Managing and Coordinating HR Function: Almarai Case Study Report

This report delves into the crucial role of the Human Resources (HR) function within organizations, emphasizing its importance in achieving organizational objectives and fostering a healthy work environment. The report uses Almarai, a multinational dairy company, as a case study to illustrate key HR functions, including change management, staffing, and employee relations. It explores the evolution of HR practices in contemporary organizations, highlighting the shift towards addressing employees' emotional and psychological needs, and the importance of ethical and professional HR management. The report also discusses different methods of delivering HR objectives, such as performance monitoring, employee training, and the establishment of clear labor policies. Furthermore, it analyzes how HR functions vary across different types of organizations and examines change management theories, such as Lewin's Change Management model. Finally, the report evaluates research evidence linking HR practices with positive organizational outcomes, providing a comprehensive overview of HR's impact on business success.

Managing and Co-
ordinating the Human
Resources Function
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................4
Organisational objectives of HR function and how it has been evolved in contemporary
organisations...............................................................................................................................4
Different methods of delivering HR objectives..........................................................................6
Different HR functions in different types of organisations.........................................................7
Theories of change management.................................................................................................8
Contribution of HR function in Almarai.....................................................................................9
On the bases of article identify and evaluate HR practices with positive organisational
outcomes...................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
2

INTRODUCTION
Humans are the most important resource in the organisation and plays vital role in the
success of the company (Peters, Kloppenburg and Wyatt, 2010). Management of human resource
is essential in order to obtain the desire results and helps in proper implementation of strategies.
The main motive of HR manager within the organisation is to develop the corporate culture and
focus on maintaining healthy working environment. The role of HR within the organisation is to
advertise job vacancies and select the potential and skilled candidates for job roles. The
organisation chosen for this report is Almarai. The company was founded by Paddy McGuckian
and his team mates in year 1977 and is one of the leading multinational dairy company in Saudi
Arabia. The topics covered in the report are main organisational objectives of HR functions,
ways in which objectives of HR can be delivered, HR functions in different sectors, theories of
change management, contribution of HR function to the business and evaluate research evidence
linking HR practices with positive outcomes.
MAIN BODY
Organisational objectives of HR function and how it has been evolved in contemporary
organisations.
The function of HR in Almarai is to ensure that different objectives of the company are
accomplished and to improve the performance of management. The role and function of HR in
the organization is quite broad and to provide efficient and skilled employees to the organisation.
The objectives of HR in Almarai company is described below-
 Change management- The function of HR is to coordinate with the employees of the
company and allocate the distinct resources in order to facilitate the achievement of
change in Almarai. They are responsible to ensure that employees should be satisfied
with the work culture and environment (Haak-Saheem and Festing, 2020).
 Staffing- Staffing in an organisation is one of the major objective of HR where main
focus is on sourcing, recruiting, growth and development of employees. In order to
achieve the staffing objective, HR function is to ensure that according to skills and
abilities work must be assign to employees and ensure development of talents.
 Enhance skills and improve performance of employees- The primary responsibility of
HR is to ensure that employees should be able to enhance their capabilities and skills in
3

their work. HR function is to establish good communication and focus on the
improvement in the performance of employees so that desires results are achieved.
 Establishing good employee relations- The main focus of HR function is to establish
good and health relations with employees of the company. This helps in developing
health working environment and increases the efficiency of employees.
HR function objectives have evolved in contemporary organisation
Before the evolution of HR the working conditions were not good and satisfactory. The
HR function have evolved with the series of changes as the need for protection and higher
outcome is continuously growing (Langford and et.al., 2014). Initially the human resource
management within the organisation is to focus on the well being of employees and to enhance
the productivity level. The main function of HR at that time is to focus on industrial betterment
by stabilizing employee force and encouraging employee loyalty. With the time it has been
realized that works too have emotional and psychological needs. So, the HR is responsible for
considering and fulfilling these requirements of the employees. Moreover the personnel
departments and the manpower development has created the demand for strong and efficient
employees,. So HR is responsible for providing proper internal training to the workers and
ensure their growth and development. With the industrial revolutions, HR functions have
enhanced that is earlier HR helps in planning and strategy formulation. Now, they are
responsible for managing resources, pay more attention to employees that is they match the
nature of work with the skills and interests of employees. The role of HR has become more
complex with the emergence of new technology that is they need to focus on the engagement of
employees and strengthening the culture within the company. HR leaders need to function with
broad mind and should be flexible enough to response to the changing needs of employees.
Management of HR in professional, Ethical and Just manner
Professional
Management of HR function in a professional must focus on the values, purposes,
knowledge and practices of employees. Moreover they are responsible to make sure that the
stakeholders of the organisation work in coordination and collaborate with management in order
to provide benefit to the company (Kekäle, 2015). In context of Almarai, the HR function in
professional practice, have provided the competitive advantage and company have become
successful in the food and beverage sector.
4

