Unit 3 Report: HRM Practices and Employee Relations at Marks & Spencer

This report delves into the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices of Marks and Spencer (M&S), a prominent British retail organization. It begins by outlining the aims and responsibilities of HRM in workforce planning and resourcing, emphasizing the importance of hiring the right candidates. The report then explores the merits and demerits of various hiring and selection methods, contrasting internal and external recruitment strategies, and evaluating selection techniques such as interviews and group activities. Furthermore, it describes the advantages of HRM approaches for both workers and employers, examining practices like training and development, performance evaluation, and benefit schemes. The report also assesses the impact of HRM practices on organizational profitability and output, and the influence of employee relations and employment legislation on HRM decision-making. Finally, it provides practical examples of HRM practices in action, offering a comprehensive overview of M&S's HRM strategies.

Unit 3 - Human
Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Describe aim and responsibilities of HRM in relation to workforce planning and
resourcing an establishment........................................................................................................3
P2 Explain the merits and demerits of various kinds of hiring and selection methods..............5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3 Describe various advantages of HRM approaches within a corporation for both workers
and employers.............................................................................................................................7
P4 Evaluate usefulness of various HRM practices in relation to increasing profitability and
organisational output...................................................................................................................9
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................10
P5 Impact of employee relations on HRM decision making ...................................................10
P6 Main components of emplacement legislation and their influence on decision making
process at HRM........................................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................12
P7 Depict the usage of HRM practices in context related to work with appropriate examples
..................................................................................................................................................12
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................14
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................15
Books and journals ...................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Human resources department conducts activities related to finding, hiring and training
talented employees for company along with managing worker reward programmes. This report is
based on the British retail organisation Marks and Spencer which was founded in 1884 and sells
a wide range of products including apparel, food items and household goods mostly of its own
label. This report includes description of HRM objectives in relation to workforce planning and
merits of various HRM practices for employers and employees. Effect of HRM practices in
increasing organisational profitability and impact of employee relations and employment
legislations on decision making process of the firm. This report also includes application of
HRM practices with appropriate examples.
Background of the company: The firm is a leading member of the British retail industry with
their headquarters located in London, UK. The organisation has 1463 stores all over the globe
with 959 outlets in UK. Along with fashion, food and household goods, the organisational offers
financial services through their subsidiary M&S Bank and renewable energy services through
M&S Energy.
Mission statement: The mission of the company is to produce superior quality goods which are
available to every consumer by increasing the extent and range of their products.
Purpose: The purpose of the company is to provide criterion against which opponents are
measured
Core organisational objective: The main business objective of the company is to construct
sustainable organisation by maintaining stable profitability while completing obligations to
society and major stakeholders.
MAIN BODY
TASK 1
P1 Describe aim and responsibilities of HRM in relation to workforce planning and resourcing
an establishment
Aim of HRM: The primary aim of HRM is to construct talented workforce for the
company by workforce planning which involves identification of gaps in workforce and ensuring
that right candidates occupy every position in the company. HRM aims to construct positive and

encouraging working environment to enhance employee satisfaction and reduce disputes
between staff members (Delery and Roumpi, 2017).
In context of M&S, HR department guarantees that right people are hired at right
positions to help the company grow continuously. Apart from this, HR manager at the respective
organisation supervises implementation of various government regulations and maintains
employee reward scheme to reduce turnover rates and ensure that employment needs of the
organisation are met. This results in construction of committed and driven workforce at every
department of the firm.
Various HRM roles and responsibilities are provided below:
 Training and development: This role of HRM involves conducting various
training and development activities in order to improve the current abilities of the
workforce and help them take new roles in the organisation by developing their
skill-set ( Kianto, Sáenz and Aramburu, 2017) . The respective firm conducts
various training procedures to construct skilled workforce which is able to handle
various situation during their work. Along with this such training sessions also
assists in introducing the employees to various equipments used in their daily
activities. This is helpful in workforce planning as employees gain abilities to take
various roles in the company, the organisation can easily complete their
employment needs from their existing workforce.
 Reward schemes: This function of HRM involves construction and
implementations of reward schemes which help the company recognise and reward
talented employees. This increases employee motivation to enhance their current
performance and complete their operations in timely manner. M&S has enforced
appropriate reward schemes which aim to construct loyal and motivated workforce
for the company. Such schemes increase employee retention rates and help the
company attract talented applicants which increases effectiveness of workforce
planning.
 Hiring and enlisting: This responsibility of HRM is concerned with recruiting
talented employees in the company (Chytiri, Filippaios and Chytiris, 2018) . The
process involves identifying and persuading talented candidates which meet the
required qualifications for the job to join the company. The HR division at M&S

