HRM Practices at Mark & Spencer: Analysis of Strategies and Outcomes

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Mark & Spencer (M&S). It begins by explaining the purpose and functions of HRM, including managerial and operational functions, and their application to planning and resourcing. The report then explores different approaches to recruitment and selection, examining their strengths and weaknesses, such as job descriptions, skills inventories, and job posting strategies. Furthermore, it delves into various HRM practices like flexible timing, dress codes, and fun at work, highlighting their benefits for employee satisfaction and organizational productivity. Finally, the report assesses the effectiveness of these HRM practices, focusing on their impact on employee turnover, conflict resolution, and overall organizational performance, emphasizing the importance of HRM in driving business success and employee well-being at M&S.

UNIT 3 HRM

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Department is among a crucial and required task of the organization
function. It focuses on maximizing the attraction of employees and ensure the healthy and
wealthy working environment. Management has various functions such as controlling, planning,
organizing, staffing. It makes all work manageable and productive. Overall, present study will be
based on HRM practices. For that, Mark & Spencer company will be taken into action. It will
cover the purpose and scope of HRM. Besides, HRM practices that helps to take better decision
making approach for employees and company betterment. Likewise, assignment will also look
and explains about the different approaches of recruitment and selection will also take into
action. It will explain the efficiency of various HRM strategies with a purpose of rising
organizational profits and productivity. Overall, study covers all necessary aspects of the M&S
human resource department.
TASK 1
P1 Explaining the purpose and functions of HRM, applications to planning and resourcing.
HRM is the useful source or function for the organization that perform different activities
and planning. This function enables to enhance company production and profitability ratio that
helps to innovate the overall functions and activities. There are main two functions of HRM that
is managerial function and operating functions (Aslam, Rizvi and Hameed, 2015). Managerial
function performs to manage the work in company by best approaching tools and techniques.
This also makes the new opportunity and create new method or process. Besides, operational
functional carry and ensure about the day to day activity. It is the most energetic function which
must be effective in terms of managing. Human Resource Manager should carry all those things
and managing growth for the company betterment. There are some more functions and their
purposes of HRM that gives new energetic growth for the new development process.
 Recruitment and selection: it is the process of searching for new employees and growth
in order to enhance the productive growth making task. Moreover, it brings new changes
and better opportunity and goals (Baker, 2016). Recruitment and selection process assist
new candidates and employees for right job for right person.
 Job Analysis: It is the another function of Human resource in which they study the job
and ascertain the nature and level of human resource needed to execute the work in
systematic manner.
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 Procurement Function: it is the another function that hiring the right number of people
who will be responsible to accomplish the organized objectives. This includes, job
analysis, recruitment, selection, human resource planning.
 Development function: Development function is the procedure to improve the
knowledge, skills, attitudes and employee’s value. It helps to manage the present or
future job in systematic manner (Bednall, Sanders and Runhaar, 2014).
 Training: HRM holding the function to give training to new employees in organization.
It is the process when new candidates get to know about new thoughts and better working
environment. It helps to enhance the skill, knowledge, attitudes for personnel
development process.
 Job evaluation: It is the process that helps to evaluate the effective process that makes
very much productive.
 Maintenance Function: It is concerned with the protection and promotion of employee’s
physical and mental well-being. That makes the better services and growth that protects
the better environment growth.
On the basis of given functions and purpose of the organization. All over the function of
the HRM specify the effective results and better effective results. Overall, that makes the proper
arrangement and most productive nature and growth (Branicki, Steyer and Sullivan-Taylor,
2016). The responsibility of human resource management is very much area and effective
growth. Overall, to manage work is most essential and productive that helps to enhance the
productivity and matter of fact.
P2 Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
Human Resource is the overall approaching and better effective process. It helps to
recruitment and selection. Some new approaches are most important and find right candidate for
the organization. Moreover, recruitment and selection is the necessary process that helps to
recruit new employees for the productive management. There are different approaches that helps
to assist better recruitment and selection in order to meet the needs of organization. It gives new
approachable task (Brewster, 2017). According to matter of fact it has been seen that, according
to matter of fact. On the other side, it has been seen that apart from that.
Recruitment: Recruitment is the effective process in which goal of the company for
taking new employees and growth level. Apart from that, it is accomplished to get over the work
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into effective manner. There are some approaches and strategies that helps to recruit or select the
new candidate.
Strength: Recruitment is the positive activity that affect the business organisation and helps to
take the better employee performance target goals.
