Human Resource Management Report: Dyson - Workforce Planning and HRM

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human resource management (HRM) practices within the context of Dyson, a technology company specializing in household appliances. The report begins by defining the purpose and functions of HRM, emphasizing its role in workforce planning, recruitment, selection, training and development, and employee relations. It explores both hard and soft approaches to HRM and assesses how these functions contribute to talent and skill development within the organization. The report then delves into the strengths and weaknesses of various recruitment and selection approaches, including internal and external sources, interviews, and aptitude tests. It further examines the importance of employee relations in influencing HRM decision-making, highlighting how strong employee relations contribute to organizational success. Finally, the report provides a critical evaluation of employee relations and the application of HRM practices within the Dyson context, offering insights into how the company can leverage these practices to achieve a competitive advantage.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Activity 1 ........................................................................................................................................3
Purpose, Function of HRM that are applicable to workforce planning and resourcing.........3
Strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection approaches......................................5
Activity 2 ........................................................................................................................................8
Covered in Booklet.................................................................................................................8
Activity 3.........................................................................................................................................8
Importance of employee relations in influencing HRM decision making.............................8
Key elements of employment legislation and its impact on HRM decision making.............9
Critical evaluation of employee relation and application of HRM practices ......................10
Application of HRM practices in context of organisation....................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is a function which is generally performed in all the
organisation. The role of the HR managers is to recruit the appropriate people after determining
the duties, roles and responsibilities requirement to perform the job. Also HRM aims to
maximise the performance of the employees by identifying the need of training and then
providing them the same. This improves the skills, knowledge and abilities to perform their job,
thus they contribute in the organisation more efficiently. This report is in context of Dyson which
is a technology company which manufactures household appliances. It will help the organisation
to understand various functions and purpose of human resource management, benefits of HRM
to the employees and the employer both, various approaches of recruitment and selection,
importance of employee retention. All these will facilitate the HR department of Dyson to
determine the factors that will help them to get competitive advantage and in restructuring the
department.
Activity 1
Purpose, Function of HRM that are applicable to workforce planning and resourcing
Human Resource Management is the process of recruiting and selecting the employees
for the organisation and providing them orientation, training so as to improve their performance.
Also deciding the compensation and the benefits of the employees is the responsibility of HRM.
It is a strategic approach which help the organisation to achieve its goal by effectively utilising
the human resource and thus it offers them the competitive advantage as it is planned to improve
the performance of the employees (Albrecht, 2015).
Purpose and Functions of the organisation :
The main purpose of HRM is to identify the job and the person who can perform it
efficiently, also their role is to manage the existing employees. To identify the right person for
right job and manage employees the Dyson have to perform various functions which are as
follows :
 Recruiting and Selection : It is one of the most important function of HRM as they meet
the requirement of workforce as and when needed for which they have to undertake a
procedure which depends upon the type of the job. It reduces the chance of appointing

incompetent and under qualified person (Aravamudhan and Krishnaveni, 2015). For
Dyson this function is important as they are into manufacturing of household
machineries, so the staff need to be competent enough who has an understanding of
technical aspects.
 Training and Development : This function of HRM helps the organisation in planning
for the workforce to enhance their capability and competence as per the requirement of
their job. This improves their current and future performance also it motivates the
employees which is an important factor for efficiency in their work. To make staff have
an understanding of technological changes Dyson has to provide training on continuous
basis.
 Managing employee relations : Maintaining relations with the employees is important
as this helps an organisation to influence the behaviour of the employees. This also
reduces the chances of conflicts between management and the employees, because it
creates an understanding and healthy relation which is very important for Dyson.
 Maintaining good working conditions: Employees should be provided good and
healthy working condition as it make them comfortable to work in such environment. It
also includes motivating them using financial and non-financial benefits (Blok, 2015).
 Orientation: After appointing new people their orientation is must to make them
comfortable with the organisation culture and the people they have to work with.
Orientation helps the employees to understand their roles and responsibilities, duties,
tasks etc. in details and in a better way. This function will be beneficial for Dyson as it
will reduces chances of error which can lead to huge losses to company and client both
(Stoilkovska, Ilieva and Gjakovski 2015) .
Hard and Soft Approaches : These approaches of HRM are used by the organisation as
it helps in workforce planning of the organisation. The approaches are discussed below :
Hard Approaches : It is that approach where employees are treated only as resource
which will help an organisation in achieving their goals. The communication is top down with no
or little delegation of authority and responsibility. It will be useful for Dyson in case of
manufacturing of costly products where investment done is large and are crucial projects.
Soft Approaches : It is that approach where employees are treated as source to get
competitive advantage by making them efficient and competent by providing them trainings.

