Human Resources: Values and Contributions to Organisational Success

This report evaluates the importance of organisational design theory, approaches to attract and reward human resources, and emerging HR developments in Unilever Plc. It also discusses the challenges faced by HR managers in global environments and how to overcome them.

Human resources-
Values and
contribution to
organizational success

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
P1- Evaluate the importance of organisational design theory in the context of organisational
structure and fulfilling organisational strategy, using specific organisational examples............3
P2- Different approaches and techniques used by organization to attract, maintain and reward
human resources. .......................................................................................................................5
P3- Research and use of contemporary knowledge to support evidence for emerging HR
Developments. ............................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management can be defined as the process of recruiting, hiring and training of
the individuals in an organization. The HR department of the organization is accountable for
overseeing the policies and governing them with proper force to motivate the employees.
Employees are said to be the assets of the organizations and are used to reduce the risks and
maximise the return on investments (Ansari, Farrukh and Raza, 2021). The role of the human
resource is to manage the activities of the employees within the workplace. This report is about
Marks and Spencers which is a British multinational company, having headquarters in
Paddington, London, England. The company is specialised in providing beauty products, home
products, food products and clothing. The company is founded in 1884 and is operating in many
countries. This report evaluate the
MAIN BODY
P1- Evaluate the importance of organisational design theory in the context of organisational
structure and fulfilling organisational strategy, using specific organisational examples.
Organization- Unilever Plc is one of the largest brands which is operating in many countries
around the world. The company is manufacturing at global levels in order to satisfy the needs of
the customers. Unilever is engaged in providing a variety of products like home care, food and
refreshments and personal care. Unilever is the largest producer of the soap in the world.
Unilever is a UK based organization which is having its headquarters in London. The company is
operating in 190 countries including China, India, Netherlands and United States. The company
was formed on 2 September 1929 and has diversified its product line in the second half of the
20th century. Unilever has made many corporate relationships and acquisitions of companies
which includes Dollar shave club and Lipton (Cooke, Xiao and Chen, 2021). Unilever is an
international company and is led by the team of professionals and executives which are highly
skilled in there fields. The company is having diversified departments which involved marketing,
finance, sales and human resource. Every Unilever group is involved in strategy making to
expand the business and earn more profits.
Organisational design theory- It is the possibility which focuses on the structure of the
company. It defines the way in which a organization structure itself in completing the business

operations. The organizations which lack in proper organizational structure tend to outsource
there activities to different organizations to complete there core activities. The organizational
design theory is basically dependent on the types of goods and services produced and
manufactured by a company (Fenech, Baguant and Ivanov, 2019). Organization and the
employees have to change themselves according to the organizational structure to achieve there
goals and objectives effectively and efficiently.
Organisation structure- Organizational structure can be defined as the system which describes
how various activities are organized to achieve the desired goals and objectives of the
organization. It also defines the path how the information flows from lower levels to the top
levels of management and vice versa. There are various organisational structures used by the
companies for example in centralised structure the information flows from the top level
management to lower levels. Organizational structure helps an organization to stay focussed
towards the goals and brings efficiency in the business operations. It is important for Unilever to
consider a variety of factors like culture, product type, diversification and management structure
before choosing a organizational which best suits the business operations. Unilever is having
product type divisional structure in which the main focus in on the diversification of the
products.
Importance of organizational design theory-
 Dealing with contingencies- Contingency can be said as the event which can happen
without any prior notice. The management should be efficient to meet the needs of these
contingencies (Garg and et. al., 2021). Changing business environment can be one such
contingency for Unilever. The managers of Unilever have to be skilled and efficient to
meet the needs of the changing preferences of the customers. Unilever is a international
company which attract skilled individuals by providing them with bonuses and incentives
and attractive salaries.
 Competitive advantage- Organizational structure helps in providing a unified message
to the customers, investors and vendors which helps in better understanding of the
marketing goals of the company. The decision making skills of employees increase if
proper organizational structure is followed by the organizations. This will give Unilever
a competitive advantage over other companies and can attract more customers and retain
old customers.