utilises several hiring practices such as interview, aptitude tests and many others to
find and hire the most talented candidate available. This helps the fill various
vacancies ans strengthen skills of the workforce which is an essential part of
workforce planning.
 Enhance employee relations: It is crucial for the HR division to maintain smooth
relation with the workers of the company in order to improve retention of talented
workers (Fred and Kinange, 2018) . The HR division at respective firm aims to
accomplish this responsibility by removing causes of disputes between employees
and completing their requirements by communicating necessary information
effectively. High retention of proficient employees is an essential feature of
workforce planning which is effectively conducted through this HRM activity.
P2 Explain the merits and demerits of various kinds of hiring and selection methods
Hiring procedure involves identification of talented candidates according to vacancies
available in the company. This is crucial activity conducted by the HR division as it gives helps
the company gain competitive edge over their rivals by hiring competent workers at every
position in the firm (Okechukwu, 2017) . Various hiring methods are mentioned below:
Internal hiring procedure: This hiring method aims to fill empty positions in the
company by identifying capable employees from the current workforce of the company. Various
sources of internal recruitment include transferring or promoting employees, worker referrals
and many others.
Merits
 This hiring method requires less financial and labour investment and is cost effective in
comparison to other hiring procedures.
 Employees hired through this method are acquainted with the culture of the company
which reduces time consumed in introducing employees to the company.
 This method helps in constructing loyal employees as they feel recognised by the
company in the form of promotion or transfer.
Demerits
 This method increases disputes between employees as they think that they are more
deserving of the promotion (Piabuo and et. al., 2017.) .

 This method results in construction of an adamant workforce as employees with similar
viewpoint are hired in the company.
 This method reduces options of potential candidates as it requires identifying
employees form the current staff of the firm.
External hiring procedure: This method of hiring employees involves identification of
talented individuals from outside the firm (Richards and Sang, 2019.) This involves searching
for applicants from employment fairs, recruitment agencies and many others.
Merits
 This hiring method allows firms to search from a wide number of candidates which
increases the possibility of hiring the most suitable employee.
 The organisation is able increase competition within their workforce by using this
hiring method.
 The firm gains employees with fresh viewpoints and opinions which helps the company
grow and advance from their old ways (Peccei and Van De Voorde, 2019) .
Demerits
 This hiring method is highly time consuming as it involves identification and
evaluation of large number of applicants.
 This hiring method requires huge financial and labour investment which financially
burdens the company.
 Employees recruited through this procedure need to be trained in order to understand
equipment used at the company. This is time taking and financially taxing process.
Analysis: In relation to M&S, both external and internal procedures for hiring employees can be
utilised for the benefit of the company. The internal hiring method is more favourable for the
company as it allows recruiting talented employees from the company without much need for
investment.
Selection involves evaluation of each candidates by using appropriate selection method
in order to identify the most talented applicant out of the available candidates. Interviews,
aptitude tests and group discussions are several kinds of selection methods (Paauwe and
Farndale, 2017).
Interview: This selection procedure includes asking various questions to applicants in
order to gain information about their knowledge on the subject and communication skills.

Merits
 This selection method allows the firm to gain an understanding about overall inter-
personal skills of the employee and their suitability for the job.
 This selection process allows interviewers to identify if the candidates have the
personnel values required for this job.
Demerits
 This is time consuming process and evaluation of each individual applicant requires
asking series of questions (Yong Yusliza and Fawehinmi, 2019) .
 Criteria for evaluating employees can be based on prejudice which impacts the
interviewer's ability to find talented candidates.
Group activity: This selection method involves giving group activity to candidates to
judge their teamwork and leadership skills.
Merits
 This selection method takes less time as it involves evaluation of group of candidates
rather than an individual applicant.
 This selection method increases competition between applicants which helps the
company find the most suitable candidate.
Demerits
 As certain candidates perform better individually, this method limits the company from
selecting candidates with better individual skills.
 Management of this selection process is complex in comparison to other selection
methods.
Analysis: In relation to M&S, interview is a better selection method as it helps the company
evaluate communication skills of the employees (Järlström, Saru and Vanhala, 2018) . As the
staff of the firm directly deals with consumers on a daily basis, selecting employees which have
good communication skills is essential for the company.

