Recruitment, Selection, and Employee Engagement: A Comparative Report

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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HR MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Section 1.....................................................................................................................................4
Purpose of HR function..........................................................................................................4
Importance of HR function to Chocola Fantastica.................................................................5
Strengths and weaknesses of selection methods used by Chocola Fantastica.......................6
Two potential improvements of selection process of Chocola Fantastica.............................7
Section 2.....................................................................................................................................8
Person specification for the role of Receptionist...................................................................8
Advantages and drawback of the existing process of advertising jobs in the organisation...9
Places to publish the job vacancy notice of receptionist......................................................11
Section 3...................................................................................................................................12
Internship Programs of Microsoft........................................................................................12
Flexible working arrangements............................................................................................13
Motivating workers at Microsoft.........................................................................................14
Section 4...................................................................................................................................16
Employee engagement.........................................................................................................16
Importance of employee engagement in Microsoft.............................................................16
Key approaches to employee engagement in Microsoft......................................................16
Employee engagement approaches improving workplace communication in Microsoft....17
Key elements of UK employment legislation that is relevant to the HR decisions making 17
Conclusion................................................................................................................................19
References................................................................................................................................20
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Introduction
In the modern business environment, the various human resource management (HRM)
concepts have grown to have immense importance. In fact, the various factors that
contributed to the efficiency and stability of the workforce of a business organisation are
controlled by the HR function of that organisation. In this report, the various HR activities
such as advertising, recruitment and selection of staffs in Chocola Fantastica in the UK has
been evaluated. Furthermore, the HR activities like training and employee engagement has
been discussed in the context of Microsoft.
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Section 1
Purpose of HR function
The human resource (HR) department is one of the most vital business functions of an
organisation. HR department fulfils several important purposes in a business organisation.
Some of the major purposes of HR function are:
 Planning and employment of workforce: The HR function of a business
organisation have a major purpose of recruiting and selecting efficient candidates for
filling up the vacancies created in various job designations. Nankervis et al. (2016)
argued that during this process, the managers of the various functional departments of
the organisation coordinate with the HR department in order to appoint capable and
efficient employees in the vacant designations of their respective departments.
 Development of human resource: The HR function of a business organisation has
the purpose of giving proper trainings to the newly recruited employees in order to
ensure that those employees are able to perform their assigned job duties efficiently.
According to Ulrich and Dulebohn (2015), this purpose of the HR department is
extremely important for the long-term growth of the workforce of that organisation, as
it gradually enhance the overall efficiency of all the newly recruited employees.
 Handling out remunerations and rewards: In order to maintain the motivation level
of the employees, the HR functions of all business organisations have to provide
attractive rewards to the employees showing excellent job performance, and adequate
compensations to the employees for completing extra workload or working overtime.
Kavanagh and Johnson (2017) argued that in a business organisation, the HR
department carries out the business function of managing the payroll of each of the
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employees, which includes all forms of remunerations to the employees, including
salary, incentives, rewards, compensations and such.
 Formulation of organisational policy: The formulation of the organisational policies
is one of the most important purposes of the HR function in a business organisation.
According to DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst (2016), these policies include the
distribution of organisational handbook to the employees, which includes the mission
and vision of the organisation, the guidelines regarding the organisational culture and
other important information. Furthermore, making the employees aware regarding the
codes of conduct of the organisation and the guidelines for performance appraisals is
also purposes of the HR function.
 Managing employee relations: The employee relation is a very important aspect in
any business organisation, and the HR function takes charge of that. The HR
department in a business organisation maintains communication with the employees
and any associations they form, such as the labour unions. Berman et al. (2019)
argued that the HR department of a business organisation also makes sure that the
treatment of the employees within the organisation is in accordance with the
applicable laws, ensuring the legality of the organisational business operations.
