Importance of Human Resource Management

This report discusses the importance of human resource management (HRM) in every organization. It explains the purpose and functions of HRM, various approaches to selection and training, and their strengths and weaknesses. The report also highlights the benefits of HRM practices to employees and employers, evaluates different methods that increase productivity and profits, and defines legislations protecting employee rights. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of employee relations in the context of HRM decisions.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK1.............................................................................................................................................3
P1. Purpose and function of HRM..............................................................................................3
P2. Strength and weakness of different approaches....................................................................6
TASK2.............................................................................................................................................9
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices.....................................................................................9
P4. Evaluation of different HRM practices...............................................................................10
TASK3...........................................................................................................................................12
P5. Importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision making.........12
P6. The key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision
making.......................................................................................................................................13
TASK4...........................................................................................................................................14
P7. Application of HRM practices in a work-related context..................................................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................17
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................19

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the process of recruiting, selecting, inducting employees,
providing training and development, performance appraisal, etc. The aim of this report is to
apply effective principles of human resource management. Organisation undertaken in this report
is Amazon which was founded in 1994 and deals in e commerce and cloud computing industry.
This report will look into the tools and techniques used in HRM to maximise the employee
contribution and how to use HR methods to gain competitive advantage. It will also determine
the the importance of training and development in building and extending the skills base of the
organisation and ensuring it is relevant to the ever-changing business environment. This will also
consider the growing importance of becoming a flexible organisation with an equally flexible
labour force and become familiar with techniques of job design and with different reward
systems. It will also investigates the importance of good employee relations and the ways in
which employers engage with their staff and possibly with trade unions.
TASK1
P1. Purpose and function of HRM.
Human resource management is the organisational function that deals with issues related
to people such as compensation, hiring, performance management, organisational development,
safety, wellness, benefits, etc. This is the function in an organisation which facilitates the most
effective use of people to achieve organisational and individual goals. This describes the formal
system devised for the management of people within an organisation. The primary function of
HRM in Amazon is to maximise the productivity of an organisation by optimising effectiveness
of its employees (Tyson, 2014). The purpose of HRM lies in successful utilisation of people to
attain specific as well as organisational goals and objectives. It typically means to engage,
improve and preserve sufficiently capable employees, to implement and execute the activities
for accomplishing objectives (Human Resource Management & Its Core Functions. 2018).
Functions of HRM
Human resource management is established in every organisation and plays important
role in the efficient management of human resources. HR department of Amazon will perform
several functions for strengthening the operations which are discussed below:-
Managerial functions

The human resource manager of Amazon will perform the various managerial functions
like :-
 Planning : It is the foremost and most important function in organisation. Planning is
important in determining the goals and policies of the Amazon so that sub ordinates will
work in accordance to accomplished desired objectives. It sets the mission and vision for
organisation. The primary and main purpose of planning in human resource management
is to ensure that they have adequate supply of workforce as and when required. This also
assures predicting upcoming necessities of human resources with various levels of skills.
 Organising : Once the HR manager of Amazon has developed the plans and polices, then
they will design and develop the structure of the organisation to implement and execute
various operations so that goals can be achieved. There are various purposes of
organising in HRM like it ensures that every employee recruited is fit in their jobs and
helps in avoiding confusions and delays. This is further useful in minimising data
redundancy and overlapping. It provides effective communication and coordination
between various departments.
 Directing : The direction function helps in encouraging and motivating people to work
willingly with full confidence to accomplish organisational goals and objectives. For
motivating employees, manager must have the ability to identify the needs of the people
and provide adequate motivation required to run the organisation. The main purpose of
directing is directing human factor in the organisation as they are complex in nature and
behaviour. At the same time, this helps in converting plans into performances because
without this people become inactive and resources will be meaningless (Riley, 2014).
 Controlling : It is concerned with the regulation of activities in accordance with the
plans. This monitors that plans are executed as and well decided. It helps in identifying
the deviations associated and taking corrective actions in Amazon. The purpose of
controlling in human resource management is to ensure high quality reporting, creating
clarity in operations, improving efficiency.
Operative functions
 Employment : This operative function deals with identifying the quality and quantity of
personal employees needed in Amazon to accomplish desired task. This includes
recruitment, selection, placement, etc. The main purpose of this function is to select the

