Employee Resourcing: Staffing Methods, Performance Appraisal, Retail

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of employee resourcing within the retail sector. It begins by introducing the importance of human resources and employee resourcing, highlighting the need for skilled and competent candidates. The report then critically discusses two suitable staffing methods: internal and external recruitment, evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of each. The report emphasizes the role of staffing in meeting the manpower needs of a firm, particularly in the retail sector where employees directly interact with customers. Furthermore, the report analyzes performance appraisal methods and how they support employee performance improvement, including feedback mechanisms and SMART objectives. It also explores the benefits of performance appraisal, such as identifying strengths and weaknesses and determining training needs. The report concludes with recommendations to improve the staffing function and enhance employee performance and retention. Overall, the report provides a detailed overview of employee resourcing, staffing methods, and performance appraisal within the retail industry.

EMPLOYEE
RESOURCING

Table of Contents
1) Introduction.................................................................................................................................3
2) Critically discussing the two suitable staffing methods for the retail sector...............................3
3) Analysing the methods in which the performance appraisal can support the improvement of
employee performance in the retail sector.......................................................................................5
4) Conclusion & Recommendations................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

1) INTRODUCTION
The human resources are the life blood of the organization. They perform distinct activity
in the firm and thus help in attaining the overall goals of business. The demand of skilled,
competent, qualified and knowledgeable candidate is significantly growing in the market. For
this aspect, it is important for management to focus on the concept of employee resourcing. It is
part of HRM practices which relates to key areas of human resource management, recruitment
and selection. This process help in attracting the best and talented candidates to fill the present
vacant positions within the company (Marler and Fisher, 2013). The employee resourcing is
important concept that relates to staffing which means choosing and developing of candidates for
particular job functions and allocating them the responsibilities. It also consider the aspect of
performance appraisal which means systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and
to realize the potential of person for future growth and success. The retail sector is among
highest employer which focus on hiring most competent workforce to add worth to business. In
this blog, various aspect of employee resourcing will be studied with reference to retail sector.
OVERVIEW
From the critical assessment of the provided scenario, it has been identified that, the retail
sector is predicted to witness serious job cutting. It has been estimated by the British Retail
Consortium that around 900,000 jobs in the retail industry will be trim down by the year 2025.
The major reason for this is that industry is replacing men with machines, there will be more use
of digital revolution leading to closure of shops etc. Due to, increasing tax liability, wage bill,
apprenticeship duties and modification in national living wage the cost of human resources is
increasing day by day forcing entities to go for digital revolution. In order to sustain the jobs,
individuals are required to amend their skills enhance their efficiency in creative, service and
analytical role.
2) CRITICALLY DISCUSSING THE TWO SUITABLE STAFFING
METHODS FOR THE RETAIL SECTOR
Staffing is important method related to the hiring, positioning training and overseeing of
employees in the company. It is important process which help in meeting the manpower needs
of firm. Further, to ensure proper execution of various task, it is important for entity to adopt
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staffing process. It is key managerial function which help in managing the business structure
through appropriate selection of candidates, appraisal and career advancement of individuals to
fill the vacant job post and perform the assigned roles (Mello, 2014). The advantage of staffing
process is that, it help in appointing the right individual at right job through effective exercise of
recruitment and selection process. In the retail organisation, employees are directly related with
customers therefore, it must emphasis more on the recruitment process. Further, Retail Company
use two methods to fulfil its staffing requirement. They are internal and external staffing sources
which are discussed as follows.
In the opinion of Ngo, Lau and Foley (2008) internal staffing is a strategic human
resource function where firm looks for the present employees to fill the vacant job post. It further
uses methods like, transfer, promotion, job enrichment, job enhancement etc. The significance of
this method is that, it help in making optimum utilization of available talent and thus boost the
morale of present employees ( Internal and external sources of recruitment. 2015). In
contradiction to this, by using internal recruitment for filling one vacancy can result into more
severe disparity in other division. Also, the number of candidate for available job post may be
limited in this case. In addition to this aspect, the morale of the employees not promoted will be
reduced leading to high absenteeism or increased likeliness to leave the job. Renwick, Redman
and Maguire, (2013) has stated that employees through internal staffing can be motivated to
perform better to become competent for promotion etc. However, in the views of Tooksoon,
(2011) this method will restrict the ability of organisation to introduce fresh talent in company.