Importance of HR function to Chocola Fantastica
As the size and scope of a business organisation increases, the importance of the HR function
in that business organisation also increases. In case of Chocola Fantastica, as they are a
business organisation, which is rapidly expanding in the market of the UK, they have to
manage all the proper functions of the HR department. As their customer segment is rapidly
expanding, they have to employ a large number of new employees in order to increase their
production of Chocolate greetings cards and presents to meet their market demands.
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This is where the HR function becomes important for Chocola Fantastica, as now they have
to recruit, select, train and maintain an ever-increasing workforce, all while ensuring that the
employees have enough expertise to perform their job efficiently. As Chocola Fantastica is
located in a place with high unemployment, they have more job applicants to select from, and
their HR function has to select only the most capable and efficient employees from the pool
of applicants. Furthermore, with an increased workforce, Chocola Fantastica has to maintain
a fair policy in determining and handing out the respective payroll to each of their employees,
and implement proper performance appraisal policies for retaining a high level of employee
motivation.
Strengths and weaknesses of selection methods used by Chocola Fantastica
The selection method of Chocola Fantastica include an assessment test containing questions
on the subjects of English comprehension and Mathematics, which the applicants can take
both offline and online. After evaluating the test results, candidates who have scored more
than 50% are invited for 15-minute interview sessions, which are more like informal chats.
The advantages of this selection method are:
 This selection method is much less expensive and mostly hassle-free, as it does not
have any intermediate stages in the selection process, such as group discussion.
 The interviews in Chocola Fantastica are quite informal, which allows the applicants
to ease up and communicate more fluently with the interviewers, making the
assessment better.
The disadvantages of this selection method are much more significant than the advantages
and these disadvantages are:
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 The subjects of interest in the selection examination of Chocola Fantastica are English
and Mathematics, but it does not contain any questions regarding the chocolate
preparation processes or artworks of greetings cards, hampering the effectiveness of
the test.
 Several applicants have complained that the test is not fair and very effective, which
is supported by the fact that many applicants have failed the probationary tests.
 The interview sessions in Chocola Fantastica are informal chats that overlook the
evaluation of logical aptitudes and professional attitudes of the applicants, resulting in
inefficient selections.
Two potential improvements of selection process of Chocola Fantastica
Several improvements can be recommended for the selection process in Chocola Fantastica.
Two of the suggested improvements are:
 The assessment test of Chocola Fantastica can include questions regarding generating
cooking, chocolate preparation and artworks, which will ensure that candidates who
score more than 50% have enough knowledge regarding the business operations of
Chocola Fantastica. Furthermore, the evaluation of the test can be done fairly to
mitigate applicant dissatisfactions.
 The interview sessions of Chocola Fantastica can be more formal and fair to ensure
the selected applicants have professional attitude and aptitude.
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Section 2
Person specification for the role of Receptionist
A receptionist is required for the organisation mentioned in the study; Chocola Fantastica and
some specification are required for the post of the receptionist. The below mentioned
qualities should be present in the candidate applying for the post of the receptionist in the
organisation.
Knowledge: The candidate must have the basic knowledge of the IT and the use of the
Microsoft Excel and Word should be known to him or her. On the other hand, the candidate
has to have the ability to work in the reception and previous experience in this regard will be
prioritised. Idea of handling the electronic booking system and courier is to be known to the
candidate. Moreover, it can be said that the work pressure should be handled efficiently
(Woods et al. 2015).
Skills: The candidate must be able to work within pressure and it must be known that
sometimes he or she has to work alone sometimes. Excellent communication skill is one of
the qualities of a receptionist and customer care skill is necessary for this job role. As the
liaising with the other departments is included in the job role, the candidate must have the
ability to identify the problems in the communication (Adhikari, 2015). Good administration
and problems solving skill should be there in the candidate.
Personal attributes: From the aspects of the personal attributes, it can be said that the
candidate for the job role of a receptionist should have a pleasant and presentable personality.
