Human Resource Management Report: Analysis of HRM Practices at M&S

This report provides a detailed analysis of human resource management (HRM) practices, focusing on a case study of Mark & Spencer (M&S). It explores the purpose and functions of HRM, including recruitment, selection, training and development, and employee relations. The report examines different approaches to recruitment and selection, comparing internal and external methods, and discusses the benefits of effective HRM practices for both employers and employees, such as increased productivity and employee satisfaction. It also highlights the importance of employee relations, emphasizing its impact on productivity, loyalty, and conflict reduction. Furthermore, the report covers key elements of employment legislation and the application of HRM practices within the organization. Overall, the report offers insights into how HRM contributes to organizational success.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1.purpose and function of human resource management:........................................................1
P2. Strength and weakness of the approaches of recruitment and selection:..............................2
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................4
P3. Benefits of HRM practices for both employer and employee:.............................................4
P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices:...........................................................................5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P5. Importance of employee relation: ........................................................................................5
P6. Key elements of employment legislation:.............................................................................6
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P7. Application of HRM practice:..............................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management increase the productivity of the employees as well as
organisation and helps in achieving the goals of the company. HRM liable for the recruiting,
selecting best employees, their benefits, training and development, health and safety,
performance appraisal etc. In this report chosen company is Mark & Spencer who deals in retail
sector and provide luxury foods, home products, clothes etc. This company was founded by
Michel Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1884. its headquarter situated in London, UK. In this
report include purpose and functions of human resource management and different approach of
recruitment and selection process and its advantage and disadvantages. In this covered benefits
of different HRM practices and importance of employee relation in the organisation(Al Ariss,
Cascio and Paauwe, 2014). In this also includes key elements of employee legislation and person
specification and job advertisement.
TASK 1
P1.purpose and function of human resource management:
Overview of the organisation:
M&S was founded in 1884 by Thomas Spencer and Michel Marks. Its headquarter
situated in London, United Kingdom. Its deals in a retail sector and provide home products,
clothes, luxury food products etc.
Purpose of human resource management:
Human resource management develop a bridge between company's employees and line
management. Human resource management have a various key purpose some are as follows:
Internal customer management: Quality and knowledge of employees direct connected
with the productivity of an organisation. Human resource management of M&S create a policy
and processes for retain the quality and attract employees. They motivate the employees towards
better performance of work in which they give their best productivity to the organisation.
Management of HR serves internal customer and develop external relations.
Working together: professionals and management of HR work together for increasing the
overall growth of the organisation. In M&S, Professionals of HR suggest management that how
allot the work to the employees and how maintain their best work in the organisation.

Management give advice to the employees that how to achieve organisational goals and give
their best productivity at the workplace.
Function of Human resource management:
Human resource management done many functions of the organisation like recruitment
and selection of best candidates, provide training and develop them, employees' relations,
employees' benefits etc. which are as under:
Recruitment and selection: Human resource main function is recruit and select the best
candidates form the outside environment(Albrecht And et. al., 2015) . They conduct interviews,
GDP etc. in which they take test of applicants and check their knowledge and skills and after
select best candidates from them.
Training and development: Training and development improve the current and future
knowledge of an employee. HR managers of M&S train and provide coaching to their new
employees for their particular job field. They also develop their old employees advance skill and
knowledge for achieving high results from them.
P2. Strength and weakness of the approaches of recruitment and selection:
Internal recruitment approach:
Internal recruitment is a process of hiring the employees from inside the organisation. HR
managers of M&S recruit their own suitable employee for other vacant post in the company. In
this include many approaches of internal recruiting of the employees such as promotion, transfer,
retired employees etc. which are as follows:
Promotion: In this approach HR managers of M&S, give promotion to their employees
and giving them a hire post and fulfil those vacant post inside the organisation.
Retired employees: Sometimes, employee of M&S retired from their job and this job is
become vacant. For fulfilling this post, HR managers hire another suitable employee for this
vacant post and fulfil it(Armstrong and Taylor, 2014).
Advantage of internal recruitment approach:
There are various advantages of internal recruitment which are as follows:
 Less time consuming and economical approach.
 Company already know about their employees skills and knowledge and their
weakness.
Disadvantage of internal recruitment approach:

There are many disadvantages of internal recruitment approach that are as under:
 Create extra vacancy.
 No new skills are developed in the organisation from outside world.
External recruitment approach:
External recruitment approach is take place when current employees are not suitable for
vacant post. In this HR managers of M&S, hiring the employees from external environment.
They recruit qualified and knowledgable people for their company. In this include many
approaches of recruiting the candidates which are as follows:
Placement in colleges and universities: In this, HR executives of M&S going in
particular college and university for hiring the suitable students as employees in their company.
They choose skilled and knowledgable students(Armstrong, 2014).
Advertisement: In this, M&S give advertisement for vacant post and a particular job in
their company. They give advertisement through newspaper, social sites, TV etc.
Advantages of external recruitment approach:
There are various advantages of external recruitment that are mentioned below:
 Cheaper to recruiting.
 Talented people hiring for the advertisement form outside environment.
Disadvantage of external recruitment:
There are also disadvantages of this approach which are as under:
 Time consuming process.
 Lack of coordination.
Selection:
Selection is a process of hiring right people for suitable job. HR managers of M&S
selecting the best and qualified candidates in their company. They conduct many function for
hiring the best employee in their company who give their best to the company.
Selection approach:
There are many approaches of selection process that is conduct by HR executives for
hiring the employees s which are as under:
Interview: HR managers of M&S conduct interviews in which they ask questions from
candidates and focus on them that in which manner they give answers, observe their body