right candidate for appropriate job in an organisation who meets the necessary
requirements of the job (Reiche and et. al., 2016).
 Development : It is the duty of the HR management to train and develop employees for
the jobs they have been recruited. It is necessary to increase their technical skills in doing
their jobs in Amazon and satisfying their growth need. The purpose of HR development
is to render the coaching required to modify and increase the knowledge, skills and
potential that an employee already has. The goal of development and training is to make
employees even healthier at what they do.
 Compensation : This is concerned with determining adequate and equitable
remuneration of the employees in the Amazon. For this, there are various factors which
are to be considered like basic needs, legal provisions regarding minimum wages, etc.
The most crucial purpose of compensation if to enhance motivation and retention of
employees in an organisation. It further attracts qualified talent in their company by
offering competitive compensation plans.
Roles and responsibilities of HRM functions
There are various roles and responsibilities which HRM department will perform in
Amazon and they are discussed below :-
 Workforce planning and employment : In perform this function, HR is responsible for
implementing the organisations recruiting strategy, interviewing appliers, administering
pre employment test, processing transfers, promotions and terminations in Amazon.
 Development : In performing the development and training function, HR will be
accountable for conducting training sessions, administering on the job training programs,
evaluating the training programs.
 Risk management : HR will play a very crucial role in managing risk. It is their duty to
develop to develop and administer heath and safety programs, maintaining accident
records, conducting safety inspection.
Significance of HR
HR is very important in meeting business objectives and goals in Amazon and they are
discussed below:-
 Good human resource practice will be beneficial in attracting and retaining the best
people in the organisation.

 Develops the necessary skills and correct attitudes of employees through motivation,
participation, etc.
 Offering tremendous opportunities for improving growth and potential of people working
in Amazon.
 Providing environment and incentives for developing and utilising creativity and
innovative pool of candidates.
P2. Strength and weakness of different approaches.
 Recruitment : It is the most important function of human resource management which
deals with identifying and hiring the best qualified candidates from within the or outside
the organisation (Wehrmeyer, 2017). There are variety of recruitment approaches and
majority of the companies will utilise them in their operations which are discussed below
:-
Internal recruitment approach : In this method candidates are identified and attracted for
the job. This is the approach of recruitment in which employees are recruited internally. High
authorities use this method to find a favourable candidates from existing workforce. The in house
recruitment team will advertise job vacancies on their own websites, internal advertisement, and
hire the employees retire employees, temp to hire, direct hire etc.
Strength
It helps in bringing the new and innovative talent in the company and will bring new techniques
of to do work in the business organisation. Same as amazon company is hiring the internal
employees to expertise in the work.
Weakness
This process can be time consuming and expensive in nature. It may increase the cost of the
amazon company as internal employees may charge high salary for the hire post.
 Selection : It is the process of choosing the most significant candidate for the vacant
position in the organisation. In this process, an organisation can select the best candidates
as per its knowledge, experience and other professional work. In the amazon company
individual are hired as per their knowledge, innovative approaches, problem solving skill
and other skill that a person have. They can be hire by certain round of skill like aptitude

