Comprehensive Analysis of HRM Practices and Impact on H&M Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at H&M, a multinational fast-fashion company. It explores the purpose and functions of HRM in planning and resourcing the organization, including organizational behavior, structure, and diversity mana...Read More

Human Resource
Management
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................3
P1 Purpose and function of HRM on planning and resourcing an organisation.........................3
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.
.....................................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................6
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and employee..............................................................................................................6
P4 Explain the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational
profit and productivity.................................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5 Evaluate the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision
marking.......................................................................................................................................8
P6 Evaluate the key elements of employment legislation and its impact on the HRM decision
making.......................................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work related context, using specific
example.....................................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14
INTRODUCTION
2

Human resource management is the process of selecting, recruiting, training, motivating
the employees of an organisation (Noe and et.al., 2018). It focuses on proper management of
available workforce and making the most out of them as manpower is the greatest resource for
any organisation. In order to ensure the effectiveness of work, it is important that the companies
should have a strong Human Resource Department. For this report the chosen organisation is
H&M. It is a Swedish multi-national company founded in 1947 and have its stores in 73 markets.
It is into fast-fashion for men, women and children. H&M has a wider market in Europe. The
report includes purpose and function of HRM, strength and weakness, impact on HRM upon
decision-making and application of HRM on workplace and benefits of HRM on employees and
employers.
TASK 1
P1 Purpose and function of HRM on planning and resourcing an organisation.
Planning of human resource is important to any organisation as the manpower is limited
and their proper distribution is required in order to manage the activities in an organisation. It is
also required to have flexibility and adaptability in the organisation.
Purpose of HRM
In order to manage people in organisations where the success of it is dependent upon the
type of people working(Rao and Teegen, 2009). Matching the required job roles with the skills
available, it is important to do manpower planning and motivating the employees in the
organisation.
 Organisational behaviour and structure- The HRM department of H&M tries to link
the organisational culture with its local workforce. It is a work-oriented company so it is
important to explain the hierarchy so that authority and responsibility is clear to its
employees. It is moving in the fast fashion which requires flexibility in structure.
 Managing Diversity- H&M recruits local employees whenever they are opening a new
store or they do internal recruitment which makes people from different cultures part of a
team. So in order to have effectiveness in work, it is important for HR to maintain
diversity.
Functions of HRM
3

There are set roles defined by organisations which are performed by each department.
HRM department is important to handled the most important resource of any organisation, i.e.,
its people. It includes managing the demand and supply of workforce.
 Selection and recruitment- There are certain traits which are followed by each
organisation. For H&M the basic qualities they look is decision-making, responsibility
and love for fashion(Human Resource Management About H&M’s. 2020). They want
people to have a sense of team work and can work together to achieve both individual
and group goal.
 Reward Management- H&M has an attractive incentive policy where they provide
offers and discounts to its employees. Also, they have an open door policy where the
employees are motivated and rewarded for their strategies.
 Employee Involvement- H&M has an informal environment where they encourage
innovation and makes the employees self-driven so that they can take the decisions. The
employees are motivated so that they can handle the tasks and have a long term relations.
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection.
Recruitment and selection are basic functions of HRM and both of these functions are
dependent on each other. Recruitment starts with finding the people from various platforms and
inviting them whereas selection is choosing the candidates matching the job role.
Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of inviting people to the organisation by using platforms to
identify the best fit for the role(DeCenzo, Robbins. and Verhulst, 2016). It involves costs in
hiring new employees or recruiting through internal process so the companies need to analyse the
employee's capabilities and link them with the organisational culture.
Types of Recruitment
Companies hire people from two sources which help them identify the best fit and also
makes the process of hiring attractive.
Internal recruitment- In this process of recruitment, the positions are filled by the
employees of the organisation. They do not hire work force from outside. In the context of
H&M, company promotes internal hiring and rotation as they help them to grow. They have a
development policy where they motivate the employees and give them opportunities to take
strategic roles.
4

