Contemporary Labour Market and Talent Planning at Marks & Spencer

This report examines resourcing and talent planning strategies, focusing on Marks & Spencer's approach within the context of contemporary labor market trends in the UK and Republic of Ireland. It assesses the labor market dynamics, including the significance of tight and loose labor markets, and the roles of government, employers, and trade unions in ensuring future skills needs. The report details effective workforce planning principles and tools, career development plans, and the contributions of job descriptions, person specifications, and competency frameworks. It also analyzes recruitment and selection methods, employee retention strategies, and legal requirements related to retirement, redundancies, and dismissals, providing insights into best practices for talent management. The report draws on the context of Marks and Spencer to illustrate how these concepts apply practically to the business environment.

RESOURCING AND
TALENT PLANNING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Asses the contemporary Labour market in different country................................................3
1.2 Explain how organisation position themselves in competitive labour market......................4
1.3 Explain significance of tight and loose labour market..........................................................4
1.4 Ensures the role of government, employer and trade union play in ensuring future skills
need.............................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Describe the principle of effective workforce planning and the tools .................................6
2.2 Explain Career development plan.........................................................................................6
2.3 Contribution of Career Development plan for the organisation success...............................7
2.4 Explain contribution of Job description, Person specification and competency framework 8
2.5 Explain the main legal requirement in relation to recruitment and selection........................9
2.6 Explain strength and weakness of different method of recruitment and selection................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Employees leaving and retaining in organisation and costs associated while employees
leaving the organisation ...........................................................................................................10
3.2 Strength and weaknesses of approaches for talent retention...............................................11
Flexible working hours:-...........................................................................................................12
TASK 4 .........................................................................................................................................12
4.1 With current legislation advise organisation on good practices in management of
retirements, redundancies and Dismissals.................................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Resource planning is a process of allocating tasks to human and non-human resources in a
way that would maximize the efficiency of the resources. Talent planning involves assessing the
organization's current level of talent and evaluating that against the current and future talent
needs of the organization necessary to achieve its strategic and tactical objectives. This process
can also be used by company to know about availability of resources. Planning for resources and
succession planning is one of the most important tasks that organization needs to perform.
Present study will lay emphasis on Marks and Spencer. Marks & Spencer Group plc is a major
British multinational retailer headquartered in Westminster, London that specializes in selling
high quality clothing, home products and food products. Present study will lay emphasis on the
major contemporary labour market trends. It explains the significance of tight and loose labour
market conditions. It assesses the strength and weakness of different method of recruitment and
selection.
TASK 1
1.1 Assess the contemporary Labour market in different country
A labour market is a place where both employee and employee interact with each other for
the sake of getting the best talent from employee point of view and for getting the best job which
can satisfy the need from the employee point of view. Labour market trend is used to change
depending upon the country so the comparison between two country labour market trends is as
follows:
Country which are compared are the UK and Republic of Ireland as Mark and Spencer is
operated in both the countries. In the country like UK there is good labour trend as there is only
four percent of the unemployment in the country at the same time in the Republic of the Ireland
it is 5.4 percent which is also at a good site but the employment rate at the UK is much higher
than Ireland which is 75.8 as compare to Ireland 59.5 percent which proves difficult for the
organisation to hire a new talent for the organisation in the Republic of Ireland, at the same time
minimum wages of the Republic of Ireland country is too high as compare to the UK, UK
minimum wage rate is 1453.28 EUR per month as compare to Republic of Ireland 1656.20 EUR
which is also reduced the scope of the company to have many workers in the organisation in both
the country as the wage rate is high of both the country. Consumer price inflation is the concept
which has been in the positive favour for the Republic of Ireland but after going about all the
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data it can be said that the UK labour market trend is way better than the Republic of Ireland but
Republic of Ireland is trying best to improve that in coming years (Al-Mashari and Al-Mosheleh,
2015, April) (Minimum wage rate, 2019) (Unemployment rate, 2019).
1.2 Explain how organisation position themselves in competitive labour market
competitive labour market, where the wage rate is determined in the industry, rather than by the
individual firm, each firm is a wage taker. This means that the actual equilibrium wage will be
set in the market, and the supply of labour to the individual firm is perfectly elastic at the market
rate.
Analysis the competitor: Mark and Spencer should analysis the other firm in the
competitor market and should find out the differences through which other company is able to
get a success should take a corrective action in the organisation so that the organisation is able to
survive in the Competitive market. Observation can be focused on the incentive or the wages
which is offered by other company and by evaluating the information company can implement
the same in the organisation.
