HRM Strategies and External Factors

This assignment provides a comprehensive overview of human resource management (HRM) strategies, focusing on high-commitment approaches and their implementation in various business settings. It also examines how external factors such as economic conditions, technological advancements, and employment market changes influence HR decision-making and the financial position of companies like TESCO and M&S.

SHRM Assessment

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1. Different HR policies and practices...................................................................................1
2. Presenting some external forces that affect company's HR strategic decisions.................3
3. Presenting how HR functions are organized and delivered................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Strategic Human Resource management is platform which connects HR of the company
and their strategies in order to achieve the aim and objectives of a firm. Chosen organization for
this report is TESCO and Marks & Spencer which are one of the leading brand in retail industry
and provide different products to their customers. This report describes HR policies as well as
practices which the quoted firms uses in order to achieve success. Further it also describes some
external forces that also affect the company's HR strategies. In addition to this report also
presents how HR functions are organized and how these practices are delivered in order to cope
up different challenges.
MAIN BODY
1. Different HR policies and practices
HR policies and practices are the guidelines or an approach that have to adopt by
different people who work in a company. The main work of HR of every company is to recruit
the best candidate for the company and also provide different training sessions for those
employees who are not performing well. As TESCO and Marks & Spencer also follows different
HR policies and practices and some of them are as mentioned below:
High Commitment HRM
HRM is the most essential strategy which can be adopted by HR of TESCO and Marks &
Spencer. This practice helps to raise the labour turnover, also reduces the absenteeism and
enhances employee’s behaviour as well as attitude. If such aspect of the company are raises, then
it automatically improves the customer service. High commitment HRM in TESCO also involves
internal career opportunities, participation, performance appraisals, provide training and
development session to new employees etc. this all shows that HR of the firm have high in
commitment towards their employees (Yousaf, Sanders and Yustantio, 2018).
Some practice area for TESCO:
HR policies of the companies also provides high compensation and they also pay regular
bonus if the performance of their employee is high. Performance review and career development
is another key element for HR of Marks & Spencer. That is why they all work by balancing the
life and also encourages their team for better performance. HR also tries to make different team
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so that they will work as a team and provide a better working platform in order to take better
decision for the welfare of a company.
Best fit HRM
Life cycle of TESCO:
The best fit HRM approach for HR of a quoted firm is Life cycle which is also based
upon the HRM polices as per the business strategy. This strategy also involves planning related
to future activities, their performance objectives and policies which help to reach towards their
target (Meijerink, Bos-Nehles and de Leede, 2018). On the other side, when the companies are
move through their life cycle and at that time HR practices should also have to aligned that lead
their employees towards demotivation and also shows inconsistency in their corporate culture.
HR of TESCO may also uses best fit HRM approach as it helps to raise their employee
productivity such as by provide trainings sessions for their new sales managers, that assist to
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Illustration 1: High Commitment in HRM
(Source: High Commitment in HRM, 2018)

raise the working efficiency of their workers in order to achieve the objectives of a firm. Reward
system is another best fit HRM practice which they use in their working area.
Beside this, employee participation can be also considered as a better option in which
employee can directly contact with management in order to resolve issues. It has been analysed
that through employee participation, TESCO also encourages their employees to provide better
suggestions in order to grow the business at further level of success (Paauwe and Boon, 2018).
Hard and soft HRM: Every business requires both hard and soft HRM because this
practices are depends upon the situation of a working environment. It has been analysed that
these two approaches are academic in nature, therefore it is quite necessary for HR department of
Marks & Spencer to adopt the elements. In this, hard HRM means that to treat the employees of
the firm as a machines and in this type of practices HR only identifies workforce that needs for a
business and also recruit or manages them (Boxall, 2018). While on the other side, the soft
approach is adopted by such organization who follows flatter structure and only suits in
democratic leadership style.
Following Hard and Soft HRM Approach
Employees are also empowered and encouraged to seek delegation and also take
responsibility by their own. Therefore, soft practice can be adopted by TESCO and Marks &
Spencer in order to feel their employees positive and become comfortable in the working area.
