Human Resource Management Report: Albion Clothing Company Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human resource management (HRM) practices within the Albion Clothing Company. It begins with an overview of the company's background and its position in the New Zealand garment industry. The report then delves into two current HRM trends: workforce diversity and employee involvement, discussing their advantages, disadvantages, benefits, and implementation strategies. It identifies and analyzes two key HRM issues faced by Albion: the recruitment and retention of talented employees, proposing solutions such as partnering with staffing companies and implementing onboarding technologies. Furthermore, the report explores two HRM practices for enhancing sustainability: corporate social responsibility (CSR) and effective communication, examining their benefits, drawbacks, and practical application within the company. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of these practices for Albion's long-term success in a competitive market.

Running Head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Background of the Company
In the later part of the 1970s, the Albion Clothing Limited established its first step in the
industry of New Zealand. It was the time, when the manufacture of New Zealand was booming
remarkably. The innovation and technology had started to influence the garments industry and
the Albion company made the best use of the opportunity. The founder of the company was
George Steele who always sought for quality and standard. Hence, he selected the garments
industry to focus on and have a start. He also concentrated on making best relationships and
investment with not only the latest technology but the best technology (Albionclothing.co, 2018).
The company basically cuts, makes, trims and manufactures the garments after taking the
design, pattern and vision described by the customer. In the making of garments, the company
uses the best CAD system called Lectra which is a French made solution. It allows to grade the
sizes without much effort and ensures utmost superiority by the help of Lectra cutter. The
company is aimed at the supply of quality products and hence their manufacturing process is
optimized to ensure the best outcome(Albionclothing.co, 2018).
Task 1
1.1 Two current trends are Workforce Diversity and Employee Involvement
Workforce Diversity – The workforce diversity is the process of bringing a variety of
people together in a single workplace. The workforce diversity functions in a way that so many
other concepts cannot do. It concerns the personal more, rather than the professional. Diversity
brings about a great range of talented people together in order to promote innovation and
advancement in the business operations and facilitate ultimate success of the organization

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(Albrecht et al., 2015). The cash flow of the company increases inevitably and it has also been
found that the ethnically diverse companies outperform the companies which are beyond such
phenomenon. This is because the ethnically diverse companies entertain employee satisfaction,
improves the customer orientation, attract more talents in the workforce.
Advantages- 1) The internet has made the world seem smaller by bringing everything and
everyone closer than expected. The global opportunities are opened by the help of diverse
culture, mindset and skills. In an organizational workplace, if there are a variety of employees
working, it has a rich culture and strength to grow in future (Bratton & Gold, 2017).
2) On the other hand, innovation is fostered by diversity. A group of people with similar
backgrounds will come up with a similar idea, but if there are different people of different
cultures, innovation is likely to occur with creative ideas (Brewster, Chung & Sparrow, 2016).
The diverse teams are more innovative, creative and productive than people from similar
demographics.
Disadvantage – 1) However, the workforce diversity has its own drawbacks too. Since,
there has to be effective communication in order to become successful, it is an essential factor.
The employee has to know a variety of languages while handling international customers.
2) Apart from the general trainings related to work, the companies feel the necessity to arrange
for seminars, lectures and language trainings too in order to make diversity a strong point in their
organizational process and not a weak problem due to language and cultural barriers. In order to
achieve desired unity in the workforce, the training is mandatory to teach the employees to
accept and adopt the new cultures and workplace rules (Brewster, 2016). Hence, a huge amount
is invested in the entire process.

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Benefits to the future of a business – 1) High level of productivity is promoted by the
help of workforce diversity within the organization. Those employees who belong to different
countries or regions having unique expertise and skills can introduce new techniques and
solutions to the business operations that ultimately promote productivity and growth.
2) The interaction with different cultures, perspectives and ideas can introduce new ways of
thinking and change the way the employees used to think previously. It helps to know,
understand and respect each other’s cultures promoting collaboration and increases high chances
for the company to become successful.
How to implement workforce diversity- Training the executives in Albion and the
leaders so that they can welcome diversity at the time of recruitment and hiring. The recruitment
must not be limited in the home region or home country. In order to enjoy the talent pool, the
suitable employees from around the world must be hired (Collings, Wood & Szamosi, 2018).
The diversity programs have to start long before the employee recruitment processes from
diverse cultures and backgrounds. The recruitment and the training sessions have to be avoiding
the stereotypical approach.
Employee Involvement- The employee involvement is nothing but the creation of an
environment where people have an impact on the actions and decisions which affect their job
significantly. It is neither a goal nor a tool, rather it is a kind of leadership and management
philosophy about how people can contribute to the development and success of the organization
where they work. The organizations must involve their employees in the decision making
process in order to continuously improve their workplace.