This approach can be used by Dyson in their general course of business (Bratton and Gold,
2017).
Assessment of HRM functions that can provide talent and skills
The main aim of HRM is to provide a competent employee for which they perform
various functions such as efficient selection process, proper training and development etc.
Various training programs conducted by the companies develops the skill set and enhances
capabilities of the employees that helps them to solve problems and perform well. Similarly,
Dyson by providing training can make their staff capable to understand and tackle the changes
which can takes place in terms of technology that they use in manufacturing. As Dyson are into
manufacturing of household appliances so it is important for them to make their employees
capable of adapting that change in the manufacturing process with the help of training and
development.
Strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection approaches
Recruitment is the process of attracting new qualified people which can be within the
organisation or from outside. It creates a pool of talent out of which an organisation can select
best suited to the profile (Brewster, 2016). This helps them to get a competent and capable
employee. Two approaches of recruiting people in the organisation are :
Internal Sources : It refers to recruiting people within the organisation for any higher
designation or same job with more responsibilities. This can be done by promotions, transfers,
employees referrals etc.
Strengths of Internal Sources Weaknesses of Internal Sources
 It provides an opportunity for
development to the existing employees
of the organisation.
 It is an easy approach as the people are
already aware about the organisation
culture and performance level required.
 This does not offer ample option for the
organisation as the number of capable
employee for the particular job may not
be enough.
 Transfers can demotivate employees
which affect their performance.
Analysis : Internal sources can be used by the organisation in case where there is urgency for the
particular job. Dyson can use this source of recruitment when they don't want to recruit new

people. As they are into manufacturing business due to which they need to recruit such people
who have technical skills. So internal recruitment will save the cost of training new people.
External Sources : It is the process of filling the vacancy in the organisation from
external sources i.e., outside the organisation. This helps an organisation to acquire new talent
who have various innovative ideas. Various external sources are employment agencies,
advertisements, campus recruitment, etc.
Strengths of External Sources Weaknesses of External Sources
 It helps an organisation to procure new
talented people who have knowledge
and enthusiasm to work.
 Few can be selected out of so many
available options, this offers on
opportunity to the organisation to
acquire best and suitable candidate.
 This process is very expensive, lengthy
and time consuming.
 The new employee is more demanding
in terms of remunerations and benefits.
Also, adaptability issues are faced by
the new people in terms of
organisational culture and environment.
Analysis : External sources is a viable option of recruitment when organisation has
sufficient funds and time. Dyson can use this source when they want those employees who have
knowledge about new technology and possess skills related to the use of updated machineries
which are used in their factories. Also it is suitable when the existing employees are not
competent enough for the required post.
Selection is a process of short listing and selecting the most suitable person on the basis
of the qualification, knowledge, skills and ability. The process of selection varies in different
organisation and even for different designations (Hornstein, 2015). Various steps can be
followed for selecting the people. Two approaches of selection are :
Interviews : Interview helps in selecting the candidate by putting questions to them. This helps
the interviewer to gather information about the candidates such as background, skill set,
behaviour, attitude etc.
Strengths of Interviews Weaknesses of Interviews
 Through interviews, selection can be
done easily and short span of time.
 Suitable candidate can be selected by
 The answer given by the interviewee
can be misinterpreted by the
interviewer which can leads to loss of a

