HRM Analysis: Chocolate Presence and Microsoft Case Study Report

This report delves into the core aspects of Human Resource Management (HRM), employing case studies of Chocolate Presence and Microsoft. Task 1 examines the purpose and importance of HR functions, focusing on staffing, compensation, and strategic management, alongside an analysis of Chocolate Presence's selection methods, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and potential improvements. Task 2 focuses on person specifications for a receptionist role, evaluating advertising methods and recommending enhancements. Task 3 explores the benefits of training schemes and flexible working arrangements, drawing on Microsoft's motivational practices. Finally, Task 4 discusses employee engagement, communication, and the influence of employment legislation on HR decisions. The report concludes with a synthesis of HRM practices in a work-related context, providing valuable insights into effective HR strategies.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Purpose of HR function and its importance to the organization and problems and future
plans for further growth of company..........................................................................................3
b) Strengths and weaknesses of the current selection methods used by the organization .........4
c) Potential improvements that could be made by Chocolate Presence to enhance its selection
process.........................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
a) Person specification for the role..............................................................................................6
b) Advantages and disadvantages of the current methods of advertising jobs in the
organization.................................................................................................................................6
c) Recommending and placing importance of job advert for receptionist vacancy....................8
TASK3 ..........................................................................................................................................9
a) Benefits of training schemes and internships to the organisation and employees..................9
b) Flexible working arrangements and their evaluation............................................................10
c) Motivational ways followed by Microsoft by designing job roles.......................................11
TASK4...........................................................................................................................................12
a) Explain employee engagement and its importance in effective employee relation..............12
b) Key approaches to engaged workers and improving communication at workplace.............13
c) Key elements of employment legislation and their influence on HR decision.....................14
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the art of managing the manpower within a business
organization. This department is designed to enhance the performance of employees within the
company. With the help of this, firm can gain the competitive advantage among the rivals. In this
assignment, there are two companies which are taken to show the applications of human resource
management. The company in which task 1 and 2 included is chocolate presence which is based
in North Yorkshire in UK and the company in which task 3 and 4 included is Microsoft which is
an American company based in Washington. In this report, purpose and scope of HRM and the
effectiveness of key elements of HRM is discussed. It will further elaborate about effectiveness
of key elements of human resources management in company. Apart from that, internal and
external factors that affect HRM decision-making is discussed. In the end, human resource
management practices are also applied in a work related context.
TASK 1
a) Purpose of HR function and its importance to the organization and problems and future plans
for further growth of company.
Purpose of HR function
Staffing:
It is one of the main purpose of HR function. Staffing denotes the hiring of eligible
candidates for a specific position in a company. As per the scenario of chocolate presence,
staffing plays an important role in resolving the issues of company. It helps the company in
recruiting the right candidate for a specific job role. This will assist the company in increasing its
quality of items (Baker, 2014).
Compensation and performance management:
Compensation management is the art of attracting the best employees in the organization.
Performance of those employees should also be managed properly so that issues of chocolate
presence will be resolved. When the best employee within the company are selected this will
enhance the quality of their chocolate. This results in reducing the employee turn over within the
company.
Importance of HR function
Strategic management:

HR is liable in managing the human resources within the company. In case of Chocolate
presence, the company is facing an issue of reduction in the quality of chocolate. This is
happened somehow due to the mismanagement of resources in the company (Beach and Lipshitz,
2017). Strategic management will help the company to resolve the issues which are occurring in
the quality of product.
Wages and Salaries:
Chocolate presence is facing an issue of employee turn over. There could be some
reasons of wages and salaries among the employees. HR manager has the responsibility in the
company to have discussion with the employees. The issues related with wages and salaries
should be resolved with the help of communication of HR with the employees. Thus employee
turnover in the company can be reduced.
The company is facing many issues related with the employees such as employee
turnover, quality of items and the issue of fairness of the test conducted by company to select
candidates. These are several issues which company is facing. To overcome these issues
company should talk with the employees so that it can find out reason by which employees are
leaving (Beare and et. al.,2018). HR manager has the responsibility to talk with administration
about the issues of employees. This issue can be resolved by increasing the wages and salaries of
employees.
When employees will work with their full potential in company, the quality of items will
also get improved. Thus company can gain competitive advantage in future. To resolve another
issue in the fair selection process of candidates, HR manager should interface in selection
process. The officials of company should provide all the details about the fair procedure of
selection of candidates. This will increase faith among candidates and thus issue of employee
turnover will also be reduced.
b) Strengths and weaknesses of the current selection methods used by the organization
The company is using ability and aptitude test method to select the candidates. In this
selection method, company has created a test of English comprehension and Maths (Bennett,
2017). They have set a passing criteria of 50% for both of these test. The candidate which
achieves that criteria will be called for an interview process. Interview conducted by the
company is a 15 minutes informal chat. This selection method have some strength and weakness
also which are stated as below:

