Contemporary Human Resource Management Analysis Report

This report provides an analysis of contemporary human resource management (HRM) practices, focusing on employee engagement, training and development, performance evaluation, workplace health and safety, and financial benefits. The report emphasizes the significance of HRM in today's competitive business environment, highlighting the importance of employee engagement sessions, training programs, and performance evaluations to enhance employee motivation and organizational success. It uses Walmart as a case study, illustrating how the company implements diversity and inclusion practices, training programs (like Walmart Academies and Live Better U), and performance evaluation systems. The report also touches on the significance of workplace safety and financial benefits in retaining and motivating employees. The report concludes by summarizing the key aspects of effective HRM and its impact on employee motivation and overall organizational performance.

Running head: MANAGING THE HUMAN RESOURCES
Managing the Human Resources
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................3
Employee Engagement:.............................................................................................................4
Training and Development:........................................................................................................5
Performance Evaluation:............................................................................................................8
Workplace and Safety and Health:...........................................................................................10
Financial Benefits:...................................................................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................12
References:...............................................................................................................................13

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Introduction:
The significance of the human resources is observed to be notably high in the modern
world of trade relations and that is evident in the business activities of majority of the
business groups. The business business groups are observed to be largely focused towards the
scientific management of their business operations and that precisely prepares them for
putting robust weight on the efficient management of the human resources. According to the
esteemed opinion of Noe et al. (2017), the success of the business groups in the operative
management of the human resources is perceived to be important in enhancing the quality of
the overall performances of the business groups. Considering the intensely competitive
business market, it becomes important for the business groups to ensure that they are able to
hold their clients in a professional manner. In doing so, the business groups face the
obligation to continuously enhance the quality of their services. With a precise understanding
of such necessity, Armstrong and Taylor (2020) claimed that the business organizations are
required to deliver the scope to the staffs for the desired enhancement of their skills and
capabilities as that helps them in delivering the desired quality in their performances.
Along with that, the efficient management of the human resources from the part of the
human resource management department of the business groups is considered to be important
for the success of the business groups in achieving the desired sustainability in their business
activities. Hence, the implication of the contemporary human resource management in the
modern world of business is pretty prominent. The study analyses the contemporary human
resource management activities in the context of the modern world of business. Along with
that, the study evaluates the impact of the human resource activities on the employee
motivation. The study is based on various important areas of human resource management
which comprises of the training and development of the staffs, employee engagement,

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performance evaluation, rewards management and the workplace health and safety of the
staffs.
Employee Engagement:
Considering the dynamics of the modern labour and employment market, it is obvious
that the business groups are finding it difficult to manage the excessive demands and that is
influencing the organization towards the much required expansion of the workforce. With the
need of expanding their workforce, majority of the business groups are observed to recruit
professionals for the management of their operational activities in an efficient manner. The
business organizations are seen to recruit professionals on the basis of the skills and
capabilities that they have and in doing so, majority of the business groups are observed to
have a diverse workforces. As per the comments of Albrecht et al. (2015), it is
understandable that majority of the business groups are seen to prioritize the skills of the
candidates during the recruitment of them and that creates a workforce with considerable
number of staffs belonging to different cultural orientation and social values. On the other
hand, Karanges et al. (2015) claimed that the diverse workforces has been the alarming factor
for the human resource managers in many of the cases and that is evident with the scope of it
in creating organizational conflicts. The cross cultural differences amongst the staffs of
different backgrounds, has the ability to form destructive conflicts and that can disturb the
team performances of the business groups. Other than this, the cross cultural differences
between the staffs has the potential to decrease the quality of the overall performances of the
business groups and that will pose significant barrier in front of the business groups in
retaining their clients in professional manner. Hence, it becomes the duty of the human
resource managers of the business groups to introduce employee engagement sessions in their
workforces for achieving the desired integration between the staffs.

