HRM Report: Analyzing HR Practices and Talent Acquisition at Lidl

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Lidl, a prominent supermarket chain in the UK. It begins with an introduction to Lidl, outlining its mission, purpose, and core business objectives. The report then explores the purpose, roles, and responsibilities of the HR function, emphasizing its significance in talent acquisition. It assesses Lidl's approach to workforce planning, recruitment & selection, performance management, training & development, and reward systems. The report also examines various HR practices, including employee security and workforce analysis. Additionally, it delves into the design of a job description, person specification, and job offer letter for a marketing manager position. Furthermore, the report evaluates the procedures and rationale for conducting suitable HR practices, the approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and engagement, and important aspects of employment legislation within Lidl. Finally, it assesses how employee relations and employment legislation meet venture objectives and inform decision-making. The report aims to provide a thorough understanding of HRM strategies and their impact on Lidl's success.

Unit 3 - Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
1- Introduction to chosen company including its mission, purpose & core business objectives 3
2- Explaining purpose, role and responsibilities of human resource function and its
importance in talent acquisition..................................................................................................4
3- Assessment of approach to workforce planning, recruitment & selection, performance
management, training & development and reward systems........................................................8
4- Exclusion of case study examples to examine several methods utilized in HR practices....11
PART 2- ........................................................................................................................................12
1- Designing job description for position of marketing manager.............................................12
2- Person specification in regard to marketing manager position.............................................13
3- Job offer letter for selected candidate...................................................................................13
4- Evaluating procedure and rationale for conducting suitable HR practices...........................14
5- Approach to and effectiveness of employee relations & engagement with mention of Lidl
and flexible working practices as well as employer of choice..................................................15
6- Important aspects of employment legislation within which Lidl must work.......................15
7- Evaluating how employee relations & employment legislation meet venture objectives and
inform decision-making............................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management (HRM) is one of the most important and beneficial
functions of companies. By hiring, selecting, and imparting training & development, HR
manager provides a lot of benefits to companies in term of enhancing capability to sustain
businesses within specific sector. The current assignment will be based on, Lidl which falls
under list of the most popular supermarket chains in the United Kingdom. The study will define
company overview and explain the purpose of HR function, its roles and accountabilities.
Furthermore, it will describe importance that HR plays in acquiring talent to meet venture
objectives. The report will justify assessment of approach to recruitment & selection, workforce
planning, training & development, reward systems and performance management. It will define
the varied methods utilized in HR practices and also clarify job description, person specification
and job offer letter in context of marketing manager position.
Moreover, the assignment will justify process and rationale for conducting right HR
practices and will also define method to & e4ffectiveness of employee relation and engagement
with mention of flexible company. Lastly, it will explain aspects of employment legislation
within chosen firm and clarify how these inform decision-making and meet set objectives.
PART 1
1- Introduction to chosen company including its mission, purpose & core business objectives
Lidl is the 5th most famous supermarket chain in the UK, with 76% position suggestions,
it is much popular among women more than among men (Haydock and et.al., 2019). It
successfully operated its business around 11,200 stores and are running venture within 32
nations. Organization employed more than 310,000 workers globally that contributed in success
and excellent growth of supermarket. By providing quality products, including meat, produces,
poultry, pet suppliers, kitchenware, healthcare and other goods, it has increased its customer
base. Company's wants to be a market leader and because of that concern, it highly invests in
selection, recruitment, training & development practices.
Mission-
The mission of Lidl supermarket is to deliver the best and outstanding consumer
satisfactory services and products.
Purpose-

The main purpose of organization is to enhance lives of its customers by offering quality
items at market leading value.
Objectives-
 To increase the customer satisfactory level by 30% within 4 months.
 To assure market leading quality & value by continually innovating & optimizing
effective processes, managed by advanced technologies.
 To gain competitive advantages by delivering quality items.
Lidl in order to achieve set objectives and vision has worked really very hard, which is
essential and beneficial as well.
2- Explaining purpose, role and responsibilities of human resource function and its importance in
talent acquisition
Purpose of HR function-
Human resource functions include workforce analysis, selection & recruitment, training
& development, and performance appraisal (Sekhri and Cheema, 2019). The purpose of these
functions is to increase the competence of Lidl, enhance its performance and build a team of
skilled workers within firm's that contributes to gain competitive edge.

