Human Resource Management: A Case Study of Tesco and Harrods

This report delves into the crucial role of Human Resource Management (HRM) within organizations, using Tesco and Harrods as illustrative case studies. The introduction defines HRM as encompassing employee training, compensation, and retention strategies, emphasizing its impact on staff turnover, conflict resolution, and overall performance. The main body explores HRM's core functions, including planning, recruiting, and training, and connects them to broader organizational strategies. The case studies of Tesco and Harrods provide practical examples of how HRM impacts employee motivation, engagement, and the alignment of HR practices with business objectives, such as maintaining staffing levels, improving employee engagement, and driving organizational success through effective management. The report critically reviews the link between HRM and wider organizational strategy, highlighting how HRM contributes to competitive advantages. It also discusses the importance of employee motivation and engagement in achieving business goals. The conclusion summarizes the significance of HRM in driving positive outcomes and provides insights into how organizations can leverage HRM to enhance performance.

Illustrating Your Analysis With Examples Including
Those Covered During The Module And Examples
From Your Own Organization Or One Known To You
Discuss

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
The role of human resource management in organizations.........................................................3
Critically review link between HRM and wider organizational strategy....................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is considered as the process of training staff, employing
and compensating them, developing strategies to retain them and policies relating to employees.
HRM in context of business is quite beneficial as it helps to improve staff turnover, conflict
resolutions, employee satisfaction and improve employee performance. Planning, directing,
recruiting, organizing, performance appraisal and Training & development are the core functions
of this department that drive towards gaining better outcomes for businesses.
The present report is based on two case study of two different organizations: TESCO and
Harrods. This study justifies the role of HRM in companies and explain the link between human
resource management and wider organizational strategy.
MAIN BODY
The role of human resource management in organizations
HRM reflected a management plan to neglect of employees concerns, in their appeal to
administration people, the more extravagant claims of their members held out promise of HRM
as route to high and excellence performance (Collings, Wood and Szamosi, 2018). In simple
words, all those activities associated within management of people and work in wide
organization is known as human resource management. It concerned with set of functions and
their application and will be viewed as system for administration of workers at workplace. It
offers new model of management of staff at work built around efforts to increase business
commitment. David Guest's model of HRM has 6 attributes of analysis, human resource strategy,
practices, behaviour, performance and financial outcomes. The concept is prescriptive in sense
that it is supported on assumption that management is distinctively different from conventional
personnel administration.
In context of TESCO-
All over the world companies are now facing extreme competition due to globalization,
instability and market uncertainty. One of the main role-played by human resource management
in TESCO is to maintain staffing level effectively (Farndale and et.al., 2020). Firm expanded
their business all around the world, it now has over 2,200 outlets including supermarkets and
TESCO express stores to meet large number of consumers needs. In order to support
organizational growth, company needs people that are well-trained, motivated and flexible and
who effectively recognize as well as consider clients needs. Motivation is the procedure through

which HRM encourage people to be effective and productive. The key role of this management
in firm is to develop program for existing workers and motivation of staff members to step for
betterment in business. Rewards and praise for hard-working performance is the source of
employee motivation, that help to retain talented people with company for long period (Brueller,
Carmeli and Markman, 2018). Human resource professionals identify the needs and desire of
staff and then make plan to fulfil needs in effective manner. Organization consider workers
motivation is one of the most essential thing that supports continued growth and longer term
success of business within retail sector. HRM within company motivate their employees by
developing and increasing their skills, knowledge and job satisfaction through training and
development sessions. Management create plan for this specific activity, which is quite
beneficial in context of both workers and firm. It helps to encourage people and make them more
able to work harder and support while achieving greater results by selling quality products to
target market.
In context of Harrods-
Harrods is one of the most popular brand in the world, their Knightsbride outlets has 1
million square feet of selling space with over 330 varied departments. HRM plays vital role in
company as it helps to increase employee engagement and build strong workforce at workplace
who are able to achieve organizational aims and objectives of business. In order to gain
competitive advantages and continuing success of firm, employee engagement and commitment
essential. Human resource department play their role in managing staff relationships, they
change organizational culture to make business able to meets the needs of their workers (Barrales
Molina, Kaynak and Gutiérrez Gutiérrez, 2018). Once applicants are hired, HR has a key role in
making assure new people remain on board bys safeguarding organization culture, in doing so,
human resource section add value bye helping firm to avoid any potentially damaging rifts that
jeopardize their culture. HRM create positive environment within Harrods that helps to increase
its employee engagement towards achieving objectives. Manager at company focus on making
employee relations, in specific its employee turnover, high employee turn over decrease the
productivity as well as profitability of company. Firm take action to reduce the impact of this act
and improve employee engagement (Mpofu, 2016). Hierarchical structure of Harrods create
difficulties for workers to communicate with seniors and identify their role. In context of this,

