Human Resource Management Report: Sainsbury's Case Study Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within Sainsbury's, a major UK supermarket chain. The report begins by outlining the purpose and key roles of the HR function, including recruitment, training, compensation, and employee relations. It then delves into various approaches to workforce planning, training and development, reward systems, and performance management, illustrating these concepts with examples relevant to Sainsbury's. A significant portion of the report includes case study examples that examine different HRM methods, specifically addressing employee turnover and strategies to improve employee satisfaction and engagement. The report further explores the effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, discussing strategies for fostering a positive work environment. Additionally, the report covers key aspects of employment legislation and evaluates how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision-making to meet business objectives. Finally, the report applies HRM practices in a work-related context and evaluates the use of technology in improving recruitment and selection processes. The analysis highlights the strategic importance of HRM in attracting, retaining, and managing employees to achieve organizational goals and objectives, with a focus on practical applications within the retail sector.

Student Name ID
Unit Number and Title Unit 03– Human Resource Management
Academic Year 2018-19 Cohort September 18 Term 2
Unit Leader Assessor
Assignment Title Human Resource Management
Issue Date 14/01/2019
Submission Start Date 11/02/2019
IV Name
Deadline for assignment
submission
25/02/2019
Learners Declaration: I certify that the work submitted for this unit
is my own and the research sources are fully acknowledged.
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
1. Purpose and the key roles and responsibilities of the HR function.........................................3
2. Approaches to work force planning, training and development, reward system and
performance management...........................................................................................................5
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices....7
4. Approaches to effectiveness of employee’s relation and employees engagement..................8
5. Key aspects of employment legislation.................................................................................10
6. Evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision making
and meets business objectives...................................................................................................11
Task 2.............................................................................................................................................12
7.Application of HRM practices in a work-related context......................................................12
8. Evaluate the use of technology on improving the recruitment and selection process...........16
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................18
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INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is an approach of recruiting, selecting and managing
employees within the organisation. It is a strategic approach for the effective management of
employees within the organisation (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). This enables the employee's to
work efficiently and attain organisation goals. The report is based on Sainsbury's which is the
second largest chain of super market in UK. It is a public limited company with 16.9% of
market share in supermarket. This report is based on purpose and scope of HRM and various key
roles and responsibilities of HR function and approach to workforce planning, recruitment and
selection, training and development. Further it elaborates how employee relations and
employment legislation inform decision making and application of HRM practices in a work
related context.
TASK 1
1. Purpose and the key roles and responsibilities of the HR function.
HRM within the organisation plays a crucial role in attracting, selecting and maintaining
work force in order to attain organisational goals and objectives. Purpose and key roles and
responsibilities of HRM are described below-
Purpose of HR function
Purpose of HRM in Sainsbury's is to retain the existing employees as well as attract new
employees while providing adequate compensation and training facilities (Bailey and et. al.,
2018). The major purpose of HRM is to enable the organisation to attain its goals by proper
management of employees by providing maximum job satisfaction.
Functions of HRM
Recruitment and Selection- It is concerned with proper recruiting and selecting the
candidates according to skills required to perform the job. Its major purpose is to fill vacancy in
the organisation and maintains quality of workforce within the organiosation.
Training and Development- Providing training sessions to the employees enhances their
skills and capabilities to improve business activities efficiently. Major purpose of this function is
to enhance sills and capabilities of the individual so that they can handle complex business issues
and gain competitive advantage.
Functions of HR
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Staffing- HRM at Sainsbury is responsible for selecting the right candidate at the right
time and at the right place to ensure respective company achieves its business goals effectively.
Compensation- HR at Sainsbury should provide proper compensation to its employees
which motivates them to perform effectively and attain the desired outcomes.
Health and Safety- HR at respective company should ensure that proper health and
safety of the employee should be taken into consideration s that employee's can work effectively
without any problems or issues.
Employee's and labour relations- It is the main function of HR at Sainsbury's to
develop and maintain effective employee relations so as to reduce conflict and allows employees
to interact with each other and creates a harmonious work place environment.
Maintains effective employee relations- HRM at Sainsbury should maintain effective
employee relations by maintaining open and honest communication so to minimise conflicts and
reduces employee turnover. Main purpose of this function is to maintain effective employee
relations and achieve organisational targets within set time frame.