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According to Bailey et al. (2017), the ability of the business groups in forming
efficient inclusion and diversity practices is seen to be significant for their success in
managing the detrimental influence of the cross cultural differences inside the business
groups. The diversity and inclusion practices framed by the senior management of Walmart is
observed to be significant in engaging the entire workforce for the development of a
productive work culture inside the organization. At the same time, the organization is
undertaking crucial steps for empowering their staffs and promoting the diversity through the
initiation of various employee welfare activities with the help of other social and charitable
organizations such as the African American Business Resource Group, Tribal Voices, PRIDE
and Asia Pacific Business Network (Careers.walmart.com 2020). Along with this, the success
of the organization in managing the work stress and fatigue of the staffs is pretty significant
for the continuous professional development and the enhancement of the quality of the
performances of their staffs. The organization is seen to introduce employee engagement
sessions in the form of team dinners and fun game sessions inside the organization. The main
objective of the organization with these sort of activities is seen to be the enhancement of the
connection between the staffs belonging to the diverse cultures as that will be important in
increasing the quality of work and the overall production of the organization in the best
possible manner.
Training and Development:
Training and Development is one of the major parts of the human resource
management activities that the business groups conduct. With precise consideration towards
the importance of continuously improving the quality of the services, Imran and Tanveer
(2015) claimed that, it is one of the top most priorities for the business groups to enhance
their service excellence for retaining the clients. With a look at the increasing intensity of the
business competition in today’s business world, it is understandable that the business groups

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are bound to retain their clients for maintaining their financial sustainability. Along with that,
majority of the business industries are observed to be exposed to excessive demands and the
efficient management of such significant demands is seen to be dependent on the strength of
the workforce and the availability of the skills and capabilities of the staffs. According to the
comments of Raheja (2015), the lack of required skills has the potential of affecting the
success of the business groups in making sure that their business activities are associated with
zero errors. The ability of the business groups in ensuring that their business operations are
resulting to zero errors plays a significant role in developing a strong corporate image which
is important in influencing the purchase intention of the clients. As the process of attracting
the clients is becoming difficult in today’s business world, the capability of the business
groups in influencing the purchase intention of the clients for the much required customer
retention becomes notably important.
Other than this, Kadiresan et al. (2015) claimed that the increasing level of the
business competition is influencing majority of the business groups in designing their
products as per the preferences of the clients. The products that are developed as per the
specification of the clients are seen to have greater possibility of getting sold on repetitive
manner which contributes towards the financial sustainability of the organization. The urge of
the modern business groups in aligning the customer inputs to the products and services of
the business groups is seen to be pretty prominent with the significant level of restructuring
that the business groups are having in their customer relationship management infrastructure.
However, Mulang (2015) claimed that the professional management of the customization in
the products and service is bit difficult for the business groups when the staffs of the business
groups are not up to the mark in terms of the skills. Hence, the ability of the business groups
in creating the bestseller products can get limited. With such an understanding, the

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organizations are seen to put strong emphasis in the professional management of the skill
development of the staffs.
According to the Herzberg two factor theory, the ability of the business groups in
meeting the training and developmental needs of the staffs is considered to be a strong
motivator for the staffs in being associated with a particular organization for a prolonged
period of time. Hence, the importance of the training of the staffs for the desired
enhancement of skills is notably prominent for the professional enhancement of the
production, quality and delivering bestseller products. The success of Walmart with the
training and developmental activities is pretty significant and that is evident with the
efficiency in the management of their business activities. The higher authority of the
organization along with the human resource management department of the organization is
able to formulate Walmart Academies which is considered to be the heart of the training and
developmental activities of the organization. The Walmart Academies is a combination of
classroom training sessions and the on job sales floor training. The class room training
sessions provide the theoretical knowledge to the staffs for the efficient management of the
operational activities and on the other hand, the provision of on job sales floor training
sessions is significant for the staffs of the organization in improving the technical skills of
their staffs. Along with the generalised sales skills, the training session of Walmart
Academies is of great significance in improving the soft skills of the staffs such as the
leadership skills, ethics and communication (Corporate.walmart.com 2020).
Other than this, the human resource managers and the operations department of the
organization are able to understand the concern regarding the flexibility and the scope for
receiving the training sessions which influenced them for developing Spark City game for the
enhancement of skills of their staffs in managing the customer queries and in enhancing the
quality of the sales management activities. The preferences of the staffs in participating in