2. Presenting some external forces that affect company's HR strategic decisions
Key stakeholder of TESCO
The stakeholder of the company are individuals, managers, customers, groups and
organization who directly affect the activity of a business.
Factor which affect employee engagement:
In TESCO there are many factors that affect the employee engagement such that low
level of trust creates conflicts among peoples and as a result, the productivity of the employees
got affected.
There are so many external factors that affect the strategy of HR in TESCO and Marks &
Spencer and some of them are as follows:
Political regulations: This is one of the most affecting factor through which the HR
department of TESCO and Marks & Spencer should be complying with. Such type of regulations
also influenced every single process of HR department such as hiring, training, compensation
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and termination. On the other side, if the company did not follow such rules or regulations which
are prescribed by government then they can be fined extensively which may also lead to shut
down the business. Beside this, company's HR also made those strategies which are helpful for
the firm and should be comply with all legal terms (Russell and et.al., 2018).
Economic conditions: It is another biggest factor that affect the company's financial
performance because it influences the shape of a current economy. This factor not only affect the
talent pool but it also affects the ability to hire an individual. In order to cope up this situation,
TESCO and Marks & Spencer also make different strategy in order to combat the harsh
environment.
Technological changes: this can be considering another external factor that affect the
HR strategy of quoted firms such that when new techniques are introduced in the HR department
then they also start looking for those strategies which help to save the money. It has been
analysed that by introducing new technique into the working area will reduce the amount of
workforce. As a result, an area which require 2-4 people to do the work is cut down by single
person. But on the other side, technology is also helpful for money saving (External Factor
affect HRM, 2018).
Workforce demographics: For this reason, when new generation enters into a firm, HR
department should also look ways to attract new and capable candidates for the firm (Rahman,
Mordi and Nwagbara, 2018). For this reason, HR make strategy such that new compensation
packages which work for their younger generations and HRM also more focus on hiring, firing
and they also make sure that every kind of external influence should be listened and proper
procedures should be followed in order to avoid lawsuits, so that it will help to sustain its brand
image in market.
Features of Employment market: Beside this, TESCO and Marks & Spencer also have
high skilled workforce in which employees are able to do all kinds of work in frequent manner
but on the other side, low skilled workers are also affected the company's corporate culture into
negative way such that they affect the productivity. In order to cope up this, HR of the quoted
firm also provide different training sessions so that it raises the working performance of
employees. As the labour market trend changes, it directly affects the strategy of HR in adverse
way such that when the trend is actually changes then it also response or create pressure to
increases the productivity (Belso-Martinez, Palacios-Marqués and Roig-Tierno, 2018). HR of
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TESCO and Marks & Spencer also provide different strategy in order to cope up with many
situations but on the other side, sudden change in labour market create negative impact upon the
business and as a result, the system got influence along with HR strategies.
3. Presenting how HR functions are organized and delivered
In TESCO as well as Marks and Spencer, HR functions are organized and also delivered
in better way to their employees as well as to the customers so that it helps for smooth
functioning. As both firms uses Ulrich Model in order to organize the human resource functions
in effective way.
Ulrich Model
The model is also helped to share the activities which should be operated in all call
centres that also support technology as well as internet in order to provide basic support to a
firm. TESCO and M&S also uses this system in which the business partners work collaboratively
with all managers in order to carry out strategic management (Keegan and et.al., 2018). To
deliver different HR functions, they also provide support to their employees in order to
effectively run a business. As Ulrich model describe 4 basic roles such as employee champion
who deliver or commit employees, administrative expert who deliver different HR practices to
the employees, change agent who deliver the ability for a change in behaviour of an individual
and strategic partners who actually deliver business results for their best financial performance.
Therefore, by using Ulrich model in a firms, HR manager of the company can easily
deliver the strategies to their employees. They also give different benefits to their employees in
the form of bonus, pension. In this way the employees of the company feel motivated and can do
their work in effective way and as a result, they will help to contribute their part for the welfare
of a company.
