The Role and Effectiveness of Human Resource Management Report

This report examines the role and effectiveness of Human Resource Management (HRM) within an organization, focusing on employee development. It begins by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the employee development process, citing academic literature and real-world examples to support the analysis. The report then identifies the value of mentorship programs for individual growth within a business context. The analysis covers the benefits of employee development, such as improved work quality, enhanced productivity, stronger employee relationships, and reduced employee turnover. It also acknowledges weaknesses like improper training, unqualified trainers, and potential for increased stress. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of continuous employee development and training for organizational success and individual growth, highlighting the benefits of mentorship programs in enhancing employee skills and reducing staff turnover.

The role and
effectiveness of Human
Resource Management
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Strengths and Weaknesses of one part of the HRM process.......................................................3
Value of mentorship programs for individual growth.................................................................7
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Human Resources Management is an approach used by organisations to manage people
within an organisation effectively. This approach is specifically designed to maximise the overall
performance as well as productivity of the employees in order to gain a competitive advantage in
the market (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Farndale, 2018). It deals with issues like compensation and
benefits, safety, training and development, hiring etc. The HR process comprises of different
parts like attracting, planning, retaining as well as developing that help an organisation to ensure
that all its employees know what is expected of them and they way in which they will be
evaluated for their performance. The report evaluates strengths and weaknesses on one of the
parts of HRM process within the selected organisation. It also identifies a technique and explains
its value for a business.
MAIN BODY
Strengths and Weaknesses of one part of the HRM process
The main objective of the HR process is to ensure a smooth performance of the
organisation as well as healthy relations with clients. The process comprises of 4 major parts that
are -
 Planning
 Attracting
 Developing
 Retaining
Development of employees is a process wherein employees are provided extensive
training to enhance their overall skills and develop new knowledge (DeCenzo, Robbins and
Verhulst, 2016). Development helps in improving the overall performance of the organisation
and meet business goal and objectives. Employees are a valuable component and thus
organisations should provide them various opportunities to acquire new knowledge as well as
skills. The strengths and weaknesses of developing employees are explained below -
Strengths
 Quality of work – Developing employees helps in improving their quality of work. They
learn new skills and acquire knowledge about different subjects so that they generate
effective output. Development can help in enhancing basic skills like enhancing their
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understanding of company's products and services. According to the point of view of
Prachi Juneja, every employee like acquiring and developing new skills while they work
(Importance of Employee Development, 2020). Thus employee development is important
for pulling out the best out of them.
 Enhanced Productivity – In today's world, productivity mainly depends on the kind of
technology that is being used by a company. For example- Marks and Spencer focuses on
how well its employees use technology (Dumont, Shen and Deng, 2017). When a new
technology is implemented, the employees are provided opportunities to develop skills so
that they can adopt the same. This helps in enhancing their overall productivity as well as
performance.
 Strong relationships among employees – As a result of various development sessions,
forums etc. individuals interact with each other and do not hesitate while sharing
knowledge and help fellow employees with training. This make them work closely and
leads to creation of strong relationships among them.
 Improvement in Performance – When managers of Marks and Spencer identify any
weakness among employees, training and development sessions are organised.
Development helps in enhancing their skills due to which they perform well and generate
efficient output. Improved performance can lead to a decline in absenteeism as well as
overall employee turnover.
 Personal Growth – Development not only helps employees in their professional growth,
but personal growth as well. The skills that they acquire during a development session
can help them in adopting a change effectively without any resistance. These skills will
also be beneficial for their personal growth and any future endeavours.
 Reduction in employee turnover – Employees who are developed and trained
effectively, are more confident and productive in their jobs (Guan and et. al., 2016). This
is beneficial for organisations as the employees don't look put for other opportunities in
the market and are satisfied with their existing jobs. For example- the level of frustration
among employees of Marks and Spencer is less as the management clearly communicates
its expectations with employees.
 Opportunities to build an effective team – Employees who attend developing sessions
together, share a common bond. This further helps in creating relationships that are
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essential for a team to effective. Thus, teams that have employees who share strong bonds
with each other, perform more efficiently.
 Saves time and cost – Investment in development of employees can lead to an
improvement in the company's overall financial condition in the market (Guest, 2017). If
employees show better performance, there will be a less need to provide them frequent
training and constant supervision from their seniors and supervisors.
 Satisfaction of Employees – Satisfaction among employees as well as their self-esteem
generally improves when they understand the functioning of overall system effectively.
Development also helps in increasing their morale so that they do not think about
changing their job.
