Role and Purpose of HR Functions in Microsoft

This article discusses the role and purpose of HR functions in Microsoft, including planning, controlling, training and development, recruiting and selection, performance management, and reward management.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P1Role and purpose of HR functions.....................................................................................1
P2Strength and Weakness of the current selection method....................................................2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices................................................................................3
P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices........................................................................5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................6
P5 Employee engagement and its importance in Microsoft...................................................6
P6 Influence of the key elements of UK employment legislation on decision making of HR9
LO4................................................................................................................................................11
P7. Person specification for Receptionist.............................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
HRM helps the company to gain competitive advantage and improve or maximize the
performance of the employee (Noe. and et.al., 2017). This project reveals the purpose of the HR
function a the strength and weakness of the current selection method used by the company and
evaluate the selection process which can be use to make improvement in selection process.
This also includes the creation of Job Specification for the specific role and discuss
about the advantage and disadvantage of current method of advertising job in the company and it
would be recommended for the advertisement of the job vacancy. Report will lay emphasis on
Microsoft as an organization. It is an American multinational organization which has been
headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Company is being engaged in manufacturing license,
support and sell computer software. The CEO of Microsoft is Satya Nadella. Company was
founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates. Report will highlight the function and purpose for further
growth. It will also explain strength and weakness of current selection method. (Bratton and
Gold, 2017)
LO1
P1Role and purpose of HR functions
Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic approach to the effective
management of a people in a company(Human resource management,2019).
Managerial function
 Planning: It is the major function of HR as this department is responsible to making clear
plan for the development of business. This function can help Chocola Fantastica in
planning about human resources which can increase the operational efficiency of
organization.
 Controlling: HR has to control over the people so that they can work better in the firm. It
is also one of the major function in human resource department of Chocola Fantastica. It
can help company in controlling the activities of each department working in
organization.
Operative function
 Training and development- Training and development is the indispensable function of the
HR management. where its main purpose to improve the current and future performance
of the employee by increasing the ability and skill of the employee in Chocola Fantastica
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by providing proper training to the employee in the particular subject. The role of training
and development is to improve the quality of product. It is important for the Chocaola
Fantastica as by providing the training that increase the ability and skill and they work
with full efficiency towards their work. Purpose is to help the organization come out from
the current problem of staff turnover
Advisory function
 Recruiting and selection : Recruiting is the process of screening, captivating, selecting the
potential and qualified candidates based on the objective of the particular job. The main
purpose of this function is to attract the qualified candidates for the Chocola Fantastica
organization. Recruitment and selection is very important to the organization because it
reduce the cost of mistake and improve the quality of the product. The role is to helps the
organisation to overcome from the staff turnover as it select the qualified and skill
employees which reduce the staff turnover of the organisation as the company facing.
 Performance management: Performance management is also one of the major function of
the HR function as its responsibility of the Human resource management to monitor over
the employees performance. The main purpose of this function is it keep an eye on the
staff members of Chocola Fantastica whether they performing well or not, if in case they
are not performing well according to the standard performance then they are providing
the training to improve their performance on the basis of standard performance and
improve the product quality. It is also very important function for the organisation as it
monitor all the activity and performance of the workers so that if any issue is their
relating to the performance it can be rectify and the role of company to retain the
employees.
 Reward Management : Reward is also one of the HR function which can support the
organization in reducing the problem of employee turnover. The purpose of reward
management is to motivate the employees to perform better which also solves the
problem of low quality of products which is arising Employee not think over the turn off
from the company. That helps in raising the productivity of the Chocola Fantastica.
Best fit approach: this model pays attention on effective coordination or alignment between
company strategy and HR strategies. HR has to ensure that company’s goal is fulfilled without
compromising employees needs.
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Best practice approach focus on gaining competitive advantage to firm. It always
implement such practices that are beneficial for business unit.
Hard and soft HRM
Hard HRM states that employees must be treated like resources of the firm. It gives little
empowerment to employees Whereas soft HRM treats employees well and employees are
empowered in the firm.
P2Strength and Weakness of the current selection method
Selection is the process where it differentiate between candidates in order to identify and
hire those who greater likelihood of success in job. Where as recruitment refers to identifying
and encourage employee to apply for job. Company has to do job analyses before hiring any
person, it has to prepare their job description and requirement in person in term of person
specification. This would be better in selecting the most appropriate person in the firm.
