Human Resource Management at Aldi: A Comprehensive Report

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UNIT 3 HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
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Contents
TABLE OF FIGURES.......................................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1 (LO1 TO LO3)....................................................................................................................................5
1. OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION.................................................................................................5
2. PURPOSE OF FUNCTIONS OF HR AT ALDI AND ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FULFILLING
BUSINESS OBJECTIVES ON BEHALF OF FUNCTIONS OF HR......................................................................5
3. ASSESSING THE APPROACHES OF WORKFORCE PLANNING, SELECTION AND RECRUITMENT,
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND REWARD SYSTEMS BASED ON THE STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES OF EACH............................................................................................................................9
4. EFFECTIVENESS OF EMPLOYEE RELATION AND ENGAGEMENT IN ADDITION WITH VARIOUS HRM
PRACTICES USED IN ALDI.......................................................................................................................13
5. FACTORS AFFECTING HRM DECISION-MAKING PROCESS..............................................................15
6. ASSESSING THE ASPECTS OF EMPLOYEE RELATION MANAGEMENT AND LEGISLATION AFFECTING
HRM DECISIONS IN ALDI........................................................................................................................16
TASK 2 (LO4)..............................................................................................................................................18
APPLICATION OF HRM IN ALDI WITH EVALUATING THE PROCESS AND RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING
HR PRACTICES........................................................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................24
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................25
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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: FUNCTIONS OF HRM.....................................................................................................................6
Figure 2: SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT.........................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
For every retailer sector, employees play a very important role because it serves the targeted
customers of the organization which leads in satisfaction, loyalty and repeat purchases of the
customers (Noe et al., 2017). Aldi provides an emphasis on the training and development
opportunities to its employees so as to fulfil the needs of the employees with an amazing
experience and achieving the organizational goals. Human resource is considered to be a very
important part of an organization which should be focused upon and therefore, Aldi makes sure
that employee needs are fulfilled and secured so that the performance of the organization gets
enhanced (Noe et al., 2017).
This assignment would discuss the scope of HRM, with the evaluation of the strengths and the
weaknesses of the recruitment and selection process at Aldi (Noe et al., 2017). The assignment
will also evaluate the effectiveness and the efficiency of HRM elements that Aldi is going to
undertake, the internal and external factors that affect the decision-making process at Aldi. In
the end, a report would be prepared to show the HRM practices that are applied in Aldi with
related examples to support (Noe et al., 2017).
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TASK 1 (LO1 TO LO3)
1. OVERVIEW OF THE ORGANIZATION
Aldi is a popular discounted supermarket chain having 10,000 stores over 20 countries. It is a
Germany based retail outlet founded by Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946 (Cascio, 2015). Aldi has
been divided into two separate identities that are Aldi Nord and Aldi Sud. Aldi’s key products
that it offers are food, beverages, household products, etc. It aims to provide products at a
discounted price to its customers (Cascio, 2015).
2. PURPOSE OF FUNCTIONS OF HR AT ALDI AND ROLES AND
RESPONSIBILITIES FULFILLING BUSINESS OBJECTIVES ON BEHALF OF
FUNCTIONS OF HR
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management is strategized approach for effectively managing people of the
organization in a way that they become a competitive advantage for the organization (Cascio,
2015). The primary objective of human resource management is to focus on the management
of employees by enhancing their performance leading to the achievement of organizational
objective.
PURPOSE OF HR FUNCTION
The primary purpose of HR at Aldi is to align employee’s goals with the organizational goals
with having a peek into the financial and legal matters for making sure that the HRM approach
is applied effectively which will, in the end, result in maximizing Aldi's efficiency hence
achievement of the goal. At Aldi HR function mainly fulfils the requirements of the recruitment
and selection process and ensuring that the laws are not violated during the process (Cascio,
2015).
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FUNCTIONS OF HRM
A systematized approach is followed at Aldi so that the space between the organization and the
employees is fulfilled. Functions of HRM can be categorized as:
Figure 1: FUNCTIONS OF HRM
(Source: Muscalu, 2015)
There are mainly two functions of Human Resource Management that are Managerial and
Operative Functions that is followed in Aldi (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
MANAGERIAL FUNCTIONS
PLANNING
In this function, the HR of Aldi develops strategies and plans so that the positions that are
vacant can be filled accordingly.
ORGANISING
In this function, HR of Aldi is held responsible for bringing together the physical resources and
the human resources which is part of the operative function (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
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DIRECTING
In this function, HR of Aldi directs the team towards a specific path and then makes them work
accordingly to achieve the organizational objective (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
CONTROLLING
In this function, HR of Aldi sets a performance standard that is measured with desired
performance and if any deviations occur, corrective measures are taken for the same (Bratton
and Gold, 2017).
OPERATIVE FUNCTIONS
PROCUREMENT
Here, the role of HR is to make an estimation and arrangement of the personnel that will be
required approximately when the orientation has been done for the selected candidates at Aldi.
