HRM Practices in ASDA: Workforce Planning, Employee Relations, Law

This report provides a detailed analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within ASDA, focusing on workforce planning, recruitment, employee relations, and the impact of employment legislation. It explores the purpose and functions of HRM in workforce planning, evaluates different approaches to recruitment and selection, and explains the benefits of various HRM practices for both employers and employees. The report also assesses the effectiveness of HRM practices in raising organizational profit and productivity, analyzes the importance of employee relations in HRM decision-making, and identifies key elements of employment legislation affecting HRM. Furthermore, it illustrates the application of HRM practices in a work-related context using specific examples from ASDA, highlighting training programs, safety policies, and recruitment strategies. The document is contributed by a student and available on Desklib, a platform offering a wide range of study tools and resources.

Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM applicable to workforce planning and resourcing
an organisation. (P1)........................................................................................................................4
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection (P2)..5
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................7
Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the employer and
employee (P3)..................................................................................................................................7
Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational profit
and productivity (P4).......................................................................................................................9
Analyse the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-making
(P5)................................................................................................................................................10
Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision-
making (P6)...................................................................................................................................12
Task 3.............................................................................................................................................14
Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific examples
(P7)................................................................................................................................................14
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................22
Reference List................................................................................................................................23
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Introduction
Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a crucial role in any organization to provide
benefits to the employees. The HR department works to recruit and select new employees for the
company. The human resource department has some responsibilities to maintain the security and
safety of the employees. On the other hand, the human resource department works to increase the
productivity and profit of the company. The case study focuses on the HRM practices of ASDA.
ASDA is considered as the retail giant of the United Kingdom, so that the company makes an
effective human resource team to take decision for the benefits of the employees. The human
resource department helps the company to achieve the highest goal in the business industry.
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Task 1
Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation. (P1)
The employees in any organization are considered as the backbone. An organization to achieve
its targets must develop good democratic relationship with the employees. Efficient workforce
planning refers to the method where the organization bridges the employees with desired
outcomes (Cascio, 2018). Workforce planning determines the knowledge, skill requirements and
the knowledge to sequence up the correct number of employees at the correct time and at the
correct place. In ASDA, the management cares about its employees largely. It comes up with
policies so that a favourable environment can be created for the employees. The functions of
human resource management, which helps in workforce planning and resourcing, are given
below:
 One of the most vital rationales of human resource management (HRM) is to recognize
the number of vacancies that are there in the organization. According to the prevailing
vacancies, the HRM should hire employees. The first role of the human resource
department is to plan which department needs how many number of employees. The
other things that are anticipated by the HR department is to plan job requirements, to
analyze the recruitment sources and plan job description. The HR department of ASDA
should thoroughly look at the recruitment process so that, suitable employees are
recruited (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
 The HRM should be responsible for the establishment of the objectives and the
development of the plans. The next responsibility that needs to be carried out by HRM is
to structure the organization goals and to design various operations are related to the
work process. This role includes clubbing together of personal activities, co-ordinating
the activities and authority delegation.
 The HRM should motivate the employees working in an organization. Motivating the
employees encourages them to reach the company goals effectively and willingly
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(Brewster et al., 2016). The HR department of ASDA should motivate its employees so
that the goals of the organization can be achieved easily.
 The HRM should ensure the correct recruitment of people. HRM should look into the
recruitment process keenly. While recruiting the people, the HRM should ensure the
people who are being hired have the right kind of skills (Marchington, 2015). The other
key functions of HRM are to control, evaluate, monitor and direct the employees.
Comparisons and observation of results should be of major concern for the HRM
department.
 HRM should include itself in the planning process regarding the development of training
and competency that helps the employees to work better in the organization.
Development and training programs are useful as it helps the employees to work with
greater efficiency.
 The HRM department of the organization should review the salary structure regularly.
This has to be done to ensure that the employees are getting the correct worth of their
work.
The HRM department of ASDA should focus on to develop its plan regarding the human
resource policies. It should administer programs and policies that improves the quality of the
employees working in the organization. Improving the relationship between the employees and
employees should be another key function of the HRM at ASDA.
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
(P2)
Selection and recruitment process is very vital to establish any kind of business organization.
Organizations like ASDA, Walmart, Tesco gives minute attention to the recruitment process.
When the right kind of employees get recruited its becomes easier of the organization to achieve
the desired goals (Beauchamp et al., 2015). The HR department firstly has to recognize the
vacancies and then has to start with the recruitment process. Candidates with suitable skill sets
needs to be pooled in which allows the filling of the post. In the recruitment process, many
sources can be used. Internal source of recruitment, external source of recruitment job
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description, job analysis, competency framework, person specification are some of the methods
in which employees are selected by the human resource department.