P2- Different approaches and techniques used by organization to attract, maintain and reward
human resources.
It is important for the organizations to have skilled and dedicated workforce so that they
can offer more creative thinking and productivity at work. Skilled workers perform there
business operations well and are less likely to do mistakes (Gigauri, 2020). Skilled and
developed workers help the organization to keep there customers satisfied and fulfil there needs
and wants. They also help the organization in improving profitability and build a stronger
organizational structure. Skilled employees can also help in reducing the labour costs as they do
not need to be directed by the mangers for each and every task. A dedicated workforce simply
means which helps the organization to produce high- quality products and services at lower
costs. It is important to motivate and reward employees regularly so that they complete there
given task on time and will yield higher productivity.
Techniques used by Unilever to attract and motivate employees-
 Offer personal improvement programs- Unilever can offer there employees with
workshops and seminars to develop new skills. Personal development helps the
employees to improve productivity in there business operations and bring greater
satisfaction in there work. The main aim is to create motivation among the employees so
that they can perform there tasks efficiently and effectively.
 Validate good work- It is important for the managers at Unilever to validate the good
work of there team. The managers can give compliments to show there appreciation, this
in turn will motivate the employees to do better (Hasanzade and et. al., 2019).
Appreciating employees will improve there productivity as they will be satisfied with
there work and put more efforts in the near future.
 Set intermittent goals- Goals set should be according to the working capacity of the
employees so that they can complete there goals. Smaller goals can motivate employees
and encourage them to improve there short- term results. Smaller goals helps the
employees to understand the standards and goals clearly which allows them to do better
evaluation of the activities. Continuous feedbacks from the managers are also important
for the employees to produce better results.
 Create inspiring workspace- Comfortable working environment is important for the
employees to inspire them and motivate them to do better. Managers should encourage

there employees to decorate there workspace by using motivational handwritten quotes. It
is important for the team members to keep there desks clean so that a positive work
environment will be build in the organization.
 Encourage mindfulness- It is important for the employees to take breaks and relieve
stress in between the work. This will help them to focus on there work and meet the
deadlines on time (Liu, Qingqing and Liu, 2021). Managers can encourage there
employees to do meditation and yoga which helps them in concentrating on there work.
Short breaks in between the work can be allowed to the employees which helps the
managers in motivating them.
 Share profits to improve performance- Organizations can offer there employees with
some share of profits which will bring a sense of belongingness in the employees towards
the organization. This will increase pride of employees as there earning will increase and
they will be motivated to do better in the future for more profits and appreciation. Profit
sharing can help in increasing performance of the employees and will reduce labour
costs.
 Mentorship programs- Mentorship programs are important where the experienced
employees are paired with inexperienced employees so that they can be guided in the
right direction. Experienced employees can guide these employees to understand the
goals and objectives set by the company. Clear understanding of the goals will help the
employees to produce better results in less time.
P3- Research and use of contemporary knowledge to support evidence for emerging HR
Developments.
HR development- HR development can be said as the improvement of the employees of an
organization. It is the process in which the HR managers provide the employees with proper
training and desired skills which helps in increasing productivity and also helps them to grow at
workplace. The main focus of the human resource development team is on the improvement of
the performance of the employees so that they can achieve organizational goals as well as
personal goals. The team also identifies the problems faced by the employees while working in
the organization which is becoming a hindrance towards there productivity and efficiency.
Emerging HR development- The managers are facing issues and challenges while dealing with
the business operations on daily basis. So it is important for the managers to improve there

creative thinking skills to develop new ideas for the companies and improve there decision
making. Human resource managers are facing various challenges which are because of
globalization, employee retention and workforce management. So it is important for the HR
managers to evaluate these issues on regular basis to adapt to the changing environment.
Issues faced by HR managers-
 Globalization- Businesses nowadays are taking there operations in the global market to
expand globally and fulfil the needs of the global customers. Global companies can make
use of more technologies and professional workers to improve their productivity.
Globalization also allows the managers to hire employees from around the world which
will bring new talent in the company (Macke and Genari, 2019). Organizations can also
get benefits of low labour costs by hiring them from developing countries which in turn
will reduce the HR costs.
 Employee retention- It is the main issue faced by the HR managers in the long- term
basis. So HR managers are likely to pay focus on the retention of employees by engaging
them in different activities. Motivation is also a important factor in retaining employees,
so HR managers can make effective strategies to reward employees with bonuses and
incentives. The managers have to be friendly towards there employees and should listen
there thoughts and views. Increase in employee retention will directly put impacts on the
organizational performance and success.
Challenges of HRM in global environments-
Human resource managers faces many challenges in there daily working because of political
issues, cultural issues and technological issues. It is important for the HR managers to focus on
these challenges and solve these problems to help the employees work harder. Most important
challenge is to acquire right talent in the organization (Rana and Sharma, 2019). Global markets
makes it hard for the HR managers to communicate with the employees as they speak different
languages and have different cultures. It is also important for the managers to maintain
coordination between the global branches to synchronize the efforts of the employees and reduce
language barriers between them. Coordination between the employees will help in better
productivity and efficiency in the organization. Sharing knowledge across borders is also
important for the managers so that the employees will have clear understanding of the goals and
the objectives.

