HRM in Practice: Microsoft and UK Employment Legislation Report

This report delves into the core aspects of Human Resource Management (HRM), examining its purpose and importance within organizations. It analyzes the selection and recruitment practices of Chocolate Presence, a UK-based company, evaluating its current methods, identifying strengths and weaknesses, and recommending improvements, including competency-based interviews and assessment centers. The report also presents a detailed person specification for a receptionist role. Furthermore, the study explores the HRM practices of Microsoft, including the benefits of flexible working arrangements and employee motivation strategies. It also examines employee engagement and the impact of UK employment legislation on HR decisions. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and providing recommendations for effective HRM implementation.

HRM IN PRACTICE

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
a) Purpose of HR function and its importance.......................................................................3
b) Strengths and weakness of current selection method.........................................................4
c) Two improvements to enhance selection process..............................................................6
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
a) Person specification............................................................................................................7
b) Advantages and disadvantage of current method of advertising.......................................8
c) Recommendations for placing job advertisement............................................................10
PART 2..........................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
a) Benefits of HRM practices used by Microsoft.................................................................10
b) Flexible working arrangements and there benefits to both company and employees......11
c)Motivation of worker through its job role.........................................................................12
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................13
a) Employee engagement and its importance in effective employee relation......................13
b) Key approaches of engaging workers and improving communication at workplace......14
c) Key elements of employment legislation which impacts HR decisions..........................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is known as strategic approach of managing people at
workplace with the help of series of rules, policies and procedures. There are wide range of
HRM practices which governs workforce planning and management in an organization like,
training, performance analysis, staffing, directing, selective hiring, etc. The report will outline
scope and purpose of HRM and selection and recruitment application of HRM practices in
Chocolate presence. It is a rapidly growing enterprise which provides tailor made chocolate
based greeting cards across United Kingdom. Further, the study will present person specification
for receptionist on the basis of job description (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016). The first
part of study will also identify advantages and disadvantage of current method of advertising
jobs in chocolate presence and will outline recommendation for suitable job advert for placing
vacancy of Receptionist.
The second part of report is about performance of employee, reward and development
and factors influencing decision- making of HR mangers of Microsoft. It is an American
multinational technology company which develops licences, supports, manufactures and sells
computer electronics, software and many related services. This section of assessment will discuss
graduate internship and training schemes and benefits of flexible working arrangements offered
by company. In last, study will derive understanding over employee engagement, key approaches
to engaging and key elements of employment legislation of UK.
PART 1
TASK 1
a) Purpose of HR function and its importance
Human resource management refers to as the managing of the human capital of the
company since they enter into the organization till they leave the organization. In other words the
HRM includes all those activities starting from recruitment till the exit interview. HR function is
very important in managing the performance of the employees and the company (Chelladurai
and Kerwin, 2018).
Functional activities of HRM

Recruitment and selection- recruitment is a function of HRM which deals with inviting
candidates for applying for the vacancy within the business. On the other hand selection refers to
as choosing from a variety of shortlisted candidates who were shortlisted from recruitment.
Performance management- it is yet another function of HRM which deals with analysing and
measuring the performance of the employees within the business.
The main purpose of HRM function is to assess the need of human capital requirement
within the company and to fulfil those requirements by recruiting and selecting appropriate and
capable employees. Due to this reason HRM is also very important within the company. The
importance of HRM function in solving the current problem faced by Chocolate Presence and
planning for future growth is discussed in the connected points-
 The first and foremost importance of HRM for Chocolate Presence is that it help in
assessing the need and requirement of human capital in the company and to fulfil it by
hiring new candidates and providing training to them. This is very crucial because
without human resource any work cannot be accomplished (Sparrow, Brewster and
Chung, 2016).
 Another importance is that HRM for Chocolate Presence is that it helps in developing
skills within the employees by providing them with training for latest techniques and
tools currently practising.
 Also, HRM function of Chocolate Presence try to retain employees within the company
by providing them with performance appraisal, bonus, incentives, promotions and many
other appraisal and also use some motivational practices to retain the employees for
longer.
 HRM in Chocolate Presence helps in increasing the profitability and productivity of the
employees because HR department ensures that the candidate selected is of right quality
and in right number and is also placed at right position so that they work efficiently and
increase the profitability of the company.
 Since human work together then it is natural that conflicts will arise so here the HR plays
an important role in resolving the conflicts and bring the employees back to normalcy.
b) Strengths and weakness of current selection method
Selection can be defined as an activity or a process through which a person tries to select
from a number of choices available. In respect to HRM selection refers to as a process of

