Human Resource Management Practices at Jaguar Land Rover: A Case Study

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This report analyzes HRM practices at Jaguar Land Rover.

Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................10
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................17
Appendix........................................................................................................................................19
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Introduction
Human resource is one of the major organisational resources. Managing and organising human
resources is a key aspect. Many functions are operated for the growth and development of people
in an organisation such as recruitment, training, performance management, orientation and
others. Human resource management aims at embedding new skills and knowledge among
employees through best practices. The study related to HRM will be performed in relation to
Jaguar Landrover Automotive PLC. The concepts to be covered in this study are purpose,
practices and functions of HRM. The study will determine the application of HR practices by
creating job and person specification.
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Task 1
Introduction
The task provides the overview of HRM along with its purposes. Different functions of HRM,
approaches of recruitment and selection and the HRM practices will be included. The task
highlights the benefits of HRM practices and the strength and weakness of identified hiring
methods.
1. Define HRM and explain the purpose of HRM in an organisation.
HRM is the management of work and people in an organisation. It manages aspects such as
learning and development, teamwork, performance management, reward and others. Human
resource management seeks to accomplish competitive advantage through the deployment of a
capable and committed workforce (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). The department fulfils various
purposes in Jaguar that are as follows.
 Staffing needs: Human resource managers are popular for their responsibility of hiring
employees. The purpose is to announce vacant positions and determine the requirements
and skills needed for those positions.
 Benefits: It involves developing and administering employee benefit programs. The
managers provide employees with a retirement plan, health insurance and other benefits
(Bratton and Gold, 2017).
 Compensation: The personnel of the HR department evaluate and bring changes to
Jaguar’s pay structure. The purpose is to provide industry-acceptable pay to employees.
 Law compliance: The department provides safety and equal treatment to their
employees. They aim at adhering to employment lawsuits in order to undermine
organisational profit.
2. Identify and list from your reading about HRM, the various functions of HRM in an
organisation
Based on the purposes, the following functions of HRM have been identified in Jaguar.
 Recruitment and Selection
 Training and Development
 Orientation
 Employee Relation
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 Performance Appraisal
 Labour Relation
3. Select two from your above list and explain them in detail.
Recruitment and Selection
The success of an automobile company depends upon the selection of efficient employees.
Recruitment is the first phase of the employment process that aims at acquiring and maintaining
an efficient workforce, which can produce quality products and achieve organisational goals
(Bryson et al., 2013). It is the method of searching for prospective candidates and inspiring them
to apply for positions. The managers screen the applications of candidates and invite them for the
selection process. Selection involves appointing candidates by matching their capabilities with
the organisation’s requirements. The managers differentiate the deserved and underserved
candidates through the application of various selection techniques such as skill tests, personal
interview, group discussion and others.
Performance management
The function aims at evaluating the performance and personality of employees in Jaguar by
quantitative factors (Aguinis, 2013). It develops a specific job description, sets a target for
employees, measures employee performance against the target. It conducts quarterly and half-
yearly performance improvement discussions with employees. It designs compensation,
appraisal system and reward system for the outstanding contribution of the workforce. Another
duty of this function is to provide employees with feedback based on their performance.
Performance management provides career progression opportunities to motivate employees for
showing great efforts.
4. Identify various approaches to recruitment and selection.
The approaches of recruitment adopted in Jaguar are as follows.
External Recruitment
It involves sourcing candidates from outside. The methods are referrals, social media, and
website and job boards (Costen, 2012).
Internal Recruitment
It involves sourcing candidates from the existing labour force. The methods are promotion,
internal advertisement and others.
The approaches of selection adopted in Jaguar are as follows.
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Panel Interview
Candidates are asked questions from a group of interviewers in the job interview.
Personality test
It is the method of evaluating the personality of applicants through the construction of questions
on human attributes (Costen, 2012).
Skill test
It involves measuring the skills and abilities of applicants. The skills measured are
communication, interpersonal, machine operation, and others.
Group discussion
The organisation conducts group discussion to observe the ability of candidates to present a topic
logically.
5. Select 2 approaches among each of recruitment and selection and explain them in detail
highlighting the strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths and weaknesses Selection approaches
Approaches Strengths Weaknesses
Panel Interview Consistency is achieved while
asking questions to applicants
that make the selection
process easy and simple
(Costen, 2012).
Candidates become confused
and nervous, as they have to
face questions of more than
one interviewer. This creates
the possibility of losing
talents.
Personality test It provides a deeper insight
into the candidates’ ability to
fit into Jaguar’s work culture.
Some personality tests
consume time and effort that
dissuade applicants from
attaining further stages of the
interview.
Table 1: Strengths and weaknesses Selection approaches
(Source: Created by the learner)
Strengths and weaknesses Recruitment approaches
Approaches Strengths Weaknesses
Internal Recruitment  Jaguar does not have to  If the organisation
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train employees
recruited from internal
sources, as they have a
better understanding of
the business operation
and organisational
practices.
 Recruiting candidates
internally does not
require much time.
hires most of the
employees internally,
it may result in the
formation of a stagnant
culture.
 The skill gap may be
more, as internal
recruitment limits the
pool of qualified
candidates.
External Recruitment  When Jaguar hires
candidates externally,
it has the possibility to
find employees having
the capability to
deliver new inputs and
skills.
 Recruiting new talents
outside the company
gives the chance of
facing better
competition in the
automobile industry.
 External recruitment
consumes time, as the
recruiters need to
publish
advertisements,
conduct recruitment
drive and arrange
orientation program for
fresher (Bryson et al.,
2013).
 There is a possibility
that new employees
may not adjust with
old employees and the
work environment.
