes place in the Unilever.
Rationale : The HR policy of recruiting people from online mode is rational for the
company as it allows in choosing from wide variety of potential candidates. Another rationale is
that online mode of external recruitment is cost effective as it rules out the operations cost of
paperwork and it also lessens the burden of paperwork from HR department. In the selection
process, there are two tier, one is written exam for testing the technical capabilities of the person
and second is PI in which the overall personality of the candidate is observed and judged by the
interviewers. This process has been effective for the company as it has helped in bringing new
and creative people within the organization that has helped in enhancing the overall performance
of Unilever.
CONCLUSION
From the above study, it can be summarised that human resource management is of great
significance to an organisation as it deals with the most dynamic and complex resource called
human beings. The HR plays great role and responsibilities in raising Unilever's productivity
and financial performance. Like it assists in developing the employees into more skilled
personnel which increases the productivity of the company, motivates employees and focus on
achieving employee satisfaction, thus, helps in reducing employee turnover. Further, it was
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concluded that employee engagement and employee relations plays a great role in retaining the
employees in Unilever by fulfilling their needs and expectations from the job. Lastly, HR is
concerned with compliance of law within the organisation. Various laws such as Equality Law,
data protection law etc., have to be complied with for avoiding any kind of legal actions.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Johnson, P. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. HRM in changing organizational contexts. In Human
resource management (pp. 27-48). Routledge.
Leroy, H and et.al., 2018. Managing people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM and
leadership.
Tzabbar, D., Tzafrir, S. and Baruch, Y., 2017. A bridge over troubled water: Replication,
integration and extension of the relationship between HRM practices and organizational
performance using moderating meta-analysis. Human Resource Management
Review. 27(1). pp.134-148.
Op de Beeck, S., Wynen, J. and Hondeghem, A., 2016. HRM implementation by line managers:
explaining the discrepancy in HR-line perceptions of HR devolution. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management. 27(17). pp.1901-1919.
Noe, R.A and et.al., 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New
York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.\
Sheehan, C and et.al., 2016. Strategic implications of HR role management in a dynamic
environment. Personnel Review. 45(2). pp.353-373.
Cohen, E., 2017. Employee training and development. In CSR for HR (pp. 153-162). Routledge.
Mone, E. M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
Shields, J and et.al., 2015. Managing employee performance & reward: Concepts, practices,
strategies. Cambridge University Press.
Jeske, D. and Shultz, K.S., 2016. Using social media content for screening in recruitment and
selection: pros and cons.Work, employment and society. 30(3). pp.535-546.
Farndale, E., Nikandrou, I. and Panayotopoulou, L., 2018. Recruitment and selection in context.
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Recruitment: Internal v External Recruitment.2018. [Online]. Available through
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