Strength
 This method helps organisation in selecting right candidate as they are able to judge their
skills and capabilities of interviewee in face to face interaction.
 Interview method also helps interviewer in modifying their questions according to the
situation and requirements of vacant position of company. As a result, they can easily
identify that this chosen person will able to survive in organisation or not in future.
Weakness
 The limitation of the interview method is that it is gives result very quickly as it is not
possible for any person to judge skills and capabilities of candidate in 15 minutes
interaction.
 Another weakness of interview method is that there are probable chances that interviewer
might forget to ask most important questions from the interviewee. This will provide
them incomplete information. In context to given case scenario, if the interviewer of the
company wont take interview in attentive manner then they might not hire right
candidate.
c) Potential improvements that could be made by Chocolate Presence to enhance its selection
process.
There were many issues in the selection process of Chocolate presence. Here
improvement which are necessary in the company are discussed below:
 The main issue in the selection process of chocolate presence is that HR manager of this
company was giving preference to interview which was completely based on informal
chat. This became barrier for the company as they are not focusing on professional
knowledge of customers. Therefore, in order to improve selection process of the
chocolate presence, it is recommended to its HR manager in to make this interview
formal and ask skills and experience related questions to interviewee so that their
capabilities can be judged by HR manager (Botha, Kourie and Snyman, 2014).
 It is further advised to HR manager to conduct an mock test for interviewee. This test
will be based on the specific job role for which interview is being conducted. It can be
said that mock test will help interviewer in analysing knowledge of candidate related to
creativity and innovation. As a result, they will be able to hire right candidate who could
work in their company for longer period of time of time.

TASK 2
a) Person specification for the role
Person specification is the description of a person who is applied to a specific job role
(Frank and Obloj, 2014). In Chocolate Presence, the company requires a receptionist which is
suitable for attending the calls and provide a professional welcome experience for clients.
Person Specification
Post: Receptionist
Department: Administration
Key: This show that what is required when like an evidence:
(A): Application form, (I): Interview, (R): Role
Attributes Essential Desirable
Qualification & Experience Diploma or graduation in any
stream of college. Minimum 2
years of working experience in
as receptionist.
Experience of working as
receptionist in any company.
Skills or knowledge Effective communication
skills both verbal and written.
Exceptional skills like phone
etiquettes.
Keen consideration to serve
customers and clients on
phone.
b) Advantages and disadvantages of the current methods of advertising jobs in the organization
There are two methods through which advertisement of job is done by company such as
internally within the organization and on the notice board outside the main entrance. The
advantages and disadvantages of this advertising methods is discussed below:
Advantages of advertising internally within organization
Reduces time and cost to hire:

Advertisement of job internally within the organization reduces time and cost to hire the
right candidate of the company. When advertisement of recruitment is done internally, it reduces
time and cost of company (Freeman III and et. al., 2014). So that they can invest that cost to
anywhere in there organization.
Quick recruitment:
Internal recruitment is helpful in recruiting a candidate in a quick succession. This saves
a lot of time for the company. The deadline of recruitment can also be shorter as compared with
external advertisement. In Chocolate Presence, the company uses internal advertisement because
they want to fill their vacant seat as soon a s possible.
Disadvantages of advertising internally within organization
Advertised to less people:
It is one of the biggest drawback of advertising internally within the company. When a
job is advertised internally than a lot of efficient candidates will remain unaware about the
recruitment process. This leads to the recruitment of improper candidate for the specific job role.
Lack of skills, ideas or personalities:
When advertisement of job is done internally it will not reach to a bulk of right candidate.
This results top the lack of skills, ideas and personalities within Chocolate Presence. This lack
will result in the poor performance of company. Selecting the right candidate is necessary for
them.
Advantages of advertising on the notice board outside the main entrance
Advertisement of company:
It is one of the biggest advantage for a company to advertise about a specific job role.
When Chocolate presence provide advertisement externally than it will also advertise its name.
This will help the company to sustain itself in the competitive market because faith of a lot of
customers will increase. When faith increase, the sell and profitability of company also increases.
Selection of right candidate:
When advertisement is done externally it will provide a lot of candidate to take part in the
job specification of receptionist. This will increase competition among the candidates. Increase
in competition will provide cream candidate for the company (Geisler and Wickramasinghe,
2015). Thus a right candidate will be recruited by the company when it advertise externally in
the organization.

