Analysis of HR Strategies and Impact on Performance: Marks & Spencer's

This report examines the human resource (HR) strategies of Marks & Spencer's, a UK-based multinational retailer. It explores the importance of effective HR strategies in gaining a competitive advantage, particularly in a highly competitive market. The report highlights the significance of HRM in adapting to changes in the business environment, emphasizing the roles of recruitment, selection, training, and development in enhancing employee performance. The analysis covers key HR challenges faced by Marks & Spencer's, such as employee retention, and offers insights into strategies for overcoming these issues, including the use of employee engagement programs, conflict resolution, and motivation theories. The report also traces the historical development of HRM and its relevance in the current market trends, emphasizing its role in employee motivation, satisfaction, and adapting to environmental changes such as globalization, technology, and legislation. The report also includes an HR model and provides a comprehensive overview of HR practices within the context of Marks & Spencer's business operations.

HR Strategies
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3
Task 1 ..............................................................................................................................................3
Importance of effective HR strategies in getting competitive advantage....................................3
Task 2 ..............................................................................................................................................5
Importance and relevance of HRM..............................................................................................5
Task 3 ..............................................................................................................................................9
Role of recruitment and selection in increasing employee performance ....................................9
Critical evaluation of training and development in increasing employee's performance..........10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
References......................................................................................................................................14
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Illustration Index
Illustration 1: HR model................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
In the present scenario, management of human resources has become one of the most
important and difficult tasks for the organization. The competitionCompetition among businesses
in almost every sector has become so tough so that it is not easy to earn adequate profits.
Companies are required to develop effective strategies related to human resources in order to
accomplish their aim and objectives (Avery and et.al., 2007). In order to gain competitive
advantage over other market players, organizations needs to take care of their human resources.
They are also required to provide them their employees with training and development programs
at regular intervals in order to make them competent. The present report is based on Marks &
Spencer's which is UK based multinational retailer which that deals in luxury food, home and
clothing products. The report explains importance of effective HR strategies in getting
competitive advantage. Other than this, it also demonstrates the significance of managing human
resources due to changes in business environment. The current report also explains the role of
training, selection, training recruitment and development in enhancing the performance of Mark
& Spencer's employees.
TASK 1
Importance of effective HR strategies in getting competitive advantage
HR strategies can be defined as the action plan and policies which are framed by ana
business enterprise to maintain and manage its human resources. Marks & Spencer's is a retailer
which faces major competition from organizations such as Asda group, Next Plc and Tesco
(Bakker and Schaufeli, 2008). Further, it can be stated that because of high degree of competitor
competition, it is not easy for businesses such as Marks & Spencer's to attract new customers and
retain its old ones. The brand is required to focus on development of effective HR strategies in
order to gain competitive advantage. Marks & Spencer's can easily accomplish all its aim and
objectives if the relationship between employers and employee is good. Along with this,
effective HR strategies also helps in understanding the need and demand of people at workplace.
Thus, by meeting those expectations of workers, Marks & Spencer's develops a sense of
satisfaction among them. This results in making employees more efficient and productive
(Bohlander and Snell, 2006). Competitive advantage can be defined as a situation in which
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people in market prefer to choose products and services of one particular organization over all
the other players in the market. All the companies operating in food and clothing industry have
almost same kind of technological and financial resources. Further, what makes the resource
which makes one organization differ formfrom another is its effective human resources. Marks &
Spencer's HR strategies has have become a key component in employee retentions. Effective
action plan not only creates satisfaction among workers but also motivates them to give their
best. This results in making the entire organization more effective and also supports in getting
competitive advantage over other businesses. Strategies related to human resource management
assists Marks & Spencer's during the process of recruitment and selection. At the time of
employee selection, a fair and transparent policy is used where employees are being selected on
the basis of their knowledge, skill set and experience. HR strategies also focuses on employee’s
training and development programs which makes them more competence. In such sessions,
Marks & Spencer's try tries to enhance the knowledge and skills set of all its workers. The result
of this is that creative and unique ideas are provided by employees to the organization for getting
competitive advantage (Badawy, 2007). At the time of operating at global marketplace, HR
strategies play very important role. The humanHuman resource department of Marks &
Spencer's determines whether expatriates should be appointed or the organization should prefer
local employees for its global ventures. Along with this, effective HR strategies also takes care
of employee performance appraisal and as well as promotions. As per the action plan of Marks &
Spencer's, employees are being promoted and rewarded only on the basis of their performance.
