Strategic HRM and Employment Relations in Business Context Report

This report examines the critical relationship between strategic human resource management (SHRM) and employment relations, focusing on a case study of Marks & Spencer (M&S). It explores how HR strategies align with overall business objectives, emphasizing the importance of vertical and horizontal integration. The report delves into SHRM models, specifically the Balanced Scorecard, and analyzes HR practices such as performance management and reward systems. It then addresses employment relations from unitary, pluralist, and Marxist perspectives, outlining the roles of employers, employees, and the government. The report also discusses the changing nature of employment relations and mechanisms for employee participation. The analysis provides insights into designing and redesigning performance management systems and concludes with the significance of effective HR strategies for organizational success.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT -HUMAN
RESOURCES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Relationship among Business and HR Strategy.....................................................................1
Vertical and horizontal integration of M&S...........................................................................2
Theoretical basis as well as models of SHRM.......................................................................2
HR practices of Performance Management as well as Reward..............................................3
Design/re-design a performance management system...........................................................4
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
Perspectives of Employment relations...................................................................................5
Roles of the actors within the Employment Relationship......................................................5
Changing nature of employment relations.............................................................................6
Mechanisms of employee participation as well as employee voice.......................................6
Conclusion..............................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Strategic HRM define as a link among human resource of associated strategies as well as
corporation. The main aim is to facilitate flexibility and innovation across organisational
premises for attaining competitive advantage among rivalry. This is the report which is based on
Marks & Spencer which is performing its business functions at the competitive marketplace from
long duration within retail sector. The main products offered by them are related with home
products, merchandising and clothing products.
TASK 1
Relationship among Business and HR Strategy
HR play very essential role in the growth and development of the business entity.
Effective human resource team will be able to take effective decisions related to the business
organisation which as a result aid them in long run. Therefore, it is said that human resource
department have command on the staff members working within the organization. In reference to
Marks & Spencer it is a well known business organisation with strong brand image. Therefore, it
is necessary to have strong human resource management so that they will be able to select and
hire capable candidate along with motivating them to perform effectively.
Strategic HRM define as course of action which have the aim in order to improve the
performance of staff members by providing them recognition, training, rewards and various
benefits on regular basis. On the other hand business strategy defined as the plan as well as
decision making process which is undertaken to gain desired position at the competitive
marketplace. All these functions are done by effective implementation of HR strategy which
have the main motive in order to enhance the performance of staff members. There are some
important aspects which define effective relationship between both the strategies are going to be
discussed as follows:
Implement policies: The higher authorities of M&S devise well defined strategies which
then communicated to the HR department as they are the one who implement and enforces such
sort of strategies in the organisation. This as a result aid in earning profits along with setting link
between HR & business strategy.
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HR strategy among Business strategy: It has been said that HR strategy develop an
essential part in the business strategy as without any kind of strategies and its implementation,
company will not be able to perform their task in an effective manner.
Vertical and horizontal integration of M&S
Horizontal integration define as the merger between two business organisations
pertaining within the same business industry. With the assistance of this, respective business
entity can improve its market situation and positioning which as a result aid them in attaining
competitive advantage. For example, If Marks & Spencer perform merger with a business
organization which belongs to the retail industry which is known as horizontal integration.
On the other hand, talking about vertical integration it is the kind of merger between two
business entity organisation performing its functioning in different sectors. This mainly perform
by business with the main aim of business expansion at the competitive marketplace. Along with
this, it has been said that it will aid in enhancing sales as well as profit margins of the company.
Theoretical basis as well as models of SHRM
SHRM refers to the strategic course of action which is mainly undertaken by human
resource team for carry out development of staff members working within the business
organisation. Its main aim is to attain effectively fit the corporate strategy along with HRM
policies for ensuring effectiveness as well as efficiency among the organisational premises. It has
been identified that strategic HRM adopts an effective tool which is also known as Balanced
Scorecard. Apart from this, there is a well defined model for strategic HRM which is commonly
used by large number of business entity. In this context, Marks & Spencer adopts this model of
SHRM in order to strategically perform all the HRM functions and activities, which as a result
ensure the accomplishment of organizational goal and objectives by implementing a linkage
among HR as well as business strategy.