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Advantages- 1) The employees are the real bricks of an organizational design. Hence, when
they are given importance and their talents are acknowledged, they are feel motivated and
retained for a long time. Their motivation is ultimately reflected in their performances and the
growth in the business operations.
2) The feedbacks received from the employees at regular intervals, the internal human resource
related issues can be spotted earlier before being complicated and resolved as soon as possible.
Disadvantages- 1) There are challenges too. First of all, the line of separation and
distinction between the employees and the management becomes hazy. It is good to value the
employees but there has to be a disciplined structure in the organizational stability. The
employees must be given the opportunity to make the decisions but there must be certain
responsibilities reserved for the management only.
2) In the employee involvement systems, issue like inconsistent decision making. the
inconsistency in the decision making can take its toll on the recognition of the brand and its
success. It can have negative impacts and the managers might face difficulties in monitoring the
activities and decisions.
Benefits to the future of a business – 1) The first benefit of employee engagement in a
particular business is that having been engaged in the important activities of the business, the
employees feel responsible towards the goals of the business and help the company in attaining
the competitive edge. The employees get to see the big picture and understand their own roles in
that big picture.
2) When the company is about to bring any kind of change in the organizational structure or in
other aspect, staff involvement supports the company to change in a better way without any

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hindrances. The employees when given a chance to present their thoughts, makes the phase of
transition smoother.
How to implement employee involvement? – The employees in Albion have to be
given the flexibilities which gives the employees a chance to adjust their location or work
schedules according to their needs. They must be encouraged to participate in the volunteer
projects just as a team. the trust relationships with the employees have to be strengthened so that
they have the guts to present what they think in front of the management. Prior to any big event
of the company, all the employees must be communicated via conferences or meetings where
they can also put their queries and opinions.
1.2 Two HRM issues faced by Albion
The Recruitment of Talented People- Albion is facing issues in attracting talent
because it is a huge investment of money and time. It becomes difficult for the entrepreneurs to
keep balance between smooth business operations and hiring talented and suitable employees for
strengthening workforce. Moreover, it is also equally difficult to know whether the selected
candidate will be good for the company. This issue can be resolved by associating with a staffing
company. These companies help to try out new and diversely talented employees with little risk.
It will save the frustration, time and money too. The evaluation of the right talent is important
and can be done in this way.
The Retention of Talented People- In the highly competitive market, the competition
of the talented people is high. The employee turnovers can leave significant impact on the
growth of business. The company has invested in the recruitment, hiring and training process of
the employee and when they leave it is felt throughout the company. In order to resolve the issue,

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the Albion clothing company can make use of onboarding. Recently, there are few effective
onboarding technology solutions which can keep an employee for minimum of three years. It
would be of great help for the company. Apart from this, the company can also keep the
employees motivated by financial or non-financial incentives along with talent acknowledgement
at regular intervals.
Task 2
2.1 Two HRM practices for sustainability enhancement
In the highly competitive industry, an organization needs to maintain its sustainability so
that it is not left behind in the competition. Hence the Albion clothing company also needs to
welcome some of the effective HRM practices in order to stay sustainable in the market. Two of
the most fruitful strategies are practicing CSR in the business activities along with maintaining
powerful communication in the workforce.
Corporate Social Responsibility – The CSR or the corporate social responsibility is
nothing but a self-regulating business model which helps a company to become accountable
socially, to the customers and to the stakeholders. A company having practiced CSR know what
impact they are leaving on the society and on the people. Engaging in the CSR activities means
that a company is contributing in the development of the environment, society and the people.
Advantages – 1) The business reputation of the company gets increased. An investment on
the CSR establishes the reputation as a responsible organization. This reputation is the stepping
stone to achieve the competitive advantage. It is a great driver of the buyer decisions and drives
them in favor of then CSR practicing company.

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2) Another great advantage of practicing CSR is that having reduced the use of resources,
emissions and wastes the environment can be benefitted. At the same time money is saved too.
When the savings of the company are bigger, it is destined to go a long –run in the industry.
Disadvantages- 1) However, like every other practices, CSR also has few challenges. First
of all, the CSR practices pave way for greater scrutiny. Once a company announces the CSR
gameplan, the world comes to know about it. A CSR plan which is a failed case can easily ruin
the future of a company. The company suffers from the scrutiny of customers, society and the
media (Stone & Deadrick, 2015).
2) Secondly, if it is viewed from the administrative perspective, practicing CSR might not always
be cost –friendly. A team has to be employed in the execution of CSR. Hence, there is always a
financial aspect related to the CSR campaign to make the initiative a success.
Benefit for the future – 1) The organization will be preferred by the potential customers
and it will serve as a powerful step against the established garment retailers in the market of New
Zealand.
2) It will invite new and powerful investors who are attracted by the reputation of the copay and
its contribution to the corporation social responsibilities.
How to apply CSR in Albion- First of all, the company will have to recognize the focus
of the CSR program. Among so many focus areas the major focus has to be narrowed. Then the
costs need to be determined since the practice of CSR involve financial considerations too. The
next step is to engage the employees so that they can use their skills to make it a success. The
next task is to communicate with the stakeholders that includes the customers, community and
the business partners (Wiegmann & Shappell, 2017). The information of the effort has to be

