Human Resource Management Practices in ASDA: A Case Study Report

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Human resource management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................5
LO1..................................................................................................................................................6
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organization...........................................................................................................6
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection 7
LO2................................................................................................................................................10
P3 explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organization for both the
employer and employee.............................................................................................................10
P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational
profit and productivity...............................................................................................................11
LO3................................................................................................................................................12
P5 Analyse the importance of employees relations with respect to influence HRM decision
making.......................................................................................................................................12
P6 identify the critical elements of employment legislation and the impact it has on HRM
decision- making........................................................................................................................13
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................14
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work related context.................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................18
References......................................................................................................................................19
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Job description of Customer Care Executive..................................................................12
Table 2: Job specification of Customer Care Executive................................................................13
Table 3: Job advertisement for Customer Care Executive............................................................14
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Recruitment and Selection process of ASDA..................................................................7
Figure 2: Components of good employee relations.......................................................................11
4

Introduction
This report has discussed the functions and purpose of human resource management in an
organisation. Illustration of ASDA is taken in this report, which is the second largest
supermarket in the UK and is a subsidiary of Walmart. ASDA performs retailing activities
through its different stores by selling electronics, clothing, home furnishings, toys, and food. In
addition to this, some financial services are also offered to the customers. This report is based on
the various functions performed by Human resource management (HRM) in ASDA which acts
as a heart of the organisation. Without HRM, workforce planning and management cannot be
done effectively and leads to inefficiency to attain the organisational goals.
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LO1
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organization
Meaning and Purpose of HRM
Human resource management is a systematic approach in which set of functions, programmes,
and other activities are planned and carried out for the management of employees within the
organisation. This helps to improve the effectiveness of both employees as well as ASDA. The
primary purpose of HRM is to ensure fulfilment of all the responsibilities effectively that are
related to staffing, designing of work, and employees benefits (Bailey et al., 2018).
Functions of HRM
Hiring
HR manager in ASDA is responsible for identifying the vacant position in different stores and
department of the organisation and accordingly pool the required human resources to fulfil such
vacancy. The selection of the right candidate for the vacant position is essential so that ASDA
can attain higher productivity and efficiency in their work.
Performance Appraisal
HRM in ASDA has standardised the performance of employees, and also targets are defined.
This helps to evaluate the performance of the workforce by comparing the actual performance
with the set benchmark. Improved performance is appraised with benefits and incentives to the
employees (Bhaswati Bhattacharyya, 2017).
Training and Development
After the recruitment procedure, HRM in ASDA is required to impart necessary training to their
employees so that they can perform their functions as per the set standards. Moreover, different
training programmes are designed for different existing and new employees of ASDA.
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Employee Welfare and Salary administration
HRM is responsible for ensuring wages, salary, incentives, and other benefits are timely paid for
which employees are entitled to ASDA. In addition to this, it is also required to ensure all the
employees get equal opportunities for their career growth.
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection
Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment is the procedure of identifying and attracting potential candidates for vacant
positions in different units of ASDA. While the selection is a set of procedural activities through
which best suitable candidate is selected for the vacant job.
Figure 1: Recruitment and Selection process of ASDA
Recruitment procedure can be classified into two types:
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Internal recruitment
Internal recruitment utilises internal knowledge and helps to identify those individuals who are
already working in ASDA.
Strength: This helps the organisation to save the cost of recruitment procedure. In addition to
this, a shorter period of training is required for them to fit in the vacant job.
Weakness: Insider individual may not contribute to creativity and innovative ideas in the
organisation. Also, the promotion of one employee may negatively affect the morale of other
employees (Recruitment and Selection, 2019).
External recruitment
In this approach, a wider range of talented and skilled candidates are pooled from outside the
organisation so that ASDA can grab more opportunities for inserting experienced and creative
ideas into the organisation.
Strength: External recruitment brings talented people and highly skilled candidates within the
organisation with the efforts of which organisation can gain a competitive place in the
supermarket.
Weakness: It is a very expensive procedure, and more time is required to impart necessary
training to the new employees hired in ASDA.
Some approaches for selection
Interviews
The HRM of ASDA organises scheduled interview to select the best potential candidate out of
the shortlisted ones. Conducting face to face interviews help the HR managers to judge the body
language, personality and other required skills for the vacant position (O'Meara and Petzall,
2013).