test, written test and interview. The same procedure is following by amazon to select a
candidates. The criteria for selecting a candidate varies from company to company. The
process must be systematic so it does not leave any kind of confusion and doubts about
the selected candidate. Amazon will have various approach and they are discussed
below :-
Panel interview : A panel interview is one when a job candidate is interviewed by a panel
of company members that includes the manager and anyone else necessary to conduct interview
(Purce, 2014). They are conducted to examine the candidates skills set and their overall
efficiency for managing group of members with multiple questions. \
Strength:
It has the benefit of assessing the individuals capabilities, skills, knowledge and analysing that
whether they will fir into the company or not.
Weakness:
It lacks the complete image of the candidate and also the candidate can be dishonest in their
opinions and thoughts.
 Workforce planning : It is the process that provides strategic direction to talent
management activities to ensure that an organisation has a right people in the right place
at the right time to implement and execute its business strategy. Approaches of work
force planning which Amazon will follow is discussed below:
Portfolio diversification : This approach tends to be found in corporations with moderate
to high levels of portfolio diversification. It begins with the data and facts which has developed
externally from the organisation and is then translated into objectives and organisations wide
initiatives. This approach focusses on the porter's generic industry analysis.
Strength:
It is very useful for the company which deals with cyclical business where the rate of employee
turnover and absenteeism is high and maintains the employees consistency.
Weakness:
Developing plans for the workforce planning, requires a huge amount of money and is also needs
a lot of time.

 Performance management : This is the process which refers to the evaluation of
employees, providing them with valuable feedback and creating a positive effect on
future performance. The approach of this is discussed below:
Comparative approach : This involves ranking an employee performance with respect to
that of others in the group. In this, individuals are ranked from highest to the lowest performers.
There are various techniques which are used in this approach for measuring performance such as
forced distribution techniques, paired comparisons, etc.
Strength:
This is very helpful in maximising the performance of individuals that will contribute in
improving the overall performance of the company.
Weakness:
It is highly time consuming procedure and also leads to discouragement among the staff
members.
Human Resource Management & Its Core Functions Examples to examine the HR
practices
Amazon faced a serious allegations in 2015 stating the work culture of the company as
bruising. The example shows that CEO of Amazon pushes their employees so hard that the work
environment has become difficult. The case also determines that work culture of Amazon forced
their employees to ignore their families and work. Under such conditions, HR implemented
various practices which provided healthy environment to its employees and they are discussed
below :
 Providing flexible working hours so that employees can balance their personal and
professional life. It sets the limit above which a person is not required to work legally.
 Apart from this, it made several provisions for women like maternity leave provisions,
flexible working hours so that they can manage work, home and children simultaneously.
 For minimising the burden of work from people, it divided the work between various
people according to their skills and capabilities which not only reduces the pressure but
also accomplishes the task effectively and efficiently.

 It further provided required training and guidance to the employees like coaching,
counselling, etc. for development of the individuals in the organisations.
 Compensation policies and plans are also improved by providing minimum salary
decided by the country to each employee. This motivates them to work with full zeal and
confidence in the organisation.
TASK2
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices.
HRM practices plays a very important role in an organisation as it provides competitive
advantage to the Amazon. Human resource managers of Amazon are responsible for protecting
the interest and rights of employees and employers. These HRM practices are beneficial to
employees and employers of Amazon and they are discussed in detail (Wilton, 2016).
Benefits to employers
 Recruitment practice of human resource management of Amazon will help employers in
saving time and cost when recruiting externally. But if they will be recruiting externally
then it will give the benefit of identifying the personnel from large pool candidates. This
will also give them the benefit of selecting the latest, innovative and more creative person
for the required job vacancy.
 Motivation is the most important tool which is performed by employer to provide
adequate and required encouragement in people working in Amazon. They will use
financial incentives like rewards, incentives, bonuses, etc. and non financial incentives
like promotion, transfer, respect, etc. This will be beneficial for employers as people will
be motivated to work towards the goals and objectives of the organisations (Marchington
and et. al., 2016).
 Planning is the most crucial practice in human resource department of Amazon. Effective
and efficient planning will make clear mission and vision for the organisation and
employers will work in accordance with it and help them to accomplish goals and
objectives.
Benefits to the employees
 Effective HRM practices gives the benefit to flexible working hours to the employees.
This will help them in managing work and personal life efficiently.