 Strength- Internal recruitment in H&M is helpful as it is cost effective for the company.
They will have to invest less in training and will give results effectively and meet up the
unplanned requirement of the company(Guest, 1987).
 Weakness- In H&M the internal recruitment sometimes create an environment of
biasness as the limited vacancies are applied by many people and it creates a sense of
competition amongst the members of the team.
External recruitment- This method is used to encourage people to apply for the job of
the company. This will give HR options to select and makes their work easier. There are various
ways from which companies can recruit the candidates. H&M largely recruits from online portals
and also through campus hirings.
 Strength- H&M is focussing on external sources as the skills are not always there in the
employees, for that they have to recruit from various sources. Also, the expansion of
H&M always focuses on local staff.
 Weakness- Training the local staff and making them understand the business
environment of H&M involves cost.
Selection
Selection is the process where people are eliminated at each steps and finally gets the
right person for the role. From the people recruited, only a percent of it gets selected. After 3-4
screenings dependent upon the organisation, an employee gets selected(Youndt and et.al., 1996).
Types of Selection
There are various selection processes and each employees has to go through them in
order to get selected.
Personality Test- In H&M, the elimination of the candidates are based out of this round
where the communication and presentation skills are considered. Spoken skills should be fluent.
 Strength- It helps to select the people as only 40% of the people applied for H&M are
taken after this process. This process saves the efforts of people for the next process as
only suitable candidates are taken.
 Weakness- In this step, the recruiter is selecting based out of soft skills of the candidates
they do not check the knowledge and decision-making which is important.
5

Group Discussion and Personal Interview- In this process both knowledge and
communication of the candidates are considered. It is generally a personal round where the get to
meet each other(Wright and McMahan, 1992).
 Strength- H&M is famous for it GP and PI rounds as they check the quality of the
candidates. Small details like love for fashion can be identified in this process which is
important for a fast-fashion company.
 Weakness- Some people are introverts and are not good in expressing but they perform
better than other employees, so for H&M it becomes difficult to select those candidates.
TASK 2
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the employer
and employee.
HRM practices are benefiting the organisations in maintaining both long term as well as
short term relations with the people in the organisation. They have an impact on both employer
and employees as they are designed for motivating them.
HRM practices
Compensation- Companies need to follow the industry average compensation policy so
that the employees sustain. The employer need to have an edge over the competitors so that they
can attract skilled employees(Guest, 1997). Competition should be fair as they motivate
employees directly.
 Benefit to the employer- It is helping H&M to attract the qualified people from its
competitors like Zara and building the trust that they provide better opportunities to the
candidates.
 Benefit to the employees- H&M follows a policy of fair compensation, so the employees
get to know their growth. They also gets incentives along with the salary which motivates
them to increase the quality of work.
Training- The candidates when selected do not know how the business functions, so the
role of the HR in an organisation is to make the skills of the employees align with the job they
are selected for. Training in an organisation is of 2 type- On the job and Off the job training.
6

 Benefit to the employer- H&M provides training to the employees which improves their
effectiveness which helps the employers in assigning the task and the quality of the work
gets better.
 Benefit to the employees- The employees are motivated to work with H&M as their
business environment is suitable and it improves the skills of the employees. Training
makes them feel that the organisation cares about them.
P4 Explain the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational profit
and productivity.
Human resource management department handle all issues of employees and perform
various functions such as human resource planning, job analysis, recruitment, selection,
Training, etc to provide comfortable working environment to employees which helps H&M to
achieve its objects (Jabbour and de Sousa Jabbour, 2016). Following practices help in raising
profits and productivity of H&M-
 Selective hiring- The company can't simply hire anybody, they do utmost best to hire the
essential required person because employees are the one who add the value to the
business. HRM team is responsible for bring the right people as it is a key to build a
competitive advantage. This enables H&M to have employee force who add value.
Selective hiring of staff members has helped in increasing sales revenue and customer
satisfaction.
 Self-managed and effective team- Team work play crucial role in achieving goals of the
company. Functioning in team helps in formulating different ideas together but are
working towards a common goal. HRM department is responsible for creating and
developing high performing teams with the company. Team wok has enabled H&M in
monitoring and controlling activities and completion of assign tasks on time.
 Training in relevant skills- HRM department is responsible for providing the training
to employees of company as per the requirement of the profile. H&M is heavily investing
its time in skills-specific form of training for its new and existing employees. This has
helped the company in building the skilled workforce which provides innovative ideas
and methods to capture the marketplace thus, helps in decision making process.
 Access to information- Human resource team perform various practices within company
and one of the important practice is to make information easily available and accessible
7