Two test are using by the Chocola fantastica company for hiring the new candidates are:
Assessment test- This systematic way of testing the job candidates ability to perform the
specific task & how it react to the range of different situation. By conducting the test in English
and Maths and candidate can be selected on the basis of marks scoring more than 50%.
Advantage-
 Cheap to acquire- It is an cheaper way that the Chocola Fantastica is using for hiring the
new candidates. This method which is followed by company is very cost effective. It help
firm in saving cost.
 Accurate and appropriate- This test is accurate and appropriate for the Chocola as by
using this correct candidates of high skill can be selected (Nankervis and et.al., 2016).
Disadvantage-
 Make candidate nervous- It make the candidate nervous as compare to other multi choice
question where candidate just have to select one.
 Method become fake- This method can be fake because sometime question may be
leaked in the Chocola Fantastica company.
Interview Test- It is an consistent of conversation between a job applicant and a representative of
an employer which decide whether the candidate should hire or not.
Advantage-
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 Sufficient information- Sufficient information can be collected, because interviewer can
ask any question while taking interview.
 Time saving- It saves Chocola Fantastica company time to select the best candidate
within a very short time communication.
 Easy correction of speech- Any mistake or misunderstanding can be rectify easily by
physically presence of both interviewer and interviewee as both are seating front of each
other while taking the interview.(Hecklau and et.al.,2016)
Disadvantage-
 they can be very time-consuming: setting up, interviewing, transcribing, analysing,
feedback, reporting.
 they can be costly. Chocola Fantastica had to put up a lot of expenditure and amount on
this process. It can increase the expenses of firm. Its operational cost can get reduced
because of it.
 different interviewers may understand and transcribe interviews in different ways. ( Shen
and Benson, 2016)
LO2
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices
Learning training and developmemt
This program is designed for top performing graduates across broad range of roles.
Benefits to organisation- By providing training program to workers company improves their
moral and confidence . Which will benefit the Microsoft as motivated workers will work more
effectively which enhance profitability of business. The program provides real world experience
and focused training. Thus, employees are benefited from accelerated professional development
which helps the employees to build long term career at Microsoft(Brewster, 2017)
Flexible working arrangements
The programs is designed for all the employees in Microsoft. The program benefit the
Microsoft as training improves employee performance and working skills. As skilled worker will
work smartly and will solve every problem on his own which saves time also and help in
increasing the productivity of the Microsoft. Atkinson model of flexibility states that there are
three types if flexibility such as functional, financial and numerical that must be given to the
employees. Functional flexibility includes providing timely payment to them and providing
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them working time flexibility. Numerical flexibility includes hiring temporary workers or giving
flexibility to work part time. Financial flexibility includes giving extra pay for extra work.
Microsoft provides functional flexibility to workers and give them option to work part time.
Performance management
Microsoft also provides its students with performance management , the worker has
ability to work in small, focused and stable teams of highly motivated and talented developer.
The program improves the working skills of the employees. As skilled employees have more
chances of getting promotions in future. Microsoft uses 360 method to measure performance of
all workers.
Microsoft summer internship program
The program is designed to encourage the interest of students in computer science, computer
engineering and technical discipline.
Benefits to organisation
The internship program with hands on training and real experience and monitoring
opportunities increase the brand recognition of Microsoft. By providing internship. As it is easier
for Microsoft to hire the employees at the time of permanent recruitment.
Benefits to employees
It is helpful for employees as employees on internship gains experience with various tools
and programming language in the field of software developments. The workers are benefited as
they are trained with programming language they can work beneficently with advance
techniques(Berman and et.al., 2019)
Reward management
Maslow theory states that if needs of each person is met then firms can motivate its
workers. HR manager of the firm has to give recognition and incentives to all its staff in order to
encourage them and make them able to retain in business for longer duration.
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P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices
Flexible working arrangements
Microsoft provides flexible working arrangements to their employees which has helped
them in retaining employees. As job vacancies are circulated to the current employees and their
friend and family unit Noticeboards are used in the Microsoft to keep the employees up-to-date
regarding what is actively going on (Sparrow and Otaye-Ebede, 2017) . It helps in attracting new
people and retaining current people in the firm.