Internal and External Recruitment: When work force is supplied within the organization, it is
termed as internal recruitment. External recruitment refers to the process where prospective
employees are searched from outside the organization. Both internal as well as external
recruitment have some kind of positive aspects and some shortcomings as well. The process of
internal recruitment is fast (Koleva and Stoyanova-Warner, 2018). It does not include processes
like advertising, screening and short listing. None of these steps are required in the process of
internal recruitment. In external recruitment, there is a huge need for financial assistance while
internal recruitment is cost effective. In case of internal recruitment, the chances of fresh talent
are quite limited. However, when external recruitment is considered, the company gets a chance
to choose from various fresh talents.
Job Analysis: The process of job analysis includes observations, diary, critical incidents,
questionnaire, interviews, checklists and observation. All the methods mentioned have some kind
of shortcomings and advantages too. Verified information, which is firsthand, is provided by
observations. Observation is a time taking process. The help of interviews can gather qualitative
data. A difficult process to compile all the data is obtained from the interviews. The inexpensive
methods include checklists and diary, however it may not provide with all the correct and
relevant information (da Motta Veiga and Turban, 2018). ASDA uses the interview procedure
for the recruitment of their employees
Person specification and job description: All the details regarding a specific job are provided
by the description of the job. The job description method attracts candidates who are qualified,
but the candidates who are disabled may be left out in this process. The method of job
description is used by ASDA regarding its recruitment process.
Competency Recruitment: In contingency recruitment, an agreement gets formed among the
employer and the recruitment agency (Kekäle, 2018). When the agency finds any suitable
employee for the organization and is selected in the organization, the organization has to pay the
agency. This is a fast and easy process of recruitment. However, it requires financial assistance.
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ASDA is a multi-layered organization. It requires many recruitment agencies to get appropriate
employees for the different vacancies.
ASDA used the method of competency recruitment and external recruitment to employ
candidates. In these two methods, ASDA gets to choose from huge number candidates. At the
end of the process, the suitable employees get selected who can contribute to the growth of the
organization.
Task 2
Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and employee (P3)
Human Resource Management (HRM) plays a vital role in an organization in different ways.
The human resource management practice is developed and segmented to fulfil various HR
needs of ASDA. The HR department provides benefits both for the management and employees.
The Human Resource department works on the various areas such as work force planning,
recruitment and selection process, training, and appraisal. The HRM department arranges
training for the new employees to make them competent for the work place. The Human
Resource Department of ASDA provides on job training and off job training to the employees. In
ASDA, the human resource department organizes practical training session for the employees to
gather knowledge practically. Besides, in ASDA, the HR department arranges conferences,
workshops, business games to provide theoretical knowledge to the employees. On the other
hand, Human Resource department works on the salary structure of the company. The HRM
designs an extensive salary structure according to current financial status of the company. In
ASDA, the HR team helps to intend an attractive salary structure, which is beneficial both for the
management and employees. Besides, the HR department makes plan to reduce the overall cost
of the company related to turnover and hiring replacement workers. The human resource
department is beneficial for the company because they have the skills that are necessary to
provide benefits to the employees (Henderson, 2017).
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The human resource department works to provide safety and security to the employees in their
work place. In ASDA, the human resource department works on various policies of employees
such as safety and health administration policy to provide safe working conditions for the
employees. They maintain the work logs, records and on the other hand, they develop programs
to reduce work place injuries and fatalities. On the other hand, the Human Resource department
works on the liability issues of the ASDA. They maintain the attendance of the employees in the
workplace to stop unfair practices in the work place. Besides, they investigate workplace issues
such as harassment, conflict and gossiping to build a healthy atmosphere in the work place. The
human resource department of ASDA implements some strategies to gain competitive edge that
is very beneficial for the future improvement of the company. The human resource department
arranges motivation training that is essential to boost the employees. On the other hand, the
human resource department recruits new employees for the company. They have appropriate
skills to identify perfect person for the company. The recruitment process of ASDA is very
impressive because the human resource department implements an effective plan to recruit new
employees. The human resource department has invented the online recruitment process to
improve speed and efficiency of recruitment. After the online registration, the HR executives
shortlist the eligible candidates for further interview. Therefore, the company is able to hire
eligible candidates, who will serve the best for the customers (Morgan-Jones, 2018).
The most important function of human resource department is to identify the training gap, so that
the employees can be more proficient in the work place. The expert human department of ASDA
designs some effective strategies to identify the training gap. The HR executives evaluate the
skills of the employees to define the differences between desired organizational results and
actual organizational results. When the gap is identified, the HR executives arrange further
training session to fill the gap. Therefore, it is an effective HR practice of ASDA to make
employees more proficient.