to different departments, employees and to those who need it (Ahmad, 2015). The culture
of H&M that is open discussion about strategies and operations has created the feeling of
trust among the employees. This has helped the H&M in maintaining the continuation in
working process as due to lack of information the process don't stop at any point of time,
leading to on time completions of task and helped in removing out of stock problems.
 Resource allocation- Its the responsibility of HRM department to allocate the required
human resources at various level of functioning problem which has helped the H&M in
maintaining consistency and systematic functioning of various departments.
TASK 3
P5 Evaluate the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision
marking.
Employee relations is a team which describes the relationship between employers and
employees (Wilton, 2016). In existing situations organisations are becoming more stiff, faster
and transparent so its important to maintain good relationship with employees. The primary
objective of every employee relationship is to improve the relations and coordination in the
workplace. The term also focuses on the efforts a company or HR department makes to manage
and maintain the relationship.
 Honest communication- It is important to establish open communication with the
employees as good and honest communication is the foundation of relationship. The
exchange of thoughts, viewpoints and values helps in building a relationship which helps
HR team in formulating strategies and communicating the company's vision.
 Trust- Employee relationship is helpful in establishing and increasing the level of trust
in company as it leads to better decision making. The enhancement in level of trust
among employees and departments will lead to fast functioning as workforce will believe
on the decisions take by HR team and put all its efforts in accomplishing the desire
results.
 Recognition & Appreciation- If employees don't feel valuable at work then definitely
they will look for different opportunities so, its important to give recognition in order to
build strong employee relations. This will help HR department to know about the
employees their likes and dislikes. The healthy relationship with employees helps HR
8

team in decision making as employees feel free to put forward their views on the topic
and this lead to better decisions (Morgeson, Brannick and Levine, 2019).
 Co-operation- The healthy relations with employees will lead to increase the willingness
to coordinate and co-operation in the operations of the business. When employees take
part in decision making process they contribute their skills and understanding hence
function more efficiently and willingly. Support of employees in decisions of HR lead to
proper implementation of strategies and on time completion of task with great
performance of employees (Stone, 2015).
 Taps into Internal Resources- Involving employees in the decision making process,
rather than depending on outsources, helps in saving time, money and affords of HR team
in gaining long term advantages. Hiring separate team for decision making process will
cost more and may also take up valuable resources and time consuming process for
company. However, employees are the one who are aware of the operations, needs,
policies and process of the company hence considering employees point of view helps in
better decision making.
P6 Evaluate the key elements of employment legislation and its impact on the HRM decision
making.
Employment legislation is define as the body of law responsible for the regulation of
relationship between employers and employees. These laws are design to generally protect the
right of workers (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2019). The problems that are consider and address by
employment legislation includes legal working age, safe working conditions and discrimination.
Generally workers are treated unjustly and unfairly so this law provides support to them. The
Key elements of employment legislation are as follow-
 Equality Act 2010 - Equal opportunities for employment to everyone who are seeking
job. This law provide support to employees that is they are not discriminated on the bases
of caste, gender, etc. and should be provided equal opportunities. H&M provides equal
employment opportunities to its staff members. The company judge employees on the
bases on their performance and provide increment accordingly.
 Sexual Harassment Act 2013 - Sexual harassment activities leads to poor working
environment as works don't feel save and comfortable in the working environment due to
which its effect their functioning and are not focused on their work. This law helps in
9

preventing undesired activities and harassment activities. H&M has strict rules and
regulations against the sexual harassment activities and if any member of the company is
found involved in these kind of activities is terminated form the job.
 Fix working hours Act 1998 - The fluctuating or irregular working hours creates
problems to the employees as they are not able to enjoy their personal life. Employment
law has protected the interest of work force by fixing the working hours of employees.
H&M follow this act and has fix working hours stiff for the members that is 8-9 hours of
work shift and after than employees are free to go. The company has 6 day working with
one day off and if in case employees are working extra than the required time, in those
cases they are rewards or paid extra.
 Wages and Salary Act 1996 - Many employers didn't pay desire wages and salaries to
the employees which has lead to decrease in morale and their requirements are not
fulfilled. As per the employment law it is mandatory for every employer to pay fix wages
and remuneration to its workers. H&M follow the wages and salary act and provide fixed
agreed salary to its staff members on fixed day every month. Employees didn't face any
problems regarding salary and are happy with the company's policies.
 Working Condition Act 1974 - The working conditions in which workers are operating
and functioning should be suitable and favourable for them. The law has made it clear
that good working conditions should be provided to the workers in every organisation.
H&M provides suitable and comfortable working conditions to its staff members and
considers the healths and provides safety equipment to its employees.
TASK 4
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work related context, using specific example.
HRM practices helps in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of an organisation
(Shen and Benson, 2016). The HR manager of H&M is planning to conduct a recruitment section
for the Marketing Manager in UK.
Advert for the role- The primary objective of job advertisement is to provide
information to potential job seekers about new opening.
H&M
JOB OPENINGS!!
10

