Importance of Employee Relations in HRM Decision-Making

Human Resource
Management

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management refers to a strategic approach in which effective
management of people is done within the organizations (Akamani, 2016). It is the task of HR
managers to be able to ensure it in the organizations so that it is able to help them to identify the
problems and issues which are faced by the employees in the companies and solve them. Thus
the use of this approach is crucial if the firms have to gain a competitive edge. It is quite essential
so that the people are managed in an effective manner. The HR managers are required to make
its use so that the organizations are able to attain their goals and objectives. For this report,
Arcadia Group has been chosen. It is a British Company which deals in clothing, accessories and
shoes. In this assignment, specific focus will be made on explaining the purpose of Human
Resource Management, evaluating the effectiveness of its key elements, analysis of internal and
external factors. Additionally, application of HRM practices in a work-related context will be
made as a part of this project.
TASK 1
P1: Purpose and Functions of HRM
Purpose of HRM- The purpose of HRM is to ensure that the organization is able to
identify the employee-related issues in the company (Budhwar and Mellahi, 2018). Thereafter
proper methods have to be used by the HR department so that they are able to solve these issues.
In Arcadia Group, the HR managers have this specific purpose through which decides the
working pattern which they are required to follow to achieve it.
Functions of HRM-
The major functions of HRM are as follows-
Recruitment and Selection- Recruitment refers to a practice of identification of
potential candidates for a potential job. Selection refers to the use of different types of metrics
and parameters so that the candidates are screened in an effective manner before they are hired
for a particular role in the organization. In Arcadia Group, it is the function of the HR
department to be able to perform both Recruitment and Selection to select the best candidates for
different roles.
Orientation- In the firms, the HR department has a function of conducting the
orientation process for the new employees. By this process, the new workers are expected to
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become comfortable in the working culture of the company and thus in this way will be able to
perform better in their respective roles and be valuable to the organization through their
contribution. In Arcadia Group, the HR department has the responsibility to conduct orientation
so that the new employees are comfortable in the organizational set-up.
Maintaining good work conditions- For the organizations' HR department it is crucial
to maintain good work conditions and a hygienic work environment (Clark and et.al., 2016).
Therefore in Arcadia Group the HR department has to ensure that it is able to provide the staff
members with proper work conditions which can increase their motivation and morale and they
can concentrate on their tasks in an effective manner so that the results are achieved.
Managing employee relations- The HR department of the companies have a function of
managing the employee relations (Fee and McGrath-Champ, 2017). In the context of Arcadia
Group it is important that its HR department is able to manage relations with the workers so that
proper coordination and cooperation in the workplace can be ensured.
Training and Development- The HR department of the firms has to perform the
function of training and development (Harzing, Pudelko and Sebastian Reiche, 2016). In Arcadia
Group, the HR department is able to perform this function and ensures that the best training and
development to the employees. This ensures that the workers are able to concentrate better on
their work.
Therefore, the HR department of Arcadia Group has a specific purpose and is able to
perform its different functions in a highly effective manner. This allows the company to be able
to identify and attain its distinct goals as well as objectives without problems and issues.
P2: Strengths and Weaknesses of approaches of recruitment and selection
Approaches of Recruitment-
Internal Sources- In internal sources, the HR department is able to identify talented
people within the organization and promote them to a higher role in the company (Jackson, Gray
and Shuman, 2017). Thus the managers of Arcadia Group can make the use of these sources so
that they are able to save costs on recruitment and can hire skilled workers for their roles.
Strengths-
 The use of internal sources can help in saving of costs for the organization.
 With the use of internal sources an organization is able to get talented people to work for
the organization.
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