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such a diversified and well managed training activity is pretty prominent with the
participation of 450000 number of associates in the training activities of the organization in
the year 2018 (Corporate.walmart.com 2020). Apart from this, one of the significant
contribution of the organization in professional management of the training and
developmental activities is seem to be the introduction of the Live Better U program with the
help of Guild Education (Corporate.walmart.com 2020). The Live Better U program provides
the scope to the staffs for achieving optimum quality degrees in the business management and
in supply chain management at a considerably low cost. Hence, it is understandable that the
organization is able to develop excellent infrastructure for the enhancement of the skills and
capabilities of the staffs which has the potential to motivate the staffs for the further
enhancement in their performances.
Performance Evaluation:
The appropriate evaluation of the performances is seen to have noteworthy
significance for the staffs operating in the modern world of business. It is also an important
aspect for the modern managers in making sure that they manage the operational activities of
their business groups in an efficient manner. The evaluation of the performances from the
part of the managers is directly linked with the motivation of the staffs working
professionally. It is understandable that the excessive demands of the market can only be
managed with the additional efforts from the part of one of main stakeholders of the business
groups which are the staffs. As the staffs are required to provide extra efforts for meeting the
demands of the market in a professional manner and making sure that the organization is in
perfect place for the delivering optimum customer values, it becomes important to motivate
the staffs in an effective manner. Having said that, Buckingham and Goodall (2015) claimed
that there are considerable number of business groups working in today’s world of business

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that are affected with the lack of motivation amongst the staffs due to the inappropriate
evaluation of their performances.
As per the comments of Ahmed et al. (2016), it is understandable that the
performance evaluation from the part of the managers are seen to be affected due to various
factors such as gender bias, political interference and internal politics inside the
organizations. The detrimental impact of these factors has the potential of producing a faulty
evaluation of the performances of the staffs and that becomes a major spot of bother for the
organization and the staffs as it becomes incapable of acknowledging the good work of the
staffs. Hence, the improper evaluation of the performances and the acknowledgement of the
same, can lead the organization towards facing a high rate of employee turnover. Along with
that, it will decrease the sustainability of the organization in managing their ability in
delivering the desired quality to their clients. Having said that, the success of the business
groups in the effective management of the performance evaluation is crucial in motivating the
staffs for enhancing their performances. According to the comments of Cappelli and Tavis
(2016), the ability of the business groups in evaluating the performances of their staffs
without any sort of impact of the rater bias, is substantial for creating a good employer image
amongst the existing and probable staffs. The success of Woolworths, an Australian retail
supermarket chain, in managing the performance evaluation is considered to be significant in
the retail industry.
The organization is able to create a diversified performance evaluation system where
the work of a particular employee gets evaluates three times by three different managerial
position holders (Woolworths.co.za. 2020). The performances of the general staffs are
evaluated by their team leaders or line managers, head of departments and the senior
executives. The process is notably transparent and the incorporation of three layers in the
same, enhances the scope of making it free from any sort of bias and internal politics. At the