Roles and accountabilities of human resource functions-
Workforce analysis-
This function is applicable to workforce planning, as it includes process of determining
current and expected further supply of skilled workers (Yedavalli, 2018). By conducting
workforce analysis practice in Lidl, Human resource management successfully identify needs
Illustration 1: HRM Functions
(Source: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, 2020)

relate to talented employees within company. It enables HR manager to develop appropriate
workforce plan which help to strengthen existing workforce and increased performance level of
business. The role of function is to determine what actually a company need and require in the
future in form of workers, competencies and skills. It is accountable to appropriately analyse HR
need.
Recruitment & selection-
Just like the above function, it also provides benefit to Lidl in varied terms such as it help
to enhance organizational performance. Recruitment and selection as an example of HR function
is applicable to sourcing (Mira, Choong and Thim, 2019). According to this activity, human
resource management role is to hire skilled and knowledgeable candidates within supermarket,
that supports in gaining competitive advantages and boost the productivity level of company.
The responsibility of this HR function is to analyse the current needs of staff members and then
by recruit and select new employees accordingly.
Training and Development-
It is one of the important and helpful human resource functions (Korauš, Kaščáková and
Felcan, 2020). It is described as endeavour aimed to enhance or develop additional skill as well
as ability in staffs, in order to increase their productivity and performance level. Role of this
function is to build effective and productive teams within Lidl, which in return increased
operational efficiencies in term of increasing productivity. Furthermore, accountability of HR
function is to analyse the need relate to skills development and then develop effective training
and development plan.
Compensation-
Along with above functions, the current one also benefited Lidl in term of retaining
skilled, talented and experienced workers for longer period. HR manager personnel examine and
make modifications to supermarket's pay structure by findings' compensation trends with
purpose of providing applicants acceptable salaries. Employee compensation is the best HR
function, whose role is to enhance motivation level of employees. It's accountable to gain
attention of new candidates and retain potential for long that may supports in competitive
situation, Lidl may face while operating its venture within retail sector.
Significance that human resource plays in context of talent acquisition to meet Lidl venture
objectives-

HR plays vital role within supermarket in context of talent acquisition by determining,
acquiring, selection and recruiting new skilled candidates to fill open vacancies within firm (Liu
and et.al., 2020). Furthermore, talent acquisition is defined as procedure of identifying and hiring
talented employees to meet firm's need. Resource planning, employer banding, developing robust
applicant team and diversifying organization's workforce are cornerstones of this concept. By
acquiring knowledgeable people, human resource management contributes to achieve Lidl
objectives. It is one of the best way that firm may use to decrease risk of selecting and hiring
mistakes such as recruit wrong applicant and noticing too late.
3- Assessment of approach to workforce planning, recruitment & selection, performance
management, training & development and reward systems
Approach to recruitment and selection-
Internal recruitment method-
By using this approach, human resource manager may recruit new candidates via
promoting existing and experienced workers (Peltokorpi, 2017). Job transfers is also considered
as effective method that HR may use to recruit applicants internally.
External recruitment method-
According to this approach, by advertising vacancies and hiring people via recruitment
agencies, HR management may hire skilled people within Lidl (Puncheva-Michelotti, Hudson
and Jin, 2018).
Internal selection-
It includes ability & aptitude tests and personality profiling, which enables human
resource management to select the right applicant for specific job in supermarket.
External selection-
Online screening & short listing and evaluation of external job candidates are the two
methods that help HR administration to select right person in context of marketing manager
position.
Method of Workforce planning-
In the world of business, there are varied approaches accessible that human resource
management has been used to strengthen current workforce within companies (Willis, Cave and
Kunc, 2018). It includes analysing current and identifying further workforce needs in Lidl.

Workforce analysis practice conducted within supermarket provide information to HR about
employees needs.
Approach of Training and development-
On job training is the key approach of HRM which they used to train people and
enhanced their productivity as well as performance level. Along with this, off job training
approach such as seminars also enhanced the productivity of applicants.
Workshop arrangement is quite beneficial method that may use by human resource
manager in context of employee development within supermarket.
Method of Reward systems-
Monetary approach has used in varied companies in regard to reward systems. According
to monetary method, HRM appraise staff performance by providing annual bonus.
Technique of Performance management-
Performance appraisals is the most commonly utilized approach in context of
performance management. It incredibly useful for aligning aim of applicants with strategic aims
of Lidl. This method provides benefit to company in term of improving and managing the
performance of existing as well as new staff members.
Strengths and weaknesses of above approaches in context of varied HR functions-
Basis Strengths Weaknesses
Recruitment & selection-  Key strength of internal
recruitment and
selection approach is
that it allow HR to hire
people's who are
already aware about
company's policies and
rules.
 Major strength of
external method is that
it supports human
resource manager to
recruit an applicant
 Internal recruitment
approach restricts HR
to acquire new talent
that is much better than
existing employees.
 In context of external
recruitment and
selection approach, the
biggest weakness is
that it consume a lot of
time.