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shared with everyone closely associated with the organization. The social efforts can be
promoted by the help of social media, advertisement, press releases.
2.2 How to recognize the suitable skills and talents
It has been found that the business organizations are identified to be suffering from the
issue of some staffs being under-utilized in the skills that they possess. On the other hand, there
are staffs too who do not possess sufficient skills for the position they are holding (Tung, 2016).
In order to address such HRM issues the Albion clothing company should first of all focus on the
recruitment process in order to find out the right talent with proper eligibility ab quality. The
company will have to keep in mind that real talents are hard to find and they must be selected by
people and not the machines (Ford, 2014). A partnership with recruitment agencies would be an
efficient way of hiring real talent because they use cutting edge technologies. Secondly, if they
find that there are also some employees who do not possess the quality they are supposed to
have, they must either arrange for training programs to make them suitable for the position they
hold or empty the company of such employees.
2.3 Strategies to retain employees
It has been also found that 15 % of the organization’s present staffs are planning to retire
over the next two years and the recruitment of the new workers have become highly competitive.
In order to make the organizations more favorable among the prospective employees along with
having a higher retention rate the Albion company might adopt any strategies. First of all, it
should use proper communication in order to build credibility. Since communication is central to
establishing and maintaining the credibility. The employer must know about the opinions of their
employees and at the same time, employees must also know that the management is sensitive

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towards their problems. Secondly, the employees can be retained if they feel motivated towards
their work. The company can motivate them by showing appreciation via compensation and
benefits. These benefits can be in the firm of monetary and non-monetary rewards. Notably, the
awards must be meaningful to the employees so that it leaves impact on their perception of the
company.
Task 3
3.1 The Pest Analysis
The PEST analysis of the market of New Zealand would be useful in determining the
external environmental factors which leave impact in meeting the strategic objectives of the
Albion Clothing company. A focus on the economic, technological and social factors would be
the key determiners.
The Economic Factors
The income of the entire country of New Zealand is almost eight times more than
Indonesia. It means that there is no scarcity of products in the market. The people of New
Zealand spend more on the products that helps the country to buy capital goods, necessary
products and luxurious products. The unemployment rate and inflation rates is also less than
other countries. Since the inflations rate is low, the companies of New Zealand are bound to keep
their product prices low too. It can become a great pressure on the Albion company.
Social Factors

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It has been found that the number of and Christians are more in New Zealand. Hence,
during the festival times such as Christmas, the percentage of goods being sold and bought
increase in this country. A society becomes stronger when thee education rates are high. New
Zealand has inevitably, more numbers of educated people that is 99% (Wilton, 2016). With the
expansion of education, the style and quality of life also increases. Hence, it is a profitable aspect
for the garments industry too because with education and economic strength, the fashion culture
also increases.
Technological Factors
Like the Albion company, the technological development has been accepted by many
countries. It helps to increase the business growth and reputation too. All the companies around
the globe are in the race of updating their operating processes adopting the modernization of
technology and business. Hence, the Albion company must keep innovating their technological
factors to meet the customer needs and preferences sustainably.
3.2 Two of the strategies to support performance management
The Albion company must adopt two strategies to support the performance management
which are arranging for training programs twice a year and motivating the employees by talent
acknowledgement (Nankervis, 2016). The employees get motivated by appraisal programs
where their talent and service for the company is recognized and endorsed. Since it is an
effective career development tool equally fir the mangers and the employees, has a wide range of
effects on them. The employees are motivated to increase the productivity and get an
upgradation on their career levels too. Those employees who are about to leave the company,

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might get the urge to take the responsibility of the team if they are recognized by the
management and rewarded too.
The training programs on the other hand simultaneously increases the superiority
performance and gives the employees the knowledge of where they stand and where they need to
go (Jabbour & de Sousa Jabbour, 2016). The tools of performance management will help the
management of the Albion company to improve on the effectiveness of the business
organization. The performance management in the company must cover four specific areas
starting with expectation and planning, execution, monitoring, analyzing and forecasting finally.
The feedback process and performance survey would be useful in determining the gaps in the
employee qualities and support in improving those specific areas for better performance in the
organization.
3.3 Recommendations
The performance of the staffs can be managed by the company in so many ways. First of
all, it must set clear expectations. The expectations and the goals must be set properly based on
which the performance can be evaluated and managed. Research has found that the setting of
clear goals helps the employees to boost their performances and motivates them to enhance their
efforts. It has also been found that financial rewards and bonuses are not the most motivational
incentives. Those companies having clear goals dictated to the employees get the best outcomes.
Secondly, it must be ensured that the employee discipline policies are followed consistently. It
will retain the standard of work along with clearing whether any improvement is needed or not.