Human Resource Management: Workforce Planning and Practices at Harrods

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Harrods, a renowned departmental store in London. It covers the importance and functions of HRM in workforce planning and resourcing, including recruitment and selection processes, distinguishing between internal and external approaches, and evaluating their respective strengths and weaknesses. The report also examines the benefits of various HRM practices for both employers and employees, focusing on recruitment, learning and development, workplace policies, organizational flexibility, payment and reward systems, and performance evaluation. Furthermore, it assesses the effectiveness of these practices in raising Harrods' profit and productivity. The report also touches upon the importance of employee relations and the impact of employment legislation on HRM decision-making, and includes a job specification, role-play interview simulation, and evaluation of the HR process.

Human Resource Management

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................2
Explain the importance and the function of HRM applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing in Harrods (P1, M2).................................................................................................2
The strengths and weaknesses of different approaches of recruitment and selection used by
H&M (P2, M2, D1)....................................................................................................................3
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................5
Benefits of different HRM practices within Harrods for both the employer and employee (P3,
M3).............................................................................................................................................5
Effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising Harrod’s profit and productivity
(P4, D2)......................................................................................................................................8
Effectiveness of different HRM practices can be evaluated by the strengths of each practice..8
Task-3.........................................................................................................................................9
P5. Importance of Employee relations and its importance in Harrods with respect to
influencing the HRM decision making......................................................................................9
P6. Elements of employment legislation and their impact upon HRM decision-making........10
Task 4.......................................................................................................................................11
Job Specification and role play to stimulate the interview......................................................11
Offer letter................................................................................................................................17
Interview Selection Criteria.....................................................................................................17
Evaluation of the process and the rationale for conducting appropriate HR practices............18
Conclusion................................................................................................................................19
References................................................................................................................................20

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Introduction
In the recent era of globalization, business is the key term to establish the relationship
between the countries which will increase the revenue rate of the country. This report is based
on the importance of HRM in order to run an organization (Cascio, 2018). Here, the learner
states an organization namely Harrods. Harrods is a renowned departmental store in London,
UK. The store is standing on a 5-acre land with about 330 departments of retail space. The
different departments provide with a vast range of products such as clothing for kids, men
and women, electronic gadgets, jewellery, toys, foods and drinks, cosmetics, furniture and
appliances. There is also a section with 32 restaurants ranging from tea to haute cuisine.
Nearly, 300,000 customers mainly from non-English speaking regions of the world, visit
Harrods at least once in a week (harrods.com, 2018). Thus the assignment focuses on the
Human Resource management of Harrods.
Task 1
Explain the importance and the function of HRM applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing in Harrods (P1, M2)
Human Resource Management is a term in the business which is responsible for the process
of recruiting, hiring, managing the employees of Harrods. Each and every organization,
require a HR to develop the strategies on the behalf of employee retention which helps the
organization economically, socially and legally (Banfield et al.,2018).
The purpose and functions of HRM which are stated as follows:
 Recruitment and selection- HRM of Harrods is responsible for hiring competent,
qualified and talented candidate for the organization which will minimize the cost of
recruiting the incompetent, discouraged candidates. HRM should proceed with the
appropriate recruiting process and block the process of hiring candidates. The purpose
of recruitment and selection is to provide the organization with the work force and
meet the targets of the organization (Coller, 2018).
 Management: HRM functioning is centred around four terms such as planning,
organizing, directing, and controlling. Planning means to set the goals and objectives
of the organization that are needed to meet. Organizing refers to integrate the tasks

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among the competent, qualified employees. Thereafter HRM at Harrods directs the
allotted employees to the work by providing incentives. HRM at Harrods then checks
and compare with the actual plan so that it does not gets deviated in a wrong path.
These four steps are followed by HRM to have an analysis of the organizational goals
and objectives.
 Employee relations- HRM at Harrods maintains the relation between the employees
and management and also among employees. HRM also held responsible to maintain
the attitude towards the labours in order to respect them. It also maintains the working
environment to get the job satisfaction.
 Administration- HRM determines the wages, incentives for the employees of the
organization so that they get motivated by the organization in order to meet the target.
The strengths and weaknesses of different approaches of recruitment and selection used
by H&M (P2, M2, D1)
Internal process:
Recruitment and selection are the key terms used in HRM. There are two types of approaches
such as internal and external approach of recruitment and selection by HRM at Harrods.
Internal approach
Internal recruitment and selection is meant to hire the candidates from the organization itself.
It is attributed for the promotion and transfer of the existing employees and the job
advertisements are circulated within the organization (Ozcelik, 2015).
Strengths:
1) It is a cost-efficient and faster process of recruitment and selection.
2) As it is an internal process, employees are already familiar with the organization and the
strategies of Harrods.
3) Internal recruitment and selection provides the opportunities for the promotion and transfer
within Harrods.
Weakness:
1) There will be a limited number of competent, talented candidates in the organization.