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Figure 1: Model of Strategic Human Resource Management
(Source: 13 Models of Strategic Human Resource Management, 2019)
The above mentioned model of SHRM explains about maintaining healthy and efficient
labour-management relationship (13 Models of Strategic Human Resource Management, 2019).
For this, they use various factors like staffing, compensation, training and many other.
Furthermore, HR Information System basically aims at determination of staff members
performance by effectively setting comparison among actual as well as desired standards.
Therefore, with the assistance of these key aspects, this SHRM model will effectively applied
within the organisational premises of Marks & Spencer in order to ensure effective
implementation of HR functions in a strategic way.
HR practices of Performance Management as well as Reward
There are various sort of Human resource practices which needs to be used by human
resource department within each and every business organisation in order to improve the
satisfaction level of staff members by enhancing their performance. In reference to Marks and
Spencer some of the common HRM practices are going to be discussed as follows in an effective
manner.
Performance appraisal: This refers to one of the motivating initiative which is done by
human resource department within the organization for realising staff members that with the help
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of effective performance goals and objectives will be attained. For this, managers of the
company promote their staff members as per their performance and by increasing their salary.
This motivates the staff in order to stay loyal with the business entity like Marks and Spencer.
Reward: Rewards are the other most effective and positive HRM activity which highly
influences staff members to be motivated within the workplace. In this context, HR manager of
the company provide additional payment to their workers as per their performance. This as a
result aid them in order to enhance their performance which leads them towards the attainment of
organizational goals in an effective manner. These are the practices which are implemented
within the business entity like Marks and Spencer in order to improve the performance of staff
members in an effective way.
Design/re-design a performance management system
The procedure for re-designing of the performance management system are going to be
discussed as follows:-
Keep it simple: In order to feasibly bring modification within PMS, it needs to motivate
staff members for getting involved in the new procedure. Higher authority of M&S need to take
review from their staff members related to the re-designing of performance management system.
Define purpose: The top management team ascertains main aim related to the devising of
new Performance Management System. Along with this, the purpose must be explained to staff
members for gathering support from them.
360 Degree Feedback: Herein, higher authorities of Marks & Spencer gather feedback
from individuals with the help of 360 degree feedback to identify their views, opinions and
perceptions (Redesigning Your Performance Management Process for Success, 2019).
Stipulating goals: In this context, manager of the company motivates their employees on
the goals so that they will be able to attain them within defined duration.
Conclusion
It has been concluded that HR strategy considered as the biggest element of a business
entity. It is identified that recognition, reward, performance appraisal, incentives, compensation
and many more in a well defined manner.
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TASK 2
Employment relations is considered as one of the most essential and significant role in
the overall development and success of business entity. This is the task which presents the
theoretical perspectives related to the employment relation.
Perspectives of Employment relations
Employment relationship define as the relation which is shared among both employer as
well as employees. It has also been identified that having strong, positive and effective
employment relationships are beneficial for the business organisation which assist in
accomplishing organizational goals and objectives in a well defined manner. In addition to this, it
has also been identified that there are mainly three perspectives of employment relationship,
which includes, Unitary, Marxist as well as Pluralist. All these elements are going to be
discussed in a detail manner as follows:
Unitary: This is the perspective focuses on the integration of effective working efforts of
both manager as well as employees in order to attain the common goal in a systematic manner.
Employees easily share their views, opinions as well as problems with each other so that they
can effectively come with solutions. This is the perspective which have two implications. The
first is to emergence of issues and conflicts because of the contrasting thoughts of employer as
well as of the employees. On the other hand, it leads to emergence of all the trade union which
will ensures that no employee rights will be violated within workplace premises of Marks &
Spencer.
Pluralist: Within Marks & Spencer it has been identified that there are ample number of
departments working within the organization towards the attainment of common objective. For
this, effective communication is necessary in order to find of best and effective solutions. There
are mainly two primary groups which are trade union and the top management team. Here,
higher authorities of the organization controls all the activities of the business as well as develop
effective communication in order to facilitate interaction among the workplace. On the other
hand, trade union acts as the representative for the staff members. In addition to this, it has been
identified that collective bargaining help in resolving disputes in an effective manner.