language, confidants etc. and after this they conduct another process that is group discussion
which mentioned below:
Group discussion: After interview, executives conduct group discussion for check
candidates' communication power. After all this process, they select best and skilled candidates
for their company(Bailey and et. al., 2018).
Advantages of selection approach:
 Decrease employee turnover.
 Selection of qualified and best employees.
 Proper assessment.
Disadvantages of selection approach:
 Wrong use.
 Unreliable.
Approach of training and development:
A systematic approach of training and development is beneficial for company's who
provide the training and development of their employees to enhance their productivity. This
approach assure that training and development start and ends according to M&S company's
needs.
In this approach, managers of M&S should identify that which employees needs training
and development for enhance their productivity and skills to achieve organisational goals. After
this, managers should develop the training objectives and choose the training method in which
manner provide the training their employees(Boehm and et. al., 2014) . After all this process
managers access the training results.
Advantage:
 An opportunity to learn.
 Increase self-confidence.
 Positive attitudes.
 Grabs in new skill and talent.
Disadvantage:
 Waste of money and time.
 Maximised stress.
 Control of training.

 Requirements of time.
TASK 2
P3. Benefits of HRM practices for both employer and employee:
Good practices of HRM are implementable in supporting accomplish goals of department
and improve the productivity. Different approaches such as employee relation and employee
engagement are effective for an organisation for building the strong team, improve the
communication, develop the leadership quality etc. In M&S, Practices of HRM effectively form
the best strategy in the organisation for better performance of employees to achieve
organisational goals. HRM practices, employee relation and employee engagement are beneficial
for both employer and employee which are as under:
Benefits of employer:
Developing employees: HRM practices develop overall growth of the employees in
which they improve their knowledge and skills and give their best to to company. Employees
best skills and performance can increase the competitive benefit of the M&S company.
Promoting positive behaviour: HRM practices maintain the coordination among
employees for reducing the conflicts and promote positive behaviour which boots the energy in
employees' performance(Bratton and Gold, 2017) .
Benefits of employee:
Employee satisfaction: HRM practices in M&S provide full satisfaction to the employees
by motivate and give opportunities to them for their growth. They motivate them by giving
reward, promotion, monetary and non-monetary benefits. Satisfied employee give better
performance of work.6
Improve employee turnover: High employee turnover loss for the company because
again recruit the another persons which is very time consuming and increase the cost. Best
practices of HRM already know that how to select best employees for right job.
P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices:
HRM practices, employee engagement and employee relation are very effective in M&S,
that helps in increasing the company's profit and productivity. There are some factors of
effectiveness which are as follows:

Non-monetary factors to enhance performance of employees: HR managers give non-
monetary factors to their employees such as promotions, honour, reward which boost their
energy of performance and helps in increase the productivity and profit of the company.
Employee relation and engagement are very effective for enhancing the employees performance
in the company.
Employee retention: HRM practices increase effectiveness of the workplace which helps
them to retain the employees in the company. If employee relation are maintain in the company,
then workers doing work stress freely in the company.
High performing and innovative employees: In M&S, practices and employee
engagement are very effective in terms of rising the company's profit and productivity. Because
good employee engagement and relation are provide innovative environment to the employees in
which they also learn various things and improve their work and give high performance at the
work place which support the organisation to achieve targeted goals of the company(Cooke,
Saini and Wang, 2014) .
Sharing information and ideas: Best HRM practices are effective because its helps in
achieving organisational goals and profits. In M&S, best employee relation and engagement are
given freedom to employees to share their creative ideas and thoughts with the company in
which managers can choose best ideas and put them into effective strategy which helps company
to rising profit and productivity.
TASK 3
P5. Importance of employee relation:
Maintaining employee relations can be the ultimate success of an business which give
advantageous outcomes. If strong and best relationship exist at workplace then employees can
more efficient and productive, be more loyal and create fewer conflicts at work place. In M&S,
HR managers should maintain effective relationship in the company in which employees can
give their best to the company(Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014) . There are many importance of
employee relation which helps the HR managers of the company to making decisions which are
as follows:
Increased productivity: Strong employee relation at workplace increase the productivity
of the employees. In M&S, Strong relationship between employer and employees can give

