Human Resource Management and Leadership

This assignment delves into the crucial aspects of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Leadership within organizations. It examines various HRM functions such as recruitment, selection, training, and development, highlighting their impact on employee performance and organizational success. The assignment also explores different leadership theories and styles, analyzing their effectiveness in motivating and guiding employees towards achieving organizational goals. Additionally, it considers the challenges and opportunities faced by leaders in contemporary workplaces, emphasizing the importance of adaptability, communication, and ethical decision-making.

WORKING WITH & LEADING
PEOPLE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Documentation to select and recruit a new member of staff............................................1
1.2 The impact of legal, ethical and regulatory considerations on the recruitment and selection
process for the PMC...............................................................................................................2
1.3 Assessing the role of HR manager in the selection process of PMC...............................3
1.4 Contribution of HR manager for selection & recruitment process...................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Skills and attributes essential for leadership in PMC.......................................................4
2.2 Difference between leadership and management.............................................................4
2.3 Comparison of different leadership styles for different situations...................................5
2.4 Ways to motivate the staff of PMC to achieve the organisational goal...........................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
3.1 Assessing the benefits of team working for PMC............................................................7
3.2 Identifying and demonstrating the difficulties arising during team work........................7
3.3 Reviewing the effectiveness of the team in achieving the goals......................................8
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 The important factors involved in planning and monitoring the work performance at PMC
................................................................................................................................................9
4.2 Planning and assessing the developmental needs of an individual in PMC.....................9
4.3 Evaluating the success of the assessment process of PM Company..............................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Leading and working with people in an organisation plays a vital role in attaining a sense
of motivation and commitment within its employees in the workplace. If the leaders and the
supervisors guide their co workers in the correct direction of achieving the company's goal, it
will help the employee to gain motivation and work hard to achieve the success. In the current
era of globalisation and hyper competition, the management of the company should lay a
significant attention over the most important element of coordination and cooperation among its
employees which helps to resolve conflicts and create an equal work environment. The present
report highlights the major concern of Purple Mail Company (PMC) in implementing an
effective leadership and management techniques. The said company is one of the leading courier
firms in UK which lacks in managing its business operations in an appropriate way. As a result,
the firm suffers from heavy losses. In order to overcome such major challenges of PMC, the
report broadly focuses on the recruitment and selection process which lays a significant impact
on the business performance along with the importance of leadership which provides the
direction to work as a team in order to achieve the organisational goal.
TASK 1
1.1 Documentation to select and recruit a new member of staff
In order to enhance the hiring and retention criteria of PMC along with ensuring a level
of consistency in its process of recruitment, the company is recommended to follow the mention
steps in an effective manner- Step 1- Identifying the Vacancy and evaluating its need- The company should first start
by identifying the vacancy in its organisation and correctly evaluate its need in the
present context (Chelladurai, 2006). Doing this would help PMC to hire the right person
for the right job designation. Step 2- Developing a position description- The company should create an appropriate
position description in order to implement a successful hiring and recruitment process. It
is generally used to create interview questions, referencing the check questions and
evaluating the overall interview process. Step 3 – Developing a Recruitment Plan- Each job position in the mention company
requires a well executed recruitment plan to attract and hire the best eligible candidate.
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The major elements of such plan includes the details of posting period, placement goals
along with the diversity agencies which is mandatory for the company to provide to its
selected or interviewed candidate. Step 4- Reviewing the Applicants and developing Short list- Once the recruitment plan is
implemented and the position description is developed, the company is then required to
review its applicants and conduct certain test in order to short list them (Robertson and
Cooper, 2015).
 Step 5- Conducting the interview- From the short listed candidates, the company
thereafter conducts the interview round to select the best candidate from among the
masses.
Apart from such documentation, the company is highly required to prepare job
description and person specification in a significant way.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Designation HR Executives
Reporting to HR managers
Location UK
Employment duration Full-time
Job vacancies 6
Salary £1500 p.a.
Responsibilities Maintaining performance sheet of employees, internal activities of
the company, recruiting and selecting the eligible candidates,
providing positive work atmosphere.
PERSON SPECIFICATIONS
Qualifications Applicant should posses a degree of Masters in Business Administration in the
field of human resource from a recognised university.
