Analyzing HRM: Workforce Planning and Benefits at Marks & Spencer

This report delves into the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Marks & Spencer, a British multinational retail company, examining the purposes and functions of HRM in workforce planning and resource management. It highlights the role of the HR manager in maintaining communication between management and employees, overseeing recruitment and selection, and ensuring compliance with employment laws. The report analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of different recruitment and selection approaches used by Marks & Spencer, including internal and external recruitment processes. Furthermore, it explains how various HRM practices, such as recruitment, selection, and training, benefit both the management and employees of the organization, leading to increased productivity and employee retention. The analysis incorporates both hard and soft models of HRM, emphasizing the importance of employee motivation and skill development in achieving organizational goals. Desklib offers this report as a valuable resource for students studying HRM, providing insights into real-world applications and best practices in human resource management.

Human Resource Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
LO2..................................................................................................................................................7
LO3................................................................................................................................................12
LO4................................................................................................................................................16
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................22
Reference.......................................................................................................................................23
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Introduction
This assignment is based on the discussion on the human resource practices of a business
organization (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Human resource practice is very common practice in a
business organization. There are some major roles and responsibilities of HR manager in a
business organization. To keep communication with all the employees and to keep relation
between the management and the workforce are two major tasks of Human resource
management. Recruitment and selection is also one more role of the HR manager. The example
of Marks & Spencer has been taken here to explain the subject. It has been highlighted how the
human resource manager performs all the HR activities through various models and theories of
human resource practice.
Company overview
Marks & Spencer is a British multinational retail company headquartered in London. The
company mainly deals with mainly the clothing, home products and the luxury food products
respectively. The company was formed in the year 1884. The name of the CEO of the company
is Steve Rowe. The company works in the international market. In the year, 2017, the net income
of the company was £115.7 million. The total number of employees is about 85000. Marks &
Spencer has about 300 stores in 40 locations in the international market. The company has 979
stores only in the United Kingdom out of which 615 stores sell only food products.
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LO1
Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resources in your chosen organization. [P1]
There are various purposes and functions of HRM applicable to workforce planning and
resources in an organization. The purposes and functions of HRM in Marks & Spencer are the
following:
Purposes of HRM
Human Resource Management plays a vital role in keeping a relation between the management
and a workforce. As the number of employees is few in a small company, there is a direct
interaction between the management and workforce. In a large organization, there are a number
of departments in the organization and hence, a human resource management is required to
interact between the management and the workforce. Human resource management keeps link
between the two and protects the rights of the employees in the company. The key purposes are
the following:
Internal customer management: The productivity of Marks & Spencer depends on the
performance of the internal employees of the company. Apart from this, the HR Manager of
Marks & Spencer attracts skillful employees from the outside market. The HR manager looks
after the salaries of the company, benefits of the company to motivate the employees. There is a
link between the customer service of the company and the HR management (Camgöz-Akdağ et
al., 2016).
Laws: In a business organization like Marks & Spencer, there are numerous laws related to the
company. The laws are related to the recruitment and selection of new employees, termination of
the employees, employment laws, retirement benefits, equal opportunity laws, workplace safety
and security and many others (Boston and O'Grady, 2015).
Metrics: The employees of all levels are communicated by the human resource manager in the
Marks & Spencer. Human resource manager, through using matrics methods analyzes cost and
creates more efficiency at all the departments of the company (Xiao et al., 2014).
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Cultural awareness: The cultural awareness is created and maintained in Marks & Spencer by
the Human resource manager. Different types of employees are hired in by the HR manager in
Marks and Spencer and thus, there is a combination of different cultures in the organization (Bird
et al., 2016).
Functions of Human Resource Department
The basic functions performed by the HR manager of Marks & Spencer are the following:
Recruitment and selection: Recruitment and selection is one of the basic functions of the HR
department of any type of organization. Marks & Spencer, through internal and external
recruitment processes, employ skillful and competent candidates in the company and thus,
increases the productivity of the company (Cascio, 2018 ).