from large talent pool.
Workforce planning  The best thing about
workforce analysis
approach is that it help
Lidl to determine
productive workers
who the best match
with organizational
needs. Also provide
benefits in term of
analysing further
requirement relate to
experienced
employees.
 The biggest weakness
of job analysis activity
is that it is quite time-
consuming HR
practice.
Training and development  On job training
benefited firm in term
of increasing morale
among candidates.
 Off job training help to
reduce employee
turnover.
 Workshop method is
used in context of skill
development, which
inspired people to work
better.
 It is unlikely to bring
new skills and
knowledge among
workers.
 Off job training is quite
time consuming
activity.
 Workshop approach
may affect in negative
manner as it require a
wider space to make all
the arrangement, which
is not possible in short
term period.
Reward systems  Monetary approach is
beneficial because it
 It affects negatively
upon business, when

helped to retain
talented applicants
within Lidl.
monetary incentive is
tied to team
performance, it may
create frustration when
there is perception of
unfair contribution
among teams.
Performance management  It helps to boost morale
and productivity of
employees.
 On the other hand,
performance appraisal
it impacts management
practices in term of
consuming time.
4- Exclusion of case study examples to examine several methods utilized in HR practices
Lidl within retail sector may grow even better than its rivals and be a competitive leader
for longer, when its human resource management conduct effective practices for which they may
use varied approaches.
Method of employee security as HR practice-
For instance, the best HR practice is employee security provide by HRM to all the
workers. In context of this activity, ESI system is one of the most influencing and motivating
methods that human resource managements within most of the organizations has used (Sekhar
and Rao, 2017). It is self financed comprehensive employee security programme that devised to
protect individual applicant covered under scheme against financial stress arise due to
disablement, sickness and death because of employment injuries.
Approach used for workforce planning-
Workforce analysis is the most important and useful approach that human resource
manager may use within Lidl to develop appropriate plan in context of workforce planning. It
enables HR management to increase productivity and profitability level of supermarket, even
better than its competitors such as Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury etc.
Benefits of HR practices in context of employee and employer-

Approaches used in above human resource practices benefits employer in term of
increasing number of skilled applicants who may perform productively and help to gain
competitive edge. Furthermore, it benefited employee as well in form of enhancing their
motivational level by obtaining benefits of ESI scheme.
Workforce planning and employee security are two important human resource
management practices. Their effectivenesses raise supermarket profitability and productivity in
term of hiring talented people and retaining existing teams.
PART 2-
1- Designing job description for position of marketing manager
Job title Marketing manager
Reporting to Head of marketing department
Job summary Marketing manager is accountable for managing marketing
initiatives within Lidl. A person is responsible for using effective
market research approaches and analysing marketing tactics as well
as plans.
Roles  The most important role of marketing manager is to make an
effective plan and then execute it in systematic manner.
 Applicant role is to create and then oversee social media
tactic for company, in order to generate brand awareness
and promote products.
 Marketing manager role is to develop & systematically
manage digital marketing campaign.
 Their role is to optimize social marketing across different
platforms whilst keeping eye on ROI and budgets.
Responsibilities  Candidate is accountable for planning marketing activities
and developing strategies.
 Marketing manager is responsible to measure & report
performance of all digital advertising campaigns.
 Applicant is accountable for reporting marketing and sales

outcomes to senior executives.
Skills and knowledge  Effective communication skills
 Networking skill
 Critical thinking
 Planning skills
 Knowledge relate to IT and advanced technologies
 Understanding in context of marketing principles
Experience  4 year experience is required
Qualification  MBA in marketing
2- Person specification in regard to marketing manager position
Job title- Marketing manager
Relevant skills and aptitude-
 Communication skills
 IT knowledge
 Creative thinking skill
 Ability to create influencing content
 Planning skills relate to marketing plan and strategy
Experience-
 Maximum 4 year experience is required.
Education-
 Bachelor degree
 MBA degree in context of marketing
Requirements-
 Person is able to complete their work on time.
 Applicants must have the ability to influence customers by developing effective social
media strategy.