Table 2: Strengths and weaknesses Recruitment approaches
(Source: Created by the learner)
6. You are to select an organisation and identify various HRM practices in that
organisation and list them.
The selected organisation is Jaguar Landrover Automotive PLC. The HRM practices identified
within it are as listed below.
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 Flexible working practice
 Employee Relation
 Learning, Development and training
7. Select more than one practice and explain the benefits for both the employer and
employee providing appropriate examples for each type within an organisational context.
Practices Benefits for Jaguar Benefits for employees
Flexible working practice  Such practices reduce
tardiness, absenteeism
and lateness that result
in timely production of
products.
 It reduces employee
turnover resulting in
saving higher
recruitment
expenditure (Lake,
2016).
 A friendly
environment is created
in the organisation, as
employees work at
their own pace. This
boosts employee
morale and
productivity.
 Employees get the
flexibility to meet
personal and family
needs (Lake, 2016).
 They can have
increased control over
the organisation’s
work environment and
schedule.
Learning, Development and
training
 Employee potential
developed through
training result in the
production of quality
products, which
ultimately contributes
 If employees have
some career goals, they
can accomplish
through learning and
development
opportunities (Nadler
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to the significant level
of satisfaction among
customers (Ford,
2014).
 Training makes
employees equipped
with major skills that
make them
independent. Jaguar
does not have to
appoint supervisors for
guiding employees in
their work.
 For example, through
e-learning and
classroom courses,
managers track
improvements of
employees.
and Nadler, 2012).
 Training is a pathway
for enhancing
employee potential, as
employees learn
improved ways of
doing things through
acquired skills.
 For example,
employees can enrol
themselves for e-
learning and classroom
courses to learn new
practices of business
(Training.jaguar.com,
2019).
Table 3: Benefits of HRM practices
(Source: Created by the learner)
8. Give details of how your selected practices will benefit your selected organisation in
terms of profit and productivity. Justify your answers with examples.
The productivity and success of the organisation depends the performance and productivity of
employees. Training develops the existing skills and capability of employees. Workforce
productivity is optimised, when the organisation meets their learning needs. Additionally,
training builds confidence among employees and confidence leads to higher productivity. As
training helps in reducing employee turnover, Jaguar does not have to hire employees through
the repetitive hiring process. This saves the expenses of the organisation and makes it more
profitable.
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Flexible working enables Jaguar to meet the dynamic needs of staff and customers. By making a
flexible adjustment to the work environment, employees are able to gain a good business sense.
It results in improved staff morale, higher employee engagement, reduced employee sickness,
and more job satisfaction, that make employees more efficient in their work. They can give
better output by working in their schedule. With better output, the productivity of Jaguar
improves. The company can make more profit by achieving more sales. For example, employees
are performing better if they are allowed to work in alternative working hours.
Conclusion
The major HRM functions identified in the task are training and development, hiring,
performance management and others. The HR practices adopted by Jaguar are flexible working,
and learning and development.
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Task 2
1. What are employee relations?
Employee relation is the practice of managing relation among employees along with their
relation with the employer. The practice focuses on resolving issues influencing employees’
performance such as safe working condition, pay and benefits and work-life balance.
2. In detail, explain with examples of its importance in HRM decision making.
Jaguar maintains employee relation by providing employees with paternity or maternity leave,
job flexibility, rewards, incentives, and compensation. Two-way communication between the
employees and Jaguar is another example of good employee relation. Employee relations are
important in influencing HRM decisions taken in Jaguar. When employees have a good relation
with each other, a friendly workplace is developed. This helps in reducing absenteeism and
tardiness. The reward and compensation offered by the employer make employees more
committed towards their workplace. Workplace conflicts are reduced due to healthy employee
relations. Because of these practices, the HR department witnesses a smooth business process. It
does not have to conduct repetitive recruitments, as employee turnover reduces. It is able to take
employee-related decisions by considering employee opinions.
3. You are to identify and list various employment legislations that are key for an
organisation.
Equality Act, 2010
As per this Act, employees are protected from discrimination and inequalities. It has replaced the
Anti-discrimination law making it easy for everyone to understand strengthen protection in
different situations (GOV.UK, 2019).
Health and Safety Act, 1974
Jaguar is liable to follow wide ranges of duties for protecting the personal health of employees
and providing them with a safe environment (Worksmart.org.uk, 2019).
Data Protection Act, 2018
It empowers employees and the employer to have control upon their data saved in a physical or
digital format (Legislation.gov.uk, 2019).
4. Explain how these will have an impact on HRM decision making. Discuss the pros and
cons of each of the above discussed legislations.
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The HR managers make a healthy decision on providing employees with compensation and
benefits irrespective of their age, gender, race and characteristics that discriminate them from
others. If employees are performing well, the department will provide the same level of
incentives based on the Equality Act. HRM department of Jaguar maintains fairness while giving
employment opportunity. It creates a work environment that will not affect the personal health of
employees. It empowers employees by giving training on wearing safety measures in the
manufacturing sites. As Jaguar follows the Data Protection Act, the HR department has the
power to punish an individually found culprit in transferring and stealing organisational data
without prior permission of the management. It ensures employee personal data are secured.
Legislations Pros Cons
Equality Act, 2010  It emphasises on
promoting equality in
the organisation rather
than reducing
inequality (GOV.UK,
2019).
 It provides more
opportunities for both
women and men.
 A huge investment is
attached to implement
in the organisational
premise
 Age discrimination is
still followed.
Health and Safety Act, 1974  It clarifies the
obligations and
functions related to the
Health and Safety Act.
 Health issues are
addressed quickly in
the workplace.
 Conducting safety
programs is costly.
Data Protection Act, 2018  It provides improved
ways for data
management,
processing and handle
 The cost associated
with the
implementation of Act
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