choosing from a range of different candidates for a job which have been shortlisted after the
process of recruitment. In case of Chocolate Presence the company uses two methods of
selection that is first a written test relating to English and Maths and those who pass the test are
then interviewed personally for around 15 minutes. So in short it uses two methods that is written
test and personal interview.
Written test- It is a written test designed by the company itself for testing the knowledge relating
to Maths and English of the candidates (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014). For passing this test a
candidate has to secure minimum of 50 %.
Strengths
 The written test are helpful in knowing the mental strength and capability of the person
and its ability of thinking and reasoning. Another strength is that this written test is that these test provides a common measuring
point for assessing and comparing the knowledge of the candidates (Morgeson, Brannick
and Levine, 2019). This uniformity ensures that there is no biasness or favouritism while
selecting the candidate.
Weakness
 The major weakness of written test is that these English and Maths test has no relevance
with the company's operations as there is no relation present in Chocolate company and
test relating to English and Maths. The conclusions drawn from these test may be unreliable because there is possibility that
the HR manager or the selecting authority might not be able to properly judge the
candidate with this written test.
Interview- It is a method of face to face interaction with the candidate and asking them questions
relating to the job profile.
Strength
 In this method there is a possibility of developing a good understanding between
interviewer and candidate, and they can interact with each other without any disturbance. This interview method is appropriate because the interviewer can change the questions
according to the response of the candidate and the present situation.
Weakness

 There is no proof or evidence of the things discussed in the interview like in case of
written test there is the sheet of answers provided by the candidate.
 This interview method is very time- consuming as it take time to prepare for the
interview, developing question, process the interview, interpret the responses of the
candidate and many more things.
c) Two improvements to enhance selection process
The selection method used must be such the appropriate and capable candidates can be
chosen (Cooke, Saini and Wang, 2014). Some suggestion for Chocolate Presence for enhancing
its selection process so that right candidate is being selected for the correct position with right
skills and competencies are listed below-
Competency based interview- It is a type of structured interview wherein the interviewer
designs and ask such question which reveals the competencies, capabilities, and skills of the
candidates. Also, some different situations are given to the candidates, and then they are asked
how they will deal with that situation (Moutinho and Vargas - Sanchez, eds., 2018). This will
help interviewer in assessing the hidden capabilities of the candidate.
Advantages There is no set pattern of interview as it is based on competencies which are different
from person to person.
Disadvantage
 This method takes a lot of time. There may be chances of biasness among the interviewer.
Assessment centres- This is a method wherein the candidates has to perform and
complete certain different tasks which are part of selection process. These assessment centres
include those tasks which the candidate has to perform on the job if it got selected in selection
process. The task is designed according to the job description and it should also match with the
person specification.
Advantages It is an authentic way of selecting candidate because it is based on the performance of the
candidate.
Disadvantage
 It is a very expensive and time-consuming method.