 HR department will emphasise on protecting the rights of employees. Amazon will
protect the interest of their employees by providing effective training on sexual
harassment.
 Amazon will provide such working environment to their employees which will enhance
the working and ability to work more of the people. It will encourage the friendly and
conflict free atmosphere so that all will feel comfortable and satisfied with their jobs.
 It will also provide the benefit of non discriminatory policies which will help in
eliminating the discrimination from the working environment.
P4. Evaluation of different HRM practices.
The main and primary objective of every organisation is to earn profit and accomplish
organisational objectives through effective HRM practices. The effect of HRM practices and
policies on employee productiveness is a important subject in the area of human resource
management, industrial relations and organizational psychology. The majority of its work
considers the principle of utilization of advanced action of work practices, encourages
compensation and retrieval in the field of management systems and wide employee involvement
and training, can improve the psychological feature, intensify their desire or motivation,
minimises avoiding work and improve keeping on quality employees while assisting up idler to
discontinue the organization. Productivity is reaching the highest level of performance with the
least expenditure of resources (Glendon and Clarke, 2015). HRM has been effective for Amazon
in terms of raising organisational profits and productivity. Since the implementation of HRM in
the company, effectiveness and ineffectiveness of different practices in raising organisational
profit and productivity to accomplished greater revenues and productivity by following
perspectives :-
 Innovative and qualified employees : The human resource department of the Amazon
will promote innovative atmosphere and motivate their employees for better facilities and
this will help organisation to increase their profits and productivity. In the absence of the
qualified person it may lead to lower production and sales revenue.
 Effectual direction setting and execution : Managers play crucial role in setting the
direction, aim, priorities, goals and roles of the manpower. HRM will help Amazon to
recruit the suitable personnel at right place. This will lead the company in superior
profitability and productivity but the ineffectiveness in the direction by the management

may result to unaccomplished the business goal and objective. (Bratton and Gold,
2017).
 Effective communication : Human resource department of Amazon will help in
accomplishing individual and team goals. Effective mode of communication with use of
relevant technologies like video conferencing, tele communication, etc. will provide
expansion of business which will increase the financial stability in global market as well
but in the different situation like lack of presentation skill and poor communication may
cause conflicts between workers.
 Sharing and collaborations : Productivity and profitability of Amazon improves
magically when others from outside the company freely collaborate and willingly share
the best ideas and collaboration tools (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2017). It is HRM which
helps the company to develop formal methods of exchanging information and
collaborations. Due to hide the important information, it may occur the loss to
organisation.
 Non financial factors : Various non monitory factors like transfer, promotions, respect,
recognition, enrichment, etc. will provide feeling of motivation and they will feel
energise to work towards the attainment of organisational goals and objectives effectively
and efficiently leading to improve in productivity and financial ability of the Amazon.
Other factor like miscommunication, demotion, poor performance of the employee can
cause the less production and loss in business.
There are numerous organisational HRM practices which will have a strong contribution
in raising the organisational profits and productivity and it is discussed below:
 Recruitment: It helps in identifying and searching for perspective candidate and stimulate
them to apply for jobs in the company. With the help of this, the company will be able to
hire a right person who meets with the jobs description and bring in innovative way and
idea of working that will contribute in attainment of business objectives in effective way.
 Training and development: When the Amazon will organise numerous training programs
and sessions then it will be able to develop the learning abilities of the individual such
that the individual will work with full knowledge and increases the overall productivity
and profitability of the company.

TASK3
P5. Importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision making
Maintaining flourishing employee relations in an organization is a pre-requisite for
organizational success. Brawny employee relations are needed for advanced fruitfulness and
human spirit. Employee relations mostly deal with confronting and resolving issues concerning
individuals which might originate out of or influence the work premises. Strong employee
relation depends upon rosy and safe work environment, present engagement and commitment of
all employees, incentives for employee motivation and effective communication system in the
organization (Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017). Without effective and efficient employee
relation, no company can successfully attain the business goals and objectives. Employee
relation is very useful because it strengthen the abilities of the people to work. When relation
will be good and effective then the employees will feel free and motivated to work with the
company. It will build the friendly and healthy atmosphere. It will also makes easy for people to
share and discuss their views and thoughts such that they remain attentive. It will enable to build
collaborative working and also proper delegation of work will takes place because employer will
be aware of the responsibilities, skills, abilities of its employees.
Approaches of employee relation and its effectiveness
Unitary approach
This approach defines that all members of the organisations have a common set of
objectives, aims and purposes. Therefore, they all work for accomplishing the goals and
objectives effectively and efficiently. In this conflict is seen as a temporary divergence which is
caused due to the poor management or avoiding the employees to understand and mix with the
organisations culture.
This approach is very effective in a way that it assumes the overall profitability can be
increased if everyone in the organisation has the common interest or purpose. Further it leads to
harmony in the working environment and strikes are considered as destructive.
Approaches of employee engagement and its effectiveness
Employee engagement is very crucial practice in business organisations. Amazon will
adopt involving more and more employees by the following way:
Three tier approach