Orientation: The HR manager of Marks & Spencer arranges oriental programs for the new
employees to make them aware of the rules and regulations of the company and thus, he helps
the new employees to achieve long-term organizational goals. This job orientation helps the new
employees to understand his new roles and responsibilities in the new environment (Choi and
Yoon, 2015).
To maintain good working conditions: Being a renowned company in the international market,
the HR manager in Marks & Spencer maintains a good working condition in the company to
motivate employees for their greater productivity. The HR manager provides a lot of financial
and non-financial benefits to the employees. Besides this, the HR manager provides employee
welfare for job satisfaction (Jain and Kaur, 2014).
Employee relation: Employee relation is a vital component for the productivity of the
organization. The HR manager in Marks & Spencer, has maintained a good employee relation
and thus, maintained a healthy working atmosphere in the company (Guest, 2017). Through a
good relationship, the employees have been motivated to create a better productivity in the
company.
Training and development: Training is an essential part in an organization both for existing and
new employees. Marks & Spencer has provided necessary training to both the existing and new
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employees to make them aware of the products, services and policies of the company. Through
frequent training, the culture of the organization has been enriched (Pollock et al., 2015).
The manager of human resource management of Marks & Spencer optimizes the organizational
resources. The main thing done by the HR manager is that he motivates all the employees to
perform their work. According to the hard model of HRM, the organizational resource is used
for gaining the business growth whereas according to the soft model, the organizational
resources are used for gaining the organizational assets.
Using examples from your chosen organization, explain the strengths and weaknesses of
different approaches to recruitment and selection. [P2]
Recruitment is the process of recruiting and hiring new candidates. The process of recruitment is
the initial step in the organization (Board, 2017). It focuses on the training and development of
the employees. It is the process of identifying the appropriate candidate and thereby recruiting it.
In case of the recruitment, the organization focuses on the background of the candidate and to
which designation candidate is appropriate. Cost effective measures are to be provided in the
recruitment of the candidates. The process of recruitment includes screening of the candidates,
selection of the appropriate candidates. Thereby the hiring of the candidates is undertaken.
Training of the candidates is done by the recruitment department, which helps the candidates to
familiarize with the working environment.
Selection is the step after recruitment. Once the candidates are provided the training they are, go
through a test whereby the candidates are shortlisted. In this phase, candidates selected are
selected for the designated post in the organization. Screening of the candidates is important
which helps in bringing out the best from the candidates. Once the candidates are selected, the
emoluments of the candidates are discussed and are provided thereby (Stariņeca, 2015).
Selection and the Recruitment process are important aspects for any organization. Marks and
Spencer is a global company whose recruitment and selection procedures are prolific in nature.
The recruitment and the selection division is entitled with the responsibility to provide the beast
candidates for the organization. The functioning of the organization depends on the efficiency of
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the organization. For this reason training and recruitment is provided at the initial stage which
helps in the molding the candidates accordingly.
The approaches of the HR manager in the organization are diverse in nature. HR is to formulate a
number of tasks in the department. The initial and the most important task of the HR manager is
the training and the development of the employees. Thereby HR department is also undertaking
selection of the candidates. The HR department undertakes the synchronization between the
employees and the management. The employees of the organization can coordinate with the HR
department whenever any query comes up among them. The HR department is to maintain the
records of the minutes that are being undertaken at the annual general meeting. The official
records are to be maintained by the management and the functioning of the same are to be
recorded by the department simultaneously.
The advantages of the recruitment and the selection approach are:
It is the cost effective measure. The budget that has been allocated for the recruitment would be
helpful in meeting the recruitment expenses (Fan, 2015).
It helps in getting the proper candidates for the recruitment division because the curriculum vitae
have to be provided by the candidates. Recruitment bench focuses on the requirements and
thereby the decision of the staff is taken as to the recruitment.
When the brand value of the organization increases, it leads to the advancement in the
functioning of the management. The development of the organization is possible when there is
the advancement in the activities of the organization
In case of the disadvantages, there can be bias nature of the employees. This could lead to
ineffective management in the organization. There has to be the genuineness in the functioning
of the organization.
Sometimes there might be limitation in the choices of the employees, which would lead to
disruption in the activities of the organization. The barriers related to the internal management
are normally due to the misunderstanding that might prevail in the activities of the organization.
