Evaluating HRM Practices and Strategies During Covid-19: A Case Study

This report critically examines Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and strategies employed by organizations in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on the differences between HRM and personnel management and how HR strategies align with labor market demands. It analyzes the impact of national and corporate culture on staff management, evaluates organizational levers for sustainable competitive advantage, and explores job design strategies, particularly in the context of Tesco. The report uses corporate examples to illustrate effective HR practices, relates discussions to relevant HR literature, and provides recommendations for employers to maintain organizational performance during crises. The document is available on Desklib, offering students access to valuable study resources including past papers and solved assignments.

Covid 19 pandemic strategies

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
(A) Difference between HRM management and personnel management...................................3
(B) Impact of national and corporate culture on staff management............................................5
(D) Job design strategy of Tesco.................................................................................................6
(E) HR practices of the different firms........................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is an important and essential aspect of the organization that
direct the organization in terms of performance and management of work so that the goal of the
organization will be accomplished (Stone, Cox and Gavin, 2020). Tesco is one of the
multinational retailer with a headquarter in Welwyn Garden City, UK. It was founded in 1919. It
aims to serve its customer with healthy, affordable and sustainable food (About Us, 2022). This
report will discuss the concept of HRM along with HR strategies in the context of TESCO. The
report also analyse the impact of culture, organisational levers, job design strategies followed
with recommendation in relation with the TESCO.
MAIN BODY
Difference between HRM management and personnel management
The HR and personnel management is consisted of various differences that explains the
various uses of the strategies in the different aspects of the organizations. This can be analysed as
the HR management is used for the management of all the employees and the staff of the
organization. The personnel management is used for the personnel development of an individual.
HR management
It is the strategic approach towards efficient and effective management of people in an
organization in such a manner that they assist the organization towards the gaining of
competitive advantage. The HR management is consisted with different types of functions that
helps the management in achieving the various goals and objectives of the organization. The HR
management has various factors and models that explains that the management of the employees
can be done by the various concepts (Elmortada and et.al., 2020).
 Staffing- The staffing is the process of the recruitment of the employees by analysing
their skills and abilities so that they can be employed to the suitable tasks and projects.
 Training- The HR management trains the employees so that the staff can improve their
abilities and skills so that they can perform better on their day to day tasks.

 Motivation- The HR management of the organization plays an important role in
motivating the employees of the organization by increasing the enthusiasm of the staff
and making them to improve their commitment to their projects and tasks.
 Maintenance- The HR management helps the organization in keeping the flow of work
and other aspects smooth by maintaining the operations and the various factors of the
organization (Chandler, 2018).
Personnel management
The personnel management is a tool that is used by the organizations for improving and
analysing the working environment of the company so that the employees can work in a friendly
and comfortable environment. The strategy helps the business in having the harmony of work
and efficiency in the organization so that the day to day operations of the organization can be
met. There are various benefits that the organization haves with the personnel management
strategy.
 Encourages success- The personnel management helps the organization in motivating
their employees so that they can head towards the success of their allotted tasks and
projects (Junita, 2021).
 Discipline- The strategy helps the organization in creating discipline in the organizational
operations performed by the employees. This is beneficial for the business by making the
employees to achieve discipline and improved personality.
 Effective communication- The personnel management helps the organization in having
the effective and improved communication with their employees. This is helpful for the
business as it helps the employees in making the organization to understand the aspects of
the employee problems and demands (Al-Musadieq and et.al., 2018).
Alignment of HR strategies for Tesco
The Tesco is required to align the strategies of the HR management in an effective way
that can help the organization in achieving the employee efficiencies and accuracy in their day to
day operations. The company can use the various types of strategies and techniques that can
help the organization in properly aligning the HR strategies with the demands of the labour
market. This can be done by using the various techniques.

