Report on People Management: Issues, Knowledge, and HR Processes

This report provides an in-depth analysis of people management, focusing on the British retailer Tesco. It begins with an introduction to people management, defining its role in recruitment, selection, training, and employee development. The report then identifies contemporary issues faced by line managers, such as change management and employee retention, and explains the application of theories like Kotter's change model and equity theory within Tesco. It further explores the knowledge and behaviors required for effective people management, highlighting the importance of motivation theories like Herzberg's, and practices such as delegation and teamwork, with examples of how Tesco implements these strategies. The report also examines HR processes that underpin and support effective performance management, including performance evaluation techniques like 360-degree appraisals and the role of HR in career planning and employee satisfaction. The report concludes by summarizing key findings and emphasizing the importance of adopting various practices and theories to enhance employee performance and productivity, ultimately contributing to long-term organizational sustainability.

Introduction to People
Management

Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................3
Contemporary issues faced by line management faces when it comes to People Management......3
Knowledge and behaviour needed to be an effective people manager............................................4
HR Process underpin and support management when it comes to effective performance
management......................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................6
References............................................................................................................................................7

Introduction
People management is a department which is responsible for recruitment, selection, training,
orientation and development of an individual in the organisation. This is the department which is
concern with the employees and employees related aspects. HR professional is responsible for the
sufficient employees to be there in the organisation and also concern with the performance of the
employees. There are various factors, which are to be considered for developing employees in the
organisation. People management is responsible for direction of all the laws and polices related to
the Human resources. Tesco is the chosen organisation for this report, It is the British retailer
company, which is dealing in groceries and daily use items. This is the third largest retailer
company in the world with operated in Asia and Europe. Tesco is founded by Jack Cohen in
Hackney, London. This report will cover the skills, behaviour and knowledge associated with the
employees and evaluation of the process of HR in the organisation. Furthermore, it will explain the
various issues faces by the line manger while managing the staff in the organisation.
Contemporary issues faced by line management faces when it comes to People Management
The line managers are key part in the organisation to achieve the organisational objectives
and to manage the human asset of organisation. The people management is an important task for the
effective functioning of the organisation. There are various issues which line manager of Tesco
faces in managing the employees which includes:
The change management is one of the main issues the organizations are facing today. The
times of acting on uncertain changes have to be seen and planned effectively. The change
management is one of the main problems to deal with (Budhwar, 2013). The change management of
Tesco is concerned with improving the organization performance and changing the organization
culture which includes change in job role and organisation structure. The employees often resist the
changes and feel that the new change will result in the danger of their jobs. The organisations use
largely the Kotter's model for bringing in change effectively. This theory focuses on the employees
reasons to change. This theory strategically brings in change stepwise by highlighting its
importance to employees and then team is being created which educates the resistant employees.
Then the communication takes place and change is being brought.
The employee retention refers to the keep and retain the employees in organization. The
employee retention is beneficial for Tesco also as the cost of training new employee is far more high
than retaining the high performers. The one of underlying theory to retain employee is Equity
theory. This theory is based on the comparison with other colleagues in the organisation. The
employees compare the input to output of there and with others also. This theory is based on
equitable treatment to all employees of organisation. The input is being considered in the KSA's

(knowledge, skills, abilities) possessed by the employee. The outcomes include the compensation,
incentives and other benefits. The comparison if being perceived fair the employee remains satisfied
and if it seems unfair then the satisfaction and motivation level drops. And in this case they may
decide to exit the organisation also. The equity principle should be followed by the company
(Chukwuka, 2015).
The Tesco is one such example which maintains equity in its operations and brings in
change also effectively. The Tesco is multinational organisation which has its operations in many
countries and the employee in that organisations are satisfied. The company brings in change using
Kotler’s’ model with follows open communication policy to have exchange of ideas from both
sides. The employee is retained based on the equity principle and various programmes are also
organised to increase their motivation level. The company highly believes in keeping the satisfied
employee base (Downs and Swailes, 2013).
Knowledge and behaviour needed to be an effective people manager
The Human resource manager of Tesco needs to possess the high level of knowledge and
skillset of developing the policies which makes the employees of organisation satisfied.
The Herzberg's theory of motivation is one of the important theories which increases the
motivation of employees. It recognises two factors which affects the motivation level of employees
they are motivators and hygiene factors. The motivators are the factors which directly motivate the
employees to work harder. The hygiene factors are factors which directly does not motivate
employees but if they are missing the employees become unmotivated. The hygiene factors are
secondary factors which affect the motivation factors they are such as security, salary, work culture
etc. The motivation factors consist of the achievement, recognition etc. The motivators are factors
which needed to ensure employee is satisfied. The hygiene factors are needed to see if the employee
is not dissatisfied. The HR manager of Tesco identify the employee needs and then relate the
motivation to fulfil these needs which thus increases the motivation level of employees. The
absence of any such factor affects the performance of employees (Janjua, 2014).
The delegation is related with the shifting of responsibility to subordinate with view to
achieve the result. The delegation most famous theory is the decentralization theory in which the
employees are been delegated the responsibility and made feel empowered to be a part of
organisation. With this theory the communication gap is also decreased and employees’ creative
ideas are also being fostered. With this way the employees feel the part of organisation.
The teamwork is the amalgamation of various members from the organisation to increase the
team spirit and collaborative spirit. The one of the famous theory of team building is Tuckman's
theory in which the as the team develops and establishes relationship the leader changes the style of
leadership. In this the team moves from coaching, participating and at last to delegation style. The