Ethical
Ethical issues and problems in the organisation is influenced by the cultural practices
followed by staff members. The ethical practices helps the organisation in working ethically and
builds the trust among the employees.
Just manner
In an organisation , the implementation of just manner helps in removing discrimination
and provides equal growth opportunities to the employees. Moreover helps in regulating the
management practices and provides health working environment to employees. Just manner is
define as the process where policies are integrated, proper planning of workforce and all the
other activities is organised in the proper manner (Zhang, 2013). The systematic approach to
carry activities and task helps the organisation in accomplishing desire results. The efficiency of
employees increases as their performance level improves as employees get equal opportunity.
Different methods of delivering HR objectives
Human resource is the most important department and the objectives of HR is connected
to the strategic objective of the organisation and contributes directly to the achievement of the
goals.
Monitoring the performance of the employees- The objectives of the HR strategies move
towards increasing the motivation of employees, training to the workers, etc. There are many
methods in which HR objectives can be delivered. The most important objective of HR is
development of employees where selection and recruitment does not mean that the employees
are selected according to the needs of department.
The organisation should plan the number of employees- The work of the employees in
different departments differ in service and product industries. In product firms the employees
may or may not be in contact with customers but in service firms they have direct relations with
customers so it is important to have competitive employees (Armstrong, 2016). The employees
will be in direct contact with customers so they will have the information of customers and
understanding their needs require the employees to be updated of the market. Almarai is a
product company but the satisfaction of customers depends on the level of service provided by
them so they should understand the needs and the HR should make sure that employees are
capable of satisfying customers.
5

Professional analysis- They should conduct classes and training programs for employees
to measure their productivity and there should be a format to communicate to customers to have
similar operations.
The laws of the organisation- The HR objective of employees relations can be delivered
by making labour policies for the employees so that they feel that they are important for the
organisation (Lemmetyinen, 2015). There are rights of the employees in organisations which
they are not informed so the policies should be to help them understand the role of employees.
There are many issues with the employees and ethics is the most important in the business
environment. The top level of Almarai should check the HR department and monitor the
functions to make them effective in employee policies. The policy of appraisals motivates the
employees so the organisation should provide them to achieve success.
Different HR functions in different types of organisations
HR department is unique to different types of organisations. There are many similarities
like improvement of performance of employees but there are difference which are making it
important to the organisations. The functions of the management and the role of the
organisations make the staffing role different in the organisations. The role of the employees
should be specific to understand the behaviour of employees and the capabilities to achieve
success (Florkowski, 2018).
 The organisations in retail sector will have different role of employees than in
manufacturing sector which the interaction with employees is less. The role of the HR
department and employees with be according to the size of the organisation and the level
of ownership.
 The business to business organisations will have different staffing functions than business
to customers because the level of satisfaction for customers different in these type of
organisations.
 The product companies focus on the quality of products and not employees because it
speaks on behalf of employees. The staffing of employees in the organisation should be
according to the size. The hierarchy of the organisation decide the role of HR department
and the functions of the employees where the complex hierarchy in large organisation
have the HR in different levels and they will operate the line of employees (Venegas and
Thill, 2015).
6