 Reduced accidents at workplace – When employees will be developed and trained
properly, they are less likely to go wrong with something at their workplace. This way,
they will work more productively and produce proficient output. The confidence of
employees will also increase and they will respond to changed in a much for effective
manner.
Weaknesses
 Improper training leads to improper results – If employees of a company are not
properly trained, they will not produce effective results. Due to this, the organisation will
have to spend additional amount of money as well as time to train the employees again.
Thus, managers should review the training process that is conducted initially so as to
ensure that the productivity levels of the employees are enhanced.
 Qualifications of the Trainer – The process of developing employees can only be
effective when the person who provides development and training is qualified enough. If
the trainer is not qualified, he/she will not be able to share his/her knowledge and transfer
skills effectively with the employees (Harzing, Pudelko and Sebastian Reiche, 2016).
This will make the overall process of development less effective and impact employees'
performance as well.
 Increased level of stress among employees – In order to remain updated about latest
trends of the market, employees are expected to spend a lot of time in training and
development sessions. This can lead to an increased level of stress among them which
can impact their existing performance at work. Also, spending so much time on
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development and training can lead to employees getting bored of the routine and as a
result may not pay attention. For example- when Marks and Spencer holds a training and
development session, there are many employees who think of its as a burden and do not
attend it.
 Unsuitable training facilities – If an organisation fails to include training facilities and
materials that are suitable for developing an employees, the execution of the session will
be affected adversely as the employees will not be able to gain effective knowledge and
thus the session will not hold any meaning (Nankervis and et. al., 2016). Like mentorship
programs are conducted by Marks and Spencer for candidates who join the company as
freshers.
 Irregularity – The organisation should hold development sessions from time to time to
ensure that the employees do not forget skills that they have learned through them. If
such sessions are held irregularly, the employees will gradually lose interest and start
skipping them. Thus, organisations should encourage participation to make sure that their
overall performance is increased.
 Loss of networking opportunities – If a company chooses to train its employees
specifically, the employees as well as the company itself will miss out on opportunities to
develop a large network not only with clients but other organisations as well. Different
opportunities of partnership and future recruitment also can get affected. Therefore,
development programs should encourage interaction among employees.
 A lot of theory than practical – Training and development needs of employees in
different departments is not same. Some development programs are all about theory
rather than practical application (Navimipour and Soltani, 2016). These kinds of sessions
make it difficult for the employees to learn the concept. Therefore, theoretical sessions
can lead to boredom and low levels of productivity. This is one of the reasons that
management of Marks and Spencer puts forward as to why a candidate should work for
the company.
Therefore, different parts of a HR process hold a lot of importance for an organisation to
stay competitive and be successful in the market. But employee development helps in improving
the overall productivity and performance of employees. This in turn leads to the employees
providing better services to customers to satisfy their needs and gain loyalty. To survive in a
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highly competitive environment and ensure stability in the performance, frequent development
and training should be provided to the employees as this will boost their overall productivity and
performance. Also, they should be offered various opportunities to enhance their individual
growth.
Value of mentorship programs for individual growth
Employees feel that learning new skills as well as receiving special development and
training is one of the most important components for enhancing their career (Stewart and Brown,
2019). Development and coaching opportunities throughout the year make sure that an
environment of growth is created within the workplace. It ensures their continuous development
and improvement in overall productivity. Various opportunities like coaching and mentorship
programs are provided to the employees of Tesla who are newly hired. They are made to work
under an existing employee within a particular department who has experience of working for
the company. This helps the freshers to get into the system sooner and learn different techniques
as well as acquire better understanding of the how different processes take place.
A mentorship program is beneficial for both the men tee as well as mentor. The
employees can acquire knowledge about different areas and also gain practical advice, support as
well as encouragement by the mentor (7 Benefits of a Structured Workplace Mentoring Program,
2020). Mentoring helps in developing effective communication as well as personal skills that are
not only important for professional development but personal growth as well. If Tesla
implements the concept of mentorship programs, it will help in reducing the levels of anxiety and
stress among individuals which will lead to enhancement in their individual performance. The
job satisfaction of the employees will improve with a decline in the staff turnover as mentors will
provide feedbacks from time to time. Therefore, the employees will get to identify their strengths
and weaknesses and they can work on weaknesses to improve performance.