 Securing the right talent- The Tesco can organize the HR strategies in the manner
that can help the company in achieving the retention of the talented staff. This can
be done by the organization by providing the employees with the rewards and
appreciations so that the staff feels respected in the company (Elayan and et.al.,
2022).
 Reviewing the performance of the employees- The organization is required to
review the performance of their staff so that the company can have the performance
data of the employees. This can help the Tesco in analysing the behaviour of their
staff and giving feedback accordingly.
 Create the long term goals- The HR strategies of the Tesco is required to be more
specific and goal oriented. This is required for the company to make the employees
understand the objectives of the organization and work accordingly to achieve
them.
 Providing the right skills- The HR management of the Tesco should provide the
employees with the basic and necessary skills that is required for the employee to
perform better and more efficiently (Juarez Tarraga, Santandreu Mascarell and
Marin Garcia, 2019).
Impact of national and corporate culture on staff management
The nation and corporate culture has a direct impact towards the management of staff.
This can be justified with the aspect of national culture which may include the changes in
relation with the business environment and the related content that directly impact the
management of staff. This is because with the occurrence of changes in nation culture like
technological or changes in competitors the culture of organisation has directly been affected.
This is related with the impact in terms of decision making, leadership style as well as human
resource practices (Alassaf and et.al., 2020). This can also be justified that of the corporate
culture is flexible like in case of Tesco where the employees are given flexibility in respect to
work but still towards the goal. The management of the staff has been affected likewise. This is
further associated with the easy management of employees. Likewise, changes in culture at
national level also have a direct impact towards the staff management (Smith, Rohr and Panton,

2018). For example, in case of change in culture due to covid pandemic the staff management in
Tesco has been affected and as a result the corporate work has been shifted towards the online
and work from home mode. This has led to result a direct impact towards the working as well as
management of the staff. Thus, it would be right to said that the changes in national or the
corporate culture would lead to have a direct impact towards the staff management wherein the
management of staff need to be change as per changes occurring in the national or corporate
culture.
Likewise, with the occurrence of corporate culture change the staff management of the
organization has also been impacted. In case of Tesco when the changes occur like the changing
rules and regulations would lead to directly impact the staff management. This is because as per
the changing corporate policies like the work from home policy or the increase indulgence of
digital technology in operational use would have a direct impact towards the staff management in
terms of performing the same changes in respect to staff management too.
Organizational levers of HR management
There are various HR levers available for the organization that can help the organization
achieve the competitive advantage in the competition market. The strategies are able to make the
various changes in the HR management so that the company can achieve the sustainable growth
in its day to day operations. The strategies are helpful enough for the organization in a manner of
making the employee to embrace and adapt the changes in their day to day operations. The
various strategies are able to make the organization to achieve the competitive advantage and
perform better than their rivals (Stewart and Brown, 2019).
 Use of technology in HR- The Tesco is required to implement the use of technology
their HR department so that the company can achieve the sustainable growth and change
in the performance of the business. The HR management of the company of the
organization can make the process of the workflow more efficient by using the
technologies that can bring ease in the rigid and old methods of the management (Raman,
2019). However, it can be criticized that some of the organization does not promotes the
modern use and technologies into the organization as it can shift the focus of the
organization from its operations. It can slow down the other operations of the
organization because the other departments of the company require more technologies to

be successfully operating in the global market and achieving its goals and objectives on
an international level.
 Making employee reliance on the HR services- The Tesco can use the strategy of
making some of the employee reliance on the HR department so that the employees are
not required to depend on the various departments. The employees are dependent on the
HR services for the access of their various information in relation to the benefits and the
limitations to the employees. This can make the Tesco to achieve the competitive
advantage by making the use of the HR services for the employee’s personal information.
The company will be able to focus on the strategies that can make the organization to
focus on making the growth and development strategies for the employees. This can help
the organization in achieving the employee efficiency in their operations. As compared to
the advantage it can be critically analysed that the employees can see a reduction in their
access to their own information as the employees are first required to go through the HR
department first (Barykin and et.al., 2021).
 Employee Empowerment- The Tesco is required to implement the strategy of the
employee empowerment by making the changes in the HR management of providing the
employees with the motivation for getting empowered in the operations. The company
can make the HR department to provide the various types of training that can benefit the
organization in achieving the employee efficiency and expertise in the operations. This
can help the employees in achieving the various skills and abilities that is required by the
staff for analysing and implementing the skills on their operations. However, in
comparison to this the organization can feel a need of focusing on the motivation of the
employees rather than training them with the new skills. The organizations have this
opinion because the training for the new skills can slow down the operational process of
the company as the staff will spend their time in learning new skills rather than focusing
on the skills that they already have.
 Wage compression- The Tesco is required to implement the changes of the wage
compression in the HR management of the company. The strategy explains about the
strategy of paying the low skilled employees near to the wages of the high skilled
employees. This can make the newly joined and low skilled employees to feel that they
are respected in the organization and try their best to put their efforts and dedication in