Performance management
Performance management has an effectiveness that it enhances the way employees
perform in an organization. It creates interest in employees regarding important information that
creates the positive effect on the employees work performance. It inspire the staffs by putting
their achievements on board and which motivates them effectively achieve the target and
employees of Microsoft feels valued and appreciated for that. It is helpful in retaining staff and
motivating hem because they get appraisal for their god efforts which makes them positive
towards the brand.
Work events or activity photos reminds employees about their great opportunities which
were experienced by them over the years and it also provides the promotional opportunities for
the staffs(Banfield, Kay and Royles, 2018)
Reward and appraisal system
Microsoft makes use of reward and appraisal system so that they can motivate employees to
work better. This can help them in building goodwill in the market and also attracting more
consumers. It also creates the communication possibilities for employees in the Microsoft
regarding various conferences and social activities that enhances the staffs for interacting with
one another and that results to building strong relationships among all the employees and
managers
Noticeboards helps in receiving feedback like any suggestions given by employees for further
projects and discussions can be done in respect to current projects as well as idea of other worker
and the feedback given on the board that can reflect on the employee's work.
It also helps the Microsoft to advertise regarding the vacant jobs that helps in internal
recruitment of employees and those individuals apply for job that are already well-known to the
directors which results to easy recruitment process.
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Advertising from noticeboards is cheaper ass compared to the external advertising.
The message which is given on the notice board is not spread clearly across the organisation
because all the details cannot be included on the notice board
It is very slow process but people can forget the notice very easily. (Noe. and et.al., 2017)
Through noticeboard advertising the talent from outside cannot be taken that will result to
limited employees
LO3
P5 Employee engagement and its importance in Microsoft.
Employment engagement is a fundamental concept in the effort to understand and describe both
qualitatively and quantitatively, the nature of the relationship between an organisation and its
employees. The employee engagement strategies have been proven to reduce the staff turnover,
improving productivity and efficiency, retain customers and make more profits. Engaged
employees are happier both in jobs and in their personal lives. For Microsoft to perform well it is
essential that the employees has a warm and healthy relations among themselves. The worker
must be comfortable with each other so that they can enjoy their work(Sparrow and Otaye-
Ebede, 2017)
Importance of employee engagement in Microsoft
 Openness: It develops openness among all people because all the employees can interact
with other easily. Employee engagement reduces staff turnover. The organisation
becomes happy place to work if employees work together as a family. This also impacts
the recruitment decisions of Microsoft HR as it saves the time for new recruitment
because the happier employees work in the organisation for a longer period of time.
Healthy relation with the fellow workers would ease the work load and in turn increases
the productivity of the Microsoft.
 Willingness to cooperate: Employee engagement helps in improving productivity and
efficiency of Microsoft, as when all the employees have good relation between each
other. They will work effectively, the co operation between the workers will lead the
organisation to more success(Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2018)
 Psychological contract: Healthy employee relation among workers discourages fights and
conflicts between the individuals. This impacts the Microsoft as there is happy
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environment the worker will work more happily and thus, results in overall productivity
of the Microsoft.
 Employee relation creates a sense of team work among staffs in Microsoft. Healthy
employee relation has a close connection with improving productivity and reducing
employee turnover. So it assist the HR in taking productive decisions about the
Microsoft company.
Approaches of engaging workers and impact on improving communication at workplace. The
Approaches of engaging workers are as follows-
Open communication
The approach which is used by company is open communication. This approach connects and
engage people across the organisation. This approach focus on building transparency, creating
stronger communities by sharing best practices and give ideas to drive initiatives.
Yammer approach helps in improving engagement in the Microsoft as all the employees are
engaged they will have better communication between them. It builds the culture of transparency
in Microsoft as the working is transparent. People will trust more on the organisation. Thus
transparency will build good communication among the employees(Noe. and et.al., 2017)
Microsoft teams
This approach is the approach of teamwork. In this the communication is done through threaded
and president chat and keep everyone in the knowledge. This approach provides customised apps
at the workplace by providing all the services at one place. It includes easy access to share point,
one note, PowerBI and many more.
This approach improves the communication as by using apps people can easily communicate
easily. As people in team will work in groups and hence, will assist in improving the
communication in Microsoft.
Flexible working is the way of working that suits or helps the employee needs. The flexible
arrangements provided by Microsoft are part time job facility, work remotely and employees can
flex their working schedules.