TASK 2
a) Person specification
A person specification is a document describing all the required and desired skills,
knowledge and competencies which are to be present in the person applying for the job. These
include the essential requirements which are necessary to be possessed by the applicant as they
are required to perform that particular job. This person specification is based on the job
description that is the job role for which person specification is made. The person specification
for the job role of Receptionist for Chocolate Presence is as follows-
Job title: Receptionist
Department: Administration
Criteria Essentials Desirable
Skills and qualification  A basic degree of
graduation.
 Must have receptionist
training qualification
and certificates.
 Excellent
communication skills
including both written
and verbal (Gatewood,
Feild and Barrick,
2015).
 Strong multi-tasking
skills.
 Computer efficient.
 Language skills.
 Friendly and optimistic
personality.
 Good knowledge of
working on MS Office.
 Efficient time- keeping
skills
 Efficient IT and
keyboard skills.
Experience  Must have experience
of interacting and
working with different
kind of people.
 Previous receptionist
experience (Al Ariss,
Cascio and Paauwe,
2014).

 Working with
computers.
 Assisting in prioritizing
workload and perfect in
performing multiple
task.
 Experience of working
on a switchboard and
dealing with high
volume calls during
peak seasons.
 Experience of working
within a health and
social care services.
 Must be efficient in use
of computerized
booking system and
database.
 Experience of greeting
guest and handing them
in friendly and positive
manner.
Personal attributes  Ability to work well
under pressure.
 Must have enthusiasm
for working within
dynamic and ever-
changing business
environment (Snell,
Bohlander and Morris,
2015).
 Polite and courteous
behaviour with
customers and other
clients and staff.
 Needs to understand
the importance of
confidentiality.
 Must have an ability to
patience, care and
tolerance at time of
peak season.
 With caring of the
company, the
receptionist must work
towards its personal
development as well.
 Must have commitment
towards the aim of
equal opportunities.
 Ability to deal with
many clients at a single
time.
b) Advantages and disadvantage of current method of advertising
Advertising is very necessary for company to promote its product and services in the cut-
throat competitive market. Currently Chocolate Presence use two methods of advertising that is

internally by informing the vacancy to the existing staff and their friends and families. The other
method is external that is putting the vacancy description on the notice boards at the main gate of
company.
Internal advertisement- it can be defined as a system wherein the company publicizes its
job vacancies within the organization to the existing employees. The existing employees share
this news with their friends and families, and then they apply for the vacancy.
Advantages
 The major advantage of internal advertising is that it no or very less cost attached to it.
This is because of the reason that it is done by mouth so it requires no money at all. With the help of this advertisement method only trusted people can be hired because they
will be related to the existing employees only (Bamberger, Biron and Meshoulam, 2014).
Disadvantages The major disadvantage is that it does not provide with a large option of candidates
because the candidates are form internal environment of the company and related to the
existing employees.
Notice outside organization- this is another method which is used by Chocolate Presence
in order to advertise its human resource requirement. Under this technique the company wherein
it prepares an advertisement which includes all the detail relating to the job profile and job
description of the vacant position within the company. This advertisement is then placed outside
the company only.
Advantages
 The main advantage of this type of advertising is that it can grab the attention of every
person passing by the company but the notice must be a little bigger. This method of advertisement is very low cost and time saving method.
Disadvantages
 The major disadvantage is that if the company is not near a public place then it will be
difficult for company to grab attention of many people.
 This method can't be remembered for long because if person sees that then for a shorter
period the person will remember it as and when time passes by the person tries to forget
it.

c) Recommendations for placing job advertisement
Advertisement is very necessary to stand out from the crowd of competition because
similar companies deals in same product or services. So to make some difference among them it
is necessary to have a good advertising plan (Wright, Coff and Moliterno, 2014). Some
recommendation and suggestion for Chocolate Presence for improving its advertisement system
the following measures can be taken-
Social media advertising- in this modern age this is the best method which Chocolate
Presence can use to advertise its product. Under this method the company promotes its products
and services with the help of social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram and many other
different types of social networking sites. This option is beneficial because with help of this
method company can reach to a larger portion of market as every individual uses social
networking sites.
Online job sites- there are certain different types of websites have been made which
specifically relates to job vacancies and job requirements of different types of companies. So
Chocolate Presence can go for advertising in these job sites as it has a wider reach for the
company as these sites are operated by major section of population. Some examples of the online
job sites are like Naukri.com, LinkedIn, Monster.com and many other sites.
Both the recommended methods are very cost- efficient and in budget because it does not
need many resources and budget. The application of both these methods will improve the quality
and variety of applicants because it has a wide coverage of choosing applicants and all the
educated and knowledgeable candidates will only come to apply for the post.
PART 2
TASK 3
a) Benefits of HRM practices used by Microsoft
Human resource management practices are a combination of different HR practices
which are used by companies in maintaining the human capital of the company. The HRM
practice used by Microsoft are the application of different types of internships and graduate
training schemes which are initiated by Microsoft. It provides training and internships at its
office to the graduates and after giving training it hires those interns within the company only.
Some of those internship and training programmes are discussed in the following connected
points-