Organisation Positioning “as employee of your choice”: Organisation in the competitive
Labour market has to make sure that they position them self as an organisation in which
employee love and desire to work as it will decrease the problem of employee turnover and it
will also help them to have a large pool of the candidate to choose from as employee
automatically will apply for the position in the organisation. Employer can do this by creating a
positive candidate experience, communicating clear value to the candidate, by reviewing the pay
and benefits and by offering the good career growth opportunity.
Employer Branding: It is the term which defines the company's reputation and popularity
from a potential employee perspective, in simple words it is the process of creating and
maintaining company reputation. In the competitive Labour market Employer Branding helps the
business in showcasing the company as a great place to work and it also creates the good name
of the company in front of the employee (Bagstad and et.al., 2017).
1.3 Explain significance of tight and loose labour market
Tight Labour Market
It is the situation of the market in which economy is at the position of reaching the full
employment mark and it is getting difficult to recruit the new employee in the organisation
which eventually resulting in increasing the wages in the economy. Tight Labour market is
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always offers a tough challenge to the organisation but it also helps the business in
discriminating the competition in the market as in the tight Labour every organisation is not able
to attract the customer which helps the big firm like Mark and Spencer to recruit the best talent
available in the market which eventually increase their cost but the skill brought by the employee
can be beneficial for the organisation. Tight Labour market also helps the organisation in
increasing the efficiency of already hired employee as in the Tight Labour market organisation
provides the training to the old employee to better their skill so that they do not need to hire new
employee (Costa and et.al., 2016).
Loose Labour Market
It is the situation in which economy is at the position where the number of job in the
country is not able to satisfy the number of job seekers in the country, which eventually rises the
unemployment in the organisation. Loose labour market helps the employer in getting good pool
of the candidate who are looking for the job and which helps the employee in selecting the best
out of that pool. Loose labour Market helps the employer in getting the best talent in the
organisation at a lower wage as in the Loose market wage rate is low and it also helps the
employer in prevailing the employee for longer period as in this employee generally does not
leave the job more frequently.
After going through above information, it can be said that UK has Tight labour market whereas
Republic of Ireland has loose capital market.
1.4 Ensures the role of government, employer and trade union play in ensuring future skills need
Government in the UK and Republic of Ireland plays a crucial role in ensuring that the
future skill needs are met in the country as Government both countries promote the awareness of
the skill set which is good for the development of the individual in the future. Government
provides the information to the citizen and individual about the benefit which the skills can bring
to them and also Government also Funded the many training program in the UK so that the
employee can get the knowledge about the same at a lower rate as a result many employees has
taken part in that and which has helped the Country in past also and will definitely help in the
future (Dickens, 2019).
Employer is the one who plays the most important role as the employer are the one who
tries to be one step ahead of the current position it helps them in observing the need of the skill
beforehand itself which force the employer to make a change in the policy and also employer
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organize the different meeting and the training program to taught the employee about the need of
the skill and in the training employee are able to adopt the same skill which helps them in
meeting the future need.
Trade Union always play a crucial role in supporting fresh and new employees in the
workplace which helps the employee in feeling motivated in the organisation which helps them
in understanding the skills more proficiently. Union trade also organizes free and low cost
training program to the employee so that they are able to learn the new skills in the organisation.
TASK 2
2.1 Describe the principle of effective workforce planning and the tools
Principles
There are mainly two type of principles for effective work force planning which is performed in
the organisation (Harper and et.al., 2017).
Capacity-It is the principle in which organisation is used to see long term view and forecast of
the critical roles which will be needed by the organisation in the future it is the principle which
looks more on the future happening than the current situation.
Diversity- This principle also influences the organisation in looking at the performance of the
employee in the organisation and on the basis of that training are given to them to handle the
future difficulties and also corrective action are taken to prevail the employee in the organisation.
It is the principle in which short term demand of the business is considered and the current
situation of the organisation is observed in determining whether more man power is needed or
not in the organisation. This principle forces the employee to identify the need and competencies
in context to the current industry or market situation
Tools
Business Objective: This is the tool which explain that the business objective and goals
should be clearly define to the employee so that employee feel clarity of the mind in the
organisation which eventually creates the good working environment in the organisation which
helps the organisation in effective workforce planning.
Workforce Gap: As the workforce include many individuals with different caste and
background which creates the gap between the employee, organisation always try to cut down
the gap between them so that they can prevail the employee for the longer period (Loucks and
Van Beek, 2017).