3. Role of line manager:
Line manager is the only person who deliver different HR practice into to their
employees. As they also translate the policies into day- to day practices and they also maintain
the employee relation such that resolve different disputes among workers and help their team
members for raising their working performance. In order to fill the vacant seats of their team,
line manager of TESCO and Marks & Spencer also let HR know about the position and through
cross training, they make sure employees to minimizes the coverage gaps (Russell and et.al.,
2015). When HR make policies, line manager delivers those strategies to their employees and
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also solve different queries and takes feedback in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the
system. As line manager directly influence employee satisfaction that is why deliver of all HR
policies are done by them only in order to get better results. It has been analysed that in TESCO
and Marks & Spencer, the line manager is well positioned in order to identify different problems
with methods of execution and then get better results for fast improvement.
Challenges faces by line manager: While delivering HR practices, line manager also
faces many challenges because they have responsibility of overall operations
1. Lack of knowledge and skills: With limited resources and having a large team, line
manager also faces some issue in order to provide training session to those employees
who are still done not get new policies into the working area. As they help in training and
development decision to HR, then they also face some problem and as a result, it makes
so difficult to implement operational improvement and to raise the working performance
of their employees (Fu and et.al., 2018).
2. Disdain for HR work: Beside this, the line manager also faces another problem such as
they face employee resistance and while applying new strategy into the working area,
there may be chances that some of them are not accepted new strategy and as a result, it
may also lead to creates many disputes among them. Therefore, it is quite necessary for
the line manager to solve all issues and provide different strategy in order to overcome
the gap of employee resistance.
CONCLUSION
By summing up above report it has been concluded that HR department of TESCO and
Marks & Spencer will help a business for their smooth functioning. As firms also uses different
HR policies such as high commitment, best fit HRM and also provide training and development
session to their employees. Further report also concluded that economic, technological and
employment market also affect the HR decision in adverse way and as a result, the company
financial position also affected. Beside this, report also concluded that TESCO and M&S follows
Ulrich's model and line manager also deliver all HR policies or practices to their employees with
an effective manner.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Belso-Martinez, J., Palacios-Marqués, D. and Roig-Tierno, N., 2018. Building resilient clusters
through HRM systems: a multiple mediator model. Management Decision.56(6). pp.1398-
1416.
Boxall, P., 2018. The development of strategic HRM: reflections on a 30-year journey. Labour
& Industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work.28(1). pp.21-30.
Fu, N. and et.al., 2018. Line Managers as Paradox Navigators: Balancing Consistency and
Individual Responsiveness in HRM Implementation.
Keegan, A. and et.al., 2018. Organizing the HRM function: Responses to paradoxes, variety,
and dynamism. Human Resource Management.57(5). pp.1111-1126.
Meijerink, J., Bos-Nehles, A. and de Leede, J., 2018. How employees’ pro-activity translates
high-commitment HRM systems into work engagement: the mediating role of job
crafting. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, pp.1-26.
Paauwe, J. and Boon, C., 2018. Strategic HRM: A critical review. In Human Resource
Management (pp. 49-73). Routledge.
Rahman, M., Mordi, C. and Nwagbara, U., 2018. Factors influencing E-HRM implementation in
government organisations. Journal of Enterprise Information Management.31(2). pp.247-
275.
Russell, Z. A. and et.al., 2018. High performance work practice implementation and employee
impressions of line manager leadership. Human Resource Management Review.28(3).
pp.258-270.
Russell, Z. A. and et.al., 2015. High performance work practice implementation and employee
impressions of line manager leadership. Human Resource Management Review. 22(6).
pp.258-270.
Yousaf, A., Sanders, K. and Yustantio, J., 2018. High commitment HRM and organizational and
occupational turnover intentions: the role of organizational and occupational
commitment. The International Journal of Human Resource Management.29(10). pp.1661-
1682.
Online
External Factor affect HRM. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <https://workology.com/4-
external-factors-that-affect-human-resource-management/>.
external-factors-that-affect-human-resource-management/>.
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