This has developed a sense of satisfaction among all the workers and has also helped in
motivating them (Marrelli, 2010).
Marks & Spencer's is facing various kinds of issues which are related to its overall
performance. One of the major issues is of employee retention as the organization is not able to
retain its efficient workforce. The number of employees leaving the organization is increasing.
The major reason of this is negative work environment, low morale, long working hours
including work on weekends and holidays etc. It can be also stated that workers are considered
as lifeblood of the retailer (Beck, 2013). Further, it also invests huge amount of financial
resources on selection, training and development of the same as it can also be stated that workers
are considered as lifeblood of the retailer (Beck, 2013). The remunerationsRemunerations and
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incentives provided by Marks & Spencer's are not appropriate. This has resulted in high rate of
employee turnover which is a big loss to the organizations. The strategic issues which has been
faced by Marks & Spencer's in context of HRM is that it is having more experienced and
knowledgeable employees. This is good for the organization but the problem is that the pool for
talented individuals has become very smaller (Chadwick, 2008). At the time of recruitment,
Marks & Spencer's is required to select candidates on the basis of their competencies rather than
selecting people on the basis of their experiences. Due to lack of competencies, employees fail
in identifying the needs and preference of customers. This further leads to dissatisfaction among
workforce. Further, company fails to make use of employee engagement programs which is very
crucial approach to sustain employees. Thereafter, negative work culture is also a factor
responsible for dissatisfaction among employees. Furthermore, lack of participation of
employees in business decision making also a reason for low morale among the staff members
(Rynes, and et.al., 2010). Therefore, it is viable for company to ensure effective and proper
participation of members in decision making process.
To overcome the negative work environment, conflict within different departments and
members should be resolved. Also, management of Mark and Spencer can use exit interview that
is conducted of when employee leaving the leaves to the organization (Macey and Schneider,
2008). This will help in identifying the reason because of which individual is separating from
company. Therefore, proper actions can be taken in future to retain the rest of the employees. For
instance, the exit interview reveals that lack of motivation is reason for their departure. In this
respect, company can take corrective measure by employing Maslow motivation theory in the
organization. With this aspect, management can focus on different needs of employees, such as
physiological, safety, social, esteem and self actualizationself-actualization (Thomas, 2011).
ThereforeThus, employee can be motivated as per its unsatisfied needs.
TASK 2
Importance and relevance of HRM
Businesses cannot achieve higher sales and profitability without having highly skilled
workforce. The concept of human resource management deals with variety of elements such as
recruitment of workers, organizing their trainings, motivating them and taking care of their
performance appraisals (Hennessey and Amabile, 2005). Human resource manager of ana
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business enterprise is required to recruit people and arrange training sessions for them. Further,
HRM is the one which determines job description and specification for a vacant position in the
organization. Along with this, effective human resource management results in the making the
employee aware about their duties, roles and responsibilities. Other than this, HRM also plays a
very vital role in developing and maintaining atmosphere of work in the organization. It can be
also stated that both culture and structure of ana business enterprise is driven by its human
resource management (Aghazadeh, 2003). In addition to this, good and hygienic working
conditions develops motivation among workers and also enhance their performance. Safe and
clean workplace can bring out the best in the employees. Other than this, human resource
management also helps people in the organization to become aware about their key roles and
responsibilities. HRM is also important because it supports in managing disputes within
workplace which is one of the major issues that has been faced by most of companies (Bohlander
and Snell, 2006).
In terms of historical development, it can be stated that the first form of human resources
managementresource management was industrial welfare. Back in the year 1833, the factor Act
highlighted the need and necessity of male inspectors inn in factory. Further, with the passage of
time, some developments were done and legislation was passed stating that working hours of
children and women's should be restricted to 60 hours per weakweek (Analoui, 2007). This was
the time when the concept of trade unions was developed. During the first world warFirst World
War, the idea of recruitment and selection was formulated as more emphasis was provided to the
best utilization of all the people. After this, when the second world warSecond World War was
going on, there were some developments done in the field of human resource management. This
was the time where concentration was given to areas such as employees training, motivation and
morales. In the year 1970, industrial relations started to play a significant role in the
organization. In this period, more importance was given to areas such as health and safety of
workers.