Key roles and responsibilities of the HR function
There are some specific roles and responsibilities of HR function that are as follows-
 HRM within the organisation is responsible for analysing the skills required for
functioning the business activities and hence according conducts recruitment and
selection process.
 HRM major role is to maintain effective employee relations in the Sainsbury's by
maintaining open and honest communication in company and resolving employees
conflict which leads to effectiveness in organisational performance.
 It major role and responsibility is to provide adequate training and compensation benefits
to its employees which enables them to work effectively and achieves company' s goals.
 Its responsibility includes maintain health and safety of employee's ensuring healthy and
safer work place environment.
 It roles and responsibilities includes providing proper compensation to the employee's
according to their performance of work.
Significance of HR in acquiring Talent
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HR is primarily responsible for acquiring talent within the organisation by proper
recruitment and selection of employees. It benefits the organisation as with the help of skilled
workforce it assists company to meet its set targets. It also benefits the company in achieving
higher profits and productivity and provide maximum employee satisfaction by a way of
providing adequate training and compensation benefits which enables them to work efficiently
(Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017).
Significance of HR at Sainsbury's
HR at Sainsbury's helps in attraction and retention of the candidates by providing the
proper training as well as provide compensation according to employees performance. It also
benefits the company by a way of achieving maximum profitability for the company by retenting
the best candidate by provide them extrinsic and intrinsic rewards.
2. Approaches to work force planning, training and development, reward system and
performance management.
HRM in Sainsbury's has different approaches to workforce planning, training and
development, reward system and performance management which are described below-
Work force Planning
It is a strategic approach in which employers of the respective organisation anticipate
needs of employees and deploys them to work by proper recruitment and selection. It is an
effective approach to plan right kind of workforce and meet organisational goals and objectives.
Approach to Work force Planning
Situational work force planning- This approach determines the variances between the
actual need of employees in Sainsbury's. It is used as onetime approach and assist the company
to recruit the needed employee's in order to meet specific business challenge (Brewster, Chung
and Sparrow, 2016).
Work Load approach- This approach to work force planning focuses on load of the
work on employee at Sainsbury's and effectively takes decision to recruit and hire individuals
according to requirement at organisation.
Training and Development-
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Providing training to the employees enable them to enhance their skills and knowledge
and perform job duties in an effective manner. Development focuses on employee’s growth for
future performance rather than current job roles. Sainsbury's focuses on both current and future
growth of employees.
Approach to Training and development-
On the job Training- This approach focuses on providing training to the employees
when they are on the job which enhances skills and capabilities of individual to perform job task
effectively.
Off the Job Training- This approach provide training to employees away from their
work place such as at the specific training centre (Briscoe, Tarique and Schuler, 2012). It
includes various methods such as simulation programmes, vestibule training etc.
Performance and reward system
When the employers of the Sainsbury's provide adequate compensation and reward
system to its employees according to their performance of work it motivates them to work
efficiently and attain goals and objectives of the company. There are two types of rewards at
Sainsbury such as extrinsic and intrinsic rewards
Extrinsic rewards- These are the tangible rewards that comes from the employer which is
directly related to job performance of employee's. Sainsbury gives extrinsic rewards in the form
of extra pay, fringe benefits, promotions and profit sharing.
Intrinsic rewards- These are the intangible rewards and Sainsbury provide them to employees in
the form of words of praise, recognition etc.
Approaches to Reward System
Total Reward Approach- This approach states that this reward strategy benefits the
employee against their work such as increase in pay and pension according to work as well as
flexible working, and career advancement opportunities. This assist the employees to work
effectively and earn more rewards (Budhwar and Debrah, 2013)
Approach to Performance Management-
Total Quality Approach- This approach focuses on maintaining quality of performance
in employees work. Employees performance could be managed by properly monitoring of
employees performance which enables them to perform effectively and achieve organisational
goals.
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Employees performance can be increased by providing by performance appraisal such as
providing compensation to the employees according to their performance. When employees are
provided appraisal according to their work, it motivates employees at Sainsbury to improve their
performance.
Moreover employee performance is assessed at Sainsbury by continuing monitoring of
managers of the employees performance and providing feedbacks o them to improve their
performance.