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2.2 Explain Career development plan
Where do I want to get to Actions Resources needed
I want to improve
communication
It is the third step in the career
development plan in which
employee used to make a plan
to complete the task. This plan
includes the process through
which the task can be
completed. This plan also
includes the time interval
which force the employee to
complete the specific task till
that point of time. Generally,
plan is prepared to be clear
about the work to be done at
the point of doubts.
It is the Second step in career
development plan in which
employee need to make sure
that they are having the
knowledge about the work to
be done in the organisation to
achieve the goal and need to
make sure that they are having
the skills to complete the task
and if not having then need to
have a proper in advance only
before starting the work
(Manojlovich and Ketefian,
I want to improve my
communication skills
It is the fourth step of the
Career development plan in
which employee starts the
work according to the plan
which was prepared in the
previous step and the
employee used to adjust and
revise the plan after seeing
and observing the condition
which individual has observed
(Noe and et.al., 2017).
It is the stage in which
employee used to observe the
progress or success which
employee have observed
during the process and if find
something is not going
smoothly than tries to remove
the same.
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2.3 Contribution of Career Development plan for the organisation success
career development plans have helped me in increasing organisation growth in many ways.
Some of them are as follows:
Career development plans helps me in taking the responsibility of the weakness by my own
and they try to overcome the weaknesses which I was facing which helps the organisation in
increasing the effectiveness of the work as the biggest issue which is faced by the organisation is
to promote the roles and responsibility to the employee but by the help of the Career
development it is solved in my case in Mark and Spencer.
As career development plan helps me in defining the future career goal which clarifies my
mind in the organisation which eventually helps the me in building a good working environment
in the organisation as there is clarity of mind so the chance of conflict happening is very less
(O'Sullivan and Caiola, 2016).
Career development plan motivate me to achieve the goal which helps me in forcing
myself to complete the work which eventually helps the business in increasing their efficiency
level as the motivated employee always gives their best result and I have also measured the
change
By the help of the Career development plan I as an HR is able to do the self-assessment of
their performance which helps the employee in finding out the solution of the issue which is
faced by the employee which eventually helps the organisation as success of employee is
interlinked with the organisation. (Saade and Nijher, 2016).
2.4 Explain contribution of Job description, Person specification and competency framework
Job description is the written statement for the specific job, job description generally
includes the duties, roles and responsibility, condition and scope of the Specific job position. It
also contains detail about the name or designation of the person to whom the employee reports.
As A HR I used to make the Job description which helps me to promote the skills and roles and
responsibility is required by the job.
Contribution of Job description: As a HR I will develop Job description which helps the
organisation in planning the staffing program in the organisation and also plays an important role
in posting, recruiting and selecting the candidate as it is the basis on which HRM department
used to judge the candidate which helps the organisation in getting the best employee.
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Person specification is a description of the skills, experience, qualification and other
attributes which are required by the job. Person specification is always derived from the job
description and forms the foundation for the recruitment process. As a HR I used to make the
Person specification and judge the employee on the basis of that only. (Shen, Chen and Wang,
2016).
Contribution of Person specification: Person specification proves as the important part of
the employee toolbox. Person specification helps the employer in communicating the attribute or
scale which is desired by the organisation and which helps the business in getting top quality
talent only in the organisation.
Competency framework is a model that broadly describes performance criteria of the
employee in the organisation. Such Models include the competency that are applied in the
multiple occupational.
Contribution of Competency framework: These helps the organisation in improving the
profitability of the organisation as this model provides the signal to the employee about what is
expected by the organisation which helps the employee to work according to that which provides
the employee with the skill that will be valued, recognised and rewarded. As A HR I used to
guide and motivate the employee to work according to the set criteria so that they can achieve
the goal.
2.5 Explain the main legal requirement in relation to recruitment and selection
Minimum wage rate, 1998: As per this legislation, it is mandatory to give minimum of
1453.28 EUR pounds to the employee irrespective of their skills which force the organisation to
select or to recruit the employee with the multiple skill set as if the employee will have numerous
employee in the organisation as it will increase the cost of the organisation and as cost always
affect in the long run of the business so the company always try to take the employee with
multiple skill sets. So the company should make sure that employee is given the minimum of the
1453.28 pounds wages
Equality act 2010: As per this legislation there should be no description in the
organisation on the basis of age, sex, gender and caste so the organisation has to make sure that
the employee should not be selected on the basis of the age colour or gender it should be selected
on the basis of the skill which is possessed by the employee in the Marks and Spencer.
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Background Check: Marks and Spencer has to also make sure that the company do a
background check of all the employee who are recruited into the organization as if any case will
be associated with the employee then the organization will be liable for that. Company also need
to make sure that the company also take the identity proof of the employee for the future
concern.