An explanation of some of the emerging HR development in the context of Unilever Plc is
mentioned below:
 Hybrid work model- Hybrid work model is used by the HR managers to manage the
workforce which will help in increased productivity and give job satisfaction to the
employees. Hybrid work model allows employees to work in a flexible environment,
employees have the option to do their work from home or from anywhere where they can
be productive. The team members in a hybrid work model can migrate themselves to
several locations in accordance with the work which has to be done. The hybrid work
model helps increase the job satisfaction of the team members and also increases
motivation.
 Transition from employee well-being to a healthy organisation- It is important for the
managers to focus on the mental health and well- being of the employees at the
workplace. For a organization to achieve success it should concentrate on the mental
health of the employees which will help them in increasing productivity. Both the
physical and mental health of the employees have to be maintained so that the employees
can be satisfied and will work with full efficiency (ThiHoa and et. al., 2021). Healthy
employees are likely to make less mistakes and produce good output. Unilever offer its
employees with training programs which help them in enhancing personal skills and
development.
 Power skills to employees- Power skills can be defined as the value and the behaviours
which helps the employees to succeed in the workplace. Power skills helps the employees
to set goals and objectives according to the current and future careers of the individuals.
They are important for the managers and the employees as it helps in translating clear and
effective communication and build better team relationships within the organization. The
employees which pertains power skills are likely to be good in critical thinking, decision
making and problem solving.

CONCLUSION
From this report it is concluded that Human resource management reduces the gap
between the organization's objective and the employee's performance. It is important to have
human resource department in the organization to recruit the right people for the right roles. The
HR managers are also responsible for the induction and orientation of the employees which helps
the employees to get involve better with the surroundings of the organization. This report gives a
brief description about the organisational design theory which gives the outline of a company's
structure. It is the way in which the activities have to be operated in the organization. It is
important for every organization to have a proper design structure through which the activities of
the company can be operated. Further the changes in the Human resource department which
affect the business operations of the organizations have been discussed. There are many
challenges due to the political issues, environmental issues and legal issues which affect the
decision making power of the HR managers. So it is important for the managers to go through
these challenges and make better decisions.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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employees pro‐environmental behaviours: Examining the underlying
mechanism. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 28(1),
pp.229-238.
Cooke, F.L., Xiao, M. and Chen, Y., 2021. Still in search of strategic human resource
management? A review and suggestions for future research with China as an
example. Human Resource Management, 60(1), pp.89-118.
Fenech, R., Baguant, P. and Ivanov, D., 2019. The changing role of human resource
management in an era of digital transformation. Journal of Management Information &
Decision Sciences, 22(2).
Garg and et. al., 2021. A review of machine learning applications in human resource
management. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.
Gigauri, I., 2020. Influence of Covid-19 crisis on human resource management and companies’
response: the expert study. International Journal of Management Science and Business
Administration, 6(6), pp.15-24.
Hasanzade and et. al., 2019. Designing a framework for Entrepreneur-oriented Human Resource
Management in the Public Sector. Public Administration Perspaective, 10(2), pp.159-
185.
Liu, P., Qingqing, W. and Liu, W., 2021. Enterprise human resource management platform
based on FPGA and data mining. Microprocessors and Microsystems, 80, p.103330.
Macke, J. and Genari, D., 2019. Systematic literature review on sustainable human resource
management. Journal of cleaner production, 208, pp.806-815.
Rana, G. and Sharma, R., 2019. Emerging human resource management practices in Industry
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ThiHoa and et. al., 2021. Human resource for schools of politics and for international relation
during globalization and EVFTA. Ilkogretim Online, 20(4).