Analyzing HRM Practices' Impact on Employee Growth at Waitrose

This report investigates the impact of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices on employee development and retention within Waitrose. It begins by outlining the company's background and the research objectives, which include understanding HRM practices, determining their impact on employee growth and retention, and examining the challenges faced by HR in this process. The literature review explores the framework and theories of HRM, particularly the talent management theory, and its application in Waitrose. It also identifies challenges such as recruitment, building a culture of continuous learning, and managing employee relations. The research methodology employs a qualitative approach, utilizing secondary data to address the research questions. The findings and discussions analyze the effectiveness of HRM practices in Waitrose, concluding with recommendations for improvement and acknowledging the study's limitations. Desklib provides access to this and similar solved assignments for students.

TO IDENTIFY THE IMPACT OF HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON EMPLOYEE DEVELOPMENT
AND RETENTION WITHIN A WAITROSE
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
Background of the company and research..................................................................................4
Research Aim..............................................................................................................................4
Research Objectives....................................................................................................................4
Research Questions.....................................................................................................................4
Research Rationale......................................................................................................................5
Summary of the project...............................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................6
Introduction to the chapter..........................................................................................................6
Literature on the topic ................................................................................................................6
Theories and frameworks on the topic .......................................................................................8
Literature gap..............................................................................................................................9
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...................................................................................................10
Introduction to chapter..............................................................................................................10
Introduction...............................................................................................................................10
Research onion .........................................................................................................................10
Research Philosophy.................................................................................................................10
Research Approach...................................................................................................................10
Research strategy......................................................................................................................11
Data collection..........................................................................................................................11
Data analysis.............................................................................................................................11
Ethical considerations...............................................................................................................11
RESEARCH AND FINDINGS.....................................................................................................12
Introduction...............................................................................................................................12
Data analysis.............................................................................................................................12
Discussions................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .........................................................................14
Conclusion.................................................................................................................................14
Recommendation.......................................................................................................................15
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Limitations of the study ...........................................................................................................15
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................16
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INTRODUCTION
Background of the company and research
Human resource management is the process or practice of recruiting, planning, organising,
directing, monitoring employees within an organisation. Human resource management is
important within an organisation because of different reasons (Kalyani, 2021). These are hire the
right person for the job, low attrition rate, ensure employee do their best, avoid legal action for
any discrimination etc. Within this research, Waitrose is a chosen British supermarket brand that
was founded in 1904 by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose and David Taylor. Company is specialising
in delivering food to the customers as per their needs and requirement. Company wants to
improve development and retention of employees at workplace. For this, it is important for
human resource management to use unique and effective practices as it turn to help in
development and retention of talented employees at workplace. These practices are training and
development flexible working environment etc.
Research Aim
Main aim of this research is “To identify the impact of human resource management
practices on employee development and retention within a workplace”: A study on Waitrose
Research Objectives
 To develop basic understanding regarding the human resource management and its
practices used within a Waitrose
 To determine the impact of human resource management practices on employee
development and retention within a workplace of Waitrose
 To examine the challenges that would be faced by human resource of Waitrose while
developing and retaining knowledgeable employees at workplace
Research Questions
 What is the framework and theory of human resource management?
 What is the impact of human resource management practices on employee development
and retention within a workplace of Waitrose?
 What are the biggest challenges that would be faced by human resource of Waitrose
while developing and retaining knowledgeable employees at workplace?
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Research Rationale
Main rationale behind conducting this research is to identify the importance of human
resource management practices in developing and retaining knowledgeable employees at
workplace (Al-Gharbi, and Javed, 2021). This research is important for various stakeholders that
are researcher, HR, employees etc. For researcher, present investigation is essential for them by
increasing their research skills that are time management, data collection, decision making and
many others. For HR, current research facilitates them by providing accurate information
regarding the ways that helps in employee development and retention at workplace. For
employees, this research is highly significant for improving their personal and professional
growth.
Summary of the project
From the introduction chapter, it has been summarised that aim and objectives are developed
for addressing research questions systematically. This chapter helped in identifying the accurate
information about the topic along with the rationale behind selecting a topic. Therefore,
introduction chapter helped in completing another chapter in effective and systematic manner.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction to the chapter
Literature review is the concept of searching and evaluating the available literature in
particular topic. It is a document which shows the respect to the subject or topic in which they
are writing. Literature review is written as part of a dissertation, research paper or thesis in order
to align the work in relation to existing knowledge.
Literature on the topic
What is the framework and theory of human resource management?