This is one of the most important approach for engaging employees. It has three tier
starting with the following :
 Surface level engagement : This is the surface level and employees are appeared to be
engaged and speak all the correct things but they are still looking for better.
 Feeling engagement : At this level employees are committed to the goals and objectives
of the organisation and they care about the work and company.
 Intellectual engagement : High level of intellectual engagement also have high level of
clarity and development of employees. In this employee think about their long term
career needs and whether the company will meet upto their expectations in delivering
this.
P6. The key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision
making.
Employment legislation is the law that governs employment within the workplace with
everyone who works (Baum, 2016). It appears to be perpetually concerning, becoming more
controversial due to the impacts it may have on the businesses and public concerns. There are
various employment legislations in the business world which are to be followed by Amazon and
they are discussed below:
 Equal employment opportunity act 1972 : It is an employment practice where
employers do not engage in employment activities that are prohibited by law. This
signifies that it is illegal for employers to discriminate against an employee on the basis
of race, age, colour, sex, etc. In this regard human resource manager of Amazon will take
decisions regarding providing and assuring equal opportunities to all their employees by
employing people from cross border boundaries (Bailey and et. al., 2018).
 The working time regulation act 1998 : It puts a limit on the number of hours that
workers can work each week. HR manager of Amazon by adopting such legislations will
make policies and programs which will be beneficial for employees and does not make
them work exceeding the limits set.
 National minimum wage act 1998 : Worker in Amazon UK are legally eligible to be
paid a minimum wage per hour for the work they do. In this regard, legislation also

regulates payroll policies and other remuneration and benefits plans in line accordingly so
that every HR decision goes right.
 Harassment act 1997 : There are various laws and legislations for protecting the
employees from harassment. It is very crucial so that employees feel safe and secure. For
this purpose, HR manager of Amazon will take several decisions and make polices which
will protect the workers from various types of harassments at work place (Armstrong and
Taylor, 2014).
Employee relations and employment legislations
Employee relations are the organisations efforts to maintain healthy and good
relationship between workers and employers. Employment legislations are the legal laws which
are necessary in maintaining harmony in the Amazon. They both influence the decision making
and meeting business objectives effectively and efficiently. For instance, the law of minimum
wages will influence decision making regarding setting pay rolls of the employees in the
Amazon. Due to national minimum wage act, employees will feel motivated towards the
attainment of organisational objectives and goals. Also, for establishing good relations between
employees and avoiding illegal practices in the Amazon, HR manager will adopt the employment
legislation law of harassment which will influence the decision making regarding the illegal
practices taking place in the company and employees will feel safe and secure and work with full
concentration and attention.
TASK4
P7. Application of HRM practices in a work-related context.
By posting the job description and job specification in LinkedIn for marketing and sales manager
in Amazon, two candidates are identified.
Job description of marketing and sales manager in Amazon is described below:-
Job Description
Job Title : Marketing and Sales Manager in Amazon