 It helps to collect better employee staff
 Increased engagement that helps to enhance the customer satisfaction.
Weaknesses
 Sometimes recruit non required staff which is not significant for the company.
Job description: In job description is most important part to new employees in organization. Job
description is the process for explaining the roles and responsibilities of the business into correct
manner (Dunford and et.al., 2017). Apart from that, it gives new services and growth. A
systematic hiring policy is the beginning with complete knowledge of job in organization. This
helps to promote the effective growth and according to effective manner of growth. Along with
that, overall process is set in job description and taken a good effective manner.
Strength
 It helps to identify the roles and responsibilities of the specific position.
 It also assists to identify the actual needs and wants of the company for the required
position.
weaknesses
 Based on the old structure.
Skills inventory: To find ideal candidate for specific job in organization. In this process new
skills and inventory process has been made accordingly. It is very necessary for the new
candidate to adopt new technical skills. Through which they contribute their best effective part in
the development of organization. This makes company environment more positive and
productive in nature.
Strength
 It is more likely to have the enlightening and most challenging and effective nature of
work.
 It helps to take the work habits and make work more integrity.
Weaknesses
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 Time consuming activity.
 Less effective manner.
Job posting strategy: it is the kind of advertisement process that created by employer and
human resource department in order to attract the new candidates towards the productive growth
and nature. It also needs to focus to improve market share and make some productive changes
according to needs and wants (Ogunyomi and Bruning, 2016). Overall process requires to
maintained the effective process task making performance. This makes the proper
implementation process. Job posting helps to attract the new joiners on the basis of some specific
skill set.
Strength
 It helps to select more productive and effective nature of growth.
 More likely to have the most enlightening process to make more productive strategies
Weaknesses
 it takes huge time
 Cost effective process
P3 Different HRM practice
Human resource department is use some practices to indefinite quality knowledge and
improves services in structure. HRM practices will take care the requirements of the firm to meet
the demands of the establishment’s development. This practices are both positive and negative
based on specific situation and growth. Moreover, it is the duty of the HR manager to undertake
new opportunity and growth in order to make some changes and according to the needs and
wants of the organization growth (Reiche and et.al., 2016). Some HRM practices are given
below:
 Flexible timing: human resource department is focusing on timing is to be flexible once
in a week is positive impact on working environment. HR department is focusing on such
kind of activity and manage work as in flexible timing. This is the best practices through
company can easily maintain the proper productivity and gives better output
performance. It also helps to explain the effective process for implementing the all roles
and responsibilities.
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Benefits : This is to state the benefits of provisioning flexible timing to the workers, it is
apparent to result in enhancing the sense of gratification of the employees who will be able to
balance both their personal and professional life. A work life balance can be created as an added
advantage to the employees in M&S.
 Dress Code: it is the another practice of HR manager to arrange the better productivity
and growth into effective manner. Dress code denote the uniformity which shows
professionalism in to the workplace (Runhaar, 2017). It gives employees power to adopt
new changes that helps to enhance their productivity level.
Benefits : Its benefit is in terms of providing a sense of recognition to both the organisation and
its workers where they will be representing their establishment with assistance of the dress code.
This will also lead to provide a sense of belongingness to the employees.
 Fun at work: This is the another activity that helps to perform the better task in the
organization. Fun gives extra enthusiasm and growth for better productivity level. Apart
from that, it also gives the better level of company. Every employee thinks that, fun at
work is the power of extra energy. That gives new environment in the organization. It
helps to promote the better growth and productivity enhancement. These are the
productivity energetic work. In order to accomplish the overall process. It brings new
environment and growth (Samad and Saufi, 2017).
Benefits : This is proven to help M&S in retaining their workforce by providing a sense of
gratification to them, at work and where they will be able to concentrate at the time of workload
without getting frustrated.
On the basis of above discussion, HR perform different roles and responsibility in the
organization that affect employee behaviour and growth. It helps to promote the better objective
and growth. That helps to give new advance performance and growth in term of measuring
quality performance.
P4 Effectiveness of difference HRM practices
Human resource management is the productive and essential part to manage the
employee’s activities and performance. It makes proper arrangement and disclosing all
information related to employee’s benefits. Overall, it gives new opportunity and growth. That
make good part and effective management tools and techniques (Sheehan, 2014). It helps to
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transfer the complete internal and external environment in order to meet the organization needs
and wants. HRM effectiveness is required in the development of M&S HR policies. It makes
some new changes and better objective task to implementing into proper manner. There are some
benefits for human resource department are as follows.
