Human Resource Management Practices at Cadbury: A Report

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HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
LO1.................................................................................................................................................3
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF HRM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CADBURY..................................3
DIFFERENT APPROACHES FOR RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION: THEIR STRENGTHS AND
WEAKNESSES..............................................................................................................................5
LO2.................................................................................................................................................7
EVALUATING HRM PRACTICES TO RAISE ORGANIZATIONAL PROFIT AND PRODUCTIVITY.......10
LO3............................................................................................................................................... 11
IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN HRM DECISION MAKING.....................................11
HRM DECISION MAKING AND EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATIONS...................................................13
LO4............................................................................................................................................... 14
HUMAN RESOURCE PRACTICES IN WORK RELATED CONTEXT.................................................14
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 18
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................19
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INTRODUCTION
Human resources are an integral part of a business. The strategic approach to manage the
human resources of a company is known as Human Resource Management (HRM). A company
needs to manage its human resources appropriately in order to achieve its organizational goals
and objectives more effectively and efficiently (Noe et al, 2017). This report will be focusing on
the key roles and responsibilities of the HR function in an organization, along with its purpose
and scope. Furthermore, the report will be aiming at the approach to ensure effective
employee relations within a company and the internal and external factors which affect the
Human Resource Management decision-making. The report is going to assess the HRM function
of Cadbury, which a British multinational confectionery company, based in the UK.
LO1
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF HRM WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CADBURY
Cadbury is a British multinational confectionery company, based in England, which is
completely owned by Mondelez International since 2010. The company was established by
John Cadbury in 1824 at Birmingham, England and currently is headquartered at Uxbridge,
London, England. The company had around £2.36 billion of net revenue globally in 2016
(Mondelez, 2017).
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Human resources of an organization are hugely responsible for the success or demise of a
company. It involves recruiting, directing and managing the human resources in an
organization. These human resources are needed to be managed properly to ensure the proper
functioning of the day-to-day business operations of a company and utilize the human
resources to their full potential (Cascio, 2015). The company has a very competitive workforce,
which helps the company to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Cadbury chocolates
are manufactured in more than 15 countries around the world and its products can be found in
more than 40 countries. The biggest markets of Cadbury are in UK, India, Australia, and China
(Mondelez, 2017). To grow and develop in the market and gain a competitive advantage over
other companies, a company needs an effective and efficient human resource management.
The company generally follows three approaches for its strategic human resource
management.
The main purpose and essential functions of HRM of Cadbury are as follows:
 Collecting and Developing Human resources: One of the most important functions and
the main purpose of human resource management is that it helps a company to collect
and develop the human resources which can work for the company in an effective
manner (Analoui, 2018). Cadbury has analyzed that the skills of the employees can be
enhanced through motivating each employee to perform better. Cadbury collects its
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human resources through various recruitment and appointing strategies and develop
these resources through different approaches (Bratton and Gold, 2017). These
approaches are (1) Best fit; (2) Best practice view; and (3) Resource-based view. The
human resources of Cadbury include manufacturing and packaging department,
marketing and advertising department, etc.
 Establishing strong employee relations and integrating their interests: HRM functions
require ensuring that good and strong employee relations are being maintained within
the organization to achieve common organizational goals (DeCenzo et al, 2016).
Cadbury aims at maintaining strong employee relations through its HRM policies so that
the human resources of the company are not exhausted and the business functions
smoothly. Moreover, the company also focuses on integrating the interests of the
manpower employed in the company by providing it various employee benefits, giving
them a sense of belongingness and giving them a proper working environment within
the organization (Brewster et al, 2016).
 Optimum Utilization of resources: The HRM of Cadbury also ensures that the available
human resources of the company are fully utilized to their potential and are employed
in such a way that these human resources are not wasted and their skills and abilities
are employed in an effective and efficient manner (Morgeson et al, 2019). The company
has several branches such as marketing, legal, finance, etc., where employees can work
according to their skills and abilities.
 Maintaining performance standards and increasing productivity: While workforce
planning, the company needs to maintain its performance standard and increasing its
productivity to attract new candidates as well (Reiche et al, 2016). Cadbury has well-
defined performance standards and it generally generates £2.36 billion of net revenue
in a year.
 Compensation and benefits: An effective HRM management also includes a proper
arrangement of compensation and benefits to be provided to the employees. Cadbury
provides its employees with appropriate compensations and employee benefits. The
company also provides early employment programs as well which provides growth and
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other opportunities to its employees (Collings et al, 2018). In 1974, the company also
offers its employees its shares for which the employees invested their own money which
helped them to perform better than yesterday.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES FOR RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION: THEIR
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES
Every organization has to select the best suitable candidates for the organization. Various
approaches are taken in order to recruit and select the skilled and capable employees, which
can contribute to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives (Ekwoaba et al, 2015).