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Figure 1(Scope OF HRM), Source: (Bratton and Gold, 2017)
Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational
profit and productivity (P4)
Work force is the key component of an organization to increase the profit and productivity of the
company. The human resource department plays the crucial role to appoint employees for the
company. The human resource department of ASDA is well known for the effective recruitment
process to appoint eligible employees. Therefore, the eligible employees work hard to help the
organization for the achievement of goal. On the other hand, the human resource department
arranges proper training session for the employees, so that they can learn all the work place
activities, which help them to increase the productivity of the company. When the productivity is
increased, the company automatically increases its overall profit. The human resource team of
ASDA arranges practical and theoretical training session for the employees to gather knowledge
for the improvement of the business. The practical knowledge helps the new employees to
improve their skills that are very helpful for the long run profit of the company. Besides, the
human resource department works to identify the training gap, so that they can fulfil the gap by
providing further training. The HRM of ASDA arranges work time courses to improve the
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knowledge of the employees. These types of short time courses help the company to increase the
productive through the skills of the workers (Bachman et al., 2017).
The most important strategy of the HRM of ASDA is to provide promotion to the internal
employees. This system helps the company to increase its productivity because the existing the
colleagues are aware about the activities of the company. Therefore, the company is able to
increase its productivity through the activities of existing employees. On the other hand, the HR
team of ASDA plays a vital role to conduct bargaining and negotiating with the suppliers.
Therefore, the company is able to reduce the cost of raw materials through the bargaining power
of HRM. Therefore, the price reduction of raw materials helps to increase the overall profit of the
company. The human resource department designs an effective salary structure for the
employees according to the present financial status of the company. Besides, the human resource
department notices the work place issues, which help the company to reduce problems in the
work place. Therefore, human resource management plays a crucial role to provide good
working conditions to the employees, so that they can work effectively to increase the
productivity of the company. On the other hand, the human resource team maintains the quality
of products to satisfy the customers. The product quality increases the overall profit of ASDA.
The human resource management motivates the employees, so that they are engaged to provide
quality work for a longer period. Sometimes, the human resource management of ASDA
arranges reward system to improve the skill of the employees. Therefore, the proper skills of the
employees help to increase the productivity of the company. Thus, it is said that the human
resource team of ASDA is very effective to increase the productivity and profit of the company
(Henderson, 2017).
Analyse the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-
making (P5)
Employees are the pillar of every organization because they help to increase the productivity and
profit of the company. ASDA is a reputed company, so that the company has huge employee
strength to run the operation successfully and effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain
the relationship with the employees for the long term benefits. The human resource management
gives emphasis to build relation with the employees. In ASDA, the human resource department
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provides safety and security to the workers, so that they feel secure in the work place during
work. Safeguarding is necessary to build the bond with the employees. The human resource team
works to collect agreements through the trade unions for the safeguarding of the employees. On
the other hand, the human resource management designs an effective employee relation strategy
to build a strong relation between employee and employer. The HRM department identifies the
issues in the work place to provide safety and security. Therefore, the human resource
management takes decision for the overall benefits of the employees.
There are some actors, who work together to maintain the employees relations in the work place.
In ASDA, the employee relations are controlled by certain actors. The main actors in employee
relations are employees, employers and the government. Therefore, the company frames an
effective employee relations strategy such as pay structure, work contracts, leaves, duty hours,
bonus system and others according to the legislations of the UK government. The human
resource management designs an effective strategy to provide overall benefits for the employees
according to employee laws of the United Kingdom. There are employer association and Trade
union, who act effectively to maintain the employee relations. Trade union and employee
association perform to establish the link between the employees and the management. The
human resource management of ASDA is conscious about the activities of the Trade union, so
that they are able to fulfil the demands of the Trade union. On the other hand, Court and
Tribunals are also important actors to build the employees relation. The human resource
department of ASDA is expert about the legislations related to employees’ benefits, so that they
can handle the matter easily and successfully. Therefore, the human resource department of this
company is able to take all types of decision according to laws and legislations of the local
government.
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Figure 2: (Employee Relations Actors), Source: (Giri, 2017)
Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision-making (P6)
The management of ASDA should focus on the key elements of employment legislation before
implementing any HRM decision. The employment legislations consist of employment
contracts, salary, work hour, holiday entitlement, leave, terminations and pension scheme.
According to the employee legislations, the management of ASDA needs to develop the
employment contract that is essential to mention the job roll of the employees. Besides, the duty
hours, leaves and salary are mentioned in the contract to inform the employees. Therefore, the
management should analyze the legislations of the government before making the contracts for
employees. ASDA faced a mass legal action due to unequal pay to the women employees.
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