3- Job offer letter for selected candidate
To,
Richard smith
Dear Mr. Richard
This is context of interview you had taken on 15 February. We are happy to share
information with you that you have been selected in interview process for the position of
marketing manager. We are sending you an official job offer letter. You have to join firm before
21st february, 2021. We offer expected salary that has discussed during interview session. If you
are agreed with all the terms & conditions, then please sign contract and re-send it to company
address. Kindly sign and send duplicate of this appointment letter to our office and retain actual
copy for your records.
Best Regards
4- Evaluating procedure and rationale for conducting suitable HR practices
Rationale-
Workforce planning is the best human resource practice conducted within Lidl. The
main reason for conducting this practice is to analyse, forecast and plan workforce demand
(Theodoulou, Reddy and Wong, 2018). Furthermore, its purpose is to assess gap and identify
target talent management intervention to assure that firm has right employees with appropriate
skills.
The purpose of conducting specific HR practice like providing employee security
within organization's is, to boost the morale of each applicant and increase their motivational
level even better than last few months or years.
Evaluation-
It can be evaluated that workforce planning activity encompasses key stages such as
analyse current workplace needs, develop an action plan and implement in form of hiring people.
It provides benefit to Lidl in term of increasing employee retention and forecasting challenges
that may occur in the future relate to staff. On the other hand, workplace planning affects
negatively as it consume a lot of time and efforts of management.

The process of providing job security to workers is quite beneficial human resource
practice. It is quite simple to implement as it just require a legal document in which all the term
and conditions relate to ESI scheme has been mentioned. On the other side, while developing
plan to offer this security benefit to applicants, HRM face challenge. It brings issue in context of
collection documents relate to health of each workers in which important information about
allergies and other things has been discussed.
5- Approach to and effectiveness of employee relations & engagement with mention of Lidl and
flexible working practices as well as employer of choice
Method of employee relations and its effectiveness-
Human relation approach is applicable in context of employee relation. According to that,
when leader treats each applicant as valuable object and give change to share their thoughts with
other, it enables them to build effective employee relation with management. The effectiveness
of this concept in return enhanced the performance of Lidl in term of developing strong teams of
workers (Brhane and Zewdie, 2018).
Approach of employee engagement-
Flexible working practice and employer of choice are the key approaches that HRM may
use within supermarket to engage workers in decision-making activity and also in context of
gaining competitive advantages. Flexible working hours may provide once in a week that help
people to always become loyal for brand.
6- Important aspects of employment legislation within which Lidl must work
Organization always comply with key terms, conditions and aspects of employee
legislation, which is quite essential to do. It includes fair employment opportunities for everyone
that seeks job, affirmative actions favouring all employees, sexual harassment prevention in
workplace for better work environment and working time regulations for example, flexible
working hours (Sverke and et.al., 2019). In additional to this context, Lidl should develop plan to
provide fair wages to each worker and conduct practice to make working environment even
better than every consistently. Organization's by providing time off facility to people may
successfully enhance their motivational, performance and productivity level. This term covers
under employment legislation, which bring benefits for employer and employee as well in varied
terms.

7- Evaluating how employee relations & employment legislation meet venture objectives and
inform decision-making
Good and effective employee relations within Lidl inform or influence decision-making
process of HR. Because of this force, human resource manager take decision to enhance this
relation by developing a plan relate to conduct a fun activity in the workplace such as quiz
competition etc. Positive employee relation within company also supports to meet supermarket
objectives by working in productive manner and following ethical business practices.
Furthermore, employment legislation also inform decision-making and meet set
objectives of firm's. For example, it influences the way human resource management take action
to provide salary, growth opportunities and training session. It allows HRM to comply with law
which in return boost performance of brand and its image in retail sector. By complying with all
above aspects of employment legislation, organization meet its venture objectives in term of
sustaining for longer and serving wider customer base.
CONCLUSION
By summing up above discussion, it has been concluded that human resource
management by conducting effective practices like workforce planning reduced the risk that
occur in the future relate to employees. Furthermore, it has been analysed by selecting and
recruiting right applicants, HRM has enhanced the performance of firm and allow management
to gain benefits in term of increased profits margin after delivering quality products to target
customers. From above analysis, it has been summarized that by complying with all the laws and
regulations in context of employment organization has sustained for longer period of time within
retail industry.

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