9MANAGING THE HUMAN RESOURCES
same time, Akbar, Pilcher and Perrin (2015) claimed that there are some multinational
business groups which implement the external evaluation of the performances of their staffs.
The human resource managers of the business groups develop the documentation of the
performances of their staffs and the same is forwarded to the external consultant for the
evaluation. These sort of performance evaluation with the application of the external
consultants play a noteworthy role in making sure that there is no sign of any internal politics
or undue preferences. Hence, the achievement of transparency in the performance evaluation
will be a key motivator for the staffs in the continuous enhancement of their skills and
performances inside the organizations.
Workplace and Safety and Health:
Apart from the above mentioned factors, one of the significant aspect of the human
resource management in the modern business groups is perceived to be the workplace safety.
According to the esteemed opinion of Sorensen et al. (2018), majority of the staffs are seen to
be limited in their approach in managing their operational activities with the idea of the fact
that the management of their operational activities has the potential of affecting their safety
and security. Sorensen et al. (2018) further added that the fear factor amongst the staffs can
be a major concern for the business groups in making sure that the overall performances and
the quality of the performances is as their desire. Hence, it becomes vital for the business
groups to ensure that they deliver the required infrastructure to their staffs for maintaining
their safety and security in managing their operational activities. As per the comments of
Hammer et al. (2015), it is evident that the ability of the business groups in providing the
required workplace safety infrastructure to the staffs, is an important motivator for the staffs
in delivering their 100% for managing their operational activities.

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Though majority of the modern business groups irrespective of the industries, are
observed to concentrate on improving the workplace safety infrastructure for providing the
desired support to their staffs, the business groups of mining and manufacturing industries are
observed to be on the forefront in improving their infrastructure for the workplace safety.
BHP Billiton is one such organization of Australia with excellent workplace safety
infrastructure for their staffs. The organization is able to develop appropriate infrastructure
for the management of various aspects of their business actions such as the safety risk
management, permit to work and isolation (Bhp.com. 2020). Other than this, the WHS
policies of the organization is seen to be designed efficiently for the managing their work at
confined spaces, during the drop or fall of an object, fall of ground, lifting and managing light
vehicles. Along with that, the WHS policies of the organization is seen to be apt for educating
the staffs and the other stakeholders of the organization regarding the management of their
health risk during their operations and regarding the appropriate fitness of the staffs and other
executives in working in various sites of the organization (Bhp.com. 2020). Hence, the
workplace policies and the infrastructure are considered to be critical in motivating the staffs
of the organization.
Financial Benefits:
The financial benefits are generally the compensation that the staffs of a particular
organization achieve against their work. Primarily, the financial benefits are of two types
which are the general compensation and the rewards. The general compensation or the wage
characteristics is an important aspect of the human resource policies of the business groups.
The formation of a wage characteristics that are not aligned with the industry standards, are
observed to be incapable in not only attracting talented candidates but also fails in retaining
their experienced and apt professionals (Verma 2017). Hence, it becomes important for the

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business groups to formulate a wage characteristics that meets the basic needs of the staffs
and is in perfect alignment with the industry standards.
Other than this, the additional efforts of the staffs are required by majority of the
business groups for meeting the demands of the industry and in doing so, the appropriate
recognition through an attractive rewarding policy will be decisive in motivating the staffs of
the business groups. Hence, the importance of both in the human resource management is
notably high. The evolution of the wage characteristics of Amazon is a perfect example of the
advantage of having an appropriate wage characteristics and the disadvantage of not
developing an efficient wage plan. The previous wage plan of the organization were seen to
face considerable amount of criticism for forcing the organization in underpaying their staffs,
however, the new wage plan and rewarding policy is seen to be significant for the success of
the organization in motivating their staffs for such significant enhancement in their
performance (Hara et al. 2018).
Conclusion:
On a concluding note, it is understandable that the human resources play a vital role in
the business growth and survival of the modern business groups. As the objective for the
shareholders and owners is to minimize the operational costing associated with their business
actions, it is important to incorporate an efficient handling of the human resources. Along
with that, the success of the business groups in enhancing their quality in managing the wage
characteristics, employee engagement, workplace health and safety, performance evaluation
and training and development of the staffs, is considered to be crucial in contributing to the
enhancement of the sustainability associated with the business actions of the business groups.