This would be done after the recruitment and selection process (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
DEVELOPMENT
Here, the development process of employees is carried out at Aldi through various coaching,
training and development programs especially designed for them.
COMPENSATION
Here, HR provides incentives, perks, remuneration, etc. to the employees of Aldi to make them
avail the benefits (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
INTEGRATION
Here, the HR conducts an integrated induction program for the new employees that have
joined so that become familiar with the environment of Aldi (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
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MAINTENANCE
Here, the HR is held responsible for maintaining and retaining the employees of Aldi and for
that they provide various benefits to the employees in the form of various allowances like
convenience, health care benefits, etc. (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
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3. ASSESSING THE APPROACHES OF WORKFORCE PLANNING, SELECTION
AND RECRUITMENT, PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT AND REWARD
SYSTEMS BASED ON THE STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF EACH
Workforce Planning
It is a continuous process which helps in streamlining the priorities needs of the workforce with
that of Aldi. It involves different approaches to make sure that the legislative and regulatory
requirements are met with attaining the goals of the organization (Banfield and Royles, 2018).
Workforce planning is said to be an ongoing process that can meet the organizations need.
SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
Recruitment can be performed through two ways that are internal source of recruitment and
external source of recruitment (Banfield and Royles, 2018). Also, Aldi can use a combination of
these sources if they want.
Figure 2: SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
(Source: Shenoy and Aithal, 2018)
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INTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
When recruiting is done within the organization then it is said to internal source of recruitment.
Aldi has also followed this process by transferring, referrals, promoting, demoting, employees
that are currently working in the organization (Banfield and Royles, 2018). This helps Aldi in
filling the job position that is vacant and needs a person for working. Internal recruitment also
helps the organization in saving their finances and time which they can use in some other
important tasks need to be performed
Strengths
 Aldi is already aware of the employee to be hired
 Requires fewer amounts to be spent (Banfield and Royles, 2018).
 Employees are also well aware of Aldi
 Reduces the time of recruiting.
Weaknesses
 A limited number of applicants
 Less exposure to new ideas because no new person is hired
 Develops a gap in the existing workforce (Banfield and Royles, 2018).
EXTERNAL SOURCES OF RECRUITMENT
When recruiting is done from outside the organization it is said as external source of
recruitment. Here the employees are hired through various techniques (Banfield and Royles,
2018). Aldi has followed external source of recruiting through employee exchange, outsourcing,
agencies, advertisements, etc. This also helps Aldi in filling the position that is vacant. External
sources of recruitment help the organization in exploring new and fresh talent that is there in
the market and is available to be recruited (Banfield and Royles, 2018).
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Strengths
 Number of applications are available to choose from
 Helps in bringing exposure and new ideas to Aldi as new people are hired
 Gets fresh and skilled talent for Aldi that would be beneficial for it (Wilton, 2016).
Weaknesses
 Hiring externally can be quite expensive
 It can lead to dissatisfaction among existing employees (Wilton, 2016).
 It's a long and time-consuming process.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF SELECTION
Process of selection is adopted by Aldi which includes the Preliminary interview, receiving
applications, screening, employment test, interview, reference check, medical exam and final
selection (Wilton, 2016). Certain backgrounds checks are conducted for the applicants to check
whether the applicant has a clean background or not without any criminal records. Desired
skills and actual skills are measured at Aldi for filling the job position (Wilton, 2016).
DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF WORKFORCE PLANNING
It’s vital to check that the employee needs are fulfilled with the recruitment needs in regards to
skill set, preferred location, etc. (Wilton, 2016). Aldi must set its organization objectives
according to the employee’s objectives.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
Regular training and development programs are needed to be conducted for the employees of
Aldi. Regular training and development of employees help them to be in a pace with the
ongoing Aldi’s situation and help it grow for its betterment (Wilton, 2016). On-the-job and off-
the-job training are to be provided to the employees of Aldi for better working.
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DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Performance of the employees should be monitored on a daily basis and required appraisal
should be provided (DeCenzo et al., 2016). This increases employee confidence and they get
motivated. This leads to employee satisfaction which would help in increasing the productivity
of Aldi. Aldi also performs a daily on the performance management of its employees and checks
whether the productivity of the employees is up to the mark (DeCenzo et al., 2016).
DIFFERENT APPROACHES OF REWARD SYSTEMS
Required rewards should be provided to the employees in monetary as well as non-monetary
terms. As this will help the employees of Aldi to get motivated and as a result will enhance the
performance of Aldi by achieving the desired objective (DeCenzo et al., 2016).This can involve
loyalty cards, perks, hike in salary, etc. Rewards are an important part of an organization
because this helps in boosting the confidence of the employees and they are motivated to work
more resulting in the achievement of the organizational goals also (DeCenzo et al., 2016).
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