happiness to their employee which enhance their productivity as well as organisation and
increase revenue of the company. Increased and effective productivity also influence the decision
making process of HR managers in the company.
Increased loyalty: Strong relationship can rise the loyalty among workers to a great level.
Making a productive and pleasant work environment can have a forceful outcome on loyalty of
employees. When increases the loyalty, possibilities of employee retention also maximise and
hence, advantages the company in long run. Increased loyalty also helps in decision-making
process of HR Managers.
Reduce the conflicts: When a environment of work in M&S is friendly and efficient the
level of conflict is reduced at the workplace. Less conflicts among employee helps them to focus
on their work more effectively which also increase the productivity of the employees. A happy
employee is a productive employee in the company.
Improve communication: When in the M&S, employer and employee relation are
maintain in effectively way, then its give stress free life to the employees and they can easily
share their ideas and do not hesitate during communication with managers. It can helps to
managers to take decision and also improve the communication of employees in the company.
P6. Key elements of employment legislation:
There are some rules and regulations for employees benefits which needs to follow by the
M&S company. Employment laws and regulations protect the interest and rights of the
employees in the organisation. In this include many laws and regulation such employment right
act, equal pay act, minimum wages act etc. which are as follows:
Employment right act 1996: The employment right act can be measuring by the fact that
include major prospects of relation in employment involving specific of leaves, termination,
training, employment etc. HR managers of M&S adopt this law for secure the employees rights
and interest in the company. If they use this law in good manner, then employees satisfied with
the company and give their best to the organisation.
Sex discrimination act 1975: This act is protect the right of women and man and secure
against from the discrimination of martial status and sex. In M&S, managers should treat their
employees rather women and man equally and without any discrimination. This can increase the
status of the company(Paillé and et. al., 2014).

Minimum wages act 1948: This act provide the minimum wages to employees means all
the company must pay at least minimum pay to their employees. M&S also follow this act in
which they provide minimum salary to their employees.
Thus, all act are influence the HR managers' decision making process in effective way
because if all laws and regulations are follow properly, then employees are satisfied with their
company and helps to improve productivity.
TASK 4
P7. Application of HRM practice:
Job specification
Qualification Degree in MBA field from any recognised
University.
Adequate training(Renz, 2016).
Experience Must have experience of 1.5 year working in
HR department.
Area of expertise Must have satisfactory information about tools
of HR.
Other qualities Capable to maintain the employees relation at
workplace.
Awareness about HR strategies and policies.
Interview Questions
 What grades and rank you acquire in your institution?
 What are your effective strengths?
 Why do want to perform with us?
 What your responsibilities and duties when you employ at job y?
 What are weaknesses are face by you?
CV
General information
Name: David Spencer.

Father's name: Jerry Spencer.
Mother's name: Kim Spencer.
Mobile no.: xxxxxxxxxx
Email id: xxxxxxxx
Key skills:
 Multitasking.
 Effective communication.
 Problem solving and conflict management.
 Perform effectively with team.
 Quickly learn new techniques and methods.
Experience:
 Deal with conflicts management (Purce, 2014) .
 Experience in recruiting and selecting the people.
Evaluation of process:
Developing standard for each process such as CV, job description, interviews methods
etc. Review the description of position, before reviewing materials of candidates. Appraisal the
advertisement for the empty post. Make notes, comments and other criteria.
CONCLUSION
From the above given report it has been concluded that human resource management is
the main department of an organisation because they select most talented people form the outside
organisation and train them for giving best performance to the company. They build the
coordination among employees for reduce conflicts among them and maintain employee relation
in which workers perform stress free. Best practices of HRM helps in make best strategy and
policy of the organisation which support to achieve organisational goals of the company. Good
employee relation at work place provide motivation to the employees in which they give their
best to the organisation. Employee law and legislation give equal rights to the employees in
which they have many opportunities to develop their career.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W. F. and Paauwe, J., 2014. Talent management: Current theories and
future research directions. Journal of World Business. 49(2). pp.173-179.
Albrecht, S. L. And et. al., 2015. Employee engagement, human resource management practices
and competitive advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational
Effectiveness: People and Performance. 2(1). pp.7-35.
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S., 2014. Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.
Armstrong, P., 2014. Limits and possibilities for HRM in an age of management accountancy.
New Perspectives On Human Resource Management op. cit. at, pp.154-166.
Bailey, C. and et. al., 2018. Strategic human resource management. Oxford University Press.
Boehm, S. A. and et. al., 2014. Expanding insights on the diversity climate–performance link:
The role of workgroup discrimination and group size. Human Resource Management.
53(3). pp.379-402.
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Cooke, F. L., Saini, D. S. and Wang, J., 2014. Talent management in China and India: A
comparison of management perceptions and human resource practices. Journal of
World Business. 49(2). pp.225-235.
Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human
resource management. The Academy of Management Annals. 8(1). pp.1-56.
Paillé, P. and et. al., 2014. The impact of human resource management on environmental
performance: An employee-level study. Journal of Business Ethics. 121(3). pp.451-466.
Purce, J., 2014. The impact of corporate strategy on human resource management. New
Perspectives on Human Resource Management (Routledge Revivals). 67.
Renz, D. O., 2016. The Jossey-Bass handbook of nonprofit leadership and management. John
Wiley & Sons.
Online
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