phase moves from high dependence to low dependence on leader making the team members
efficient (Jiang, and et. al., 2012).
Tesco being a multinational organisation uses above theories in their operations to keep a
base of satisfied employees. The global organisations have a diverse background of employees the
needs of employees are being known and policies are designed to keep them satisfied. The line
managers keep in constant touch with the employees to know their motivation levels. The line
managers of Tesco design such creative policies which increases the motivation of employees. The
communications gaps are also being reduced by decentralising the authority. The line manager
designs the compensation which keeps the employees satisfied and the international laws are also
being met. The culture of the organisation is open and honesty in which employees are being valued
to say openly and honestly, their ideas are also being valued. The informal activities are also being
designed which increases their teamwork and creativity levels. Tesco also caters very much to keep
the employees satisfied and trained. They keep on organising various programmes to keep them
motivated and trained (Nankervis and et. al., 2016).
HR Process underpin and support management when it comes to effective performance
management
The HR department of organisation helps in designing and implementing various policies
which help in increasing the morale and provides satisfaction to employee. The HR process are
designed in such a way that it helps in achieving the organisation objectives efficiently. The HR
manager aids in reviewing the performance of individuals effectively and systematically
(Orlova,Afonin and Voronin, 2015).
The performance management is the technique of evaluating the performance of an
individual. This process involves the identification of the objectives on which the performance will
be evaluated. The set objectives are planned in accordance with the company's strategy and vision.
The objectives so set are communicated to the individuals. The last step involves then reviewing
performance and giving feedback. The HR's play an important role in this conducting of
performance evaluation. The HR manger effectively communicates the goals so set and then helps
in giving proper feedback to employees to see that they are satisfied and no doubt is left with them
in the process of evaluation. The manager of Tesco act as a catalyst between the appraiser and
individual. The HR team designs the rewards, training programmes for employees, and see no
individual feels unsatisfied. The Tesco manager effectively oversees the whole process of
performance evaluation and designs effective career planning programmes for employees who need.
The employees’ motivation level increases if they are satisfied with the performance evaluation
(Renwick, Redman and Maguire, 2013).
Another greatly used technique for performance evaluation applied by Tesco is 360-degree

appraisal. The 360-degree appraisal is the technique in which the employees’ performance is
evaluated by the immediate superior, peers, subordinate and customers. It involves the overall
evaluation of individuals, which gives more accurate feedback from all perspective. The HR
manager is responsible for clearly setting the parameters on which performance would be judged.
The HR is responsible for seeing the effective carrying out of procedure. The HR manager of Tesco
need to have the good communication and leadership skills. The HR provides the counselling to
employees if they feel unsatisfied. Then they effectively identify the individuals who needs to
upskill their skillset and then are sent on training and development programmes (Schalk,
Timmerman and Van den Heuvel, 2013).
Both the techniques are used by the Tesco extensively to evaluate the performance of
employees. The HR is a person who pins each individual career path in the organisation. The
successful path designed provides the satisfaction to employees and helps the organisation also to
achieve its objectives. The HR is the main reason behind motivation and satisfaction of employees.
They provide them with proper counselling whenever they require and help to reduce any
dissonance or grievance the individuals feel in organisation. The HR team involves constant
communication with the employees to address their needs as a motivating factor. The HR provides
the constant feedback and support to individuals of company wherever required (Taylor, 2018).
Conclusion
It can be concluded from the above report that managing employees is an important role that
needs to be played by human resource manager in order to help organisation to achieve long term
sustainability into competitive market. For this, HR manager need to adopt various practices and
theories that can help or support employees in increasing their performance and productivity level.
These practices include, training and development, 360-degree appraisal, performance management
etc. Apart from this, it is important for organisation to feel motivated and satisfied with their allotted
work which can be possible only if HR or line manager delegate roles and responsibilities to them
according to their specialised skills and knowledge.

References
Books and Journals
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Chukwuka, E., 2015. Communication as a Veritable Tool for Effective Human Resource
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Downs, Y. and Swailes, S., 2013. A capability approach to organizational talent management.
Human Resource Development International. 16(3). pp.267-281.
Janjua, A., 2014. Leadership vacancies in the NHS. London: The King’s Fund. Available at: www.
kingsfund. org. uk/publications/leadership-vacancies-nhs (accessed on 23 May 2016).
Jiang, K., and et. al., 2012. How does human resource management influence organizational
outcomes? A meta-analytic investigation of mediating mechanisms. Academy of
management Journal. 55(6). pp.1264-1294.
Nankervis, A.R. and et. al., 2016. Human resource management: strategy and practice. Cengage
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Orlova, L., Afonin, Y. and Voronin, V., 2015. Talent management and knowledge: theory,
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Schalk, R., Timmerman, V. and Van den Heuvel, S., 2013. How strategic considerations influence
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Taylor, S., 2018. Resourcing and talent management. Kogan Page Publishers.