gathering more and more information
about them by customising the
questions by the interviewer.
competent candidate.
 It can lead to favouritism and thus an
inappropriate candidate can get
selected.
Analysis : This can be easily used by Dyson as they can analyse the knowledge of the candidate
by asking them the questions regarding technical aspects required while working with machines
or while handling them, also regarding changes taking place in the manufacturing sector and
their influences on the business. This will help them to test the knowledge of the employees.
Aptitude test : Through aptitude test detailed analysis of the skills, knowledge and ability to
solve problems can be easily done (Stewart and Brown, 2019). This is most appropriate approach
when technical aspects and knowledge of the employee is to be judged.
Strengths of Aptitude test Weaknesses of Aptitude test
 Detailed analysis of knowledge of the
candidate can be done on the basis of
answers provided by them.
 This makes a fair selection of the
candidate as they will be judged on the
basis of answers provided by them.
 It is a long process and if answers are
subjective then evaluation becomes
very tough.
 It may not be an appropriate method to
judge the candidate as some questions
may not be of their field.
Analysis: This approach can also be used by the Dyson when they wanted to test the detailed
knowledge of the candidates by preparing relevant questions. Such a test for selecting the
candidate is appropriate for the company when they have to select the person for some higher
designation which is related to their business of manufacturing household appliances.
It is recommended that Dyson should use internal and external both the sources of
recruitment as per the requirement such as when they want to skilled labour then they can go fr
external sources which can be campus recruitment, through employment agencies etc. while if
they can shift the existing employees they should go for internal sources. For selection of the
candidates the existing methods of interview and aptitude test can be followed also they can be
changed when the existing method is not appropriate for the profile on which they have to make
selection.

Activity 2
Covered in Booklet
Activity 3
Importance of employee relations in influencing HRM decision making
Employee relations refers to the efforts that are made by the organisation to create and
maintain the relationships with employees. This makes employees loyal towards company and
build trust between employer and the employee. Employee relations in Dyson are strong which
help them to overcome various issues easily as they have good understanding with their
employees (Waddock and Bodwell, 2017). The importance of healthy employee relations are:
 Involvement of employee increases when they share healthy relations as management
will consider the suggestions, opinions, ideas of the employees, this will increase their
participation.
 Effective communication is possible as they both will try and understand the view of each
other which will help organisation in adapting any change. Also it will helps the
organisation in managing conflicts as employees can put their concern in front of
management easily.
 It will help to retain their employees i.e., employee turnover will be reduced as they will
feel attached to the organisation.
 When any such issue arise which can not be handled by one person single handedly,
collective efforts can helps in resolving such issue but it is possible only when their exist
strong employee relations.
 Healthy employee relations help the organisation to retain their employees and reduce the
absenteeism at the workplace.
Employee engagement is relationship with the employee where they are fully devoted to
their work and considered the interest of the organisation their priority. To maintain it employee
need to regards their employees which they do by various means such as incentives, recognition
etc. The benefits of employee engagement to Dyson is, it makes employees satisfied due to
which they perform better thus satisfying the customers which improves the profitability of
Dyson and also contributes in increasing the number of employees (Meidner, Hedborg and Fond,
2017) .