Part time jobs
Microsoft offers part time jobs. In this the worker works for a couple of hours for the company.
Salary given to part time employers is less as they are not working for full day.
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Benefits to employee- Part time jobs opens new door for the employee as worker in free time can
utilise time well. This reduces the stress level of the employee which benefit them to focus
more on the work (Berman and et.al., 2019) .
Benefits to organisation- One of the most benefit of part time employee is that the employee are
recruited at low cost. Microsoft can appoint other candidates at the vacant time. Thus will
help in managing the work load. In part time job the company pays the hourly rate to the
employee for which they are working for and not for the whole day. Thus, this helps in
saving Microsoft money(Nankervis and et.al., 2016)
Remote working facility
Microsoft offer remote working facility as work from home. In this the employers are allowed to
work from their home on the working hours. When the employee is not able to come to the work
but willing to do work in that case this arrangement applicable.
Benefits to organisation- Microsoft is benefited by this method as higher productivity is
generated as ability of doing the work is uninterrupted. Happier the staff which results in
motivation and better work commitment. This method reduces the absenteeism of employees at
work place, which impacts the overall productivity of the Microsoft.
Benefits to employees- It reduces the stress level of the employee. This helps the worker in
maintaining work life balance. This is the better way to improve work life balance for the
employees. Working from home makes the employee happier. As happier employees retain in
the organisation for a longer time( Shen and Benson, 2016)
Microsoft performs various practices to motivates its employees, which are as follows-
Strong reward performance
Microsoft rewards the employees who perform well in job. This can be in the term of additional
pay, benefits or more opportunities for promotions. Managers are also rewarded by the company
by such benefit which assist in boosting their performance. Managers get recognition, additional
travel allowances that motivates them(Hecklau and et.al.,2016)
Involving employee in decision making
Microsoft engages employees in the decision making, this will not only motivate the employees,
this will also identify the potential talent which could help him to grow. Microsoft try to make
feel the employees that they can give their suggestions and present their ideas which may help in
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improving the way the organisation works. Managers get involved in top discussion at corporate
level which encourage them and make them positive towards the brand.
Giving attention to employees
Microsoft knows very well that the workers need to know that they are valued, understood and
most important listen to. Microsoft do this by taking time to converse with the workers to make
them feel more comfortable with their job roles. Thus, motivates the employee to do work more
effectively. Furthermore, Microsoft gives attention to managerial level staff, firm takes their
suggestion and implement their ideas at workplace which motivate them.
Offer training and development
Microsoft sends the employees to 'off job training' so that the employees feels that their
development is supported by the company and keeps them motivated. Employees want to feel
that they are developing in the work place by learning new skills and gaining experience, which
will assist them in good stead in future. Apart from this, Microsoft gives technical training to
managerial level workers to enhance their capabilities so that they can work on specific and
important projects significantly. The employer motivates worker by properly designing the job
role by giving them appropriate job as per their calibre and skill. (Taylor, Doherty and McGraw,
2015)
Defines role
For employee it is very necessary to know the job role. Microsoft clearly defines the job
description and the role the employees are working in. as the workers know their role clearly
they are motivated and will work more effectively. On other hand managers also get to know
their rights and role in business which encourages them to work better.
P6 Influence of the key elements of UK employment legislation on decision making of HR
Purpose of employment law is to manage work of all employees and protect their
employment rights.
Equality act 2010:
It is the legislation that pays attention of providing equal treatment to workers so that
they can work freely. This will help making them feel comfortable and retaining them in the
firm. It impacts on recruitment decision of the HR and also the promotion decisions as well.
The Fair Labour Standards Act 1938
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The Fair Labour Standards Act was first formed in 1938, which provides security to the
applicants and the employees by ensuring the minimum wages and the pay for overtime to the
employees who serves the organisation for more than 40 hours in a week. The recruitment
decision of HR is get influenced by this act, Microsoft's HR manager has to decide the minimum
wage rate for the new candidates as well as for the employees at the time of recruiting the
candidates. HR needs to manage the rate of overtime wages as well which have to convey to the
applicants at the time of their recruitment(Bratton and Gold, 2017)
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1970
This act was enacted in the year 1970, for the benefits of the employees weather they are
new or existing employees of the organisation. In this act, it is stated that if the working
environment of the organisation is unsafe then employees can raise their voice against the unsafe
and unfavourable environment of the organisation. Training and development decision of HR get
influenced by this act, as the HR manager of Microsoft, has to maintain the documents of all the
kinds of safe and unsafe materials used in the premise of the organisation and also make decision
to provide training to the employees about the use of that appliances which may impact the
health and safety of the employees adversely Berman and et.al., 2019).It is also helpful in
managing social responsibility of firm towards its employees.