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For example, HR manager of ASDA can ask realistic questions at the interview to judge the
potential of the candidates. Such as, what are the required leadership characteristics to supervise
the administration work?
Personality tests
In ASDA, good personality and politeness of the workforce are essential to handle the customers
at different stores. Hence, personality tests help the organisation to judge the personality traitis,
attitude, and behavior of the prospective candidates.
Resume review
This approach is beneficial when the selection of candidate is done for the inferior vacant
position on the ASDA, as it includes a selection of the candidate on the basis of reviewing
resume (Ekwoaba et al., 2015). This helps to judge the qualification, skills and required a talent
for the job.
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LO2
P3 explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organization for both the
employer and employee
ASDA has introduced various promotional schemes and benefits to their manpower to ensure
that their hard work is driven towards the attainment of organisational goals. Engaged team
members not only benefit the organisation but also contributes to the career growth of
employees. Some of the benefits from HRM Practices to:
Employees
IN ASDA, the role of HRM is not only associated with the staffing only but also relates to the
promotion of career opportunities of employees and their remuneration benefits in the form of
share save scheme and colleague discounts. Share save scheme enables employees to save
money between £5 and £200 (Richard Evans, 2012). After the maturity of this scheme, tax-free
interest is added, and the sum can be utilised by the employees to buy the shares of the parent
company of ASDA at discounted rates. In addition to other, training and development programs
imparted to the workforce help them to grab more future opportunities. HRM is also responsible
for resolving the conflicts among manpower in the workforce and creating a good friendly
environment that motivates them to work with enthusiasm.
Employer
HR managers and leaders of ASDA ensure that right person is recruited for the right job across
different level of seniority so that his contribution in the job helps the organisation to get higher
success in the competitive market(Aswathappa, 2013). Besides, an engaged staff member in
ASDA creates an effective working environment that motivates other colleagues to improve their
productivity. Various employees are recruited in different stores of ASDA that belongs to
different culture and beliefs. Hence, with the help of HRM, their values and beliefs are shared in
the organisational culture so that they deliver higher growth and excellent services to the
customers.
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P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational
profit and productivity
HRM of ASDA offers a wide range of opportunities and motivational benefits to their employees
so that the prime objective of higher productivity and profitability can be attained as per the set
framework. To deliver a better experience to the customers, hired candidates in ASDA requires a
good mentor that guides them in their operational activities. Leaders in ASDA ensure continuous
communication with them so that a healthy working environment can be established to bring out
their true potential.
Employees of ASDA are required to attend their employees with excellent services. Hence, this
requires timely impartations of professional training to the workforce to enhance knowledge,
skills, and positive attitude among them (Nankervis et al., 2016). While attending customers,
employees are required to have soft skills that relates to assistance to the customers with
politeness, and excellent communication. HRM in ASDA ensures employee value their
customers and develop a well-mannered attitude with them.
HRM in ASDA also guides their employees in understanding their role, responsibilities and other
relevant aspects so that they can better understand what initiatives they have to undertake to
perform their job effectively. In addition to this, various policies, plans, etc. are formulated by
the top management of ASDA that are conveyed by HRM to their employees. This helps them to
get well acquainted with such new policies and plans of the organisation and accordingly
perform their job (Wilton, 2016).
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LO3
P5 Analyse the importance of employees relations with respect to influence HRM decision
making
HRM in ASDA ensures employees are engaged in various activities and decision making of the
organisation so that better employee-employer relationship can be maintained.
Figure 2: Components of good employee relations
Some of the importance of employee-relations in ASDA is:
A survey has concluded that employee’s job satisfaction and engagement enhances their
productivity. A healthy relationship with the colleagues makes work easier to perform and hence
productivity of entire manpower in ASDA increases. In addition, employee relations in ASDA
help to develop an environment where individuals do not waste their time indulging in conflicts
and disputes with colleagues (Forth et al., 2013). Instead, they try to make them feel more
comfortable with each other. Hence, this helps the HRM to retain more talented employees and
reduce absenteeism.
The objective of ASDA is to increase sales with quality products and services to their customers.
Good employee-relations maintained by HRM in ASDA ensure better delivery of customer
services. Hence, these results in higher customer satisfaction that leads to higher sales and brand
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