the operations of the company. It can also help the organization in attracting the new
talent and joiners who can benefit the organization by the use of their skills. But, it can be
critically analysed that the organization can face a downfall in the performance of the
high skilled employees. The implementation of the wage compression can make the high
skilled employees to think that they are not given the importance that they deserve
according to their talent and skills. It can result into making the high skilled employees to
demand for more wages that they are getting (Butterick and Charlwood, 2021).
Job design strategy of Tesco
The Tesco has the various types of the strategies that the organization uses for creating the
job design in the organization. The organization uses the various types of techniques that helps
the business in achieving the employee efficiency and improvement in their performance of
performing their day to day operations. There are various strategies that the organization uses for
the better performance of the employees with the help of HR management.
 Job Rotation- The HR management of the Tesco uses the strategy of the job rotation in
the organization that keep the employees to be interested in the company and contribute
their time and efforts for the operations of the business. This helps the employees in
learning new skills and abilities for the different operations and aspects of the operations
of the organization.
 Job Enlargement- The HR management of the Tesco helps the organization by
implementing the strategy of the job enlargement in the existing roles of the employees.
The organization adds the values to the work of the employees by adding the additional
activities to the current working pattern of the staff. This helps the business by making
the employees to retain in the same position and learn various new skills that can be
beneficial for the organization and its business (Danilina and Dradin, 2022).
 Job Enrichment- The organization uses the strategy of enriching the job experience of
the employees by allowing them to work according to their working abilities. The Tesco
makes the staff to pursue the various methods of working and helps them to choose the
correct working method that can be suitable for that particular employee. This helps the
company in achieving the enhanced abilities and work enrichment by the employees.

 Job Simplification- The Tesco uses the job simplification strategy by reducing the
amount of tasks and operations from the existing position of the employees. This helps
the organization in increasing the focus of the employees on the existing tasks that they
are expert in. This makes the employees to perform better on the projects and operations
that they are able to focus more.
HR practices of the different firms
There are various organizations that uses the various types of the HR practices that helps
them in achieving the sustainable growth and development in their business performance.
 Unilever- The company uses the HR strategy of the continues planning and positioning
the employees on the right post. The company uses the method of recruiting the staff based
on the large number of the applicant and shortlists the suitable employee. These practices
help the Unilever in achieving the required talent in the relevant department.
 Sainsbury- The Sainsbury uses the HR strategy of developing the financial position by
recruiting the tactical employees. The department of HR management passes the employees
through the various selection process so that the organization can choose the right employee
and give the opportunity to the employee who deserve it. This practices help the Sainsbury
in saving the costs on the recruiting process by keeping the number of applicants as low as
they can (Chapman and et.al., 2018).
The Tesco is required to apply the various different practices of the HR management that
are used by the different organizations. The strategies will be helpful for the Tesco by providing
them the variety of methods that can be used by the department of HR management of the Tesco.
Recommendation to the employers regarding to HR practices
Based on the above discussion and debates there are various recommendations that can be
given to the employers so that they can maintain the performance in their organization with the
help of their HR practices. The recommendations are effective enough that it can make the
organizations to achieve the competitive advantages in their global operations.
 Providing securities to the employees- The organizations are required to provide
the employees with the option of securities of the company. The company can make