 Improve employee turnover: in this context HR manager and their practices helps to
generate the employee turnover ratio. This helps to promote employees into best effective
manner. It brings new changes in the personality of employees. That helps to promote
HRM practices (Silva and et.al., 2015). This in turn is known to improve both profits and
productivity of M&S where a sustainable turnover of employees will result in a stabilized
or rising growth with fewer chances of depletion of physical resources such as
employees.
Advantages
 Make productive staff members team and productive outcomes for the company.
 Enhance employee motivation and stability growth.
Disadvantages
 Less stability of employee will give low effective performance
 Low productive work has given low working performance level.
Conflict resolution: this is the another fact of making goods oriented work. HRM
practices is the another reason to promote employee’s relation and reduce employee conflicts and
making good relation between employee. Moreover, it brings new changes and better
productivity growth and making good skills and growth. Apart from that it makes better
objectives (Sojka, 2015). Conflict resolution is the productive manner of growth that helps to
promote the better employment opportunity and growth in order to make the better objective
growth. HR is play a most crucial role in order to promote the best possible action plan. Conflict
resolution can help to maintained the physical growth and better working environment in the
organization. A resolved state of dispute is proven to enhance the state of productivity with more
chances of earning profits where employees are able to concentrate on their work rather getting
distracted.
Advantages
 It helps to remove mismanagement and making strong bond between staff members.
 It helps to take the more challenging and effective performance making work.
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Disadvantages
 It creates misconception among employees and all employees get demotivated.
 Due to conflict employee turnover has increase.
Employee satisfaction: Employee satisfaction is the most crucial and mandatory nature
that helps to promote the better productivity environment. Apart from that, it makes better
changes and better opportunity and growth. HR department focus on the employee needs and
wants in order to get their satisfaction level. It makes good changes and maintained proper
environment in the organization in order to stable the best possible action plan (Tariq, Jan and
Ahmad, 2016). Employee satisfaction gives extra creative solution that makes the action
productive and effective nature of growth. A foremost advantage of this particular practice is an
intensifying growth of M&S where its satisfied set of workers will be producing effective
outcomes, leading to huge amount of profits. Also, a timely submission of work in accordance to
the specified norms is expected from the workers who are satisfied from the work settings.
Advantages
 This would give company more stability and union power.
 Enable to meet the customer needs and wants in more perfect manner.
Disadvantages
 Dissatisfaction lead employee distraction and lack of motivation environment.
There is all effectiveness of employees to improve the working environment and
indefinite quantity the growth rate in market. All such factor is more important to internal and
external work. In above question there are some new skills is to be used and make some
modification in market share. Overall, HRA practices is the overall making performance and
better objectives task. It has been seen that, HRM is the most required and productive nature of
growth that helps to make the better objective and growth. Better objective and task making
performance will help to cover the most possible action plan (Tracey, 2014). Overall, it helps to
take the better opportunity and growth. That helps to make the effective making task performing
task oriented process. Moreover, it brings new effective making task performance and better
objective task making performance (Wei, 2016).
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TASK 2
P5- Analysing the importance of employee relations with respect to influence the HRM decision
making of M&S
Maintaining sustainable relationship with that to the employees is an important aspect for
the organisation to attain a successful position the market. This is basically to fulfil the foremost
requirement of having potential workers who are able to work in a productive manner (Training
and development, 2017). It will lead to create a positive environment at the workplace by also
avoiding any conflicting situations at work. Also, a well maintained relationship among the
employees is apparent to result in a collaborative work setting with greater sense of team work in
the individuals who are striving to work hard for attaining the undertaken organisational goals
and objectives.
A healthy relationship among the employees is also evident to keep them satisfied to a
great extent. This in turn is proven to produce productive outcomes where the workers are also
looking to work into a fulfilled work setting and operate within a safe setting. It is with a special
context of M&S whose workers expects a secured workplace with safe settings and a fair or
impartial treatment with them. All of the aforesaid aspects are apparent to influence the decision
making policies of HRM in M&S where they are required to ensure the provisioning of such a
safe and secured work setting to the employees.