The internal staffing help management in assessing the skills of employees. Nevertheless, this
assessment is subject to the manager’s prejudice where he/she may promote the candidate they
like regardless of their performance in firm. Overall, the internal staffing is less costly approach
as its save the expenditure that would have incurred by entity in recruitment and selection
process of new employee (Wilson, 2014). However, it will enhance the development expense as
existing employee will have to be trained for new post. The internal staffing process will cause
company to become more rigid towards change.
Further, it has been asserted by El Baradei and Newcomer, (2008) that external staffing
means the use of external sources to fill the vacant job post. In simple words it means attracting
the candidates from outside the company to apply for the vacant position. In this respect, firm
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can ask for recommendations from the present employees, take outsourcing services offered by
agency, employment exchange and educational institutes etc. The significance of this method is
that, it leads to influx of new ideas in the company. However, at same time it also cause
dissatisfaction among present employees. As compared to internal sources, the external
recruitment provide more options of candidates by providing pool of applicants for available job.
This increase the time consumption of entity (Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright, 2008). The
external recruitment limit the chances of favouritism by manager due to lack of previous
relationship with candidates. However, in this process there is chances of wrong selection due to
false information that may be provided by candidate. Further, external recruitment process is
overall costly as expenditure is incurred on advertisement, selection, training and development
program for new employee. Still, the cost can be covered by infusing young talent in company
through this process ( Paauwe, 2008) In this respect, firm can face issues in recruiting quality
candidates. Other than this, company may lack head hunting skills which is important to
stimulate maximum number of individuals to apply for the vacant job post.
With reference to retail sector, it is appropriate for company to adopt external recruitment
process. With this aspect, entity will be able to support the economy by creating maximum job
opportunities for the young, qualified and unemployed individuals (Internal and external sources
of recruitment. 2015). Further, in peak season, firm ca hire additional workforce by attracting
college going students to apply for the vacant job post. This will also enable company to meet
the emerging needs of employee regarding flexible working practices.
3) ANALYSING THE METHODS IN WHICH THE PERFORMANCE
APPRAISAL CAN SUPPORT THE IMPROVEMENT OF EMPLOYEE
PERFORMANCE IN THE RETAIL SECTOR.
Performance appraisal is important human resource approach in which the work
performed by employee is documented and evaluated. With the help of results of critical
assessment of work, employee can identify the existing loopholes and take actions to improve
performance in future (Marler and Fisher, 2013). The performance appraisal method is vital
component of career development and involves the day-to-day review of performance of
employee in company. This method enable management to make systematic and periodic
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assessment of employee work and productivity with regards to specific benchmarks and business
objectives. The company can know that employee is matching the expectations of business or
not. On the basis of it, the strength, weakness of the employee can be ascertained so that overall
development of individual can be done. Further, it has been ascertained that, performance
appraisal is viable tool that help entity in communicating with organisational members that how
their work stand with expectations of company (Benefits of Performance appraisal method.
2010). With this aspect, firm can determine the training and development requirement of
individual. Such as, through performance appraisal method, it has been ascertained that
employee is lacking in technical skills than it can be provided with training through workshop,
vestibule program etc. Therefore, with the help of gained training as per the need, employee will
be able to attain strategic objectives (Hollenbeck, Gerhart and Wright, 2008). Other than this
aspect, to motivate employee to give their best output, company can use various rewards. Both
monetary rewards like, high pay, bonus etc. can be used along with non-monetary reward like,
recognition, status, rank etc. The overall productivity of employee is improved with the help of
performance appraisal method. However, it is favourable for management to use appropriate
method for performance appraisal to prevent dissatisfaction among workers and avoid legal
consequences. The fair system must be adopted which have no grounds of biasness by manager
(El Baradei and Newcomer, 2008).
Furthermore, company can use contrasting methods to support performance appraisal
function. Some of them are discussed as follows:
Feedback: It has been ascertained that performance appraisal is conducted at regular interval of
time. It further help in providing regular feedback about the work done by employee. With the
help of feedback, employee can identify the areas where its performance is not satisfactory and
thus take actions to improve the same in future. Therefore, employee can learn from its own
mistakes and ensure they are not repeated in future.