H&M team is looking for a skilled, creative candidate with leadership quality to fill the position
of:
Marketing Manager
JOB DESCRIPTION
A marketing specialities with leadership qualities to build and develop the marketing strategy
for increasing sales volume of company.
REQUIRED SKILLS:
 Organized
 Team Leader
 Multi-tasking
APPLY NOW!! (Hurry up don't miss the opportunity)
Job opportuinties at H&M. Mail your resume at hr@h&m.com
Contact us: www.h&m.com
Job Description – It is a formal document which contains the essential job
requirements, job's duties and responsibilities.
Job Description
Company: H&M
Job Title: Marketing Manager
Department: Marketing
Responsible to: Marketing Director & Administration
Purpose of the Job:
 To support the overall objective of the company.
 To work in coordination with other departments.
 To direct the marketing team and formulating strategies.
Responsibilities:
 Working within the Marketing team, the role involves formulating and developing the
marketing strategies in order to attract more customers and increase the sales volume of
the company.
11

Offer letter – The offer letter is a document which provides the information to the
selected candidate about the selection for employment.
Offer Letter
H&M
1st Floor, UK House 164
Oxford Street,
London 70221
Date: 15th September 2020
Dear : Ms. Shreya Jain
We are pleased to offer you job at H&M. We feel that your skills and experience will prove
valuable asset for our company.
As per our discussion, the position is Marketing Manger. Your joining date will be 1st August
2020. The enclosed documents outlines the medical and employment teams, conditions and
benefits that our company offers.
If you accept this offer, please sign the offer letter and send copy of this letter to us.
Sincerely,
Saloni Shah
(HR Manager H&M)
CONCLUSION
The role of HRM is important to any organisation as it manages the work force and
handling people and making them work requires strategies to make them motivated towards the
work. H&M has operations in many countries and they work to achieve the business goal of the
organisation. Managing people from diverse cultures and making them understand the
organisational behaviour is the task of HR. It provides the roles and responsibilities to the
employees. H&M has a department which focuses on identifying the people who fits the
organisation as they have operations in many countries and they have to manage them to achieve
organisational goal.
12

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Noe, R.A. and et. al., 2018. Fundamentals of human resource management. McGraw-Hill.
Rao, P. and Teegen, H., 2009. Human resource management.
Storey, J. ed., 2007. Human resource management: A critical text. Cengage Learning EMEA.
DeCenzo, D.A., Robbins, S.P. and Verhulst, S.L., 2016. Fundamentals of human resource
management. John Wiley & Sons.
Guest, D.E., 1987. Human resource management and industrial relations [1]. Journal of
management Studies. 24(5). pp.503-521.
Youndt, M.A. and et. al., 1996. Human resource management, manufacturing strategy, and firm
performance. Academy of management Journal. 39(4). pp.836-866.
Wright, P.M. and McMahan, G.C., 1992. Theoretical perspectives for strategic human resource
management. Journal of management. 18(2). pp.295-320.
Guest, D.E., 1997. Human resource management and performance: a review and research
agenda. International journal of human resource management. 8(3). pp.263-276.
Jabbour, C.J.C. and de Sousa Jabbour, A.B.L., 2016. Green human resource management and
green supply chain management: Linking two emerging agendas. Journal of Cleaner
Production. 112. pp.1824-1833.
Ahmad, S., 2015. Green human resource management: Policies and practices. Cogent business &
management. 2(1). p.1030817.
Wilton, N., 2016. An introduction to human resource management. Sage.
Morgeson, F.P., Brannick, M.T. and Levine, E.L., 2019. Job and work analysis: Methods,
research, and applications for human resource management. Sage Publications.
Stone, D.L and et.al., 2015. The influence of technology on the future of human resource
management. Human resource management review. 25(2). pp.216-231.
Boella, M.J. and Goss-Turner, S., 2019. Human resource management in the hospitality
industry: A guide to best practice. Routledge.
Shen, J. and Benson, J., 2016. When CSR is a social norm: How socially responsible human
resource management affects employee work behavior. Journal of management. 42(6).
pp.1723-1746.
Online
Human Resource Management About H&M’s. 2020 [Online]. Available
through:<https://www.scribd.com/document/451806896/Human-Resource-
Management-About-H-M-s>.
13