Human Resource Management Report - Unit 3: M&S Case Study Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within Marks & Spencer (M&S), a leading UK retailer. The report begins with an introduction outlining the core functions of HRM, including recruitment, training and development, policy making, and labor relations. The main body delves into the strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection approaches, differentiating between internal and external recruitment methods. The report also explores the benefits of various HR practices, such as group activities, training, and reward management, for both employers and employees. Furthermore, the report examines the impact of HRM practices on raising companies' profitability and productivity. The importance of employee relations and key elements of employment legislation are also discussed. The report concludes with an application of HRM practices and a summary of the key findings. The report uses M&S as a case study to illustrate practical applications of HRM principles.

Human Resource Management

Table of Content
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
P1- Purpose and function of HRM applicable to the workplace planning and resourcing.........3
P2- Strength and weakness of recruitment and section approaches............................................4
P3- Benefits from the HR practices for employer and employee..............................................6
P4- Human resource practices in terms of rising companies profitability and productivity....7
P5 Analysis the importance of employee relations within respect to impacting HRM decision
making.........................................................................................................................................8
P6 Key elements of employment legislation as well as impacts on decision making................9
P7 Application of HRM practice...............................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERNCES.................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management refers to a process of hiring people within a company,
provide them, training, create policies and more (Diaz-Fernandez, Bornay-Barrachina and
Lopez-Cabrales., 2017). HR managers in this department, play major responsibility to manage
each and every activity related to workplace in order to develop an effective workforce
Mission
to make aspirational quality accessible to everyone, through the depth and range of its
products.
Vision
M&S company has mission to be the standard against which others are measured
Objectives
 To identify importance of Human resource management within the company.
 To analyse impact of HR practices to both employer and employees.
This Study will cover a case study of M&S, which is one of the top retailer company in
UK. It offers a wide range of products such as home appliances, food items, Furniture etc.
Report will explain the purpose and the function of HRM and it will also include effectiveness
of the key elements of Human resources management in the company. This Study will identify
the internal and external factors which affect on the HRM decision-making, employment
legislation etc. In the end of this report will apply the practices of the HRM related to the work.
TASK 1
P1- Purpose and function of HRM applicable to the workplace planning and resourcing
Human resource management is the practice of managing people to achieve between
performance. This department is specially designed to enhance performance of employees and
develop new skills in them. Human resource management is essential for M&S to hire talented
employees within their workplace and also run effective practices at their workplace to rise
productivity. HR department not only limited with management but they also give their
contribution by covering mission of the M&S. Here are some basic function of Human resource
management.
Recruitment & selection

This is one of the main function of HRM in the workplace planning and resourcing,
where managers of M&S post vacancies on the different platforms. It helps to identify the
candidates who can qualify their needs. After finding the candidates they call them for the
interview where they have to give different test like face to face interview , written test and
many more (Likhitkar and Verma., 2017).
Training and development
This is another function in which HR manager of the company provide training to both
existing and new employees as per their job role, so they can become able to perform their
duties in desired way. HRM of the M&S company provide Off the job and on the Job training
to their employees.
Policy making
It is also a primary function of the Human resource management in which manager
makes the polices related to employment. It includes workers’ rights within the company, terms
and conditions, appraisal criteria and more. HR department of the Marks & Spencer have been
implemented some polices such as Reward management policies, Health & shifty polices etc.
This polices not only beneficial for the employees but also create good image in employees
mind.
Labour relations
Labour relation is essential during the workplace planning (Mariappanadar., 2019).
Having a good relationship within the employees increase the flow of communication,
employees work together and help each other in task, ultimately labour relationship create
working environment for the company. HR manager of M&S company manage labour relation
by including them in decision-making process, organize group tasks and also take their opinion
for improvement.
P2- Strength and weakness of recruitment and section approaches
Recruitment process
Recruitment is the process of attracting, identifying and hiring the employees to make a
talented workforce. There are two type of recruitment techniques generally used by HR
managers of a company - internal and external recruitment. HR manager of M&S company uses
both internal and external recruitment methods. They promote employees from the lower
level to hire level which is internal method. They promote employees who have ability to take