According to Koszela, (2021), human resource management is a process of planning,
organising, coordinating and directing the functioning and activities of business. They generally
recruit, hire and take interview of new staff in order to identify the right talent for the vacant job
position. The main purpose of human resource management is to recruit, hire and train the
employees. They focus on securing top talents and also improve employee retention rate which
increases the profitability and growth of business. Waitrose have strong and effective human
resource management team that focuses on hiring right employees by identifying their
qualification, performance and experiences. They focus on providing maximum opportunities for
personal development of each staff and also maintain dignity of personnel at workplace. One of
the theory of human resource management which is implemented is talent management process
model. It is a framework which identifies the vacant job position, hire the suitable candidate,
develop their skills and retain them to achieve long term business objective. Through
implementing this theory, Waiyrose can attract large number of people and also improve their
business performance in market. Talent management theory generally includes six elements such
as planning, attracting, selecting, developing, retaining and transitioning.
What is the impact of human resource management practices on employee development
and retention within a workplace of Waitrose?
As per the viewpoint of Alfadli, and Javed, (2021), human resource management plays an
important role in improving the performance and skills of employees. They also focus on
retaining staff in order to enhance the efficiency and performance of company. In order to
develop the employees, human resource department of Waitrose provide training and
development opportunities to their staff so that they can learn something new and improve their
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skills and knowledge. They also provide positive working environment where employees can
learn and implement their skills. Human resource management also foster diversity initiatives
and help employees with disputes so that they can work with dedication and accomplish their
task in effective and efficient manner. Waitrose provide training opportunity to employees on
regular basis to increase the work quality and their skills. It is the responsibility of human
resource management to retain the staff in order to maintain healthy working environment For
retaining the staff, Waitrose adopts various strategies such as they provide positive feedback,
foster respect in workplace, encourage healthy work life balance, foster employee engagement
and also offers job flexibility. The various drivers of employee engagement and retention are
providing opportunities to grow, facilitate collaboration, support success through process and
workflows, enable fulfilment and empower responsible employees.
What are the biggest challenges that would be faced by human resource of Waitrose while
developing and retaining knowledgeable employees at workplace?
As per the viewpoint of Wandabwa, and Makokha, (2021), there are various challenges
which are faced by human resource management of Waitrose whole developing and retaining
knowledgeable employees at workplace such as recruitment and selection, building culture of
continuous learning, building diverse team, managing turnover rates and salary dissatisfaction.
These are the challenges which influence the performance and productivity of business. It is
important for business to focus on overcoming these issues in order to run the business in
effective and efficient manner. While developing the employees, human resource management of
Waitrose faces a problem of recruitment and selection, they have to hire the suitable candidate
according to their qualification and achievements. They also face challenge in building the
culture of continuous learning by organising training program on regular basis so that they can
learn something new and implement while working in Waitrose. It is important for company to
focus on developing effective and diverse team who can contribute their productive outcome in
achieving the goals and objective of business. Human resource management of Waitrose also
faces issues related to employee relations and conflicts which influence the productivity ad
performance of business. They ensures that there must be positive relation between the
employees so that they can work together and achieve the goals and objective of business.
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Theories and frameworks on the topic
The theory which is implemented by human resource management in Waitrose is Talent
management theory. It is the theory which helps in identifying the vacant job position, select the
suitable person, develop their skills and retain them for achieving long term goals and objectives.
Talent management theory generally includes six components such as planning, attracting,
selecting, developing, retaining and transitioning. By implementing this theory, Waitrose can
improve performance management and also provide better on-boarding experience. This theory
also helps in retaining top talents, develop employees and also increase the employee and
manager engagement (Grund, and Titz, 2021). Talent management theory also helps in
increasing the productivity and performance of business due to which company can gain
competitive advantage and make business profitable in market. The first stage of talent
management process is planning, it is an initial step which includes identifying the human capital
requirement, developing job description and key roles and proposing a workforce plan for
recruitment. The human resource manager identifies the number of employee required in
workplace and develop the job description according to the vacant job position so that they can
attract new candidate to fill the job position. Second step of talent management process is
attracting, it is a stage in which human resource management of Waitrose selects the source of
recruitment such as internal or external. They attract the candidates through job portals, social
networking sites or through using employee referral. After attracting, human resource
management focuses on selecting the candidate by scheduling the written test or interviews and
scrutinizing the most suitable candidate for job profile. Human resource management of
Waitrose focuses on developing their employees by carrying out on boarding programme or an
orientation programme. They also focus on enhancing the skills, proficiency and aptitude of the
personnel to match the profile. After developing, human resource management focuses on
retaining their employees by promoting and increments, teaching new job skills, identifying the
contribution level of individual and providing opportunities for growth by handing over special
projects (Shaikh, 2021). The last stage is transitioning in which human resource management
aims to transform the employees so that they can work effectively. The transitioning process can
be done through retirement benefits, conducting exit interviewes and succession planning.