(Nankervis and et.al., 2016)
Assessment test- while taking the assessment test few potential improvement can be done by the
Microsoft company like proper, accurate and appropriate test be prepared (For example- proper
question paper should be prepared and kept it safe or in locker so that it cannot be leaked before
the test.) before going to conduct and take the test their must be proper attention and security
can be take care off, as many time the question may be leaked by someone else, and also make
sure that proper fairness is there in the paper because of lack of fairness in the test because of
which number of recruits failed in the probationary period. Hence making an improvement in the
assessment test by bringing fairness in test. It can improve the selection process of company.
Interview- There should be systematic interview, While taking the interview few changes that
can be done by the Microsoft company to improve the selection process. Interview should be
conducted in a formal way and sufficient information should be asked by the interviewer while
taking the interview. Give proper attention at the time of interview and make proper preparation
should be done before going to take an interview, like proper question which has to be asked
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according on the basis of subject. Hence, Interview help the interviewer to select best qualified
candidate (Taylor, Doherty and McGraw, 2015
LO4
P7. Person specification for Receptionist
Grievance dealing in organization
The grievances can be handle in the firm by open communicating with the employees so that
they can analyse the problems of which is being faced by the workers. This can support firm in
growing and also achieve their organizational objectives.
Recruitment is done by the firm through technology:
Chocola Fantastica can use social media and online website for advertising the job vacancy for
receptionist:-
Social media advertising: - this can be the best method for Chocola Fantastica for advertising
the job vacancy as today millions of people are using social media. The company can give ad
regarding the vacancy for receptionist on different social media platforms like Facebook,
LinkedIn that can help in spreading awareness to reach large public. With the help of these many
users who are in need for this job can apply. Social media can be very useful resource for
Microsoft that can connect many people and enterprise would be able to advertise job
effectively.
Website: Microsoft can advertise its job vacancy by making and online website. The reason for
choosing this method is that the advertisement can reach to the large volume of people. The
people will get aware of the job vacancy by reaching the website. This method is very
convenient and cost friendly(Bratton and Gold, 2017)
Knowledge
Managing customer service
IT knowledge
Microsoft excel and Microsoft word
Cash handling
Health and safety
Skills
Problem solving skills
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Communication skills
Customer care
Administration skills
Attributes
Personal appearance
Self motivated
Enthusiastic and self-confident
Supportive
Good listener
Desire for further training prospects
Experience
Minimum 1-year Receptionist experience.
Others
Ability for working unsociable weekends
Job advertisement
Job Receptionist
Location England
Reporting to Administration head
Role of receptionist Answer phone call
Dealing with consumers
Resolve complains
experience 1 year
Interview preparation
 Why do you want to work with us?
 What is your strength and weakness?
 Have you worked before on the same post in any other firm?
Selection best practice
Systematic interview is the best selection method that helps in hiring the best person in
business unit.
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CONCLUSION
From the above study it can be concluded that HR function helps the company to
improve the performance and skill development of the employee by providing the training and
development. Reward management has helped the employees in enhancing quality of work. It
has also assisted them in reducing the problem of employee turnover. This method has helped
company in enhancing their productivity and operational efficiency. Microsoft has used various
strategies of employee engagement. They have made use of open communication which has
supported them to engage workers in firm. It has increased employee belongingness. Microsoft
has also made use of flexible working arrangement that has increased the productivity of
employees. It has also enhance operational efficiency. This HRM practice has also enhanced the
goodwill of company. It has supported firm in growing and also gaining competitive advantage.
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Brewster, C., 2017. Policy and practice in european human resource management: The Price
Waterhouse Cranfield survey. Taylor & Francis.
Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2018. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
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Hecklau, F. and et.al., 2016. Holistic approach for human resource management in Industry
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Human resource management. 2019. [Online]. Available thorough
<https://products.office.com/en-us/yammer/yammer-overview>
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