higher position within the company, so they can save times, and they believe other employees
also get motivate from the promotions. External recruitment process is basic method to recruit
employees from outside.
Internal recruitment
In the internal recruitment process, HR department recruit the employees from their own
company. Employees who are already working in the Organization get selected, and they
promoted into the higher position, or they get higher responsibilities (Patterson and Zibarras,
2018). Strength of the internal recruitment process is that this method save the time of HR
manger, and they do not need to hire employees from the outside. weakness - it is not possible
for HR manager to hire employee from inside. some job need a particular skills and knowledge
in the person for the particular job role. In this situation they hire employees from the outside.
Promotion
promotion is an internal recruitment method in which employees who are already
working in 5the company get promotion to the higher position. Strength- simply and easy
method to recruit employees on the higher position. Weakness- In this method company have to
increase both position and salary.
External Recruitment
External Recruitment is just alternate to the internal Recruitment process. In this process
HR manager hire new candidates from the outside, Job openings are informed to the applicants
of external environment by using various methods such as advertisements, campus recruitment,
employment exchanges, walk in interviews, organizational websites, job fairs and job portals.
Strength of this process is that HR managers hire the candidates as per the job role (Patterson
and Zibarras., 2018). Organisations typically will look externally even if there are potential
internal candidates to understand if this will bring greater capability or potential or the ‘fresh
look’ needed to drive a change programme. Weakness- It takes times and need to invest money
in the advertisement. It is not easy for the HR manager to find-out talented candidates by just
looking at their resume and sometimes they recruit the employees with the wrong information.
Advertisement
In this method Hr manager post a job requirement at the social media platforms or the
news paper so they can get candidates for the further section process. Strength- the best way to
find out candidates. Weakness- Costly

Selection process
Selection can be defined as the process of shortlist the right candidates and hire most
eligible one having necessary skills and qualifications as per job role. This method varies from
industry to industry, company to company and even amongst departments of the same Firm.
HR Management team of the Mark's & Spencer's select the employees by taking their
interview , and when they clear the interview candidates have to give some written and practical
test as well. This all selection methods useful for the M&S company to filling up appropriate
vacancies to need their business objectives like maximizing employees performance, increase
profitability, rise productivity etc.
Interviews – In the interview process, HR manger ask question to the candidates by face to face.
This process help to identify the communication skills, personality of the candidates and
confidence in them. HR manager ask question related to the Job to judge their knowledge,
personal experience and more. Strength of this selection method is that HR manager can
understand the nature of the candidates, and they can also examine their knowledge (Patterson
and et.al., 2018). Weakness in the process is that its take time to conduct the interview if there
is a large pool of applicants. So taking interview of each candidates individually lead to takes
long times..
Written test – In this process, HR managers give sheet with some job-related question to
candidates for examining their level of knowledge and experience. Strength of this process is
that HR manager does not have to put too many efforts and weakness of his process is that some
candidates are good in written test, but they cannot perform well in the practical ad they do not
have knowledge practically.
TASK 2
P3- Benefits of HR practices for both employer and employee
HRM practices are one of the most important function which are run by the HR manager
of the company. It helps to create good relationship between the employees and create
environment where workers can work effectively. It is not beneficial for the workers but
employer also have some benefits
Group Practices

For employees-Group practices are most beneficial HR practice which help workers to connect
with the other employees at workplace. Group activities enable them to work together and in a
result, employees started helping each other in task which create better relationship between
them (Sarvaiya, Eweje and Arrowsmith., 2018). It helps to increase the flow of communication
within the workplace of M&S company and without having good flow of communication
their business cannot be successful.
Employer- Group activities rise the efficiency of the employees in work which is beneficial for
the employees because it increases the productivity and creativity in them and employees also
give their best in the task and help company to achieve their goals and objectives in the
business. It is an benefit for the employer, and they can grow their business effectively.
Training and development
Employees -Training and development is beneficial for the employees of M&S because they get
a chance to learn new skills which is helpful for them in terms of professional and career
development.
Employer- It proves beneficial for the employer because training makes employees to work with
full of their potential and give best to meet business objectives(Suharti and Sugiarto., 2020).
Employer does not need to recruit new workers from the outside because training provide
skills and develop their ability to work.
Reward management
Employees- Rewards management policies are created by HR manager of M&S and it helps to
motivate their workers to achieve work with their full potential.
Employer- Employer of M&S can increase their portability in the business by adopting Reward
management practices and they show their presence in the market where they are operating their
business.
flexible working
Employees- Employees always get engaged if they get flexible working in the workplace of
Marks & Spencer's. Flexible working hours enable employees to take proper rest after the work,
and they can also spend times with their family, which will increase work efficiency of the
employees.
Employer- Employees work with the full of energy and it has directly benefits to the employer
because employee give their best in task and help company to grow in the business.