Eligibility  Minimum 2 year experience in the field of HR in a well established
organisation.
 Applicant ought to have command on communication and presentation
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skills.
Key skills  Knowledge of HRM.
 Basic computer skills.
1.2 The impact of legal, ethical and regulatory considerations on the recruitment and selection
process for the PMC.
The legal, ethical and regulatory consideration lays a significant impact on the overall
selection & recruitment process of a business unit. In the present context, PMC should take into
consideration, its legal and ethical regulations for the successful implementation of recruitment
& selection process (Pater and Lewis, 2012). Some major regulations creating a considerable
impact on R&S process includes the following- Regulation of equality- The mention company undertakes this regulation to serve its
prospective applicants and the candidates with equal opportunities to get the job. With
the help of this measure, the company finds it easy to clearly eradicate the root cause of
discrimination in terms of age, sex, nationality, religion or race. Sex discrimination act- By complying to this act, PMC tends to eradicate the root cause
of discrimination within the workplace and provides equal opportunities to all of its
employees in a significant and impressive way. Employment Act- By having a deep and insight understanding about the crucial aspects
of employment law, the concerned company benefits to retain its best and eligible
candidate within the organisational structure thereby reducing its overall staff turnover in
an significant way. Fair and ethical workplace- PMC, the leading courier firms in UK, choose to provide
fair and ethical work place by implementing proper healthy and safe environment in the
organisation (Sims, 2007). This creates a positive impact on the minds of potential
candidates during the R&S process.
 Appropriate advertisement- The company focuses on creating an ethical advertisement
which helps to bring qualified and eligible candidates to the organisation. Moreover, it
also lays a major concern in eradicating the issue of misrepresentation of general
information.
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1.3 Assessing the role of HR manager in the selection process of PMC
The role of HR manager is utmost important in the entire recruitment and selection
procedure of the organisation (Gwyer, 2010). He acts as a backbone in the overall R&S process.
His key role is to make sure that the right applicant gets selected for the right job.
As a HR manager in the selection process of PMC the following are the area I took part - Conducting Preliminary Interviews- In order to hire the best candidate from among the
masses, I started conducting a preliminary interview. In this round the candidates who
fails to meet the eligibility criteria are eliminated. Here I was involved in examining the
skills, competencies, family and academic background along with the interests of the
applicants in the said company. Performing written test- Here the HR manager plays a primary role. The candidates who
gets shortlisted under the preliminary interview sit for the written test which generally
includes aptitude test, reasoning test, etc. This test helps the company to identify its
prospective candidate(Compton and et.al, 2009). Here, I contributed in managing perfect
sitting arrangements along with necessary resources required for the conduct of tests in
an effective way.
 Conducting final interview- At this stage, HR manger plays a crucial role in which he
experiences face to face interaction with the potential candidate who gets selected in the
written test. Here the manager critically analyse the overall behaviour and performance of
the applicant and then decide the factors which forces him to select the right candidate for
the job title. He also examines his skills and knowledge regarding the particular field and
then implements the major decision of hiring the appropriate applicant.
1.4 Contribution of HR manager for selection & recruitment process
HR manager lays the base for an effective implementation of working structure in an
organisation. They help the company in developing major norms and policies for successful
execution of R&S process.
The contribution aspects of HR manager for selection & recruitment process is discussed
below- Evaluating needs- Evaluating and identifying the needs is the preliminary step which HR
manger takes in order to enhance the R&S process. Doing this helps the management of
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the company in identifying the key requirements of the business unit thereby analysing its
market demand (Cooper, Robertson and Tinline, 2003). Establishing a recruitment plan- The concerned manager develops an appropriate
recruitment strategy in order to communicate its audience about the job vacancy in PMC.
 Strategic planning and progress- The HR manager contributes in R&S process by
implementing different strategies which helps the mention company to reduce its total
cost of employee turnover thereby recruiting the best staff for its organisation.
TASK 2
2.1 Skills and attributes essential for leadership in PMC
In order to overcome the key challenges of the cited company, the management of PMC
implements essential leadership techniques required for enhancing its business operations and
gaining a worldwide market share. For implementing the appropriate leadership style, the
company first gains the knowledge of important skills and attributes required for leadership.