The major development was in 1990's where flexible workers were arranged for the
people in organization. This has resulted in boasting up the morale and motivational level of all
workers (Baker and Doran, 2007). It was the year 2000 from where when the use of internet has
started to grow which created new employment opportunities in the field of e-commerce. In
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context of current market trends, it can be stated that human resource management has become
one of the key aspects of business enterprise. Companies are well aware of this fact that if they
want to achieve higher sales and profitability then they needs to have highly skilled and
motivated workforce. Now, the employees are being encouraged to give their views and
suggestions which can benefit organization. In addition to this, companies also takes care of
motivation and satisfaction of their workers. The humanHuman resources management provides
rewards and recognition to employees against their outstanding performances (Anderson, 2009).
In the changing environment, management of human resources has become very
important for Marks & Spencer's. In the modern era, environment, organizational culture and
individuals are some of the major challenges which the organization faces. Further, environment
issues are the one which cannot be controlled by Marks & Spencer's and have direct or indirect
impact on its operations. Some of the key environment challenges includes globalization,
technology, legislation, rapid change and diversity of workforces (Armstrong, 2011).
Management of human resources helps Marks & Spencer's to deal with all the above stated
issues in an effective manner. The plansPlans and policies made by human resource managers
help workers to cope up with the rapid changes in the external business environment (Koltko-
Rivera, 2006). Along with this, training sessions are also arranged by human resource
department to make workers to handle and adapt changes. Other than this, in last few years,
HRM has also started to play a very curial role in keeping Marks & Spencer's out of the trouble
related to laws.
At the time of developing rules, regulations and laws, human resource management
makes sure that all the laws and legislation related to employment are being addressed by Marks
& Spencer's. In the current scenario, there has been a rapid growth and development in the field
of technology which has been was never before (Boxall and Purcell, 2003). In order to survive
and earn adequate profits, the organization needs to adopt latest and advanced technology. By
developing and delivering training schedules for workers, human resource manager of Marks &
Spencer's ensures that all its workers are technologically advanced and upgraded. The
organization is termed as one of the most popular brands all across the world. In past few years,
it has performed really well and in the year 2015, its profits before tax has increased to 3.4%
(Braynion, 2004).
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Furthermore, there are various HR models that can be used by Mark and Spencer to
determine the implications of key HR policies within the organization. In this respect, various
models can be used by company like, Harvard framework, Guest model, best practice model,
contingency model etc. The Harvard framework model was developed by renowned business
school, Harvard (Cai and Kleiner, 2004). It states that line managers tends to take more work
responsibilities for assuring alliance of business strategy and individual goals. Therefore, it also
focuses on the need of personnel development for attaining the organizational success.
Furthermore, the Harvard framework also details out the key HR areas like, influence of human
resources, flow of human capital, reward and work system etc. In this respect, human resource
influence can be identified by overviewing the structure, distribution of authority, responsibility
and power within Mark and Spencer (Brown and Posner, 2001). Thereafter, human capital flow
refers to the process of recruitment, selection, training and termination process adopted within
the company. Likewise, reward and work system deals with factors like, performance evaluation
process, alignment of human resources etc. Therefore, by adopting Harvard framework model,
Mark and Spencer can ensure, about the factors such as Ccommitment, congruity, competence
and cost efficiency within company. Similarly, another important model like, best practice model
can be implemented in organization’s working practice (Cartwright, 2005).