The incompetency in the activities of the organization would lead to mismanagement in the
functioning of the organization. Sometimes the disruptions might prevail in the external
management, which would lead to unorganized approach in the functioning of the organization.
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The implication regarding the activities of the organization has to be implemented by the
management of the organization.
HR personal is to operate taking into account the norms and the policies of the organization. The
advantages does promote the advancement of the organization whereby the disadvantages lead to
the inefficiency in the functioning of the management.
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LO2
Explain how different HRM practices benefit the management and employees of your
chosen organization [P3].
Different HRM practices have benefits for both the management and the employees of Marks &
Spencer. They have been discussed below:
Name of HRM
practice
Details of the
practice
Benefits of
employers
Benefits of
employees
Recruitment and
selection
The HR manager of
Marks & Spencer
recruits new
candidates and
promotes the existing
candidates to the
existing higher
positions. The HR
manager of the
company, for any
higher post, promotes
candidates internally
to the higher position
and for any new
junior post, recruits
candidates externally.
For Instance, a
manager is promoted
internally and a junior
clerk is recruited
externally.
Through the internal
recruitment, the
existing employees
are promoted to the
higher position in the
company and thus, the
employee retention is
maintained. Through
the external
recruitment process,
new talents and skills
come to Marks &
Spencer and thus, the
productivity increases.
The internal process
of recruitment is
beneficial to the
existing employees
because of the
opportunity they get
to prove themselves in
their company. The
external recruitment
process is beneficial
to the new candidates
because they get
opportunity to show
their talent and get a
better chance.
Development Marks & Spencer, As the managers have Training is beneficial
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through training being a renowned
company, provides
periodical training for
the skill development
of its employees.
This type of
periodical training is
provided to the staffs
and managers through
various technological
methods. Both the
management and
employees are
benefitted by the
training.
to take part in such
periodical training,
they can develop their
knowledge and their
skills are also
developed. As Marks
& Spencer get skilled
employees, the
productivity of the
company in every
field enhances.
enough for any type
of employee. The
employees, who join
newly in Marks &
Spencer, can get new
ideas and culture from
Marks & Spencer.
Performance
management
In Marks & Spencer,
performance
management
programs are held
periodically.
Employee appraisal
system can be told
such a performance
appraisal system
(Dickmann et al.,
2016).
The company is
benefitted by
increasing the
performance of its
employees through
motivation.
The employees are
appraised truly
through appraisal
system and thus, they
get their reward. The
employees , thus, are
not deprived of their
rewards.
Payment and reward
to the employees
After appraisal, the
employees of Marks
& Spencer are
rewarded according to
their performance.
Through this payment
and reward system,
Marks & Spencer can
motivate its
employees and thus,
The reward system is
beneficial to the
employees as they can
increase their skills
and competency
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The reward can be in
the form of both
monetary and non-
monetary form. The
example of monetary
reward is like
increment of salary,
payment of reward
and others. The non-
monetary rewards can
be given through
various types of
facilities (Cascio,
2018).
the productivity of the
company increases.
through this type of
appraisal and reward
system. It is beneficial
for their future
growth.
The manager of HR Department of Marks & Spencer follows a number of theories to motivate
the employees through appraisal and payment of reward system. There are a range of
motivational theories to motivate the employees like Mc Gregor’s Theory of X and Y, Maslow’s
Hierarchy of Needs and others. To motivate the employees the HR manager of Marks & Spencer
has selected the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory. It is discussed below:
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Figure 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory
(Source: "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs", 2017)
Abraham Maslow is famous for his Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs theory. According to this
theory, there are five human needs that are arranged in a hierarchical way. The five basic needs
are as follows:
Physiological needs: Air, water, food, clothing and others are the examples of physiological
needs. These are the basic needs for human being (Jonas, 2016).
Safety needs: The safety needs are for physical, emotional and such other protection. Family
security, health security fall under the purview of such needs.
Social needs: the social needs are related to love, friendship, belongingness and others. These all
are related to the society in which a person belongs.
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