Purpose : Marketing and sales managers are responsible for communicating the
various plans, policies and programs of marketing. They are accountable
for selling the products and services of the organisation. They will further
help the organisation in attaining goals and objectives with various
marketing tools and techniques.
Job Duties : Accomplishing objectives by recruiting, selecting, orienting, training, etc.
Attaining marketing and sales operational objectives.
By forecasting the requirements of finances, meets the marketing and
sales objectives.
Determines annual and gross-profit plans by forecasting and developing
annual sales quotas for regions.
Improves product marketability and profitability by investigating,
distinguishing and capitalizing on market opportunities.
Generates innovative and creative methods for marketing.
Skills and : Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Sales
Qualifications 8 + years in Marketing sales field
Excellent negotiation skills
Effective communication skills
Awards and recognitions
Innovative and creative
Excellent decision making ability
Person specification for marketing and sales manager in Amazon is described below :
Person specification
Essentials Desirable
Skills Effective communication
skills, presentation skills,
creative thinking, motivational
, etc.
Investigating market skills,
analysing target market needs,
decision making skills, expert
in internet and social media

etc.
Knowledge CRM system, commercial
awareness, strategic marketing
Social media channel in a B to
B approach, sales processes
and techniques.
Experience Worked in a marketing team,
implemented marketing
strategy, ability to work on
own initiative.
Experience of liaising with
other organisations like
designing, publishers, printers.
Worked in a PR or support role
of same.
Interview questions
Q1. How do you keep up with the latest industry trends in sales?
Q2. How do you generate, develop, and close sales opportunities
Q3. Why are you interested in this company? Why are you interested in this role?
Q4. Have you ever had to break up with a client or prospect? How did you approach that?
Offer letter
Offer Letter
Date : 29.01.2019
TO,
Mr. XYZ,
123, GHJK, UK
Subject : Job offer letter
I am pleased to inform you that you are appointed as a marketing and sales manager in Amazon,
UK. Your joining date will be from 1.02.2019 and the terms of employment has been attached
in the annexure of this letter.
You can confirm your response by 31.01.2019 till 06:00 pm. If we will not receive your

response then the letter will be automatically terminated after the date mentioned. We look
forward to your presence.
Your sincerely,
ABC
HR Manager of Amazon.
Evaluation of various techniques for improving recruitment and selection process
 Technology : It is the most important technique used in today's business world. It makes
the process of selecting candidate easier and time saving. For instance, online test are
conducted through technology and checked in a seconds without the use of manual
manpower. It improves productivity, reduces cost and makes the company more strategic.
 Social networking : These are widely used network not only by youth but all age group
people uses this. It is a great way of tapping large amount of candidates through external
sources. By placing advertisements on social networks will help organisation to choose
best candidate. It can be done on Facebook, whatsapp, twitter, etc. as these are the widely
used applications which will provide the required personnel and it saves time and cost.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that human resource management is very
essential in every organisation and no company can execute its operations without effective
practices of HRM. This report explains the purpose and functions of HRM and various
approaches of selection and training with their strength and weaknesses. It further explains the
benefits of HRM practices to employees and employers and evaluation of various practices
which increases productivity and profits of the company. It also defines the various legislations
for protecting employee rights and their influence on decision making. This also determines the
importance of employee relations in context of HRM decisions. Later part of the report
concluded the application of HRM practices with work context.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Bailey and et. al., 2018. Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
Baum, T. ed., 2016. Human resource issues in international tourism. Elsevier.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. eds., 2017. Policy and practice in European human resource
management: The Price Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2017. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
Human Kinetics.
Glendon, A.I. and Clarke, S., 2015. Human safety and risk management: A psychological
perspective. Crc Press.
Marchington and et. al., 2016. Human resource management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.
Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New
Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals).67.
Reiche and et. al., 2016. Readings and cases in international human resource management.
Taylor & Francis.
Riley, M., 2014. Human resource management in the hospitality and tourism industry.
Routledge.
Storey, J., 2014. New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals).
Routledge.
Tyson, S., 2014. Essentials of human resource management. Routledge.
Wehrmeyer, W., 2017. Greening people: Human resources and environmental management.
Routledge.
Wilton, N., 2016. An introduction to human resource management. Sage.
Online
Human Resource Management & Its Core Functions. 2018. [Online]. Available Through:
<https://medium.com/@swaticbindia/human-resource-management-its-core-functions-
managerial-operative-fc0335ef616a>.