Some major skills of leadership are mention below- Persuading and influencing skills – To motivate the employees and the co workers to
work hard and achieve the best outcome, leadership play a phenomenal role (Adeniyi,
2010). They possess the exotic quality of influencing its team workers to attain the best
results within standard time by minimising the level of de-motivation arising from the
increasing work load in the company. Decision making skills- The leadership quality also includes the decision making skill in
a large way. It is essential that the mention company hire such a leader who inhibits a
great skill of making decisions for the company which helps the organisation to sustain
long in the hyper competitive environment.
 Passion- The crucial necessity for playing the role of leader in PMC is the element of
passion for the given work. It is important that the leader possess passion for his work
which helps him to provide appropriate training and development programmes to its team
workers.
Apart from such skills, the leadership attributes are discussed as follows- Integrity- A leader should possess integrity in the manner that what he is from inside
should reflect in his activities outside.
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 Honesty- He must be honest towards his work and should deal in any kind of unethical
and illegal practices within the organisational framework. Dedication towards work- A leader should be fully dedicated towards his work, then only
his subordinates and team members will effectively contribute their efforts towards
organisation's success.
 Openness- He should be broad and open minded and should include the ideas and
opinions of its team members in an effective way for the decision making process.
2.2 Difference between leadership and management
There exist a significant difference between a manger and a leader. Both leadership and
management are inter connected however, there exist a major difference between two of them.
Management emphasizes on doing the activities of the organisation in a right way while
leadership focuses on doing the correct activities (Coles and Barritt, 2014). Therefore, the key
areas of difference in management and leadership can be summarised as follows-
BASIS MANAGER LEADER
Meaning The one who manages the
activities and operations of the
organisation in order to attain a
profitable result.
The one who leads the entire
group by influencing and
motivating them to acquire the
organisational goal with proper
coordination and cooperation.
Significant attention Focuses on NOW Focuses on FUTURE
Roles & responsibilities Provides a good operational
process within the
organisation.
Serves an inspiring vision for
the company.
Authority Budgeting and planning of the
overall company.
Problem solving and decision
making authority.
Expectations of result Expects a profitable result in
the business environment.
Expects to get the task done
within the standard time.
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2.3 Comparison of different leadership styles for different situations
PMC undertakes various leadership styles as per the situations to enhance the viability of
its business operations thereby gaining a global exposure. The following is the brief analysis of
different leadership styles adopted by the mention company according to varied situations. Democratic leadership style- This style is adopted by the company when everything is
going perfectly well and the management of the concerned organisation finds it correct to
take the involvement of employee in the decision making process (Schein, 2010). Such
style is preferably implemented by the company when it is riding high and the
management has the time to sit and evaluate the stock of its assets before executing a new
project. Autocratic leadership style- This leadership style is significantly undertaken by the
company in the events of drastic change in the overall structure of the organisation or
when the company is facing with the major challenge of its sudden downfall. This style is
adopted when the management of the said company doesn't get the time to sit with its
employees for the decision making process. Here the leaders possess the ability and the
right to take control over various activities and give orders to get the work done within
standard time (Gardner, 2010).
 Coaching leadership style- When the stated company implements a new course of action,
it requires an effective need of leadership to train its employees and provides appropriate
coaching facilities which helps them to develop their skills and gain knowledge regarding
the innovation in the company. This reflects that PMC adopts a coaching leadership style.
2.4 Ways to motivate the staff of PMC to achieve the organisational goal
It is very important that the company undertakes certain essential techniques to motivate
its employees. Doing this helps the stated organisation to gain a strong sense of commitment
from its staff in achieving the organisational goal in an effective way. Major ways of motivating
the employees of PMC are discussed below- Building the foundation of trust- If the employees of the concerned company gets the
feeling of being trusted by the organisation, they with no doubt work more hard to
generate better outcomes for the company. It helps the entity in experiencing a rapid
growth in its business performance as the staff now expects to work beyond its time limit
to manufacture productive results.