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The best practice outlines the key activities that results into superior level of
commitment and standard performance of workforce thatworkforce that is further fruitful for
entity. Therefore, various best practices involve practices activities like, job safety, sophisticated
selection, need based training, strong communication, team working and reduction of status
barriers etc (Dimba. 2010). These practices help in inculcating loyalty, confidence and high
morale among workforce which is further essential to get their best performance and ensure their
retention within company. Therefore, company can also take into consideration another approach
like, contingency model. It is a significant HR model that states that HR practices should be
mould as per the business needs or environment. It further ensures adequate flexibility in
business strategy and policies (Fox, 2008). Thereafter, guest model is formed on the perception
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Illustration 1: HR model
(Source:Human Resource Management Model - what is human resource. 2015)

that HRM is relatively different approach from personnel management. It further takes into
consideration the six key concept for analysis, including HRM strategy, practices, outcomes,
performance, financial and behaviour results. It further states that these elements have direct
relation with the success of HRM strategy; therefore proper consideration must be given on the
key elements (Fried, 2011).
TASK 3
Role of recruitment and selection in increasing employee performance
Recruitment can be defined as the process in which applications are being invited for the
vacant position within organization (Cartwright, 2005). On the other hand, selection is the
process where deserving individuals are chosen for the vacant post. Further, it can be stated that
both these processes play very an important role in the success of Marks & Spencer's. At the
time of recruitment and selection, the organization adopts for a fair and transparent policy
(Harris and Brewster, 2003). This results in developing satisfaction among all the existing
employees and other new candidates. There is no partiality done by Marks & Spencer's at the
time of selection. In addition to this, it is completely based on the qualification, knowledge and
skill set of the applicant. Selecting a person with good skills and competencies can help in
enhancing the performance necromancer of all other workers. At the time of recruitment and
selection, the organization needs to make sure that it provides preference to those candidates
which are highly skilled and competence (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). When a motivated and skilled
workers enters into the organizations, then a positive environment is created within workplace.
This enhances the performance of other existing employees within the organization. Effective
process of selection has provided the brand with highlight talented and skilled workforce. To a
certain extent, the quality of Marks & Spencer's human resources management relies on its
process of recruitment and selection. Further, it can be also said that selection of wrong or
incapable candidate may results in lowering down the performance of other workers also.
One of the main objectives of the above stated process is to hire employees which are
capable of achieving Marks & Spencer's strategic aim and objectives (Huang, 2009). When, the
organization hires effective and competent employees, then its performance directly gets
enhanced. New and fresh talent brings innovative and creative ideas along with himself which
benefits the organization to a great extent (Koltko-Rivera, 2006). Other than this, a fair and
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transparent selection process develops satisfaction among existing workers and enhances their
performance. Recruitment also takes places within the organization in which Marks & Spencer
provides opportunities to existent employees to get promoted and fill vacant position. This acts
as ana driving force and encourages workers to perform outstanding. People within the brand are
well aware of the fact that their performance will provide them with better employment
opportunities within Marks & Spencer's. In case, when external recruitment and selection is done
by the brand, a so highly skilled candidates is are introduced in the organizations (Anon, 2015).
Further, he/ she provides learning and knowledge to other workers which enhances their overall
performances.
Critical evaluation of training and development in increasing employee's performance
Training and development programs have their own advantages and disadvantages. It can
be stated that trained workers can help Marks & Spencer's in increasing its overall performance
as well as sales. One of the major benefits of such programs is that it enhances the skills set and
knowledge of people within organization (Guest, 2011). When human, financial and
technological resources are being invested in employee training then it results in lowering down
the rate of employee retentions turnover and also the supports in increasing the rate level of
customer satisfaction. Other than this, it can be also stated that effective training programs can
results in making the entire workforce of an business enterprise productive and efficient. When,
companies invest their valuable resources in training of workers then they are able to enhance
their performance and market standings (Harris and Brewster, 2003). With the help of such
program, people are able to learn new ways and skills. This supports them in completing their
work on time and in very an effective manner. Other than this, it can be also stated that employee
can perform in more productive way if they are satisfied with their job and workplace. In order to
stay competitive in this market place, businesses are required to provide training to their
employees at regular intervals. The needNeed, taste and preferences of customers in the market
changes with a very good fast pace. The Therefore, employees needs to become aware of these
trends and changes in order to deliver better products and services (Chand, 2010).
Training sessions also helps organizations to reduce the gap between their current
performance and expected future performance. It can be also explained that workers can
contribute a lot in the success of organization if they are trained properly on the basis of industry
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