Disadvantages of advertising on the notice board outside the main entrance
Weakening the corporate culture:
External advertisement will recruit external people within the organization. When
external people are recruited in an organization they can affect the culture of business internally.
Weakening the corporate culture will leads to low productivity among the employees.
Long adjustment period:
External advertisement will leads to the recruitment of outside candidate. Outside
candidate will take longer time to adjust in the organization. While the candidate selected within
the company will not take any time (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014).
c) Recommending and placing importance of job advert for receptionist vacancy.
After placing the job vacancy for receptionist internally and externally, organisations still
feel that it is insufficient and needs more improvement so that more and more applicants can
apply for the required job who poses the necessary skills and knowledge. For this purpose,
Chocolate Presence can use various methods but the most important one is social media.
The social media process has opened new ways of engaging and involving exchange of
information. It is worth investigating through recruitment process, as majority of the people are
engaged with social media. As the popularity of rising social media like LinkedIn, Facebook,
twitter, etc. will be advantageous for large number of recruiters and HR personnels. Recruiting
and placing job vacancies on social media is very important for Chocolate Presence and it is
discussed below :
 Increases job visibility : Social network functions as an improbable platforms for
distinguishing and recruiting talented personnels to work for the organisation. Practically,
every ideal candidate is active on social networks and it increases the chances of job
visibility.
 Shortens hiring time : Traditional methods of recruitment were time consuming. By
means of social media, organisation will have open job vacancies which are needed to be
filled in shorter time, it is the best method to be considered (Jones, 2017). These sites
make easy and fast to communicate with candidates and also enables then to respond
quickly, as a result excellent work relationship emerges.
 Reduce cost of hire : Recruiting is a very expensive process. But social media is
relatively cheaper source of recruitment and it is free of cost sharing vacancy on various

networks. Some are paid like placing advertisement of job on Facebook with the help of
video will incur some cost but it is still the most cost effective method and also generates
more visibility to the candidates.
 Screening the candidates : Many people use social networking sites for as they are free
to use for expressing their frustrations, talk about various causes and events and sharing
everyday experiences about their lives. This helps the employer in checking the
candidates profile which gives them in depth understanding of the people before hiring.
TASK3
a) Benefits of training schemes and internships to the organisation and employees.
Training schemes and internships are the fabulous way of beginning the career. It can
take various formats and structures depending on the employer and allows graduates to
experience various aspects of roles and responsibilities practised in the organisation. It is
beneficial to the Microsoft and to the employees as well. Microsoft offers variety of programs
which will empower and motivate the people to get engaged in the process. Some training and
internships are on formal basis which may last for a year or more and other are the short term
sessions of two to three months (Laudon and Laudon, 2016). These training and internships are
very advantageous to the Microsoft and employees and they are discussed below :-
Commercial intern program : It is a Microsoft intern program which is basically established for a
period of 1 year or more and covers all the relevant areas for providing training. For instance, it
will include the induction of the intern, mentoring and events organised through intern programs.
It will help the intern in developing their overall skills and enhancing knowledge power. At the
same time, it will be beneficial for the organisation, as they will have the advantage of low cost
labour who will work in their organisation for longer period at minimum cost as interns are not
assigned the higher pay.
Engineering internship : As Microsoft is a IT based company, engineers will be eligible and
appointed for twelve week summer internship programs. This will give them the benefit of
enjoying various perks and relocation allowance and all this includes accompanied by extremely
competitive salary. They will also get the mentor who will help them to work on real projects .
Their active community will also give chance to the interns to take part in all the events taking
place in the company through out their internship period. At the same time, Microsoft will get