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 Providing proper incentives- The next best way to motivate its staff is to provide them
with various kinds of incentives along with appropriate bonus plan. This helps the
employees to gain higher satisfaction level from the job and as a result they will work
with more dedication to get the target done in proper time phrase (Marzano, Waters and
McNulty, 2005). Setting smaller weekly goals- The management of PMC should focus on implementing
smaller weekly goals which will prove beneficial for both the organisation and the
employee. On one hand, it will help the staff to work hard to get the goal within the
standard time in order to seek the strong sense of motivation and commitment. On the
contrary, the company is able to meet its overall goal in an effective and less time
consuming manner. Monetary incentives- By providing exotic monetary incentives, PMC can effectively and
impressively motivates its employees for achieving higher goals in an appropriate and
significant way. Monetary incentives usually includes promotions, bonuses, rewards,
gifts etc. Transparency to the employees- Explaining individual roles and responsibilities to the
workforce will result in gaining motivation level of the workforce.
 Involving employees in the decision making process- By involving the employees in the
decision making process will boost the morale of the workforce and will help in attaining
them a strong sense of commitment and confidence towards effectively achieving the
organisation's goals.
TASK 3
3.1 Assessing the benefits of team working for PMC
PMC is the leading courier firms in UK, which faces the major challenge of ineffective
and poor leadership and management techniques. In order to overcome the concerned issues, the
management of the company briefly assess the benefits of team working in order to implement
an effective management and leadership techniques (Mendenhall and Osland, 2012). Helps in work segmentation- Team working helps the said company to get a marvellous
performance in its business operations by segregating the tasks into steps and parts.
Doing this results in getting the work done in an effective and less consuming manner.
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 Helps in planning and managing the time- While working under a team, each individual
gets a task which is to be done in specified time limit. This helps the company to properly
plan and manage its time in order to gain its overall objective. Helps to build stronger communication skills- The employees working under a team
gains in developing a strong communication power between its team members. It helps
them to work with proper coordination and cooperation to achieve the common set of
goal. Helps to tackle complex problems- Team working helps the employees to handle the
difficult challenges in much easier way as compared to their individual efforts on the
same problem.
 Helps to establish individual identity- Working under a team provides an individual with
his/her own roles and responsibilities. This helps them to attain their own identification in
the concerned group in which they are working (Lev, 2013).
3.2 Identifying and demonstrating the difficulties arising during team work
PMC lays its significant concern over developing an effective team work to gain the best
quality outcome and attain global exposure. However, the company generates many difficulties
in implementing the same (Bush and Middlewood, 2013). The major hindrances which the
organisation faces in executing an impressive team work are as follows- Ineffective leadership- The existence of poor and ineffective leadership resulted in
unwanted and extremely low results for the cited firm. The employees in the company
lacked in gaining a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities which as a result
created a negative impact on the overall business performance. Inappropriate management of team size- Estimating the correct number of staff working
under a team is another big challenge which the said company faces. If the organisation
fails to approximate the right number of its workers under a team, it will result in higher
staff working in a particular group. As a result, the company thereby faces with different
team conflicts thereby generating low quality results (Day, 2014). Team cohesiveness- Team working in PMC faces the very dominant challenge of team
cohesiveness. Different people with different mind set have varied solutions for a
particular problem which results in major fights and conflicts in the organisation.
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 Lack of effective communication- The poor and ineffective communication in the
company hampers the overall effectiveness of the team work. It results in total confusion
and chaos within the entity (William Robinson, 2010).
Apart from this, the major reasons that may result in arising conflicts within the
workplace includes diversified group of culture, various range of thoughts and opinions from
different set of employees along with communication barriers. All such factors may give birth to
disputes and conflicts within the organisational structure of PMC while working in a team. In
order to eradicate this challenge, the leader needs to lay its concern over implementing effective
managerial activities which results in gaining appropriate coordination and cooperation among
its workforce. s
3.3 Reviewing the effectiveness of the team in achieving the goals
In order to attain a worldwide exposure in the competitive market segment, PMC focuses
on implementing such strategies which helps it to enhance and improve the effectiveness of team
working in an organisation. Some major strategies are listed below- Establishing positive competencies- It acts as a significant measure to create and build
motivation level among the employees. Developing positive and optimistic
competitiveness helps the employees of the team in generating the best outcome which
leads the firm towards the direction of achieving the heights of success. Impressive team composition- The effective team arrangement have a direct relationship
with the business performance of the said organisation. It creates a significant impact on
the overall operations of business and helps the entity to achieve its goal in an effective
way. Strong communication- Strong communication skills play a crucial role in enhancing the
effectiveness of team working in an organisation. PMC lays its major concern over
developing strong and powerful communication channels which helps the team members
to get relevant and appropriate information on time. Doing this helps them to work
according to the plan and avoid time on unnecessary and irrelevant projects. Clarifying the roles and responsibilities- By making a clear picture of individual's roles
and responsibilities, the said entity gains a signifiant part of enhancing its team building
approach. It helps the team member to clearly identify and evaluate their role in the
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organisation. This provides them to work accordingly and get the task done in an
appropriate manner within the standard time phrase. Regular team meetings- Holding the team meetings on regular basis will help the
individual employee to perform better towards achieving the organisation's goal in an
effective way.