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Literature gap
Main gap within this research is there was lots of data available regarding the mpact of
human resource management practices within an organisation, but there was lack of information
about human resource management practices in improving employee development and retention.
This is a main gap and for addressing this research questions were used for literature review.
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction to chapter
This is an important chapter within a research because it helps researcher in gathering
accurate and reliable information about the topic. There are various methodologies that comes
under this chapter. These are research approach, research philosophy, research strategy, research
choice and many others.
Introduction
Research methodology is the process and technique of collecting and evaluating accurate
information regarding the topic (Zondi, Muftau, and Abiso, (2021). Main purpose of research
methodology within an investigation is to help researcher in collecting and evaluating reliable
data about the topic.
Research onion
This is an effective framework that includes inners and outer layers. This framework is
developed by Saunders with purpose of providing accurate information about any topic to the
researcher. This framework has five stages that are research philosophy, research approach,
research strategies, research choice and research time horizon.
Research Philosophy
There are three types of research philosophies that are ontology, epistemology and
axiology. All these are effective but epistemology is a chosen philosophy because it helps in
collecting and evaluating of qualitative and quantitative data. Qualitative is a selected philosophy
under epistemology because it helps in collecting and evaluating qualitative secondary
information within less time (Safdar, 2021). As compared to quantitative philosophy, qualitative
is cost and time effective.
Research Approach
There are two types of research approaches that are deductive and inductive. Both are
effective approaches but within this research, inductive is a chosen approach because it facilitates
in evaluating qualitative secondary information without taking additional time and cost.
Therefore, as compared to deductive approach, inductive is more beneficial within present
investigation (Gawade, Kumari, and Dagur, 2021)
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Research strategy
There are different types of research strategies such as survey, action research,
experimental, case study and many others. All these are effective strategies but according to the
present investigation, case study is a selected strategy because it helps in collecting secondary
information from books, company’s website and many other sources. There are certain
advantages of selecting case study as a research strategy such as not require maximum time,
helps in getting valid outcomes and many more (Kazdin, 2021).
Data collection
There are two methods of data collection such as primary and secondary. Both methods are
effective but within current investigation, secondary is a selected method. There are various
sources that are used for collecting secondary data such as books, journals, articles, magazines,
publication research etc. There are various benefits regarding the selection of secondary research
such as provide accurate and reliable information, not require maximum time etc.
Data analysis
This is the process of evaluating gathered information via research analytical tool. Within
this research, secondary information has been gathered from books, articles etc. sources. For
evaluating qualitative secondary information, thematic analysis is used as an analytical tool.
There are certain advantages of selecting thematic analysis such as not require maximum time,
facilitate in getting valid outcomes etc.
Ethical considerations
There are various principles of the research ethics such as data must be de-identified before
release to the investigator, confidentiality and informed consent, anonymity, minimising the risk
of harm etc (Baran, 2021). All these are main principles that helps researcher in completing each
activity of the research in ethical manner.
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RESEARCH AND FINDINGS
Introduction
Data analysis is defined as the chapter which is related with examination of data which is
associated with taking out research results. This is the process in which systematics results can
be exerted in which data can be evaluated. Data analysis is the set of examination in which
accurate conclusion can be framed.
Data analysis
In order to analyse data in the current research thematic analysis is used which is related
with analysing data in appropriate manner.
Discussions
RQ 1: What is the framework and theory of human resource management?
As per the information gathered this is stated that human resource management is the
process of planning in which planning, organising and coordinating activities are exerted which
are associated with functioning of business activities in appropriate manner. These are the
aspects which are related with providing direction to the business in which significant aims and
objectives within business can be attained. Organisations are associated with recruiting of new
staffs by identification of right talent and to acquire success as well. These are the talent which is
used in the business for the major purpose of attaining business objectives and to attain
competitiveness into the market. In order to fill vacant job interviews are taken and by
identifying right talent the position is filled. The major purpose of human resource management
us to recruit, hire and train employees so that they can focus on executing their roles and
responsibilities in such a manner that business objectives can be attained (Ceyhan, 2021).. The
focus of the organisation is to retrain talent in such a way that organisational profitability can be
increased and in the same manner strong relation can also be built up which is related with
acquiring benefits in terms of future benefits. Waitrose is having strong and effective relation
with human resource of the organisation in which the organisation is trying to utilise efficiency
and capabilities of their employees in fuller manner. Employees are provided job on the basis of
their experiences and qualifications so that these skills can be used within the business. The
organisation in current time is highly focused on developing personal opportunities so that staff
may have their dignity and acquire prominence within working. The major human resource
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