Human Resource Management: Practices, Employee Relations & Legislation

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, focusing on workforce planning, recruitment, employee relations, and the impact of employment legislation. Using Marks and Spencer as a case study, the report evaluates the purpose and functions of HRM in workforce planning and resourcing, assesses the strengths and weaknesses of different recruitment approaches, and explores the benefits and effectiveness of various HRM practices. It also examines the importance of employee relations and the influence of employment legislation on HRM decision-making, illustrating the application of HRM practices in a work-related context with specific examples.

Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................5
LO1..................................................................................................................................................5
P1 Explain the purpose and functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation...........................................................................................................5
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection 7
M1 Assess how the functions of HRM can provide talent and skills appropriate to fulfil
business objectives.......................................................................................................................9
M2 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection.....................................................................................................................................10
D1 Critically evaluate the strengths and weakness of different approaches to recruitment and
selection, supported by specific examples.................................................................................11
LO2................................................................................................................................................12
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and employee.............................................................................................................12
P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational
profit and productivity...............................................................................................................13
M3 Explore the different methods used in HRM practices, providing specific examples to
support evaluation within an organisational context.................................................................14
D2 Critically evaluate HRM practices and application within an organisational context, using
a range of specific examples......................................................................................................15
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TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................16
LO3................................................................................................................................................16
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations with respect to influencing HRM decision
making.......................................................................................................................................16
P6 Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has on HRM
decision making.........................................................................................................................18
M4 Evaluate the key aspects of employee relations management and employment legislation
that affect HRM decision making in an organisational context................................................19
LO4................................................................................................................................................20
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples....................................................................................................................................20
M5 Provide a rationale for the application of specific HRM practices in a work-related
context........................................................................................................................................23
D3 Critically evaluate employee relations and the application of HRM practices that inform
and influence decision-making in an organisational context.....................................................24
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................25
References......................................................................................................................................26
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Introduction
Human resource management is that systematic process which is used by organisation for
managing employment relations which can help company in achieving competitive advantage.
All business enterprises, formulate various employment policies, strategies and plans so that
organisation can accomplish its desired objectives in less time period. Companies of this ear are
facing different problems due to competitive and global market environment, and to survive in
this type of marketplace, enterprise has to focus more on its workforce and their competencies.
The multinational retailing company Marks and Spencer has been chosen for this project report.
In this report, scope and purpose of HRM has been determined in terms of resourcing high
skilled employees. There are various key elements of Human resource management which has
been evaluated along with their effectiveness. At the end, some work based HRM activities has
been applied in organisational context.
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TASK 1
LO1
P1 Explain the purpose and functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation
Human resource management is that business activity which assists organisation in enhancing
performance of its workforce so that they can perform their assigned roles and responsibilities in
most effective manner. The major function of this section is to workforce planning because it
assists organisation in aligning business needs and priorities with workforce so that it can meet
all production, regulatory, legislative and service requirements. Some most important activities
and practices of HRM manager are planning, staffing, directing and controlling which helps
company in selecting and posting high skilled employees at right position. HR section provides
timely information about current and future demand or supply of workers (Alfes, et. al., 2013).
Apart from this, there are some most important purposes of HRM assists Marks and Spencer in
leading towards organisational growth, these are followed as under:
 Employee relations: HRM section build a positive relationship between employer and
employee to ensure that there will be no chance of organizational conflicts or disputes.
Marks and Spencer is number one clothing company which have never faced
controversies due to its employees because it highly satisfies them by providing good
working conditions.
 Improve employee’s efficiency and effectiveness: The biggest purpose of HR manager
is to increase current skills, knowledge and abilities of workers so that they can run
business activities without any confusion and produce positive results. M&S organize
various skill-building activities within its work so that it can improve working efficiency
and effectiveness of its employees (Appelbaum, 2013).
 Proper utilization of organizational resources: HR managers keep the record of each
and every resource which is present in an organization. They always make efforts so that
all human resources can be utilized in the appropriate manner.
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 Moreover, these are some most significant purposes of HRM which helps M&S in
managing its workforce in a systematic manner. Along with this, there are few functions
which are operated by HRM section but provide the huge benefit to the business
enterprise.
 Recruitment and selection: To lead an organization to the high level of success and
growth, an organization has to recruit most talented and qualified staff members. HR
section takes helps of various recruitment and selection approaches for selecting bets
candidate for a vacant job position.
 Orientation: After recruiting suitable employees, HR manager provides them orientation
program so that they can become familiar with workplace environment.
 Training and development: The most important function of HR section is to provide
appropriate learning programs to employees so that they can enhance their working
efficiency and effectiveness (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).
 Positive working environment: The biggest HR function is to build good working
environment so that employees can operate their given roles and responsibilities without
any problem.