 Maintaining progress reports- By maintaining the progress reports in a systematic and
appropriate way, PMC can easily analyse and monitor the performance of each and every
employee within its workplace.
TASK 4
4.1 The important factors involved in planning and monitoring the work performance at PMC
The vital factors undertaken by the PMC to plan and monitor its work performance in
order to attain the heights of success in the global business environment are discussed as follows- Comparative performance analysis- The day-to-day check on the major standards and
quality of its staff execution helps in a great way to analyse the overall performance
along with the efficiency of its workers (Fullan, 2014). Bench-marking- One of the most effective measure of evaluating the employee
performance is bench-marking. The cited company undertakes this measure to develop
certain benchmarks for the employees to evaluate and analyse their performance in the
organisation. The difference between the actual and standard performance will help the
worker to clearly identify their business performance.
 Counseling- Regular mentoring and counselings will help the employee to attain as sense
of motivation thereby leading to an effective team work. Moreover, it will also help the
cited firm to clearly evaluate its major problems and work accordingly to achieve the set
goals.
 Past performance report: Cited Company can review past performance of employees in
order to assess the actual performance and identify the areas of development.
 KPI: Further, it can consider the KPI for each employees in order ensure that each KPIs
are fulfilling or not.
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4.2 Planning and assessing the developmental needs of an individual in PMC
Planning, monitoring and assessing the developmental needs of an individual in the
organisation is an important factor which assist the mention company in achieving the success
(Blanchard, 2010). It has been observed that PMC undertakes the listed measure to deliver the
needs of its employees in an effective manner- Appropriate learning approach- Developing a proper learning style will help PMC to
enhance its employees knowledge and skills towards a particular work area. The
company focuses on providing excellent training and development sessions in order to
create a positive sense of commitment in the minds of its employees towards a given
work. For assessing learning method, management can review the performance of
employees in order to assess the learning approach. Based on it, training and
development session will be impart that will aids in enhancing the learning in effectual
manner. Evaluating and mentoring- Continuous mentoring and evaluating the needs of
employees helps the organisation in establishing an excellent and impressive level of
understanding for its workers. This helps the company in a far better way to enhance and
deliver the needs of its employees in a signifiant manner (Miller and Rollnick, 2012).
Beside this, mentoring can be done through observation, matching performance with that
of set standard, reviewing past performance and related.
 Developing the employees career- This measure helps the company to clearly asses and
monitor the developmental needs of an individual in the organisation. With the help of
this factor the company lays a positive impact on delivering the needs of its employees in
an impressive and fascinating way.
4.3 Evaluating the success of the assessment process of PM Company
Evaluating the need and success of the organisation is very crucial. It helps the company
to understand and analyse its overall business performance along with high standard of
management and leadership performance (Offstein and Morwick, 2011). In order to evaluate the
success of the assessment process of PMC, various measures are followed among which the most
dominant approach is conducting appropriate surveys on a regular interval to create day-to-day
contact of employees with the management of the company. It helps in better understanding of
employees needs along with clear analysis of the success of the assessment process. Based on
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this discussion, it has been evident that the assessment process was successful as it helps in
attaining the objectives in effectual manner. Further, valid tools have been included that aids in
increasing overall productivity of employees. Counselling and benchmarking have been
undertaken which is transparent at employee side as well which eventually ads in developing
trust level as well.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussed report, it can be concluded that PMC takes appropriate and
significant measures to recruit, select and retain the best employees in the workplace. Apart from
this, the report also highlights the important leadership and management styles which helps in a
great way to motivate and develop a sense of strong commitment among the employees in the
said organisation to achieve the set targets.
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