HRM Practices in Chocolate Presence and Microsoft: Unit 3 Assignment

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UNIT 3 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 4
PART 1 –The Purpose and Scope of HRM and Recruitment and Selection & the
Application of HRM practices in the workplace................................................................5
Task 1 – (LO1)................................................................................................................. 5
a) Explains the purpose of the HR function and its importance to the organization,
given its current problems and future plans for further growth.....................................5
b) Explains the strengths and weaknesses of the current selection methods used
by the organization....................................................................................................... 7
c) Evaluates at least 2 two potential improvements that could be made by Chocolate
Presence to enhance its selection process..................................................................8
Task 2 – Application (LO 4)..............................................................................................9
a) Create a person specification for the role...............................................................9
b) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the current methods of
advertising jobs in the organization (internally within the organization and on the
noticeboard outside the main entrance).....................................................................10
c) Explain where you would recommend the job advert for the Receptionist vacancy
to be placed and why..................................................................................................12
PART 2 - Employee performance, development and reward & Factors that influence HR
decision making............................................................................................................. 13
Task 3 (LO2).................................................................................................................. 13
a) Microsoft offer graduate training schemes and internships. Evaluate the benefits
to both the organization and employees of such schemes.........................................13
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b) Microsoft offers a range of flexible working arrangements for staff. Firstly,
identify some of these arrangements and then evaluate the benefits of offering these
to both Microsoft and its employees...........................................................................14
c) Evaluate how Microsoft motivates its workers through the way it designs its job
roles............................................................................................................................15
Task 4 (LO3).................................................................................................................. 17
a) What is meant by the term employee engagement and why is employee
engagement such an important part in effective employee relations in Microsoft?....17
b) Critically evaluate the key approaches to engaging workers discussed in the
Summit and how these approaches improve communication in the workplace..........18
c) Identify the key elements of UK employment legislation, explaining how they
influence HR decision making such as recruitment, training and development and
reward.........................................................................................................................18
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 20
References.....................................................................................................................21
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Introduction
The concept of Human Resource Management enables the business managers to
attract, select, recruit as well as retain the competent staff members within the business
organization for a longer period of time. Various effective tools & techniques are being
illustrated & described in the effective & in an efficient manner for ensuring & enhancing
the competitive advantage within the competitive business environment. Different
aspects of HRM are being discussed & illustrated in accordance with the business
organizations of "Chocolate Presence & Microsoft". Different schemes of enhancing
employee engagement are being discussed which have been implemented by Microsoft
for the purpose of leading the whole business organization towards the higher level of
growth & sustainable development.
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PART 1 –The Purpose and Scope of HRM and Recruitment and Selection & the
Application of HRM practices in the workplace
Task 1 – (LO1)
Introduction
The chosen business organization is “Chocolate Presence" which provides its potential
customers with the chocolate-based greeting cards & creative presence in the country
of U.K. The specialist gift orders are being designed & created by the small team of staff
members. The main aim or the purpose of this assignment is to ensure & enhance the
higher level of flexibility within the chosen business organization.
a) Explains the purpose of the HR function and its importance to the
organization, given its current problems and future plans for further
growth.
The inherent nature is being found of HRM as the essential part of the management.
It works as the pervasive function & applies the people-centered approach. All the
personnel functions are being performed by it in a continuous manner. The wider
scope is being enhanced & possessed by HRM to fill up the different positions within
the whole business organization. It includes & performs the essential functions of
recruitment, placement of personnel & selection. Various scholars define HRM as
the process of selecting, recruiting, motivating & providing the effective training to all
the organizational employees along with appraising their respective level of
performances (Rodriguez, et.al. 2017). The proper relations are needed to be
developed & maintained by them along with ensuring employees’ safety & the
effective compliance of the labor laws. Following are the main functions & activities
performed by the HR managers within the organization of “Chocolate Presence”:
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 Hiring & Recruiting: Most competent employees are to be hired & recruited by
the HR managers who can effectively & efficiently perform the assigned tasks &
lead the whole organization towards the achievement of defined organizational
goals. Those candidates should be selected by the company who can enhance
the innovation in all the gifts & greeting, based on the chocolates.
 Appraisal: Motivating all the employees is very essential in order to retain them
for the maximum period of time. Their performances should be reviewed &
checked on a regular basis & the remaining deficiencies should be measured &
corrected, effectively & efficiently. An effective policy should be implemented of
the reward policy, providing both the intrinsic & extrinsic rewards to the
competent employees (Lange, 2013).
 Analysis & job design: All the basic details are to be analyzed related to the job
for allocating the duties & tasks to the employees according to their capabilities.
On the basis of the analysis, different jobs should be designed for different
employees.
 Training & development: Effective training sessions are being conducted by the
HR managers for making all the employees more competent & capable &
therefore developing them in an appropriate manner. The purpose of training &
developing the employees is to enhance knowledge & perform specific jobs.
Apart from all the above essential functions, it is necessary for the HR managers of
“Chocolate Presence” to apply & implement the HR strategies, including the best-fit
approach for the whole business organization according to the changing circumstances
& organizational situations. Along with this best approach, the best HR practices are
also to be ensured & enhanced which adds the value to the overall organizational
success, so that the future growth can be enhanced effectively & efficiently (Cañibano,
2013).
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b) Explains the strengths and weaknesses of the current selection methods
used by the organization
Various effective methods of selection are being implemented by the HR managers of
“Chocolate Presence” for the purpose of increasing the number of competent
employees & to provide the better quality of services & products to all the customers.