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2) There is a relatively low chance for the new and innovative ideas from outside.
3) Vacancy is created for the internal recruitment which is required to be filled.
4) The organization becomes aware of the strengths and weakness of the newly recruited
candidates.
External approach
External approach means recruiting candidates from outside the organization. The
recruitment is mainly done through the job advertisements, recruitment agencies, and
personal references (Hossain, 2016).
Strengths:
1) Implementation of fresh, new ideas to work which will enhance the organization.
2) There is no internal politics prevailing in the process of recruitment.
3) Some ideas will be presented by the recruited candidates from other industries.
Weakness:
1) It is an expensive process as it is concerned in hiring fresh candidates from outside
2) The newly recruited candidates cannot mix with the environment of the company.
3) The external recruitment consumes a lot of time.

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Task 2
Benefits of different HRM practices within Harrods for both the employer and
employee (P3, M3)
Difference HRM practices in the management of Harrods have different benefits both for the
employers and the employees. the benefits of the HRM practices in the management of
Harrods are discussed as follows:
Harrods
practice
Details Benefits for employees Benefits for
employers
Recruitment
& selection
The recruitment and selection
process at the HRM
department consists of both
the internal recruitment
approach and the external
approach. The internal
recruitment process is for the
higher management levels
and the external recruitment
process is for the employees
of junior level (Harrod et
al.,2016). When there is a
vacancy for the managerial
level in Harrods, the HRM
Department follows the
process of promoting the
existing skilled staffs. For the
recruitment of junior level
staffs, like store-keeper,
Junior Accountant, Inventory
Assistant etc. the HRM
Department of Harrods
follows the external process
The recruitment and
selection process, both
internal and external are
beneficial to the
employees as this process
give scope to the
employees to enhance
their skills and
competency. As the
internal processes ensure
the retention of the
employees in Harrods
through providing better
opportunities to the
employees for their
growth it is beneficial for
the internal employees.
The external recruitment
processes bring new
talent and skills from the
outside market through
interview.
The employers of
Harrods enjoy benefits
from the internal
recruitment processes
as they can retain the
internal employees in
a cost-effective
manner ( Allan et
al.,2015). On the other
hand, the external
selection process
brings innovation in
Harrods from the
outside market.

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for recruitment. The selection
in the HRM Department of
Harrods is done through
interview, skill tests, group
discussion etc. Both Harrods
and the employees of
Harrods are benefitted by
these selection and
recruitment processes.
Learning,
development
and training
The selection and recruitment
process has brought
knowledge, learning culture
within Harrods through
continuous development of
training programs. In the
HRM Department of
Harrods, the staffs are trained
with skills and knowledge
resulting in continuous
development of skills and
knowledge. This selection
process also teaches both the
employers and employees of
Harrods new changes and
give chance to prosper. The
HRM department of Harrods
processes training programs
in which both the employers
and employees can have
continuous knowledge and
skills to develop their
competency. Thus these
processes provide benefits for
These processes are
beneficial to the
employees of Harrods
because they provide
opportunities through
continuous learning and
the employees can gain
better opportunities in the
organization to develop
themselves in return of
better salary and facilities
( Nkhata et al.,2016).
They can develop
themselves for the job
market.
From the aspect of
employers, they can
be confident of
organizational
success. Harrods,
through these
processes, can train
the existing
employees through
changing situations
and the employers
also get
trained(Bradley,
2015).

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both the employees and
employers.
Job and
workplace
design
The HRM Department of
Harrods, through these
processes can maintain a
good work culture in the
work place and allocate the
specific jobs to the
employees. Specific
allocation of jobs are
processed to the employees
and so the employees of
Harrods get expert in their
job roles.
Through these processes,
various HRM policies
and their benefits are
notified to the employees
of Harrods so that they
may be able to participate
in the management
decision and take
decision when necessary.
Thus the chances of
misconduct are reduced
( Jakopovic, 2017).
The employers of
Harrots are benefitted
by gaining a good
workforce in the
company through an
organizational culture.
Flexible
organization
As a lot of structural
flexibilities come in the
organization, the HRM
Department of Harrods is
benefitted by getting such a
flexible organization (Bide,
2017).
A flexible organization
like Harrods is always
beneficial to its
employees as it can
upgrade the HR policies
in the organization
according to the demand
of employment and as the
employees can get higher
salary package, attractive
benefits and other
compensation (Kunkel,
2018).
From the aspect of
employers of Harrods,
they feel pride for
Harrods being a
choice of the
employees. The
employers never fail
to acquire the best
talents in the industry.
Payment and
reward
system
For maintaining proper
payment and reward system
in HRM Department,
different paying methods for
different grades of employees
are developed and thus the
The payment structure of
Harrods gets developed
and hence the salary
structure, and other
facility structure gets
developed. The
The employers of
Harrods get benefitted
as they can retain the
skilled and efficient
employees in the
organization.