TASK 2
P3 Describe various advantages of HRM approaches within a corporation for both workers and
employers
Various HRM practices are implemented by organisations in order to continuously
improve their workforce and help the company achieve goals even in changing conditions of the
business environment (Fei and Aun, 2019). HRM practices aim to provide advantages to both
employers and workers. In relation to M&S, implementation of appropriate HRM practices is
beneficial to both the workers and employees and helps the company gain perpetual success.
Various HRM practices with and their benefits are provided below:
Hiring and employee retention
For employer: HRM methods used by the HR division at M&S help the company fill all the
vacancies with talented employees. This gives the company competitive advantage as consumers
gain high satisfaction at every interaction with the company (Poisat and Mey, 2017) .
For workers: Various HRM practices utilised by the respective firm to hire talented employees
helps improve workers satisfaction so that they stay with the company for a longer period of
time
Training and development
For employer: The HR division at the respective company regularly conducts training and
development secessions to improve the skills of their workforce. This creates a competent
workforce for the firm which is able to effectively manage various situations and maintain
profits for the firm even in adverse conditions (Sarvaiya, Eweje and Arrowsmith, 2018) .
For worker: Regular training and development sessions help the employees achieve personnel
growth by taking various roles in the company. This improves capabilities and financial
conditions of each employee, as they learn new skills and take additional responsibilities.
Performance evaluation
For employer: The HR division at M&S conducts regular performance evaluation of each
employee. This gives the company insight about abilities of each employee which helps the firm
formulate policies to improve weak points of their workforce and eliminate performance related
flaws of each employee.
For workers: This continuous evaluation helps the employee understand their flaws and gain
information on how to remove their weaknesses in order to grow continuously.

Benefit schemes
For employer: Appropriate benefit schemes have been implemented by M&S in order to
construct competitive environment in the workplace. This has helped the company maximise
productivity of each employee as they compete with each other to gain benefits (Meijerink and
Keegan, 2019) .
For workers: Benefit scheme increase employee satisfaction as the employees gain recognition
and rewards for their efforts and diligent service to the organisation.
Dispute management
For employer: HR division at M&S has implemented various policies which identify and
eliminate various causes behind dispute at the workplace. This increases the productivity of the
firm as employees make collaborative efforts to accomplish tasks in a limited time (Noe and et.
al., 2017) .
For workers: Dispute management constructs supportive and positive working environment
which increases employee satisfaction and employee engagement.
P4 Evaluate usefulness of various HRM practices in relation to increasing profitability and
organisational output
HRM is an indispensable part of every organisation as it helps the company increase
overall productivity of their workforce. This reflects positively on the profits generated by the
firm and helps the company secure advantageous position in their industry. Several HRM
practices and their effect on increasing output and profits of the company are discussed below:
 Reward schemes: This HRM practice involves implementing appropriate system for
giving deserving workers suitable monetary or non-monetary benefits. This encourages
employees to increase their productive capacity and quality of output in order to receive
benefits. By constructing transparent employee benefit structure and company social
media platform Yammer to encourage employees the company has been able to increase
productivity and profitability as the employees feel encouraged to improve their output.
 Evaluation of performance: The HR division at the respective company conducts
evaluation of performance of each employee in every 12 months. This process involves
collecting data related to performance of each employee and helping workers which have
not been able to accomplish their through personalised training sessions (Okechukwu,
2017) . This has helped the company improve productivity of each employee by taking