Marxist: According to this, business entities aims in order to maintain effective
industrial relations with the help of societal perspective. It is also referred to as a radical
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perspective. This as a result provides help in the overall evaluation of socio-economic
dimensions which is highly acknowledge the specific social dispute along with the relationship
by method of social alteration and chronological development.
Roles of the actors within the Employment Relationship
There are usually three parties which mainly contribute in order to maintain good
relationship among the employees as well as management. These are going to be discussed as
follows:
Employer: They are the one who are highly responsible in order to make plans for
attainment of organizational goals. Apart from this, development of healthy working
environment are the another major role of employee which aid them in enhancing their
performance. Also, timely providing rewards, bonuses, incentive and compensation help in
developing positive employment relationships within the business entity.
Employees: They are behind the success of a business organisation as they aid in better
relationship of employee with the managers. In addition to this, they are also working in the
organization by coordinating and communicating with the staff members in an effective manner.
Government: Different sort of laws as well as legislation are created by government in
order to ensure healthy relationship among employees and employer. Some of the most effective
acts which need to be implemented by the company includes Minimum wage act, Equality act,
health and safety act, Worker’s Discrimination Act, and many more.
In reference to Marks and Spencer, these are the three main pillars of the company which
aid them in order to accomplish the targets of business entities in a systematic and well defined
way.
Changing nature of employment relations
The business surroundings where organization perform its functionality are turbulent and
dynamic in nature. This as a result both management and staff members faces huge issues while
performing different activities in an effective and appropriate manner. Along with this, different
sort of background and culture of individuals create difficulties and challenges in order to
communicate and collaborate with each other in a systematic manner. In past years, issues arise
are mainly of system, machinery, working culture but at present issues arise are related with
communication, cross functional coordination, personnel management and many more. Along
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with this employment relations highly influenced by working atmosphere, requirements and
expectations, performance appraisals, and many more.
Mechanisms of employee participation as well as employee voice
It has been identified that the growth and success of a business organisation is highly
based on the involvement of staff members in the functionality. Organisations in the current era
emphasize on motivating staff members for the involvement of business functions and in
decision making. In this context, top management team of Marks & Spencer conduct different
activities like brainstorming sessions on daily basis in order to take their thoughts and opinions
of employees on various methods. Apart from this, feedback from taken on a regular basis from
the staff members of Mark’s and Spencer so that they can freely explain their views without
hesitation and fear. This will aid them in attaining organizational goals and objectives in an
effective manner and within given time period.
Conclusion
With the assistance of above information, it has been concluded that a business entity can
attain growth at competitive marketplace by effectively satisfying needs of their workers and
developing healthy relationship with them. In addition to this, it has also been identified that the
nature of working surrounding are dynamic which have the capability to highly influence the
overall business functioning in an adverse manner.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Kavanagh, M. J. and Johnson, R. D. eds., 2017. Human resource information systems: Basics,
applications, and future directions. Sage Publications.
Meyer, G. D., Neck, H. M. and Meeks, M. D., 2017. The entrepreneurship‐strategic
management interface. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, pp.17-44.
Jenkins, W. and Williamson, D., 2015. Strategic management and business analysis. Routledge.
Karadag, H., 2015. Financial management challenges in small and medium-sized enterprises: A
strategic management approach. EMAJ: Emerging Markets Journal, 5(1), pp.26-40.
Chen, C. M., Delmas, M. A. and Lieberman, M. B., 2015. Production frontier methodologies and
efficiency as a performance measure in strategic management research. Strategic
Management Journal, 36(1), pp.19-36.
Peppard, J. and Ward, J., 2016. The strategic management of information systems: Building a
digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A., 2018. Operations and process management: principles and
practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.
Pawlak, J.A., 2017. Establishing employment relations with local government employees in the
City Hall of Warsaw(Doctoral dissertation, Wydział Administracji i Nauk
Społecznych).
Noe, R.A., Hollenbeck, J.R., Gerhart, B. and Wright, P.M., 2017. Human resource management:
Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Online
13 Models of Strategic Human Resource Management. 2019. [Online]. Available Through:
<http://bankofinfo.com/13-models-of-strategic-human-resource-management/>.
Redesigning Your Performance Management Process for Success. 2019. Available
Through:<https://technologyadvice.com/blog/human-resources/redesigning-
performance-management-process-success/>.
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