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payment structure of Harrods
get developed ( Puaschunder,
2016).
employees are satisfied
with their salary and
facilities and their
behavioral approach is
developed.
Performance
management
The HRM Department of
Harrods undertakes
evaluation and appraisal
programs for the employees
and thus the management of
Harrods can evaluate their
employees (Saint et
al.,2015).
The employees of
Harrods get benefitted as
they can become aware
of their areas of
improvements.
The employers of
Harrods get benefitted
as they can identify
the skilled employees
within the
organization and from
outside market .
Source: Created by author
Effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising Harrod’s profit and
productivity (P4, D2)
Effectiveness of different HRM practices can be evaluated by the strengths of each
practice.
The internal and external recruitment process in Harrods have a number of strengths like
saving of time, cost-effectiveness, employee retention etc.
Type of costs Costs Number of costs
Cost of design and
development
internal design days and development 2
costs of external designers and developers
Promotional costs internal days of promotional activity 2
other costs of promotion
Administration costs hours of administration required per candidate 2
direct administration costs per candidate
Faculty costs faculty expenses 1
Materials cost per employee of training materials 1
Facilities training room expenses 2

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equipment used for training
Total 8
Type of profit/
productivity
Profits/ productivity Number of
profit/
productivity
Labour savings Reduction of duplication of effort 3
less time spent in correcting mistakes
faster access of information
Productivity
increases
improved methodologies that reduce the effects 3
higher levels of skill leading for faster work
higher levels of motivation for the increase of effort
Other cost
savings
fewer cases of machine breakdowns, resulting in lower
maintenance costs
3
lower staff turnover, effected in lower recruitment and
training costs
Bad debts reduced
Other income
generation
a higher success rate for winning competitive pitches, that
leads to increased sales
3
sales referrals made by non-sales staffs
new ideas of products leading to successful product
launches
Total 12
Calculation of ROI percentage
% of ROI percentage
% of ROI= (benefit/costs) X100 =12/8 =1.5
Therefore the ROI is 1.3%

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Here the ROI percentage is positive for 1.5% and from this it can be decided that the training
method applied for Harrods is effective and it is evident that there are more benefits in the
cost incurred in such training program.
Task-3
P5. Importance of Employee relations and its importance in Harrods with respect to
influencing the HRM decision making
Employee relation is an important term used in HRM which is indirectly or directly used to
enhance the organizational goals and objectives. Strong employee relation is essential for
better productivity and increase of profit margin for the said organization. Employees mainly
deal with issues that may arise in the workplace, which they need to avoid and resolve in
order to maintain a favourable working environment. The importance of employee relation
with respect to HRM decision making are:
 There are numerous issues on which a person cannot take decision alone so in such cases,
every person requires proper guidance and advice of others as well. Occasionally, before
introducing any plan each employee needs to express personal opinions without any
restraint. If a good relation is not maintained between the employees and the employer
then it will affect the entire work process.
 Work becomes easier when a healthy relation is maintained among the workers and it
results in good productivity. Since, a single worker cannot do every task on his own so,
each and every task along with the responsibilities must be divided among the other
fellow workers in order to complete the assigned tasks within the given time period. If a
healthy relation is maintained among the co-workers then it is easier to share and
complete the entire task.
 An organization becomes a favourable workplace; if the employees working in the same
environment together form a bond like family. But it is usually seen that a person tends to
lose concentration if the mind gets filled with tensions and stress. It has been also
observed that when employees discuss and share their individual problems then all such
issues get deleted automatically. A single worker generally spends about 8-9 hours per
day at the workplace and it is never possible for the same worker to carry on the work
without a single break during the entire working hours (Anitha, 2014). It is important to

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respect one another within the workplace because being a retail organization, the
employees of Harrods has to deal customers directly.
It is highly important for employees to work with ease and maintaining proper relation
between co-workers that ultimately helps to focus and concentrate into the work with less
number of conflicts.
P6. Elements of employment legislation and their impact upon HRM decision-making
Employment legislation is one of the key factors that are designed keeping in mind the
welfare of the operational employees. The laws are mainly designed for protecting the rights
of the employees from every kind of odd behaviours of the employer or any other staff
associated with the said organization. It also plays a major role in order to make the
employees feel comfortable to work within the organization. The several employment
legislations with respect to Human Resource management are:
Discrimination Act-
According to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination against the employees on the basis
of race, colour, religion, sex and nationality is strictly prohibited (Soutphommasane, 2015).
These regulations are functional for the organization where more than 15 employees are
working on direct payroll. The organization cannot deny any hiring of an employee under any
sort of discrimination. The age discrimination mentioned in Employment Act extends the
prohibition of hiring for the allotted employees of age more than 40.
Federal Family and Leave Act-
According to the Federal Family and Leave Act, employees can take a leave upto 12 weeks in
a 12 month period for a variety of conditions such as the severe health problems, bonding
with new home coming baby or qualifying to active military service. The employees of the
organization like Harrods are entitled to job protection during their absence. They remain at
working status even though an employee quits the job without any appropriate reasons or
without informing the management of Harrods. The HR department of the said organization
holds the right to take strict legal action against the employee and it may even lead
termination (Arleo, et al., 2015).
Equality Act-