Graduate engineering program- it is Microsoft engineering program provided for the
student who have studied engineering. Under this program the graduate have some opportunity
of working in such a prestigious company. Also, they have to work with small teams and learn to
stay focus and stable while working in a team. For this the intern must have some basic
understanding of algorithms, computer skills fundamentals and data structures.
Graduate digital sales- this is yet another program run by Microsoft where the company
provides training to graduates to become a capable digital seller. Here the company tries to build
capability relating to increase in the digital sales by the new interns by providing them a good
understanding of cloud computing technology and emerging trends in computer system
(Graduate digital sales, 2019). In this program the company also tries to make the intern
understand the basics of computer science, functions of algorithms and many other relating
aspects.
Benefit to company
 The major benefit to the company is that it provides training to the existing employees
also, so they will be more attracted towards the company and will not leave the job.
Hence, employee turnover will be less. It will improve the profitability and productivity of the company because the employee
and interns of company are trained with the latest techniques and tools. So they will work
more effectively and efficiently resulting ion increased profits and productivity.
Benefit to employees
 The major benefit to employees and interns is that these programs increases the
productivity and efficiency of employees through which their personal development takes
place which encourages them in adopting to the latest tools and techniques fast.
 Another benefit is that it increases the trust for the company in the minds of employees
and interns as the company takes measures for the development of the employees by
providing them with time- to- time training and development programs.
b) Flexible working arrangements and there benefits to both company and employees
Flexible working arrangement refers to as the conditions provided by the company within
which the employees can work according to their choice and convenience by working in
different work patterns as they wish. It may include different options like full- time work or part-

time work or compressed hours, flexitime and many other options. The flexible working
arrangement as provided by Microsoft are discussed in the adjoining points-
Job sharing- it is an arrangement wherein two people performing part- time job performs
the work equivalent to a full- time work (Microsoft corporation, 2019). In this scheme the
employer gets its work done for full- time but by two different employees who are performing
part- time work.
Customized working hours- under this flexible arrangement the company provides the
worker for choosing the working time according to their suitability and convenience. This is
majorly because of the reason that every person is different in there working style and way of
working. Some people are more energetic to work in morning some are good at afternoons. So
this depends upon the person and his attitude. So Microsoft in accordance with this aspect
provides option of customizing working hours according to the need of employee.
Benefits to company It is beneficial for the company because if the employee will be happy by working
according to its requirement then it will be much attracted towards the company and will
not leave the job. And because of this reason there will less employee turnover within the
company.
Benefits to employees
 Providing option of these flexible working conditions to employees will develop a feeling
of belongingness for the company as the company thinks for the comfortableness of the
employees (Abdelhak, Grostick and Hanken, 2014). So, because of this feeling the
employees work more productively and because of this the employee develops on
personal level.
c)Motivation of worker through its job role
Motivation refers to as influencing and encouraging the employees to do work more
efficiently and effectively. Microsoft motivates employees by way of making changes in the job
role in the following ways-
Job rotation- it is a technique where the employee is rotated on different job profiles
within the same company. Employee have to perform new task at the same workplace so this
motivated the employees because it learns new things by working at the same company.