However, they are also required to maintain a disciplined environment at work where the
employees must work in accordance to the set norms. In case of any discrepancy, the
management is hereby needed to ensure their worker’s behaviour in conformity to the set
regulatory procedures. Beside this, handling employee’s grievances is stated to be yet another
vital consideration of the HRM in M&S where the workers should not deal with any biased
treatment at work (Human Rights Act, 2017). Also, they are supposed to operate in a healthy
work environment and should be involved in the process of decision making as well. Lastly,
managing employee stress is also referred to be yet another significant consideration of HRM in
the cited firm and this also falls into the decision making polices of HR. Herein, the workers
should get equal opportunities to fulfil their career goals by together being able to develop
themselves, both at personal and professional level.
This is to analyse some relevantly applied acts and policies to maintain an effective
relationship among the employees. This is for instance to demonstrate the implementation of
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employment act which states the importance of equally treating the workers in an organisation.
Apart from this, the newly undertaken act has also specified some other relevant aspects to be
taken into consideration by the HRM of M&S, relating to the resolution of conflicts at the
workplace. It is together concerned about bringing a friendly setting at the workplace where the
workers can easily refer to communicate and interact with each other.
Apart from this, there together exists certain effective policies concerning negotiation,
complain and termination of contract, etc. In which, a negotiation process must be involved to
resolve any state of conflict among the workers with a vital consideration of referring to the
views of all involved parties. Moreover, a complain must be done in accordance to a set
hierarchy and a stepping procedure for the same. Lastly, terminations must take place with
properly adopted measures and are different on the basis of various termination procedures that
involves termination with cause and without cause in the category of involuntary termination and
willing or voluntary termination.
This is on considering the application of relevant policies where complains, negotiation
and termination of contract should be done in a procedural manner. It is for instance to refer the
complaint policies that are followed by M&S to handle the grievances of their employees, they
have been found to follow 2 type of behaviours namely personal and business. This is basically
for an effective management of their working relationship. This is with a specific reference to the
up keeping of personal and business behaviours, its associated workers are hereby instructed to
refer to the People’s guide, stating about the policies related to whistleblowing, anti- bribery and
group fraud, etc. Other than this, they are together known to follow some predefined norms to
maintain their work relationship with customers, colleagues and shareholders, etc. In which,
there exists policies of equal opportunities, bullying and harassment, etc. For the purpose of
negotiation, as well, M&S is known to follow the booklet stating the framed set of guidelines for
both the employees as well as employers. Also, on considering the termination of contracts in
M&S, they have been found to follow a procedure of giving prior notice to the concerned bodies.
P6- Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision making for M&S
Employment legislation is always expected to comply by the norms that are specially
designed to protect the workers from any sort of ineffective practices at the workplace. It is
together required to consider certain effective measures in terms of providing social security to
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the workers employed in M&S and provide them a sense of fulfilment at work (Tyson, 2014).
This will also involve some other related elements such as special provision of occupational
health, effective working conditions, protection from any sort of physical and mental exploitation
to the workers. On the basis of these above specified constituents, several legislative norms have
been framed that are as stated below-
Equality Act: This act is framed to ensure an equal and fair treatment for all the employees,
irrespective of their age, gender, race and religion, etc. M&S is together required to implement
this act at their workplace to ensure no discrimination at the workplace. This is a governing act
that has successfully replaced all previously framed anti-discrimination laws and has represented
a single enactment confirming an equal work setting for all.
Sex discrimination Act: This is yet another crucial act governing the work setting of
organizations like M&S (Jiang and et.al., 2012). It is with a special concern of protecting the
workers from any sort of sexual discrimination at the workplace that mainly involves the cases of
harassment, victimization with direct and indirect types of discrimination.
The National Minimum Wages Act: This is basically to provide a minimum level of wages to the
workers in accordance to their abilities and work timings, etc. It also necessitates the
organizations like M&S to obey such related norms where none of their employed workers
should get paid below than the average wage rate. In such case, it will be referred as a situation
of forced labor. Although, it is a non-binding statute with constitutional norms.
Disability Discrimination Act: This is now also governed under the Equality Act, 2010 with a
special consideration of taking care of any disabled worker (Meredith Belbin, 2011). It is
basically to ensure no discriminative practices towards the disabled employees where they
should get equal chance of employment with equal number of opportunities to showcase their
talents.
Health and safety Act: By implementing this act, the concerned authorities of M&S are required
to ensure a healthy work setting for the workers to operate into it. This act is together known to
govern the policies framed for dealing with any workplace related hazards and other related risks
that can lead to accidents, etc. The employees are also required to be aware of such unlikely
consequences by together being able to deal with it.
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