HRM Practices: Resourcing Talent & Skills at 'Say it with Chocolate'

This report delves into the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices of 'Say it with Chocolate', a UK-based company, addressing issues like staff turnover and customer feedback. It examines the purpose and functions of HRM, focusing on recruitment, selection, and employee relations. The report evaluates various recruitment and selection methods, including online job boards, recruitment agencies, press advertising, and recruitment events, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. It also proposes improvements to current selection methods, emphasizing management participation and employee involvement. Furthermore, the document applies HRM practices in a work-related context by creating a person specification for a receptionist role and discussing suitable advertising mediums. The effectiveness of key HRM elements at Microsoft is assessed, including employee benefits, development opportunities, and flexible working practices. Finally, the report analyzes internal and external factors, including employment legislation, that affect HRM decision-making, emphasizing employee engagement and communication strategies. This comprehensive analysis aims to provide insights into optimizing HRM practices within 'Say it with Chocolate' to enhance productivity and achieve organizational objectives.

[HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT]

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
PART 1............................................................................................................................................6
TASK 1 (LO1): EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT IN TERMS OF RESOURCING AN ORGANISATION WITH TALENT
AND SKILLS APPROPRIATE TO FULFIL BUSINESS OBJECTIVES.....................................6
a) PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS OF HRM IN ‘SAY IT WITH CHOCOLATE’................6
b) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF RESEARCHER AS HUMAN RESOURCE
OFFICER.................................................................................................................................8
c) ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CURRENT SELECTION METHODS
OF SELECTION WHICH ARE USED BY THE ORGANISATION....................................9
d) IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE IN CURRENT SELECTION METHODS..............12
TASK 2 (LO4): APPLY HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES IN A WORK-
RELATED CONTEXT.................................................................................................................13
a) PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR THE ROLE OF RECEPTIONIST.............................13
b) SUITABLE MEDIUM FOR PLACING THE ADVERTISEMENTS IN ‘SAY WITH
THE CHOCOLATE’.............................................................................................................15
c) DISCUSSION OF ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF JOB
ADVERTISEMENTS............................................................................................................16
d) PREPARATION OF QUESTIONNAIRE FOR INTERVIEWS TO BE ASKED BY
RECEPTIONISTS.................................................................................................................17
TASK 3 (LO2): EVALUATE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE KEY ELEMENTS OF
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN AN ORGANISATION.........................................18
a) EVALUATION OF BENEFITS OF DIFFERENT HRM PRACTICES FOR
EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYERS IN MICROSOFT........................................................18
b) DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES MADE AVAILABLE TO STAFF AFTER THEY
GOT A PERMANENT JOB..................................................................................................20
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c) BENEFITS OF FLEXIBLE WORKING PRACTICES IN MICROSOFT.......................21
d) MOTIVATION BY MICROSOFT TO ITS WORKERS VIA JOB DESIGN AND
SYSTEM OF REWARDS.....................................................................................................22
TASK 4 (LO3): ANALYSE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING, INCLUDING
EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION................................................................................................24
a) MEANING OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT...............................................................24
b) EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN TERMS OF EMPLOYEE RELATIONS VIA
VARIOUS FACTORS OF HRM..........................................................................................24
c) PROCESSES TO ENGAGE WORKERS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION AT THE
WORKPLACE......................................................................................................................26
d) EMPLOYEE LEGISLATION AND THEIR IMPACT ON HRM...................................26
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................29
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................30
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INTRODUCTION
Figure 1: Human Resources
Source: [Reiche, et al. 2016]
Human resources have been considered as a most important asset of any organisation when skills
and abilities are taken into consideration. In the form of individual, personnel and workforce;
they take the full responsibility of successfully managing the whole task of an organisation
(Mallén, et al. 2016). They undertook various functions such as recruiting, selection, hiring,
onboarding, paying, promoting and so on. So, human resource management (HRM) could be
defined as an organisational department which deals with looking for a proper management of
the workforce and ensure the utilisation of best practices within the office environment all the
times (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
The given report is based on a rapidly expanding organisation called- “Say it with Chocolate”
which is based in North Yorkshire and provides a tailor-made chocolate greeting cards and
presents across the UK. The reason behind conducting this study by the organisation was
increased in staff turnover and feedback from the customers which indicated the decrease in the
quality of the company. Furthermore, there was also complaining regarding the bias towards the
candidates in the interview round. So in the given report, there would be detailed discussion
regarding the purpose of HRM, various approaches to recruitment and selection with their
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strengths and benefits. Besides, the study would also take the performance of the employees, and
the factors affecting HR decision making into consideration.
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PART 1
TASK 1 (LO1): EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN TERMS OF
RESOURCING AN ORGANISATION WITH TALENT AND
SKILLS APPROPRIATE TO FULFIL BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
a) PURPOSE AND FUNCTIONS OF HRM IN ‘SAY IT WITH CHOCOLATE’
Figure 2: Human Resource Management
Source: [Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017]
Human Resource Management (HRM) could be defined as a strategic and integrated approach
which device policies and procedures for the development and well-being of people working in