The functions of HR in Almarai is based on increasing the experience of customers so the
employees are trained to understand the demands and improving the level of satisfaction through
employees productivity.
The small organisations do not have much responsibilities so the HR department have
simple functions for the entire organisation. The structure of the organisation should be
according to the sectors they are in.
The size of Almarai is medium so the HR department is simple where the strategies of the
organisation is connected to the strategies of the HR department. HR should communicate the
policies and the role of employees so that it is easy for the employees to achieve the goals of the
organisation (Klikauer, 2018).
Theories of change management
The functions of the HR is important for the success of the organisation and they are tied
to achieve growth. The increasing growth in the HRM practices is expanding the resources of the
organisation and meeting the goals of the organisation in the changing environment. The
effectiveness of the HR practices is quantitative and can estimate contribution of HR strategies
by the success rate of the organisation.
The Lewins Change Management model- The line managers in an organisation bridges
the gap between the HR department and employees and they have contribution of employees in
the daily working.
 Unfreeze- The organisation will have to manage the change and they will help the
employees in increasing the performance.
 Change- The organisation monitor the performance of employees whom they are
responsible for and makes the estimation of who is important for the success. The line
managers are effective for understanding the performance of employees and the change
management can be done by taking the report of the employees from them.
 Refreeze- The HR department has many functions which makes it difficult for them to
monitor the functions of different department so they can communicate with line
managers.
The survey of employees is another way of determining the performance of employees.
The survey will be conducted within the organisation to understand the internal environment.
The objective of the survey should be to understand the changes in the internal environment
7

impacted by the external factors, culture of the employees, organisational practices, and different
factors affecting the changes in the organisation (Renkema, Bos-Nehles and Meijerink, 2020).
The response of the employees will determine the success of HR policies and the process of
managing the changes will be formed.
Evaluations of HR theories to change management
There are many tools to determine the success of the change management theories.
Effective and challenging theories to change management can affect the organisation success
positively. Employees wants to work in the organisation where there is equality, just and fair
practices and they focus on the growth along with the growth of the employees. The goals of the
organisation cannot be achieved without the involvement of change management and it can
sometimes have an impact of the culture of the organisation and corporate strategy and HR
should take over the responsibility and accountability.
Industry average is the most important tool for evaluating the HR theories of change
management as the organisations will evaluate the performance of the organisation with the
competitors and understands the position in the market. Metrics, statistics, ratios are the effective
method of evaluating the function of HR department where Return on investment is the most
important factor used by the organisations (Lin and Sanders, 2017). The effectiveness of the top
level management strategies should contribute to the success of lower level managers which can
be measured by the graphical representation of the reports made by the line managers.
Balanced score card is another way used by the organisations where they will understand
the role of employees and HR department in all the levels of the organisation. The four
perspective of balanced score card like customers, business processes, finance and learning will
have strategies for the effective operations of the HR. It focuses on the human resource for
growth.
Almarai is an organisation of Saudi Arab and is a medium size business where the
changes can be managed easily and the HR department should make theories will can be
evaluated in the short term. There are many tools which can be used by the organisation to
measure the effectiveness of employees (Malik, Froese and Sharma, 2020).
8

Contribution of HR function in Almarai
The efficiency and effectiveness of the functions in Almarai can be evaluated by the HR
department and it will help the organisation to understand the level of success. The contribution
of HR functions in the success of the organisation is big and they should be monitored.
 Strategy- The function of the HR in Almarai is to help the employees in achieving the
organisational strategy. The employees in Almarai is motivated to give high performance
and they should contribute to efficiency in organisation. The HR is providing them open
communication, transparency, etc. to achieve the strategy of the organisation. They are
investing in the employees and it is making them feel that they are the part of the
organisation. The organisation should understand the strategy and measure its
performance in the employees productivity and when there is no contribution it should be
evaluated and made to achieve profits.
 Compensation- The HR should evaluate the industry compensation policy and make it
attractive for the employees (Sparrow and Otaye-Ebede, 2017). The compensation should
make the organisations have profits and the employees should be profitable too. The
employees compensation can be evaluated by the organisational position and level of
satisfaction of employees. The evaluation of the compensation strategy for Almarai will
help in achieving strategy and level of satisfaction.
 Benefits- The benefits of the employees in an organisation is defined by HR and their
function is to achieve profits of employees. The evaluation of the employees benefits
should include different factors like retirement and benefits they are getting in the work
which should be based on the education, qualification, experience, efficiency of the work.
Almarai should have ethics and professionalism in defining the benefits of employees.
The benefits of employees should be related to the experience customers get and the level
of satisfaction for Almarai.
 Employees satisfaction- The HR functions of Almarai should understand that to make
the organisations successful it is important that the employees are satisfied and they are
motivated to increase the performance. The level of satisfaction in employees can be
evaluated by questionnaire and the survey in the organisation (Brewster, Mayrhofer and
Cooke, 2015). This will help the organisation to understand the importance of HR
strategies and they will be able to identify the gap between the out achieved and desired.
9