Recruitment and Selection
It is a process of searching and influencing the suitable candidates with appropriate skills
and knowledge to fill vacancy of job position within the company. Selection is an activity of
choosing the right candidate at the right time for the correct job position within Sainsbury's.
Approaches to Recruitment and Selection
Internal Recruitment- It is the approach of filling the vacancy of job from its existing
workforce. It assists Sainsbury's to save lot of time, cost and resources and creates employees
confidence to work more effectively.
External Recruitment- It is a process of recruiting and selecting a fresh candidate
outside the organisation, this enables the organisation to get most talented employees at a wider
range.
Sainsbury is effectively developing employee experience and knowledge by providing them
necessary training which enhances their skills and capabilities and makes them to work complex
task which increases their experience for perform task effectively in future time period.
Selection process at Sainsbury includes conducting of interviews and various online test so as to
select the best qualified candidates.
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices
Case Study Example- In Sainsbury's main issue addressed is employee turnover in
which employees are dissatisfied by workplace environment because of the presence of high
level of stress in order to provide goods according to customers’ needs and desires and therefore
employees are not compensated according to their performance. This affects motivation of
employees to work effectively, in such cases effective training should be provided and open
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communication should be maintained so as to increase interactions among employees and
employers so as to reduce employee’s turnover.
In order to resolve the issue respective company has adopted various HR practices which are as
follows-
 Extensive Training- Training should be provided to the employees so as to enhance their
skills and capabilities which makes them to perform task effectively (Human Resource
Best Practices. 2018). Training allows employees to properly analyse customer needs and
provides goods accordingly. This helps in reducing employee turnover and able to attain
desired goals and objectives (Buller and McEvoy, 2012.).
 Proper Compensation- In order to avoid employee turnover, Sainsbury's should
properly compensate the employees according to their performance and should provide
extra pay according to their work done in order to increase their morale and confidence.
This benefits the organisation increase its productivity and generate more revenue for the
company.
 Flexible Working Environment- This practice adopted by Sainsbury's makes the
employees feel comfortable to work effectively in harmonious work place environment.
When employees are provided with flexible working hours, sharing of work
responsibility, this encourages them to work dedicatedly towards the company and
maximises profitability.
4. Approaches to effectiveness of employee’s relation and employees engagement.
Employee Engagement- It refers to extent to which employee's feel passionate about
their jobs and works dedicatedly towards the organisation in order to achieve goals and
objectives. Employee engagement enables the organisation to maximise their growth and
profitability.
Sainsbury’s uses Sirota’s Three-Factor Model of Engagement
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Illustration 1: Employee Engagement Model
(Source: Employee Engagement Model, 2018)
Employee Relation- It refers to the efforts of the organisation to develop and maintain
strong relationship between employees and employers. Effective employee relation enables the
employees to give their best efforts and makes them loyal towards the organisation. There are
some approaches for effective Employer and Employee relations in order to enhance employee
engagement in the organisation which are Psychological approach, Sociological approach,
Human Relations approach and Giri and Gandhian approach (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2017).
From all of this approaches Sainsbury's uses Human Relations approach which emphasis on
behaviours of individuals and groups at the work place and assist in modifying their behaviour
towards the achievement of organisational goals and objectives. It states that if the employer and
employees within Sainsbury respect each others value and both apply human relations approach
to their mutual relations, in such way industrial conflict can be minimised and it leads to more
effective realisation of goals.
Flexible Organisation- In Sainsbury's flexible organisation structure is the one in which worker
can easily adapt to customers needs and efficiently perform their work in order to attain business
objectives.
Flexible Working Practices- It is an strategic approach which the Sainsbury should adopt in
order to improve the performance and productivity of company by providing compressed
working hours, sharing of work responsibility which assist the employees to become more
dedicated towards their work and attain set goals (Chelladurai and Kerwin, 2017).
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Employer of Choice- Employer of choice is an employer that offers a harmonious work culture
and work place environment that attracts and retains superior employees and helps organisation
to achieve desired goals and objectives.
This approaches when are adopted by the organisation it enables the organisation to
attain its goals more effectively.
Effectiveness of this approach
 It assists the organisation in attaining its realistic goals more effectively which reduces
conflicts and increases moral of the employees to work more productively.
 It leads in collaborative working which leads to generation of new ideas and allows
Sainsbury to provide more innovative products to achieve targets within specified time
period.