an organisation (Bratton and Gold, 2012). There are various important functions of HRM which
highlights its importance such as:
 Recruitment and Selection: HRM plan strategies for hiring right kind of people by
designing criteria best suited for a specific job description using the given two factors.
These factors are important for an organisation because they help in the reduction of the
costs of mistakes such as removal of unmotivated and under-qualified employees.
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 Orientation: It is an important part of the HRM as it helps the new employee to know
about their role and responsibilities and thus take an active role in an organisation
(Mallén, et al. 2016).
 Managing relations with employees: It is another important part as it helps the
management to know about their employees at a personal and professional level which
would enable to promote a healthy relationship between them and thus increase the
chances of an organisation to become successful.
 Maintaining a good environment: HRM plays an important role in providing an
environment where employees could work for their best. Besides, it also promotes
employee welfare which provides job satisfaction to the employees.
 Training and Development: It helps in increasing the skills and ability of the employees
to improve their performance (Rees and Smith, 2017).
There are various problems which are currently faced by HRM and these issues are:
 Recruiting new staff
 Retaining the old staff
 Providing sufficient training to the employees
 Increase the productivity of the company
 Maintaining Payroll
 Managing workforce diversity (Tummers, et al. 2015)
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b) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF RESEARCHER AS HUMAN RESOURCE OFFICER
Being a Human Resource Officer, my roles and responsibilities in ‘Say it with the Chocolate’
would be:
 Recruiting and training the new employees
 Providing compensation and benefits
 Enforcing disciplinary procedures
 Resolving conflicts
 Identify the skill gap in the existing workforce
 Ensure that the company is able to meet its business and organisation objectives
 Cultivation of creative leaders who could handle their team well (Hollenbeck and
Jamieson, 2015)
This using above HRM functions, I would be able to provide efficient employees which could
help the company with their skills in increasing not only its productivity but also fulfil its goals
and objectives. Furthermore, I would provide training to the employees who would become a
leader so that they would lead their group in accomplishing the goals effectively. Furthermore, I
would also help the company to decrease the employee turnover rate and increase the retention
of the existing employees which would thus save the company from getting the unnecessary
financial burden.
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c) ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF CURRENT SELECTION METHODS OF
SELECTION WHICH ARE USED BY THE ORGANISATION
Recruitment and Selection
Recruitment is a process of establishing a contact with the applicants who want to apply for a
job, while a selection is a process of selecting more suitable and competent candidates from the
given job aspirants. Furthermore, there are internal and external recruitment processes. An
internal recruitment process is the selection of candidates within the given employees via
promotion and external candidates is the selection of candidates from the outside sources (Coller,
et al. 2018). There are various types of recruitment and selection methods which are explained as
follows:
Online Job Boards and Websites:
This could prove to be useful for the organisation as they have their own websites where the
vacancies related to the job is posted so that the designated candidates could read the post and
apply for the job.
Strengths:
 They are cost-effective
 Speeds up recruitment cycle
 Have a wide appeal
 Handle high volume of application in an efficient way
 Effective management of job vacancies due to technology
Weaknesses:
 Difficult to handle a large number of inappropriate job applications
 Promote discrimination among the selection of employees especial in case of computer
literacy
 Badly designed website could refrain potential applicant to apply for the job and thus
damage the reputation of the company (Heilman, et al. 2015)
The company, “Say it with Chocolate” utilise this approach as it helps the company to spread the
job vacancies to a large number of people via the internet. In order to remove the flaw of badly
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design websites, it helps to improve the features of the websites by enhancing its qualities so that
more and more potential candidates could apply for the job.
Recruitment Agencies
These are private sector agencies which provide temporary as well as permanent placements for
the company.
Strengths:
 Selects highly qualified candidates
 Preferred by most of the job seekers
 Decrease the task of management of the company by performing all the important tasks
Weaknesses:
 More motivated by short-term gains and thus harming the long-term relationship with the
employers
 Less reputed
 Sometimes a good candidate might directly contact the potential employer
 Sometimes are a bit costly (Almeida and Fernando, 2017)
This service is utilised by the company only when there is an urgent requirement of the
candidates and a large number of the employees are required to fill up the vacancy.
Press Advertising
This is a method of posting a job vacancy by the company using print media such as newspapers,
journals and magazines by negotiating with special rates.
Strengths:
 Help in communicating positively with job applicants
 Conveying a positive message about the fortune of the company towards the marketplace
 Increase the brand awareness of the company
 Also, provide online packages with the publications
Weaknesses:
 No guarantee of success to the potential candidate
 High administrative cost
 Limited appeal
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 Limited tracking of the selection of candidates due to no involvement of technology
 Slow process (Rees and Smith, 2017)
This approach is utilised by the company by daily updating the employment news on the paper as
it helps the company to spread the message of the job to a large number of people.
Recruitment Events
This includes job fairs, campus placement and seminars where the candidates are selected by
face-to-face interviews.
Strengths:
 Cost effective as a large number of candidates are selected at a single platform
 Increases the brand awareness
 Time effective
Weaknesses:
 Competition with other employers
 No use if there are fewer vacancies (Mallén, et al. 2016)
This is the most effective technique which has been utilised by the company to a larger extent as
it helps to have a direct interaction with the suitable candidates and thus help them to select large
potential candidates. Also, this approach is time and cost effective for the company.
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d) IMPROVEMENTS TO BE MADE IN CURRENT SELECTION METHODS
The current selection methods could be improved by following ways:
 Increasing the participation of management with HR
 Providing certain criteria for the completion of selection process to the candidates
 Providing a proper training with paid internships to increase the efficiency of the
candidates
 Increasing the involvement of current employees to select the candidates which would
suit the designated roles (Rees and Smith, 2017))
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