Almarai is a employee centric organisation which helps employees and makes them
achieve the personal goals.
 Training and development- The organisations should have training and development of
employees because it will help them in maintaining relations, increases the satisfaction of
employees, etc. and the employees will contribute to the success of the organisation.
Almarai have training for the employees who are selected but the employees who are
working with the organisation should be trained to increase the effectiveness. There are
many methods to train the employees and the best one should be selected which is not
costly.
 Safety- The safety of employees in the organisation is the priority of the HR because the
functions of HR is connected to the employees and providing them benefits. Almarai
focuses on providing safety to employees and the family so that they feel important in the
organisation. The organisation should make polices for the benefits of the employees.
On the bases of article identify and evaluate HR practices with positive organisational outcomes
From the viewpoint of Darren Perucci, HR principles and practices provide optimal
results and enhance the performance of business. It is very important for the organisation to align
the goals of HR with the objectives of the business. There is difference between HR activities
and HR practices as they are responsible for optimizing the human capital investment within the
organisation (Lim, Wang and Lee, 2017). The HR practices include the strategic operations as
they provide guidance to employees and coordinate with the management in the execution of
business plan. Here are few HR practices which help the organisation in accomplishing desire
outcomes.
 The one of the most important and essential practice of HR is to set the mission and the
goals for the its department as it helps in working in systematic manner.
 HR is responsible for all the actions and activities taking place in the HR department that
is formate the plans and strategies, organized them in the most effective way and
manages the whole department.
 HR practices involves considering and measuring the effects of the activities and take
corrective steps in order to remove the negative impact on the performance of business.
10

 It is one of the essential practice of HR to create and carry various programs in the
organisation in order to improve the working environment as healthy environment leads
to increase in the productivity.
 HR is responsible for providing the save working environment and should conduct
various program in order to motivate the employees to work more effectively and
efficiently. HR provides right direction to employees which results in better performance
and enhance their capabilities.
HR practices provide support in the activities that is both work hand in hand in order to
provide benefit to the company. Moreover proper implementation of HR practices provide great
results as their main function include recruitment, selection, training and development.
Recruitment and selection is the process in which HR tries to hire high- performing employees
and those who are skilled and best fit for company according to their culture. Hiring poor and
less efficient employees will effect the performance and productivity of employees (Brewster,
2017). Training and development is one of the best practice of HR where investment is made in
training the employees in order to improve the performance of workforce and focus on skill
specific training. Moreover HR is responsible for offering benefits to the employees of company
in order to achieve the goals of organisation and retain the great employees.
The organisation which has best HR practices and which follow the principles in the
activities then it results in high employee retention and happy employees (Ueki, 2017). Satisfied
and happy employees contributes their best in the organisation and helps in accomplishment of
desire results. Employees provide great results when they are provided with necessary training
and utilise their skills in right direction to do their best and feel valuable and appreciated. The
right strategy and direction taken by HR provides high performing employees who have the
capability to provide better and good results to the organisation in terms of productivity and
profits.
CONCLUSION
Human resource management as a department in the organisation is responsible to handle
the issues related to employees. It helps in various functions of management such as planning,
organizing, directing and controlling. They are responsible are procurement and maintenance of
human resource within the organisation. It is a continuous process where major objective of HR
is to promote team spirit and team work. The primary function of HR in the organisation is to
11

utilised the skilled workforce in the most effective and efficient manner. Humans are the most
important asset in the organisations so its the responsibility of the HR department to provide
them safe and healthy working environment.
12