Key elements of employment legislation and its impact on HRM decision making
Employment legislation provides the rights to the employee to protect their interest and
regulate the relations with the employer. They cover almost all the issues from recruitment to
health and safety of the employee. These legislations come from UK Parliament, UK Courts and
EU. The aim of employment legislation is protecting and support the employees at the
workplace. Impact of employment legislation on decision making of HRM are :
 Equality act of UK came into force in 2010, which provides a legal framework to protect
the rights of the people at the workplace and to offer equal opportunity for all by
promoting equal and fair treatment with all. It seeks equality in terms of pay,
opportunities for growth, no discrimination on grounds of sexuality, religion or belief.
This act impacts the decision of HR of Dyson as there may not exist the opportunity for
all and sometimes for achieving the goal promoting selected candidate may become
crucial for the organisation but the act of equality may bound HR mangers to decide as
per their requirements (Equality Act, 2010).
 Health and Safety at work act came into force in 1974, which focusses on managing the
workplace health and safety of the employee. It defines various duties of employee and
employers that they need to undertake to maintain health and safety. It has impact on the
decision making of the HR of Dyson as they have some other policies to protect and
maintain heath of the employee but due to compliances of the act the company may need
to change their existing policies (Health and Safety at Work etc. Act, 1974).
 Labour law of UK provides the conditions that protect the labour working in the
factories. This law helps in differentiating between employees, workers and self-
employed. It also provides various rules, responsibilities and the legal rights to all of
them. Labour law is crucial for Dyson as they are into manufacturing which will help
them to provides appropriate working conditions to the employees. Also it will help them
to protect their labour from discrimination.
Evaluation of various aspects of employee relations management and employee legislation that
affect HRM decision making
Employee relations plays an important role in the organisation for both employees and
employer as it creates an understanding and build trust for each other. Organisational culture of
Dyson is very comfortable for the employees as they offer them the opportunity for flexible

working hours, time to time training to make them competent enough which boost their
performance. But due to various regulations imposed by the employment legislation affect the
decision making of Dyson as due to meet up with the compliance they have to change their
policies. In-spite of this Dyson has successfully fulfilled all the regulations and maintained a
healthy and competitive workplace environment.
Critical evaluation of employee relation and application of HRM practices
Human resource management practices helps the organisation in increasing their
productivity and the profitability as they apply various methods in the organisation which
contributes in increasing the efficiency in the performance of the employees. They also focus on
improving the employees relations which helps them to keep their employees motivated. But all
such practices can make employees of the organisation lenient towards their work as a result of
over friendly environment. This can increase the chances of the conflicts among the employees
and with the management also.
Application of HRM practices in context of organisation
The practices of human resource management are applicable in different activities in the
organisation such as preparation of agenda for training seminar, job advertisement, job
description etc. For instance, job specification is prepared.
Job Specification : It is a document which includes and describes the educational
qualifications, skill set, knowledge, abilities, special qualities, level of experience which are
required by the candidate to perform a specific job. Also it includes the emotional characteristics
that are required by the candidate. This statement helps the recruiting team to create a pool of
eligible candidate. The job specification is:
JOB SPECIFICATION OF ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN
Job Title  Assistant Librarian
Qualification  Masters Degree in Library and Information Science
 Bachelors Degree in any field
 Atleast 50% in both graduation and masters

Experience  Minimum experience of 3 years in any educational institution
 Minimum experience of 6 months in any technical institution
Special Attributes  Detailed understanding of computerised environment such as MS
Word.
 Familiarity with Lotus Notes.
 Excellent interpersonal skills and communication skills
Job Profiles  To keep the books and periodicals in the shelves
 To provide the reference to the staff of the institution regarding
existing and new books in the library
 To take care the services related to circulars which are to be issued
time to time for the students and the staff
 To develop and administers the policies of the services that are
provided by them
 To assist the head librarian in compiling the bibliographies
 To manage the students while they are in the library
Duties  To ask the faculties of the institution what new books, journals etc.
need to be purchased
 To co-ordinate with the administration department
Reporting To  Head librarian and in case if he is not available then they have to
report to the administration department of the institution
This job specification will help the recruiting and selection team of human resource
department in bringing the right talent in the organisation. Also it will be convenient for the
candidate to analyse the job as it includes all the requirements related to perform the job, on the
basis of which they can apply for the job if they possess the required aspects of the organisation
(Mone and London, 2018).

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that HR practices are very important for the
organisation to achieve their objectives and are generally followed by all the organisation. They
help an organisation in planning for the workforce such as for their recruitment, selection,
training, compensation etc. It was also concluded that effective HRM practices helps an
organisation to improve their productivity and profitability by making their staff competent
through trainings and learning programs which improves their skills, knowledge and abilities.
HR practices of employers are affected by various employment legislations such as equality,
anti-discrimination, health and safety etc.

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