His or her approachability to the staffs and the customers should be well maintained. The
behaviour of the candidate should be well mannered and he or she should have the ability to
handle the queries of the customers as well as the other staffs patiently. Moreover, a flexible
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approach towards the work is preferable for him (Kazerani et al. 2015). On the other hand, it
can be said that adaptability and approachability should be there in the role of a receptionist.
Apart from the above-mentioned duties, the receptionist have to be an active listener and he
or she have to have the idea regarding maintaining the stocks of the client stationery as well
as the sorting and distributing post. Eligible candidates with the above-mentioned qualities
are preferred for the job role.
Advantages and drawback of the existing process of advertising jobs in the organisation
The mentioned organisation has their physical notice board in order to notify the vacancies
develop in the workplace. This notice board is situated at the external wall of the entrance;
this process has certain advantages as well as some disadvantages.
Advantages:
 As the organisation has the physical vacancy notice board for notifying about their
vacancies, it has a rapid impact on the job seekers. It is found that as the notice broad
is situated at the external wall of the company, many visitors can seen it and with the
help of the word of mouth process, the eligible candidate can be aware of it (Chevalier
et al. 2015).
 Cumulative effect can be developed as the advertisement is placed upon the external
wall. The passé by people cab also apply for the post by reading the vacancy notice on
the external wall of the company (Cook, 2016).
 Costing for the advertisement would be lowered due to the use of the vacancy notice
board in the organisation. The organisation has to spend a huge amount of money if
they use the contemporary method of publishing the advertisement.
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 As the board is placed at the outer wall of the organisation, it would be visible 24
hours for the common people. Thus, it can be said that the rapid exposure to the
candidates can be available from this (Trojanowska et al. 2016).
Disadvantages:
Apart from the above-motioned advantages, some of the disadvantages are also there with the
use of the physical notice board used to notify the vacancies. Those cons can affect the ability
of the advertisement to generate awareness regarding the vacancy in the organisation.
 As the advertisements are developed in order to generate public awareness
regarding the vacancy available in the organisation, it can be said that the physical
notice board would be unable to provide the details of the job role. Thus, the
candidate may ignore the post.
 Effective measuring tools are unavailable for measuring the effectiveness of the
advertisements (Van den Berg et al. 2016). On the other hand, it can be said that
with the help of physical notice board in the organisation, it would be difficult to
reach t the target candidates all the times. Thus, it would be a risk for the
organisation.
 Lack of flexibility can be seen in the use of the physical notice board for notifying
the vacancy of the candidate, as it is not possible to correct any information or
new data regarding the vacancy or job role.
With the help of the pros and cons developed in the organisation using the physical notice
board for their vacancy notification, it can be said that this process should be changed in near
future for better effect (Kumar et al. 2018).
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Places to publish the job vacancy notice of receptionist
Instead of using the physical notice board in order to post the vacancy for the receptionist,
other methods should be adapted by the mentioned organisation, Chocola Fantastica. Those
methods have been described below with their justification as well.
Job searching websites: One of the best methods to post the vacancy notice is the werbsites
where the jobs are being searched by the candidates. Those job sites are accessed by a
number of candidates and the chances of finding the right candidate are more in this method,
rather than the conventional method. Moreover, this method would help into adding the
details of the job role, which would be beneficial for the candidate as they can be aware of
the potential details of the job (Granovetter, 2018).
Newspaper: Although the printed newspapers are being reduced in most of the countries,
however, it is one of the job searching methods of the candidates. The organisation must
enlist with the newspaper so that the advertisement should be published in the proper way
and able to catch the attention of the potential candidates. On the other hand, the contact
details of the company would be given in to it, which help the candidate to contact to the
concerned person easily.
Social media: One of the contemporary approaches to post the job advertisement is the social
media. A number of groups are there in the social media, which can help to search about the
right candidate (Amato et al. 2019). Moreover, as posting it to the social media is free, it
would be cost saving for the company.
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