Facilitate communication: It can be stated that communication is important factor that
determine the satisfaction level of employee and help in boosting its motivation level. Since, the
performance appraisal method involve regular feedback it also strengthen communication
between manager and employee. Further, manager can provide guidance to individuals regarding
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how various task can be performed to improve the quality of work and reduce the chances of
mistakes (Performance appraisal method. 2015).
SMART Objectives: In order to match the performance of employee with the expectations of
company objectives can be set. The failure to meet the predetermined objectives means the
performance of employee is lacking in some aspects. Therefore, specific, measurable, attainable,
realistic and time bound goals can be developed by manager (Mello, 2014).
Furthermore, there are large number of advantages of performance appraisal method. It
will help employee in identifying its strengths which can be used to overcome its weakness.
Further, management can overview the performance of employee and determine the areas that
require change. It assist management in determining the needs of training and development
session so that skills of employee can be more improved to match the standards of industry.
Further, employee can do career planning after reviewing the outcomes of performance appraisal
method (Ngo, Lau and Foley, 2008). With the help of performance appraisal method can
provide coaching and mentoring to employee to facilitate the modification in quality of work. In
the contrast, in case of continuous dis-satisfactory and poor performance, negative actions can be
taken against such employee. Such as, poor performing candidates can be dismissed from
company for not meeting the standard criteria of firm (Wilson, 2014).
4) CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS
In a nutshell, it can be concluded that, employee resourcing is important process that
fulfil the human resources needs of company. It further involve use of recruitment and selection
process which means attracting maximum candidates for available job post and thereby choosing
the most appropriate person from the available pool of candidates. In this respect, entity can use
both internal and external sources to fill the vacant position. Here, in internal recruitment
company can use methods like, promotion, transfer etc. While, in external recruitment, firm may
adopt the services of private recruitment or government outsourcing agency and job fairs, give
advertisement on different channels etc. however, the both method have its own advantage and
disadvantages which are discussed in blog. Further, proper performance appraisal method should
be used to evaluate the work done by employee. It will not only enhance the employee morale
and performance but also help in retaining it in long run.
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Further, it is recommended that to improve the staffing function, company should adopt fair
process. The entity must consider the rules and regulations laid down by government with
reference to legalise staffing function and prevent interest of employee within firm. Such as,
Equality act, minimum wages, health and safety act etc. must be strictly adhered. To facilitate
effective performance appraisal, company can use 360 degree feedback, rating scale,
benchmarking as some alternative options.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
El Baradei, L. and Newcomer, K. E., 2008. A human capital management assessment tool for
identifying training and development needs: Application to Egyptian public
organisations. International Journal of Public Sector Performance
Management. 1(2).pp.119-149.
Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P. M., 2004. Fundamentals of human resource
management. McGraw-Hill.
Marler, J. H. and Fisher, S. L., 2013. An evidence-based review of e-HRM and strategic human
resource management. Human Resource Management Review. 23(1). pp. 18-36.
Mello, J., 2014. Strategic human resource management. Cengage Learning.
Ngo, H. Y., Lau, C. M. and Foley, S., 2008. Strategic human resource management, firm
performance, and employee relations climate in China. Human Resource Management.
47(1).pp. 73-90.
Paauwe, J., 2004. HRM and performance: Achieving long-term viability. Oxford University
Press.Storey, J., 2007. Human Resource Management: A Critical Text. Cengage Learning
EMEA.
Renwick, D. W., Redman, T. and Maguire, S., 2013. Green human resource management: a
review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews. 15(1). pp. 1-
14.
Tooksoon, H. M. P., 2011. Conceptual framework on the relationship between human resource
management practices, job satisfaction, and turnover. Journal of Economics and
Behavioral Studies. 2(2). pp. 41-49.
Wilson, J. P., 2014. International human resource development: Learning, education and training
for individuals and organizations. Development and Learning in Organizations. pp. 28(2).
Online
Benefits of Performance appraisal method. 2010. [Online]. Available through
:<http://www.performance-appraisal.com/benefits.htm/>. [Accessed on 27 July 2016].
Internal and external sources of recruitment. 2015. [Online]. Available through
:<http://www.bms.co.in/what-are-the-different-internal-and-external-sources-of-
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recruitment-explain-the-merits-and-demerits-of-each/>. [Accessed on 27 July 2016].
Performance appraisal method. 2015. [Online]. Available through
:<http://www.hrwale.com/performance-management/performance-appraisal-methods//>.
[Accessed on 27 July 2016].
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