P4- Effectiveness of Human resource practices in terms of raising profitability and productivity
HRM practices have huge contribution to rise companies productivity because HR
department is connected with the major activities within the M&S and helping company to
enhance productivity and profitability.
Training and development
HR manager of the M&S provide training to development practices to their employees,
so they can develop new skills in themselves and employees can also improve their performance
in the task. Improvement in the employees means increase in the productivity and company
will able to achieve their objective and goals. Productivity increment directly link up with the
profitably and M&S can able to grow their business. (Santana. and Lopez‐Cabrales, 2019).
Examples – HR manager provide both off the job and on the job training to their employees on
the regular basis and this enable them to develop their skills and motivate their employees.
Training and development improve employees working abilities which is inked with the
company’s profit and production.
Reward management
Reward management is a successful practice of HRM and Hr manager of M&S also
run those practices to motivate their employees. In this practice HR set the targets for the
employees and when they able to achieve their target they get incentives on it. Reward helps
to rise motivation in employees and workers put their full potential in the task to get those
reward which increase the productivity and profitability.
Address weakness- When there is lack within understanding the performance and also the
current situation , by the help of it can identify the weakness. Therefore self analysis is also done
by the helps of the staff members during the procedure of training.
Consistency- If all the staff members of the organisation works within a continuous manner as it
also leads to the firm’s productivity. Therefore opportunities of training as well as development
also leads to the analysis the barriers that can easily hamper in working environment of the staff
members of M&S

TASK 3
P5 Analysis the importance of employee relations influencing HRM decision making.
Within every firm there is a requirement to built a positive environment so that the
employees relations can be maintained more properly. There is a high importance of the ER
within M&S that can be discussed as below-
Importance of employee relation is as follows
Decision making- An effective relation among employees, upper and level of management,
allows a firm to take a proper decision within in more rapid way. There are several conditions
where decisions must be taken quick as well as needs employee support. So here within the case
of the employee relations must be strong. It will also enable within taking more effective
decision, therefore if the employees relations must be strong as it can leads to makes very
difficult decisions to takes very quickly. It also leads to the conflicts of the staff members and at
the same time not go through the decision (Witzel, 2016) . in M&S decision making is taken by
engaging with employees.
Division of work- A strong and effective relations of the employees enables within proper
divisions of work in more difficult times. When a firm needs to support the employees so by the
help of the divisions M&S’s managers delegate the work to the employees within hard times.
Therefore, it is vital that both managers and workers work collaboratively in order to achieve
goals. The mutual decisions and responsibilities are delegate equally within this way more
challenging objectives as well as goals are achieved. In M&S division of work is done on basis
of skills of staff as there is strong ER
Positive culture- Through this it aids in building positive work culture. It happens because
workers communicate with staff members they discuss and share problems with them also. It
provides flexible culture and creating strong between them as therefore employers respects and
treats each employee within such way positive culture is build (Witzel, 2016) . in M&S there is
positive culture as ER with employers are good.
Reduction in conflict- It has major importance of the employee relations. It is noticed that having
the good relations between employer and employee both. It is happened because manager can
understand the view point of the workers. As all the issues and problems are also discussed with
manager and at the same time also find the solutions of it. Therefore, staff members often engage