HRM design new structure or change the existing ones make it flatter with people taking on
more accountabilities, it helps to increase employee engagement rather than past few years.
Some essential roles of human resource department in TESCO and Harrods in addition to
operative and managerial functions are advisory role, policy initiation, decision-making,
leadership, competency building, mediator, welfare, linking pin role, so on and so forth.
Critically review link between HRM and wider organizational strategy
Human resource management is the top-level function concerned with setting board
strategies and direction (Brewster, 2017). Firms have to sustain in such environment, there will
be explicit links between business strategies and practices followed by management including
development of staff. HR become the most important resource which give competitive benefits
to firm and therefore, will be managed as well as valued in context of organizational strategies.
Business aim to successfully link human resource department to overall strategy of firm and give
appropriate emphasis to existing problems such as strategic reward systems, performance
management and managing knowledge for strategic advantage. Organization is made up of
people of varied ages, with different customs and profile, some performances well in group,
others are motivated by challenging objectives and other are more analytical. To align with
whole team and to manage these differences undoubtedly it becomes a difficult task or big
challenge for firm, and that where importance of HRM at workplace come into play.
Human resource management provide benefits to company by managing their existing as
well as new applicants effectively (Xing and et.al., 2020). They used different methods and
techniques to manage workforce. Motivation is the key to growth and success of business, after
all motivated people work better. Human resource management play an important role in this
procedure, they are able to inspire people at workplace, professional create comfortable and
creative work area that helps to increase the motivational level of workers in effective manner.
HR department and its team members has many accountabilities, to manage people at work place
they utilize plan or strategy for example praise people. Workers always want to know when they
have done a good job and work effectively. HRM tell employees where they did well and when
they did not, honest praise is the key valuable tool of motivation. Positive comment will make
people want to continue their success forward to further practices, by knowing that their work is
valued will help company to motivate staff and manage people for longer.

But on the other hand, praise bring a lot of issues, some time honest praise by HRM in
regard to workers performance when they are not doing good, decrease its morale and
demotivate them. It will decrease productivity rather than before and might be increase employee
turnover.
Human resource management practices also link with other organizational strategy such
as increasing profit (Azmi, 2019). The profit margin of Harrods will increase when employees
work effectively and deliver quality services or products to its consumers. HRM develop training
and development plans for new and existing staff members which make them able to work
perfectly and sell quality goods that increase profit margin of company rather than before. It
helps to increase efficiencies in procedure, resulting in financial gain, job satisfaction, employee
motivation, morale among people's, reduce employee turnover, enhanced firm image and also
reduce workplace discrimination.
On the other side, when HRM do not consider the actual needs of specific skill's which
help to increase probability, the outcomes will not be obtained positively throughout this
program as it only increase the cost of activities. Human resource management without
determining the need of skill that required to develop among workers will not be able to gain
positive results.
In recent time, Human resource helps top brass of companies in shaping their strategies
as much as firms warrants HR strategies to obtain attuned to their objectives and mission. In
simple words, HR functions and practices which is not aligned with organizational strategies
fails to accomplish vision and mission of firms.
CONCLUSION
From above analysis it has been summarized that human resource department is one of
the most significant element of TESCO and Harrods, it helps to drive people towards gaining
better outcomes. High employee turnover impact the bottom line of Harrods brand, it cost twice
as much as existing workers' salary to train and find new applicants. By with the help and
support of human resource management, firm will reduce employee turn over and motivate
people by applying different methods at workplace. HRM know how to retain and hire new
candidates for firm from the beginning.

REFERENCES
Book and Journals
Azmi, F.T., 2019. Strategic Human Resource Management: Text and Cases. Cambridge
University Press.
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Resource-Related Quality Management Practices in New Product Development: A
Dynamic Capability Perspective.
Brewster, C., 2017. The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy.
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Routledge.
Brueller, N.N., Carmeli, A. and Markman, G.D., 2018. Linking merger and acquisition strategies
to postmerger integration: a configurational perspective of human resource
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Collings, D.G., Wood, G.T. and Szamosi, L.T., 2018. Human resource management: A critical
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30(1). pp.1-12.
Liu, Y. and Meyer, K.E., 2018. Boundary spanners, HRM practices, and reverse knowledge
transfer: The case of Chinese cross-border acquisitions. Journal of World Business.
p.100958.
Mpofu, M., 2016. The Moderating Role Played By Human Resource Department in Promoting
Ethics: A Case Study of the Pharmaceutical Industry in Bulawayo (Doctoral
dissertation, Lupane State University).
Xing, Y and et.al., 2020. Entrepreneurial team and strategic agility: A conceptual framework and
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