5. Key aspects of employment legislation
Employment legislation is the law which control and regulate the functions of employment
within the organisation. It affects both employer and employee directly. Sainsbury's manager
adapts some employment laws to attain maximisation of profit effectively. Some of the laws are
as follows-
 Anti-discrimination Act,1946: Anti-discrimination act is designed to prevent employees
from different harassment and inequality on the basis of gender, caste, creed, religion etc.
It ensures that all employees are equal before the eyes of the law in every aspect like
salary, working environment, promotion etc. (Drucker, 2012). Sainsbury's behave equally
with their employees in every terms and it has an effective impact on HRM decision as
they are concern about employees morale and satisfy their need and takes decisions
collectively without any discrimination.
 Minimum wage act 1961: According to this act, it states that an employer should set a
minimum rate of wage covering basic needs to both skilled and unskilled labour. It is not
legally bind but statuary. In case of Sainsbury's , managers are very attentive in setting
the wages for their employees. And it influence HRM decision that employer behaves
ethically in providing the salary to their employees which motivates them to give their
best for an organisation growth (Harrison and Lock, 2017).
 Wage and hour act 1998: This act defines that an employer frame wages according to
the hour an employee worked and also for extra work like overtime pay, weekend pay
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and extra benefits etc. It provides satisfaction and motivation to employee as they are
getting reward according to their effort. Sainsbury's manager provide reward to their
employees according to their work they have done and also they keep a list of employees
who did overtime. It greatly influence the HRM decision as they have to set fair
compensation considering their extra hour work pay.
6. Evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision
making and meets business objectives.
Effective employee relations within the respective organisation assist the employees to
work with great dedication and motivation and achieves goals and targets efficiently. There are
various employment legislations acts which enables company to carry their business honestly
and transparently. There is a greater importance of employee relations and employee legislation
which informs HRM decision making and meets business objectives-
 Increase in profit and productivity- When the respective company involves employees
in decision making process it makes them feel as a valuable part of the organisation and
starts working with great dedication to achieve goals and objectives. This leads to
increase in profit and productivity of the company. When the organisation regulates its
business in accordance with the employment legislations it enables the employees to
perform effectively according to laws and acts and meets business objectives (Kehoe and
Wright, 2013).
 Increases dedication of the employee's- When there is effective relationship among
employees and employers it reduces communication gap and increases open and honest
communication at work place environment. This leads to dedication of employees and
increases job satisfaction for the employee and meets business objectives. It has a greater
impact upon HRM decision making as it becomes responsibility of the Sainsbury's to
make decisions involving employees so as to make them dedicated to achieve business
objective (Kim, 2012).
 Enhances Team Work- Effective employee relation enhances employees to work in
team and attain appropriate goals. This leads to effective employee engagement within
Sainsbury and assist the company to meet its business objectives. This assist the
employee to work in teams and achieve organisational goals within set time frame.
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This way effective employee relations and employment legislations informs business decisions
and meets business objectives.
Sainsbury's business objectives- Its objective includes recruiting and selecting the best
candidates to provide outstanding quality products to its customers.
HR at Sainsbury's is helping to achieve this objectives by a way of selecting the most appropriate
candidate by properly analysing their skills as well as provides off he job and on the job training
facilities to enhance their employees and assist company in achieving business objectives.
Strengths- It assist the company to increase their product portfolio with the help of qualified
employees and attains business objectives.
Weaknesses- It incurs huge cost and time for the company to recruit and retain prospective
candidates son as customer's demands keeps on changing.
Advantages- By selecting the best possible candidates it helps the company to attain business
objectives and captures larger market share.
Disadvantage- Extensive training facilities incurs high cost for the company which is a
disadvantage for the company.
Effectiveness: It will assist the company to enhance greater market share by providing quality
products and increase their product portfolio towards achieving objectives.
Ineffectiveness: It will be a costly process for the company to provide training to the employees
as the customers demands changes frequently and it would be difficult for them to retain
employees for a longer time period.
Task 2
7.Application of HRM practices in a work-related context.
Job Description- It is a formal written document which states duties, roles and responsibilities
for the specific position which the individual needs to perform.
Company Name: Sainsbury
Job title: Marketing Manager
Department: Marketing
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