2.6 Explain strength and weakness of different method of recruitment and selection
Recruitment
Internal recruitment is the process of recruiting the employee from the organisation itself
by the way of promotion, transfer and Retrenched. This is generally used for urgent position or
the senior level position.
Strength: It helps the organisation in recruiting the employee which is already trained and
having the knowledge about the job already it also helps the business in reducing the operational
cost of the organisation.
Weakness: It is helpful for the temporary basis as in these one position opens when one
position is fulfilled and recruiter has to do a recruitment for the open position as the person who
is promoted the position which is acquired by him in past need to fill. and also it shorts down the
pool of the candidate for the organisation (Noe and et.al., 2017).
External recruitment is the process of recruiting the employee from outside the
organisation. This approach generally includes the selection of the candidate by the specific
process of searching, rounds of interview selection and the training.
Strength: It opens the room for the HR of the organisation to have a larger amount of
candidate for the position which eventually helps them to get a better employee with better skill
set and as these approach has the test and interview which helps the employer in getting better
knowledge about the skills of the employee.
Weakness: This is the approach which consumes lot of time as compare to the other
approach as these is the process-based recruitment style in which recruitment is done after three
to four steps such as phone interview, personal interview and test. It also increases the
operational cost of the business in Marks and Spencer (Saade and Nijher, 2016).
Selection
Psychometric Test: It is the type of the test which is done in the selection process to
analysis the skills, intelligence and the knowledge which is possess by the candidate.
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Strength: It helps the organisation in finding out the skills and the knowledge which
candidate are possessing which helps the organisation in deciding the real value of the candidate
and on the basis of that employer can decide whether to recruit the employee or not in the
organisation.
Weakness: Sometime employee feel nervous in the test which does not reflect in the
result as result only reflect the performance and which result in loosing good candidate.
Interview: It is the process which includes the conversation between employer and
employee. There are generally 2 to 3 rounds of interview before selection of the employee.
Interview generally includes the question of experience, skill and the negotiation about their
wages.
Strength: This is the best way to judge the employee communication skills as interview
involves the discussion which helps the employer to judge the skills of the candidate
(Manojlovich and Ketefian, 2016).
Weaknesses: It consumes too much time of the employee and it is also an expensive
procedure for the Marks and Spencer.
TASK 3
3.1 Employees leaving and retaining in organisation and costs associated while employees
leaving the organisation
Employees not retaining in organisation: -
 Lack of trust: - Employees usually leave the organisation when they don't have trust on
the company. It is duty of leaders to build trust as they are there to help them out. Mark
and Spencer provides a healthy working environment to staff members where leaders
trust on employees and guide them so that they can perform better. If such working
environment will be their they will retain for long period.
 Not being appreciated:- After working hard if employees work are not being recognised
then leaving company is the only choice for the employees. Mark and Spencer group
gives value to good employees and their hard work. As they think it is strength of the
organisation so leaders appreciate them for their good performance. Time to time
appreciation and reward can lead to employee’s satisfaction and they will work in
organisation for long period.
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 Lack of respect: - No one like to work in an environment where employees are not
respected for his work. If they are not respected then it is difficult for employees to utilize
their ability and skills and they will leave the organisation. So, Mark and Spencer group
is having an environment where people are respected which results in more hard working
employees for long period (Al-Mashari and Al-Mosheleh, 2015, April).
M&S should trust their workers and have to give them power to make their own decisions.
This will encourage them and they will stay in the business for longer duration. Apart from this,
if enterprise develop communication with employees and give them reward then they will like
the workplace culture and in such situation they will retain in the firm.
Costs associated while employees leaving the organisation: -
 Cost of hiring new employees which may include advertising, screening and hiring.
When employees in Marks and Spencer group leave the company, they have to bear cost
of hiring new employees.
 New employees usually take one to two years to do productive work. So, productivity
loss is there.
 Training cost: - As Marks and Spencer group usually invest 10 to 20 % of employee’s
salary on training. So, if new employees will be hired, it will include training cost.
 Cultural impact: - When new employee joins in Marks and Spencer group they usually
take time to get familiar in the new environment and their culture.
 Customer service and errors: - New employers usually take time to adapt working
environment and provide customers solutions of their problem. Marks and Spencer group
usually face service-related problem from new employees.
3.2 Strength and weaknesses of approaches for talent retention
Approaches to employee retention are as follows: -
Reward approach
This is considered as most effective techniques which helps in motivating workers and
making them positive towards the brand. There are two major approaches of reward: monetary
and non monetary. M&S always provides monetary rewards the workers, it provides incentives
to its staff members.
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