These programs will be valuable for the mentors as their listening skills will be become
more active (Van Wingerden, Derks and Bakker, 2017). It will also provide them a sense of
satisfaction as they will be able to transfer knowledge and share information that will be useful
for the employees. In context of the organisation, Tesla will be able to achieve its goals and
objectives more effectively if its employees will be trained and developed well. People working
in the company will also feel that the management is willing to invest in them. Therefore, they
will put in their best efforts in order to get different tasks complete within time. One of the most
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valuable things is that, through mentorship programs, Tesla will be able to save money that
would've otherwise been invested into providing training to the employees.
The employees will not look for other opportunities outside the organisation if mentors
guide them properly. Mentorship also provides the employees a sense of empowerment and they
feel that they have a hold of their career (Voegtlin and Greenwood, 2016). Mentorship programs
are also beneficial for improving the management skills of the employees about how can
professional relationships be managed within the company. Tesla can benefit from mentorship
programs as they contribute towards developing a more engaged and better trained staff.
Mentorship programs are a cost effective way to make employees more engaged and committed
to their work. They help in increasing their productivity as well as performance to attain gaols
and objectives efficiently.
Mentors have a different perspective about things as compared to other people in the
company. This is helpful when a sudden situation arises and a solution for the same has to be
developed. Mentorship programs will be helpful for Tesla in improving key skills of the
employees. If employees complain about not being able to understand directions of a project, the
mentor can work towards resolving this issue by effectively communicating the directions with
them. This will help other employees in the company improve their communication skills
(DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016). Mentors within a business can help it expand its
network with potential clients and other organisations that it can partner with. This is valuable
because when people interact with each other, there are chances that they might come across
someone who can help solve the business problems of an organisation.
Besides providing advice and helping the employees improve various skills, mentorship
programs can help in developing new effective strategies that can help Tesla in gaining a
competitive advantage against other players in the market. Also, mentors can serve as a sources
for providing different details to the management like if the employees are happy working in the
organisation, dealing with customers effectively etc. Thus, mentorship programs should be
incorporated by all organisations in their systems to generate positive and desired output.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that employee development is an important
part of the HR process and should be taken seriously by organisations. Developing employees
has various strengths as well as weaknesses like it helps in attaining the goals and objective more
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efficiently and once when employees become proficient and acquire proper knowledge of the
various activities of the system, they work towards producing output that can lead the company
to attain a positive position in the markets. In order to develop employees, they should be
provided various opportunities so that their motivation as well as confidence levels go up. This
will not only be beneficial for their professional growth but personal growth as well.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Brewster, C., Mayrhofer, W. and Farndale, E. eds., 2018. Handbook of research on comparative
human resource management. Edward Elgar Publishing.
DeCenzo, D. A., Robbins, S. P. and Verhulst, S. L., 2016. Fundamentals of human resource
management. John Wiley & Sons.
Dumont, J., Shen, J. and Deng, X., 2017. Effects of green HRM practices on employee
workplace green behavior: The role of psychological green climate and employee green
values. Human Resource Management. 56(4). pp.613-627.
Guan, Y. and et. al., 2016. Predicting Chinese human resource managers' strategic competence:
Roles of identity, career variety, organizational support and career adaptability. Journal
of Vocational Behavior. 92. pp.116-124.
Guest, D. E., 2017. Human resource management and employee well‐being: Towards a new
analytic framework. Human Resource Management Journal. 27(1). pp.22-38.
Harzing, A. W., Pudelko, M. and Sebastian Reiche, B., 2016. The bridging role of expatriates
and inpatriates in knowledge transfer in multinational corporations. Human Resource
Management. 55(4). pp.679-695.
Nankervis, A. R. and et. al., 2016. Human resource management: strategy and practice. Cengage
AU.
Navimipour, N. J. and Soltani, Z., 2016. The impact of cost, technology acceptance and
employees' satisfaction on the effectiveness of the electronic customer relationship
management systems. Computers in Human Behavior. 55. pp.1052-1066.
Stewart, G. L. and Brown, K. G., 2019. Human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.
Van Wingerden, J., Derks, D. and Bakker, A. B., 2017. The impact of personal resources and job
crafting interventions on work engagement and performance. Human Resource
Management. 56(1). pp.51-67.
Voegtlin, C. and Greenwood, M., 2016. Corporate social responsibility and human resource
management: A systematic review and conceptual analysis. Human Resource
Management Review. 26(3). pp.181-197.
Online
Importance of Employee Development. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.managementstudyguide.com/employee-development-
importance.htm>.
7 Benefits of a Structured Workplace Mentoring Program. 2020. [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.gqrgm.com/7-benefits-structured-workplace-mentoring-program/
>.
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