Human Resource Management: Functions and Practices

Unit 3: Human Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY .................................................................................................................................3
LO1.................................................................................................................................................3
Purpose and the functions of HRM for workforce planning and resourcing an organisation... .3
LO2.................................................................................................................................................5
P1:The advantage that both the employee or employer receive through the HRM practices - 5
P2: Different HRM practices should be effective in increasing the financial or output of
organisations - ...........................................................................................................................6
LO 3................................................................................................................................................7
LO4.................................................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES...............................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is one of the most important department of every
organisation. They are responsible for hiring right person at the right time for the right place.
Their functions include planning related to workforce in the organisation, managing and
maintaining workforce in the organisation. They recognise various employee needs and try to
satisfy those needs for organisational benefits. Here in this report many practices used by HR
manager in the organisation has been discussed. For this, Marks & Spencer which is a UK based
company dealing in clothing, food and various household products has been taken to explain HR
practices adopted by it.
MAIN BODY
LO1
Purpose and the functions of HRM for workforce planning and resourcing an organisation.
Meaning of HRM: Human resource management refers to one of the most important
department and function of every organisation responsible for recruiting, motivating, controlling
and maintaining the employees in the organisation. They are formed to ensure that the right
person must be appointed at the right time on the right place according to their specifications.
Functions of HRM: There are some main activities and functions of HRM which enable them
to get talented and skilled personnel for their organisation (Boon and et. al., 2019).
Human Resource Planning: The first and the most important task of every HR manager to plan
for how many, what kind of, when and for which position in the organisation they need to
recruit people. This function facilitates other functions of HR manager of Marks & Spencer in
carrying out smoothly.
Recruitment and selection: Recruiting refers to attracting candidates to apply for the vacant
position. It aims at attracting those candidates who posses high potential and qualifications.
Selections refers to the process of selecting the right candidates whose qualifications matches
with organisation's needs. By performing this function Marks & Spencer can have talented and
skilled candidates for achieving their goals and objectives (Chams and García-Blandón, 2019).
Compensation of employees: Rewarding employees with both monetary and non-monetary
terms is necessary for Marks & Spencer to satisfy and motivate their workforce. They must give
proper incentives, perks, recognition, good working environment and culture.

Performance management and learning and development of workforce : Marks & Spencer's HR
manager is responsible for reviewing the performance of its workforce on timely basis which
enables them to get best of their efficiency. Also, they must invest out of their earnings in
learning of new skills for their workforce which would be helpful in bridging the gap between
the present skills and their future need of skills (Mondy and Martocchio,2016).
Best practice vs Best fit approach for HRM: These two approaches has been regarded as the
strategic approach of every HR manager. Best practice approach states that there are many
activities and approaches universally applicable which links organisational performance with
that of HR activities which helps in achieving competitive advantage for any organisation like
Marks & Spencer. This approach doesn't consider the type of industry and organisational set up
adopted. On the other hand best fit approach argues that there is no universally applicable
approach for doing right work because what is best for one business may not be fit with the
policies and strategies of other businesses. In the context of this approach, HR manager of
Marks & Spencer must frame policies and strategies that fit best with their objectives and goals.
The policies and practices of HR can be regarded as the best approach if it best fit with their
organisational objectives (John and Taylor, 2016).
Hard and soft models of HRM: Hard model of HRM considers workforce just as the resource
of the organisation and treats them in the same way as machines and building. On the other hand
soft model of HRM considers workforce as the most important asset of the organisation. The
former lays emphasize on task accomplishment, hire and fire strategy and least consideration to
employee satisfaction while the later is more focused about employee friendly environment and
culture, satisfaction and motivation of employees, recognition of employee needs, etc. So, it is
always being argued that what is best out of these two approaches is depends upon the nature
and type of workforce an organisation have. Marks & Spencer must analyse its workforce and
adopt the best approach out of these two.
Internal and External sources of recruitment: Internal sources refers to attracting candidates
within organisation who are already on some position in the organisation. It is a cheaper sources
and motivate employee to perform well for getting promotions. Its weakness is that it provides
limited choice and causes conflicts among internal workforce. External sources refers to
attracting candidates outside the organisational context through advertisements, campus
recruitment, word of mouth, etc. The advantage of adopting this source of recruitment is