their suggestions to helps them achieve their set targets. This also increases the profits of
the company as the firm is able to respond quickly to the demands of consumers from
any location.
 Hiring and selection: This HR practices contributes in improving the productivity and
profitability of the firm by ensuring that each position in the company is occupied by the
most committed and competent employees (Piabuo, and et. al., 2017) . This increases the
productivity, profitability and reputation of the firm. This increases consumer satisfaction
as the company has skilled employees for every operation. This has positive influence on
the profits generated by the firm as consumer retention increases.
TASK 3
P5 Impact of employee relations on HRM decision making
Employee relations is defined as every activity conducted by the company in order to
build and maintain harmonious relationship with their employees. This helps the company
construct loyal workers which passionate towards helping the organisation achieve their goals
and aims. HRM decision making is highly affected by employee relations and each policy is
build in a way which does not disturb positive employee relations (Paauwe and Farndale, 2017).
The HR division conducts various activities such as CSR initiatives, reward systems,
career development programmes, communication portals and many more in order to improve
employee relations. HR division considers effects of every policy on relationship between
various employees and their supervisors along with bond between workers and the firm. The HR
department at the respective firm has constructed communication channels which address
complaints and opinions of every employee to the highest authority. This increases employee
engagement and helps build effective employee relations.
The HR division implements policies which enhance employee relations from the start of
their employee life cycle by constructing recruitment and on-boarding process which introduces
the employees to the work culture and structure of the organisation. Apart from this HR division
aims to enhance employee relation by implementing feedback channels form which employees
can offer their opinion. The HR division considers employee relations during training and
development programmes by helping employees learn new skills on their own terms.

P6 Main components of emplacement legislation and their influence on decision making process
at HRM
Employment legislation refers to set of rules and regulation enforced by the government
authorities in order to safeguard opportunities for employment in their sector (Sarvaiya, Eweje
and Arrowsmith, 2018) . This resulted in formation of employment legislation in order to secure
positive relations at the workplace and defend employees from workplace exploitations. The
respective corporation has to adhere to various employment legislations in order to conduct their
business operations lawfully. Several of these legislations are provided below:
 Anti-Discrimination Act 1975: This act was formed by the UK government in order
to eliminate workplace discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation,
culture, religion, nationality, ethnicity, race and other forms of discrimination
(Meijerink and Keegan, 2019) .
The enforcement of this act has resulted in HRM division of the respective firm focusing on
implementing policies which identify and remove discriminatory elements from the company.
 Diversity Act 1970: This act was passed by the government in order to increase
involvement of workers from weaker or minority backgrounds in the corporate world.
This act required organisations to improve workplace diversity and exclusivity and
eliminate prejudice between employees on the basis of their heritage parental lineage
or otherwise. Increase in diversity helps enterprise give equal services to consumers of
varies cultural background.
The impact of this decision on the HRM department is that, the organisation needs to
modify their recruitment process in a way which enhances cultural diversity of the firm and
implement policies which increases participation of employees from various cultural background
in every organisational activities.
 Equality Act, 2018: This act requires organisations to give same chances of growth to
each employee regardless of their cultural, ethnic, or national background and
evaluate on the basis of their output and commitment for the company. The main aim
of this legislation is to increase the presence of employees from underprivileged
backgrounds at leading positions in the corporate structure of the country (Yong
Yusliza and Fawehinmi, 2019).

The main aim of HRM in after implementation of this legislature is to ensure that every
employee gets equal opportunity to learn and make progression in their career. The HR division
at H&M has implemented strategies which eliminate favouritism give equal opportunities to
employees on the basis of their skills.
 Data protection Act, 2018: This act limits organisations from using the private data
of employees without their permissions. The HR division of every organisation needs
to ensure that data collection methods of the company comply with this act in order to
avoid any legal troubles.
HR division at M&S is using technology which helps the company identify cases of
misuse of employee's personnel. HR division of the firm also takes consent of every employee
before accessing their private data.
 Health and safety Act, 2018: According to this act every organisation needs to
construct and safe working atmosphere for their workers. Any activity which reduces
mental or physical health of the workers or puts the safety of the employees in danger
will result in legal action against the organisation (Delery and Roumpi, 2017) .
The HR department at M&S has enforced policies with the aim of maintaining high
standards of workplace hygiene and employee well-being as a result of implementation of this
act.
TASK 4
P7 Depict the usage of HRM practices in context related to work with appropriate examples
JOB SPECIFICATION
Organisation: Marks & Spencer
Post: Marketing manager
Department: Marketing
Job summary:
The main objective of this job include monitoring and evaluating performance of promotional
activities, administration of marketing funds and assuring that every operation conducted by the
marketing department is in accordance with the overall brand image of the firm.