Following are certain selection methods along with their strengths & weaknesses:
Conducting personality tests: These tests help the managers to identify the overall
personality of the candidate, whether he can positively perform all the duties &
responsibilities or not. Those employees are to be selected by the company who can
easily attract the large numbers of customers within the business organization & can
also be able to effectively develop those tools & techniques which can help in solving
the major conflicts within the business organization.
Strengths:
 The level of encouragement & motivation can be known effectively & efficiently
 This method includes very fewer chances of selecting the wrong candidate in the
organization
Weaknesses:
 It consumes more time which can lead to a higher level of frustration
 This method is not as accurate as compared to other methods, the strong
measures related to the job performances cannot be evaluated effectively
 The level of reliability is also not at the standard level which makes the results of
test very difficult
Interview: This method is effective for "Chocolate Presence" as, under this method, the
HR managers are able to observe different reactions of the candidate including the body
language, voice tone, answers, etc. The strength & weakness of that candidate can also
be known with the help of this method (Vaiman, et.al. 2012).
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Strengths:
 Facial expressions can be known effectively
 The level of confidence can also be ensured
Weaknesses:
 This method is not only lengthy but also involves a huge amount of cost
 In case when any wrong candidate is being selected, it may lead towards the
major loss within the business organization
c) Evaluates at least 2 two potential improvements that could be made by
Chocolate Presence to enhance its selection process.
Following are the two potential improvements that should be enhanced by Chocolate
Presence in its process of selection:
 The formal chat should be conducted by the interviewers rather than the informal
chat for the purpose of achieving the defined goals in a disciplined manner
 Also, the tests which are being conducted by them should be checked & to be
made again for reducing the number of failures & hence retaining the best
workers, effectively & efficiently
Conclusion
It has been concluded that the appropriate method of selection should be enhanced &
conducted by Chocolate Presence for increasing the number of competent employees &
attracting a large number of customers.
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Task 2 – Application (LO 4)
a) Create a person specification for the role
Following is the person specification for the role of “Receptionist” within the business
organization of “Chocolate Presence”:
Essential skills & qualifications
 Excellent skills in communication &
language
 Effective organizational skills
 Competent in handling
administrative tasks
 Multi-tasting skills
 Basic knowledge to operate a
computer for managing &
controlling essential data
Essential experience
 Effective working with the general
public, both online & offline
 Prioritizing skills to cope up with
multiple tasks within the business
organization
 Skills of filing & record keeping
 Can be the strong part of the
whole team or the business
organization
 Effective working & operating with
computers
Desirable experience
 Experience of 6 months of
previous reception
 Using the computerized booking
systems or the database
 Great experience of working with
big business organizations
Essential attitude
 An effective ability to tolerate the
bad attitude of people & can
handle them effectively with full of
patience & caring nature
 Should be able to work effectively
& efficiently under pressure
 Unique ability to implement equal
opportunities of employment
among all the employees working
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within the business organization
 Flexible in nature
 Should be able to possess a great
level of understanding the practice
of good confidentiality
 Strict confidentiality
 The positive attitude can lead to a
higher level of personal
development
b) Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the current methods of
advertising jobs in the organization (internally within the organization and
on the noticeboard outside the main entrance).
The business organization of Chocolate Presence fills up the job vacancies through the
internal employees, who are already working within the organization & it displays the
vacancy on the noticeboard outside the main entrance of the business. This internal
recruitment leads towards both the positive as well as the negative results for the overall
growth & development of the business organization. Following are the advantages &
disadvantages of the recruitment methods adopted by “Chocolate Presence”:
Advantages:
 Through internal recruitment, the company is able to fill up the vacant places of
the job with those business employees who are already familiar with the whole
business organization & its different departments
 As the employees are already familiar with the business organization, the
company is not required to invest in the training & development of the employees
 Also, the process of training & development consumers more time, hence, this
time can be invested in some other processes
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 Increased rate of employee retention & employee morale is being enhanced
effectively & efficiently
 The continuity is being ensured & enhanced of the various different operations of
the business organization
Disadvantages:
 Chocolate Presence is not able to enhance the new, unique & creative innovation
within the organization, which is the highest requirement of the business
organization in the current period
 The number of employees also does not get increased & the overall operations
are not being met up to the defined target
 The business organization is not able to satisfy the increasing needs & demands
of all its potential customers because of which the company is not able to attain
the defined level of growth & development
 New & innovative ideas are not being called upon from outside the business
organization & the concept of stagnation is being encouraged in an ineffective
manner
 Through the method of internal recruitment, the chances of enhancing
competitive advantage get reduced
 Sometimes, it becomes difficult for the business managers to handle the
employees & enhance the effective control or coordination among them, in the
case when they are from different background, age, gender or ethnicity. This lead
towards the major problem of lack of diversity
In accordance to the needs, requirements & aims of the business organization of
“Chocolate Presence” the business managers should conduct the external recruitment
for not only increasing the number of competent & innovative employees but also to
meet up the demands of all the potential & loyal customers & to increase the level of
overall organizational growth & development in the effective as well as in an efficient
manner (Zhang, et.al. 2014).
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c) Explain where you would recommend the job advert for the Receptionist
vacancy to be placed and why.
The vacancies for the job of receptionist should be placed by the business organization
of “Chocolate Presence” on different applications of social media including the own
website of the company. The main reason behind this is that nowadays, almost all the
people are socially active & share the essential information or necessary information
through the mode of online channels. An effective method of recruitment should also be
conducted by the company, i.e., the interview round, which will help the business
managers to know about the capabilities & uniqueness, being possessed under different
applicants & then the most suitable person can be selected as the receptionist of the
company who can not only able to attract maximum number of customers but also
retain both the potential customers as well as the loyal employees for the longer period
of time, effectively & efficiently (Popli & Rizvi, 2015).
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