the staff to have the option of participating in employee stock option (ESO) scheme.
This can help the organization in achieving the loyalty of the employees as the
employees will feel that they are associated to the company in a respected manner.
 Training in relevant skills- The organizations are required to make the necessary
HR management practices by training their employees with the relevant skills that is
necessary for the successful operations of the company in the global markets. This
can help the company by making the employees to achieve the relevant skills that is
required for their day to day operations.
 Self management and effective teams- The employers are required to perform the
HR practices of creating the self management and effective teams in the various
departments of the organization. This can help the employees to work with the
effective teams in their related departments. This can make the organization to
achieve the competitive advantage in the markets by having the effective and skilful
teams that can work effectively on the various operations of the company that are
divided into various departments.
 Fair and performance based compensation- The organizations can make the
implementation of the HR management practices that can make the company to
provide the compensation to the employees based on their performance. This can
help the organization by winning the loyalty of the skilled employees as they are
getting their wages and compensation according to their skills and abilities. This can
help the organization in maintaining the performance of the organization by making
the employees to work with more dedication and motivation on their day to day
tasks.
CONCLUSION
Thus, it can be concluded that the Tesco has made various types of the HR practices that has
the company in achieving and managing the performance in the Covid-19 pandemic. The
various types of the models and concepts such as staffing and training in the HR

management can help the organization to achieve the sustainable development with the
demands of the labour market. The national and corporate culture can impact the
organizations in a positive way as the culture are flexible in nature. The various levers of the
human resources such as making the use of technology can help the company in achieving
the sustainable advantage in the competition market.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alassaf, and et.al., 2020. The impact of open-border organization culture and employees’
knowledge, attitudes, and rewards with regards to open innovation: an empirical
study. Journal of Knowledge Management.
Al-Musadieq, M. and et.al., 2018. The mediating effect of work motivation on the influence of
job design and organizational culture against HR performance. Journal of Management
Development.
Barykin, S.Y. and et.al., 2021. Digital technologies for personnel management: Implications for
open innovations. Academy of Strategic Management Journal. 20. pp.1-14.
Butterick, M. and Charlwood, A., 2021. HRM and the COVID‐19 pandemic: How can we stop
making a bad situation worse?. Human Resource Management Journal. 31(4). pp.847-
856.
Chandler, N., 2018. A Symbiotic Relationship: HR and Organizational Culture.
In Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management (pp. 1-22). Springer,
Cham.
Chapman, E.F. and et.al., 2018. Human resource development and human resource management
levers for sustained competitive advantage: Combining isomorphism and
differentiation. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(4). pp.533-550.
Danilina, E. and Dradin, R., 2022. Features of the Personnel Policy in the Context of COVID-19
Pandemic. Available at SSRN 4056803.
Elayan, M.B. and et.al., 2022. Knowledge-based HR practices, π-shaped skills and innovative
performance in the contemporary organizations. Kybernetes.
Elmortada, A. and et.al., 2020. Innovations in HR management: a content analysis approach.
Juarez Tarraga, A., Santandreu Mascarell, C. and Marin Garcia, J.A., 2019. What are the main
concerns of human resource managers in organizations?. Intangible Capital. 15(1).
pp.72-95.
Junita, A., 2021, January. The creative hub: HR strategic function in the digital age. In 4th
International Conference on Sustainable Innovation 2020-Accounting and Management
(ICoSIAMS 2020) (pp. 229-235). Atlantis Press.
Raman, S.R., 2019. HR Practices, Middle Managers and Organizational Change.
Smith, S.S., Rohr, S.L. and Panton, R.N., 2018. Human resource management and ethical
challenges: Building a culture for organization success. International Journal of Public
Leadership.
Stewart, G.L. and Brown, K.G., 2019. Human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.
Stone, R.J., Cox, A. and Gavin, M., 2020. Human resource management. John Wiley & Sons.
Online references
About Us., 2022. [Online]. Available through < https://www.tescoplc.com/about/>
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