These approaches are as follows:
 Web-based job boards: Web-based job boards, provides a vast range of job boards to
choose from, which are available on the internet (Fuller et al, 2016). This not only
provides broad exposure to the company but also provides unlimited space to provide a
detail job description. As Cadbury in operating in more than 40 countries, it is required
to hire employees internationally, for which it could use Web-based job boards as its
recruiting approach. However, these approaches lack in certain areas, such as it is a
time-consuming process (Russell and Brannan, 2016). As Cadbury operates on a huge
level, it would be a very time-consuming process for the company and it also creates
confusion due to the various job boards available on the internet.
 Internal job postings: Internal job postings are an internal approach to hire employees
within an organization. It not only motivates employees and enhances their morale, but
it also benefits the organization as the current employees know the organization very
well and also about the operations of the company (Campion et al, 2019). However, this
can also create conflicts among the employees regarding favoritism and also break the
employee morale if candidates are hired externally. Cadbury does have the internal job
posting through promotions, appraisals, etc (Marsden, 2017).
 Print media advertising: Another approach for recruiting and selecting is through print
media advertising. This is a traditional method of inviting applications of candidates who
are interested in joining the company (Andrews and Shimp, 2017). Cadbury provides
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several media advertisement for recruiting and inviting candidates to work for the firm.
This covers a huge number of candidates in the given demographic area. It must also be
noted that this approach is quite expensive and may sometimes consume time more
than web-based job boards.
 Employment agency: Another approach to hiring candidates is through employment
agencies. These agencies consist of various recruiting specialists which offer highly
interactive and supporting hiring services for a company. Cadbury operates in more than
40 countries, and for each country, it requires thousands of employees which can meet
its organizational goals and objectives (Konrad et al, 2016). For this purpose, the
company can opt for hiring employees through employment agencies as it will save their
time because the employment agencies will send only those candidates who meet their
requirements. However, this approach lacks effective communication. Sometimes,
candidates do not prefer to get hired through these employment agencies and prefer to
contact the employer directly. This could lead to loss of time and money for the
company (Forde et al, 2015).
 Social Media: Another approach for recruiting and selecting employees is through social
media. Cadbury has a huge number of followers and consumers on its social media
accounts (Jeske and Shultz, 2016). This adds an advantage for the company to inform its
requirements through social media as it is interactive and can be easily accessed by the
people. One of the disadvantages of this approach is that the approach lacks
confidentiality and also emphasize the fact that not all people who are seeking for the
job use social media.
Thus, after analyzing above recruitment and selection strategies, it can be determined that the
best approach which could prove helpful for Cadbury in recruiting and selecting is through
social media and through employment agencies, as the company has a huge customer base
spread across more than 40 countries in the world.
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LO2
Human Resource Management plays a significant role in generating profit and increasing the
productivity of an organization. Different HRM affects different activities of an organization
undertaken to achieve common organizational goals (Donate et al, 2016). Cadbury also
undertakes different HRM activities and practices to achieve the organizational goals of the
company. The various benefits of these HRM practices of Cadbury on an overall organization
are as follows:
 Selective Hiring: Cadbury ensures that the best suitable candidates are being hired in
the company. Cadbury has skilled employees who are dedicated and motivated towards
their work and to achieve the company's goals (Vanhala and Ritala, 2016). Moreover,
the company hires such candidates which understands the value and purpose of the
business and contribute to achieving it.
 Training and Development: Cadbury undertakes several training and development
programs for its employees (Hassan, 2016). This improves their knowledge and
enhances their skills. Also, Cadbury has committed to train and develop their staff in
such a way that they utilize their natural resources more effectively and efficiently so
that no resource is exhausted and the best of their potential is utilized.
 Creative and innovative ideas and thoughts: HRM also ensures creative and innovative
idea and thoughts which helps the company to earn profits and gain a competitive
advantage in the market over its competitors (Fay et al, 2015). From changing its
packaging to developing its new products helped the company to increase its profit and
productivity to a great extent.
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 Organizational culture: Appropriate HR management creates a motivated and
dedicated organizational structure within the organization. The organizational cultures
of Cadbury indicate a company's shares values and also its emphasis on problem-solving
(Zibarras and Coan, 2015). The organizational culture of Cadbury also has a transparent
relationship between the employers and its employees as well.
 Developing and retaining employees: Appropriate HR management also motivates the
employees within the company and encourage them to perform well (Anitha, 2016).
Along with the existing employees, new employees also get attracted to such an
organization where employees are motivated and are being taken care of.
 Compensation and benefits: Cadbury also has a fair and productive compensation
program. Each and every employee gets the benefits of his performance which helps the
employees to get motivated and perform well in business operations to achieve the
common organizational goals (Nasir and Author, 2016). The employees working at
Cadbury also have a healthy and convenient working environment which benefit the
employees and ensure that their health and security is also being taken care of.