with staff members within taking decisions as well as work related issues. The manager of M&S
quickly solve and listen to issues of employees. So there is reduction in conflicts
Decrease rate of absenteeism- It is also another significant of the employee relation. It is also
found that workers remain stress free through sharing their issues with employer as well as also
finds the solution. Thus within this way all employees remain satisfied and also employers
treated them fairly. In addition to this it decreases the absenteeism and likes to work together
with one another.
Role of trade union- they are union which is set by group of employees that protect their rights.
They play crucial role in developing employee relation as they deal with employers in any case
regarding complaint. So, having effective relation with trade union enable in creating strong ER.
Collective agreement- it refers to those agreement which are done between employee and
employer. In this various things are mentioned such as minimum wage, act etc. thus employer
has to work as per this agreement.
Grievance and redundancy practice- if there is any grievance than employer solve it. There is a
proper procedure of solving it. thus, it results in creating strong employee relation.
P6 Key elements of employment legislation as well as impacts on decision making
There are various laws as well as regulations that requires to be followed through Human
Resources while taking crucial decisions. It is because such laws are formed by government as
well as applied in M&S. In addition to this laws allows within protecting against gender
inequality ,discrimination and several types of the illegal practices of the Human Resource being
done within firm. So several laws are termed as
Health and safety 1974- In this act Health as well as safety issues of all staff members who are
working in M&S. The firms requires to assures that all health and safety standards are followed.
In addition to this there are several there are no proper standards that are implied then it must be
reported immediately. It will also able within taking several strict actions regarding firm as well
as doing inspection time that can be measured. It influences decision making as HR has to
assures all the standards can be followed.
Equality act 2010- It is most vital element of legislation that states that all the workers
should be treated fairly and equally within a firm. This act also assures that no discrimination on
the basis of caste, gender and caste and many more take place at workplace to promote equality.
In addition to this, act ensure that all employees are provided equal growth opportunities and

salary and wages. It also influences on the decision of the HR. If there any modification can be
made in recruitment policy then this act is followed
Anti discrimination act 1975- The legislation can be concerned with any kind of the
discrimination that can be done by differentiating employees on the basis of sex or gender. It
leads to discrimination and hence it also protects the rights of the workers and managers. In
addition to this it protect right of workers. This act also allows within giving fair salary, training
without any discrimination. The decision of the HR is impacted because of they have to ensure
that no discrimination is done regarding gender (Bouaziz. and Hachicha, 2018) .
Employee protection act 1976- It protects the rights as well as provisions of workers in
case of any illegal practices occurred. Such as termination of employees. The firm has to follow
various guidelines in doing this. Also when a candidates within selected then an agreement is
signed where details such as minimum wage, time period and notice period are written.
Therefore they have to follow all rules and regulations in overall process. The decision of the HR
is influenced as they adhere this act in order to take any decision. Thus all these regulations of
the employment exist within UK and followed by M&S. It all protects rights of the staff
members and prevents illegal practice (Gurmu. and Ongkowijoyo, 2020).
TASK 4
P7 Application of HRM practice
In M&S there is requirement of experienced marketing manager. It is because at present
the manager is lacking advance skills to manage marketing team.
M&S is a fashion retail firm operating in UK and at global level and offering various types of
products such as clothing, home appliances, food items, Furniture etc. the company is looking
for a experienced marketing manager.
Job analysis
Job Specification
M&S need an experienced marketing manager.
Job title- Marketing manager
Qualification-
MBA in marketing management from a reputed university with aggregate 60%
Experience – 2-3 years experience as executive manager in MNC.

Age- between 25- 40 years
Job role
To conduct meeting with members and communicate goals
To set realistic target and attain it
To manage team of 8-10 people and achieve marketing goals
To provide support to staff
To develop various marketing strategies
Candidate may e mail their resume to HR
Job description-
Title - marketing manager
Position- manager
Location- London
Duties-
To conduct meeting with members and communicate goals
To set realistic target and attain it
To manage team of 8-10 people and achieve marketing goals
To provide support to staff
To develop various marketing strategies
Reporting to- General manager
Personal Specification
Name
E mail id-
Mobile no.
Objective
To work in a competitive environment and to grow and learn skills and knowledge and apply it in