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P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection
Recruitment and selection can be referred to the business process which helps in enlisting and
selecting the highly qualified candidate for a vacant job position. Marks and Spencer is a
successful organisation which takes help of different methods such as job analysis, personal
specification, competency frameworks, job description, internal and external sourcing. These are
some most important approaches to recruitment and selection but Marks and Spencer take help
of internal and external sourcing method which have some advantages and disadvantages.
(Figure 1: Approaches to recruitment and selection)
(Source: Akrani, 2012)
 Internal sourcing: It is that recruitment and selection method in which business
enterprise looks within existing workplace for filling the vacant job position. The biggest
strength of this approach is that it is cheaper and quicker enlisting technique. But at the
same, it does not provide the huge number of potential applicants.
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 External sourcing: In this recruitment and selection method, organisation looks outside
the workplace for hiring employees. The biggest advantage of this approach is that it
provides the huge number of candidate to a company so that it can select best out of
them. But at the same time, it is a money and time-consuming procedure.
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M1 Assess how the functions of HRM can provide talent and skills appropriate to fulfil
business objectives.
Some most important HRM functions are recruitment, selection, development, training and so on
which helps Marks and Spencer in increasing its profitability and productivity. Every business
enterprise operates its business activities so that it can improve its financial position and also can
enhance its organisational growth but without employee’s support it cannot reach to its desired
goals or objectives (Chelladurai & Kerwin, 2017).
Marks and Spencer give core attention to training and development programs so that it can
enhance current working efficiency and effectiveness of its workers. If high skilled employees
will run business activities with new knowledge then they can operate them in most effective
manner and also can produce positive results.
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M2 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection.
Marks and Spencer two approaches for recruiting and selecting people which are followed as
under:
Internal sourcing: While company fills its vacant position by recruiting existing employee then
it is known as internal sourcing.
 Advantages: Marks and Spencer choose this method because it helps a company in
reducing cost which is required for conducting interview rounds.
 Disadvantages: The biggest disadvantage of internal resourcing is that it does not
provide an opportunity to the company of hiring fresh and more qualified staff members
(Tewart, 2013).
External sourcing: When employees are recruited and selected from outside the company then
it is known as external sourcing.
 Advantages: Marks and Spencer follow this approach because it provides the huge
number of candidates with high qualification and business skills.
 Disadvantages: Sometimes, external sourcing creates confusion for managers because it
provides lots of applicants and manager cannot understand that they should select for
filling their job position.
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D1 Critically evaluate the strengths and weakness of different approaches to recruitment
and selection, supported by specific examples.
According to Naveen & Raju, (2014), there are various recruitment and selection approaches
such as personal specification, job description, competency frameworks, internal and external
sourcing. But Marks and Spencer follow internal and external sourcing because it helps
organisation choosing most suitable, talented and qualified candidate for a vacant job position.
Furthermore, there are some weaknesses of internal and external sourcing. While recruiting and
selecting people to form internal sourcing company do not get too many options so organisation
has to select the individual from the limited number of workers whereas, external sourcing
increases operational cost of an organisation.
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LO2
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and employee.
HRM section operates various practices like recruitment, selection, orientation, training,
development, planning, directing and controlling which provides financial and non-financial
benefits to both employers and employees of Marks and Spencer. Some major benefits of HRM
practices are discussed below:
Benefits to Employer
 Productivity: HR section recruits most qualified workers who operate business
operations in the appropriate manner and also produce high-quality products and services
which provide high customer satisfaction and also increase product demands within a
marketplace.
 Profitability: Employee with great productivity can help the organisation in generating
the high level of financial profit and also can lead the company towards organisational
growth (Gupta & Jain, 2014).
Benefits to Employee
 Learning: HRM section continuously checks employee's skills and abilities and make
various efforts to improve their working performance by engaging them in learning
programs.
 Training and development: Marks and Spencer conduct training programs in which
employees improve their current skills, abilities and knowledge so that they can resolve
their all personal as well as professional problems in the appropriate manner.
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