Aldi's Recruitment and Selection Processes: Strengths and Weaknesses

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UNIT 3 HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
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INTRODUCTION
In the retail industry, the employees are considered to be the most vital resource that helps
in serving the front-line of organisations resulting in the enhanced satisfaction level and
customer loyalty. Aldi for the same laid more emphasis on the training and development
opportunities so as to outfit to the needs of the employees to render great experience and
attain the organisational objectives. Thus human resource emerges to be a vital concept
which shall be focussed on by Aldi to ensure the wellbeing of its employees and ensure
enhanced performance of the organisation.
This assignment, therefore, will revolve around the scope of the HRM at Aldi and evaluating
the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches to the recruitment and selection process
within the organisation. This report will also assess the efficiency in terms of the key
elements of HRM at Aldi and will take into reflection the internal as well as external factors
affecting the decision making in an organisational context. At last on the basis of the report,
a reflective report will be prepared to reflect on the HRM practices applied in the work-
related context of Aldi with the help of examples.
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TASK 1 (LO1 TO LO3)
1. OVERVIEW OF ORGANISATION
Aldi is a leading global discount supermarket chain that is based in Germany and founded by
Theo Albrecht and Karl in the year 1946. It renders products and services in Food,
Household, Sanitary products, beverages and so on. It has 10,000 stores in nearly 18
countries which makes it one of the leading groups of Germany in the retail sector. It aims
to perform the things differently so as to cater amazing portfolio to customers that too at
low prices.
2. PURPOSE OF HR FUNCTION AT ALDI AND ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES ON BEHALF OF HR FUNCTION FULFILLING
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
Human resource management
According to Wright (2018), Human Resource Management is termed as a strategic
approach that helps in attainment a competitive edge over competitors in the industry and
helps to maximise the performance of the employees in alignment to the planned objectives
and HRM practices (Noe, et al., 2017).
Purpose of the HR function at Aldi
The main purpose of the HR function at Aldi is to keep pace with the needs of the
organisation and its employees and to look into the financial as well as legal matters
ensuring the effectiveness of the HRM approaches practised which ultimately helps in
maximising the efficiency of Aldi (Wright, 2018). The purpose of the HR function at Aldi
mainly is to cater to the needs of the recruitment and selection and ensuring non-violation
of the laws during the recruitment and selection process (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
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Functions of HRM at Aldi
In order to fulfil the gap between the employees and organisation Aldi’s HR adopts a
systematic approach which embraces the following functions of HRM which are classified as
under:
Figure 1: HRM functions
Source: (Noe, et al., 2017)
Under the two broad classifications of managerial functions and operative functions, there
fall many functions of HR at Aldi.
Managerial functions
Planning
Under this function, the role of HR is to manage the vacant positions in Aldi and formulate
strategies and plans accordingly (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
Organising
Under this function, the HR manager of Aldi is responsible for establishing a set of
framework for operative functions that helps in bringing the physical resources together
with the human resources (Noe, et al., 2017).
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Directing
Under this, the HR manager of Aldi guides and instructs the team to work accordingly so as
to attain the desired objectives (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
Controlling
Under controlling function the HR of Aldi plays a role of controller that manages and
controls the standard for performance and takes corrective measures if required to fulfil the
responsibilities (Nankervis et al., 2016).
Operative functions
Procurement
The role of HR manager of Aldi is to make an estimate of the recruitment and selection
process and personnel requirement that helps in placing and rendering orientation to the
selected candidates for the right position in Aldi (Noe, et al., 2017).
Development
The role of an HR manager is to develop the talent in the employees of Aldi through the
application of various techniques of training and development (Nankervis et al., 2016).
Compensation
Under this function, the HR of Aldi is responsible to render the benefits to the employees in
the form of perks, remuneration and other benefits.
Integration
The HR manager at Aldi is responsible for induction programs so as to make familiar the new
employees with the organisation (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Maintenance
In order to retain the employees of Aldi the main function falling under HR manager of Aldi
is to render the various benefits such as allowances, health and care benefits and others
(DeCenzo et al., 2016).
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3. ASSESSMENT OF APPROACHES OF WORKFORCE PLANNING,
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION, PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND
REWARD SYSTEMS ON BASIS OF STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF
EACH
Workforce planning is considered to be one of the continuous processes that are used to
align the priorities and needs of Aldi with that of the workforce. This is the process which
involves various approaches to ensure the regulatory and legislative requirements with the
organisational objectives (Noe, et al., 2017).
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO RECRUITMENT
In order to maintain a competent workforce, Aldi employs the recruitment process by
adopting a combination of the internal as well as the external process of recruitment
sources (Nankervis et al., 2016).