 Conflict Management: An effective and efficient HRM strategies also ensure that in the
situations where the conflict arises among the employees, a fair and just action has
been taken. It means that whenever such situation arises where the interests of the
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employee’s clashes with each other, in such case effective and suitable conflict
management will help for the smooth functioning of the business and its operations
(Currie et al 2017).
 Career opportunities: Cadbury also have various career opportunities for its existing
employees and other candidates who are willing to work with Cadbury as well. The
company not only provides job opportunities in one field but in other fields as well. It
also provides early careers programs to those who are willing to develop their career in
the future with the help of various internships and training programs (Diaz-Carrion et al,
2018). Promotions and transfers are provided to the existing employees of Cadbury.
 Health and Safety at work: Cadbury ensures that a healthy and safe working
environment is provided to the workers. It ensures, that the health, safety, and security
are not being compromised by the employers working at Cadbury. The company also
ensure that eco-friendly products and activities are undertaken so that the environment
is not harmed with the day-to-day business activities of the company.
EVALUATING HRM PRACTICES TO RAISE ORGANIZATIONAL PROFIT AND
PRODUCTIVITY
One of the primary objectives of each and every business organization is to earn profit through
its productivity and perform better from its competitors. For this purpose, appropriate human
resource planning and proper implementation of the strategies are required to be done.
Moreover, the amount of productivity indicates the work of the employees and those areas
where HRM is needed to be done. It also covers those areas of the company, where the
company lacks to do enough productivity and development (Wood, 2018). The productivity of
the employees is needed to be properly monitored and controlled in order to achieve the
overall organization's goals of the company. The HRM department of a company ensures, that
the best suitable employees, which will enhance productivity and raise the profit of the
organization, are being hired during the recruitment and selection process. The HRM
department also ensures that appropriate and the required resources are made available to the
employees in order to fulfill their needs so that they can do the business operations more
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effectively and efficiently. The more effective and efficient employees of a company are, the
higher are the sales and profit of that organization (Saridakis et al, 2017).
Also, the HRM department ensures that proper procedures and policies are being followed
within the organization so that there is no breach of the regulatory and legal framework of the
confectionary industry. Cadbury has not only developed its products, but also its employee
relations and the overall products which are produced by the company. Also, the employees of
the company are so dedicated and motivated that they come up with new creative and
innovative ideas which helps the company to gain a competitive advantage in the organization.
The methods used by the company in HRM practices are:
 Satisfying and keeping employees happy: The Cadbury strives to keep its employees
happy and satisfied with the working environments and the organizational culture of the
company. This culture and environment can only be provided to the employees through
effective and efficient HRM practices (Ehnert et al, 2016).
 Transparent and supporting management: The Company also ensure that transparency
is maintained within the organization and the employees are aware of the purpose and
valued of the company. Proper HRM policies ensure that employees are getting enough
support in the times of contingencies and also that the employees are being provided
proper health, safety and security services (Bonsdorff et al, 2018).
 Reward and punishments: A proper HRM policy also includes just and fair working in
the operating of the business. Cadbury focuses on effective rewards and punishments
programs where the employees performing their best gets rewarded, while those
employees who make a breach of the policies and regulatory framework of the
organization gets punished (Johnson and Szamosi, 2018).
 Meeting contingencies: An effective and efficient HRM strategy and policy will help the
employees to deal with the various contingencies and changes arising in the operating
of the business. This will help the company to survive in a dynamic environment and
increase its productivity and profit as a whole.
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LO3
IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS IN HRM DECISION MAKING
Employee relations play a significant role in business operations. Good employee relations
ensures the proper functioning of business operations, while poor employees' relations create
hindrances in the day-to-day operations on the business (Van de Voorde et al 2016). Moreover,
good employee relations can only be maintained through effective and efficient HR
management strategies and policies. Maintaining healthy and good employee relations is the
pre-requisite of every organization and business. It not only ensures the proper functioning of
the business operations but it also prevents problems like employee stress, employee
grievances and employee indiscipline within the organization (Colling et al 2018). The
significance and the effects of employee relations on HRM decision-making with special
reference to Cadbury are as follows:
 High rates of retention: Good environment consists of healthy working conditions and
good employee relations. Building and maintaining good employee relations within the
company increase the retention rate which will help the company to develop and
increase their productivity (Paauwe and Boon, 2018). Cadbury had high rates of
retention of its employees and have good employees’ relations within the organization.
 Enhanced effectiveness and efficiency: Good employee relations also enhance the
effectiveness and efficiency of the employees and consequently increases their
productivity. Furthermore, good employee relations also motivates and encourages the
employees to perform better and accordingly, HRM decisions are made (Hassan, 2016).
 Decreased absenteeism and employee conflicts: HRM involves improving and
developing employee relations within an organization. Cadbury has good employee
relations where the employees understand the values and purpose of the organization
(Reilly and Williams, 2016). This ensures that employees come office regularly as they
are motivated towards achieving their organization's goal and also the employee
conflicts are reduced consequently.
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