the advantage of finding future employees at minimum cost. By proving internship, company can
access the best talented applicant who can be applied to fulfil the future job and increases
productivity as well.
Benefits to the organisation
 Find future employees : There are numerous kinds of internships like summer internship,
semester internships, etc. and this program is a tool of recruitment. These programs help
the organisation to select the superior candidates from the interns when the hiring time
arrives.
 Increases productivity : Communicating additional manpower, setting up an internship
program enables the Microsoft to take support of short term advantage. As the surplus
workforce increase the productivity of the organisation.
 Improves employee retention rate : These training and internship programs helps in
recruiting and retaining the employees in long run. This helps organisation in improving
their retention rate.
 Takes advantage of low cost labour : Trainees and interns are inexpensive resources.
Their salaries are very low compared to other staff members and Microsoft takes full
advantage of these interns.
Benefits to the employees Conversion of academic knowledge into industry skills : For many people internships
are the foremost opportunity to apply their knowledge to the real world (Marchewka,
2014). This will help them in developing their skills needed to work in Microsoft
working on real projects. It further increases the confidence in their abilities. Gain priceless work experience : Practical experience gained by an employee in
Microsoft is invaluable and cannot be amplified in classrooms. It helps them in learning
the special skills like communication, team work, computer proficiency, etc. and leaves a
lifetime impact on them. Receive financial incentives : The most important benefit which employees receives is
monitory rewards which means that they can gain valuable experience and at the same
time can earn money. It makes them independent and they can meet their basic expenses
on their own.

 Gain confidence : Meeting and communicating with different sets of people and working
with them will help the employees in gaining confidence. They will feel motivated and
empowered which increases their confidence level.
b) Flexible working arrangements and their evaluation.
Microsoft a software company offers various programs and policies which aims at
making work better (Maylor and et. al., 2016). These are very important for better operations of
the organisation and accomplishing goals and objectives of the company. The programs offered
by Microsoft are discussed below:-
 Safety and healthy environment
 Planning for future growth
 Utilise the fringe benefit
 Flexible working schedules
 Balancing work life
 Engaged in societal activities
 Enjoy discounts and offers
 Continue acquisition knowledge
Above are the few flexible working arrangements which Microsoft adopts in its
functioning which will be advantageous to the organisation and employee as well. The
evaluation of those arrangements and its benefits to the employees and organisation is discussed
below :
Benefits to the employees
 Safety and healthy environment for employees are very important at workplace so that
they feel safe and secure and their mind is diverted only towards the work (Peltier, 2016)
. Microsoft offers medical care facility, 24 hour nurse line, support to the employees and
their families, etc.
 Future is uncertain and every employee plans for future. For this purpose Microsoft
offers plan like Employee stock purchase plan, financial education program, loan
refinancing programs, etc.
 Employees will be beneficial with various perks of Microsoft like on campus retail shops
and services, social clubs and network, etc.

 For granting discounts and offers on products and services offered by Microsoft,
employees has the benefit of employee discounts and prime discounts.
Benefits to the organisation
 By providing safe and secure environment, employees of Microsoft will feel comfortable
and as they will work with full zeal and confidence and it will be beneficial for the
organisation for attainment of goals and objectives effectively.
 By granting discounts and offers to its employees, Microsoft will increase its sales which
will further improves its profitability and financial stability in the business world.
 Adopting societal concepts will help Microsoft in maintaining corporate social
responsibility. This will be beneficial to them in being a global citizen.
c) Motivational ways followed by Microsoft by designing job roles.
In Microsoft, the focus is on bringing the best in the people, assisting in their goals and
enabling them to explore insight meaning of their work. There are various ways followed by
Microsoft in motivating their employees by designing tremendous job roles which are discussed
below : Meetings under the trees : The campus of Microsoft is designed such that it promotes
nature and its importance (Wickens and et. al., 2015). They have tree house meeting
spaces which helps the employees to gain the benefit of nature. It is also advantageous in
experiencing the employees the impact of nature on creativity, focus and happiness. Training and development : To assist growth mindset culture and meet the learning
requirements of employees around the world, Microsoft offers diverse range of learning
and development opportunities. This includes individualized and integrated relevant
views of learning possibilities on Microsoft and LinkedIn learning, on the job expanse
opportunities for progression, etc. Total rewards : Microsoft evolves dynamic, sustainable and strategical programs that
yields trust in their employees and allows them to do their best with full potency. These
programs reinforce their culture and values (Roper and Payant, 2014). This results in
worldwide performance and develops conceptualization that fosters growth, competitive
compensation which assures equitable pay and various benefits that gives pleasure to
their employees.