Figure 2: Approaches to recruitment
Source: (Bratton and Gold, 2017)
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Internal sources of recruitment
This source of recruitment is practised by Aldi so as to fill the vacant job positions by the
employees that are currently working at Aldi. Some of the internal sources of recruitment
practised by Aldi involve promotions, transfers, employee referrals, internal job posting and
advertisements and so on (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
Strengths and weaknesses of internal sources of recruitment
Strengths:
 It is a simple and quick process to recruit
 It is a cost-effective process (Noe, et al., 2017)
 It saves time for induction and training process
 It motivates the employees of Aldi to work harder
Weaknesses:
 It limits the new resources to Aldi that may bring with them new ideas
 It has a limited scope (Nankervis et al., 2016)
 It may lead another position to be vacant in case of internal resource promotions
An external source of recruitment
At Aldi external source of recruitment is also practised wherein the employees are hired
externally through the employment agencies, advertisements, and online advertisings and
so on (Ingram, 2016).
Some of the strengths and weaknesses of the external source of recruitment are as under:
Strengths
 It leads to healthier prospects for job seekers (Bratton and Gold, 2017)
 The scope gets broadened due to a large number of candidates appearing
 The branding of Aldi will increase due to external sources
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Weaknesses
 It is a time-consuming approach which is a very lengthy procedure
 The cost of recruitment from external sources are high (Noe, et al., 2017)
 The candidates hired from external sources demands more benefits and
remuneration
APPROACHES TO SELECTION
Some of the approaches to selection in Aldi involve the Preliminary interview, employment
interview, selection tests and reference and background checks so on (Ingram, 2016). This is
done by conducting effectively the background checks of the applicants and conducting
criminal background checks. Aldi also ensures the interpersonal skills tests which will help in
matching with the present skills of the applicants with the desired job position of Aldi
advertised (Albrecht et al., 2015).
APPROACHES TO WORKFORCE PLANNING
Aldi meets the needs of the employees in terms of the skills and locations by fulfilling
recruitment needs. The workforce is planned by Aldi in accordance with the business
objectives and thus employs the employees accordingly (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
APPROACHES TO TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Aldi ensures the training and development of the employees on regular basis for the same it
conducts the programs related to the training and development for the employees of Aldi
and also encourages in an organisation the on-the-job training which helps in rendering the
opportunities to the employees regarding the skills enhancement (Albrecht et al., 2015).
APPROACHES TO PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
At Aldi, the performance is regularly monitored and appraised of the employees working for
it. This helps in improving the confidence and self-esteem of the employees of Aldi. Through
performance management, employee satisfaction is ensured leading to efficiency and
productivity (Noe, et al., 2017).
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APPROACHES TO REWARD SYSTEMS
At Aldi, there are many rewards provided to the employees in the form of monetary as well
as non-monetary forms (Albrecht et al., 2015). This thus helps the employees to strive for
better productivity and output for the organisation. This may involve salary hikes, club cards
membership, incentives, and movie tickets and so on.
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4. APPROACH AND EFFECTIVENESS OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT, IN ADDITION TO DIFFERENT METHODS
USED IN HRM PRACTICES IN ALDI
According to Wright (2018), employee engagement is a process which involves the
engagement of the employees towards the organisation in an effective manner leading to
rising in satisfaction level and building an emotional connection (Wright, 2018).
On the other hand, employee relations is the efforts made by Aldi to effectively manage the
relationships between the employees and employers so as to render consistent treatment
to its employees (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
At Aldi, through employee relations and employee engagement, the effective relationships
are built by adopting various approaches such as leadership development, reward systems,
team building activities, involvement in decision making and communication activities.
These activities enhance the productivity of Aldi (Ekwoaba et al., 2015). Apart from these,
there are some HRM practices practised by Aldi such as flexible working practices, working
options, training and development programs, reward management and so on. These all
practices help in effective employee engagement leading to boosting the productivity and
the profitability of Aldi (Albrecht et al., 2015).
Reward management
Under these HRM practices, Aldi ensures effective employee engagement and through
rendering many benefits and rewards to the employees it ensures the better retention rate
in an organisation (Wright, 2018). This thus motivates the employees and help to keep them
contented with their jobs. This ultimately boosts the productivity of the employees and
brings in more profits to the firm (Ingram, 2016).
Training and development
This is another approach of HRM practices practised by Aldi which helps in injecting in the
employees the skills and competencies required according to the changing needs of the
organisation (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The programs are designed by Aldi such that its
employees are well versed with new technologies and develop their competencies
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effectively. These thus help the employees in exploring their potential and working with
more zeal to achieve the unachieved (Ekwoaba et al., 2015).
Working practices and flexible options
This is another HRM practices that are practised by Aldi to retain the best workforce by
injecting in them the better motivation to work for Aldi (Ekwoaba et al., 2015). This is done
by rendering them options for leaves, work from home and so on. The employees of Aldi are
provided with flexible working options and limited working hours leading to building in them
better motivation and satisfaction level. This thus bolsters the productivity level of the
employees and ensures better profitability (Wright, 2018).
Thus from the above HRM practices, Aldi ensures better productivity levels and the
profitability shares leading to more satisfied employees and workforce. These approaches
help in sustaining the competitive advantage thereby (Albrecht et al., 2015).
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