Human Resource Management Report: Flexibility and HRM

This report delves into various aspects of Human Resource Management (HRM). It begins with an analysis of Guest's HRM model, examining its strategic approach and application at Telenor, highlighting the importance of aligning HR with organizational strategy and employee empowerment. The report then explores Storey's definitions of HRM, personnel management, and industrial relations, using Nestle as a practical example to illustrate the interplay of these concepts. It also examines the implications of strategic HRM for line managers and employees, using British American Tobacco as a case study. Furthermore, the report investigates models of flexibility, particularly at Accenture, covering different types of flexibility and their impact on the labor market. The report also addresses workplace discrimination and equal opportunities, including practical implications of legislation and approaches to managing these issues. Finally, the report examines employee welfare, using SCB as an example, and the impact of health and safety legislation and other topical issues on HR practices, providing a comprehensive overview of key HRM topics.

Managing Human Resources

Table of Contents
Task 1: Essay................................................................................................................................................3
Guest’s HRM model; its depiction at Telenor..........................................................................................3
Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR Nestle, a living example..................................................4
Implications for line managers and employees of developing a strategic approach to HRM; British
American Tobacco, a classic example......................................................................................................6
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................6
Model of flexibility at Accenture..............................................................................................................6
Types of flexibility at Accenture...............................................................................................................8
Numerical flexibility.............................................................................................................................8
Financial flexibility...............................................................................................................................9
Temporal flexibility..............................................................................................................................9
Use of Flexible Working Practices for the Employer and Employees.......................................................9
How flexible working practices impact the labour market....................................................................10
TASK 3:.......................................................................................................................................................11
Types of discrimination at the workplace..............................................................................................11
Practical implications of equal opportunities legislation for an organisation........................................12
Approaches to managing equal opportunities and managing diversity.................................................12
Task 4.........................................................................................................................................................13
Managing employee welfare at SCB......................................................................................................14
Implications of health and safety legislation on HR practices................................................................14
Impact of another topical issue on human resources practices.............................................................15
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................15

Task 1: Essay
Guest’s HRM model; its depiction at Telenor
The Human Resource Model presented by Guest presents forth a very modern uptake on what
HR is all about. It points out that HR is much more than personnel management, the latter being
just a component of the former. HR in an organization does not merely have to be limited to
filling out forms, but has to have a direct link with the strategy of an organization.
This model have six dimensions of analysis:
 HRM strategies
 HRM practices
 HRM outcomes
 Performance outcomes
 Behaviour outcomes
 Financial outcomes
Like all other organizational functions, HRM has to be a strategic initiative which then has the
full potential of contributing towards achieving business goals in a more efficient fashion.
Another unique proposition presented in this theory is that whereby the role of HR is not only to
look after the needs of the workforce collectively, but it has to cater to the unique needs of every
member of that workforce. The model truly represents how HR is not a science but an art; there
are rules to deal with every situation yet there is the possibility of an unprecedented event

occurring. In that case, it is HR that must ensure that not only the interests of the organization are
protected but also of the individual as well as the workforce as a whole.
There are two approaches of HRM-
Hard HRM
According to this approach employees of entity work only for receiving financial benefits. If
entity pay good money to it workers then their performances is easily improved. It is strategic
approach which aims to make use of people in a manner that add value and bring competitive
advantages.
Soft HRM
This approach is focuses on developing strong employees relations. Under this approach human
resource management ask opinions from employees and motivated to them for assisting entity
for making strategy and market expansions.
Guest’s model is a proponent of the fact that employees are a huge asset of the organization and
should be regarded in that manner. Having them involved in business processes and decisions,
giving them ownership and considering them the foundation to successful goal achievement is
what HR in the current business world should be about. According to the model, HR has to be
more about commitment, compliance is only secondary. The major focus of any HR department
should be on enabling business, and providing services across the organization that bridge the
difference between HR and other departmental. As such, the HR department is meant to serve as
the strategic business partner, something that can be successfully seen being implemented at
Telenor (Alvesson, 2015).
Telenor deploys the HR Business partnering model also known as the HRBP model. The idea
behind this model is that HR is fully involved in the strategy formulation of the organization.
The model is in place to ensure that all the HR services, relevant recruiting, right hiring, career
progressing development plans, salaries and benefits pay outs, employee grievance process and
all others are linked with the organization’s strategy. The HRBP model allows HR to work
closely with different functional departments.
At Telenor, members of the HRBP team are work with the functional department, creating a
hybrid structure where HRBP officers report to both HR and the Functional director. This is the

optimal method of bridging the gap that traditionally existed between HR and the rest of the
organization. With HR being in direct contact with the rest of the organization, they know
exactly what the organization’s requirements and expectations are from HR, and the kind of
employees that need to be hired etc. it then falls upon HR to find the right fit for the rest of the
organization and this is an on-going cycle where HR is a major strategic contributor.
At Telenor, HR is linked to strategic management by ensuring that objective setting is done at
the top level and is than cascaded down to each department and then individual employee. This
ensures that not only the organizational goals are met, but because each employee has the power
to set their own objectives within sight of the overall goals making them feel empowered and
hence fostering a greater sense of responsibility amongst them. Once objectives are set and have
been approved by the requisite authorities, they are measured all throughout the year, with
constant support being provided to ensure that employees have everything they need to meet the
set objectives.
Employees are evaluated on how they have met the objectives and their performance is
accordingly rewarded or they again provided requisite training to improve their performance to
reach expected standards. The HR through the HRBPs facilitate the entire process to ensure that
both the workforce and the organization are fairly treated throughout the process. They also
handle grievances (Bhagat, 2005).
Storey’s definitions of HRM, personnel and IR Nestle, a living example
As per Storey’s definition, HRM is a strategically coherent approach for managing the most
values assets in an organization; its people. The definition portrays the view that employees form
a competitive advantage that is extremely hard to emulate for competitors. Therefore, the role of
HR becomes all the more important in culturing the right talent and enabling them to contribute
greatly towards business success.
Storey further differentiates between hard HRM and soft HRM. Hard HRM is all about
managing people in ways that can help derive maximum benefit from the as per their skill set
and competency level. Therefore, hard HRM is more focused on a criterion that is quantifiably
measurable. Soft HRM on the other hand, as is apparent by its name is based upon human
relationship fostering and treatment of employees as valuable assets that can be a source of

competitive advantage because of their commitment, adaptability and high quality of work. The
idea is that employee commitment has to be earned by ensuring that the management and
employees have coinciding interests, there is overall integration and effortless team work.
On the other end of the spectrum is personnel management. Storey views it merely as the
management of the workforce or employees for the purposes of ensuring that they comply with
set rules and regulations as stipulated by business owners. According to Storey, personnel
management is primarily concerned with recruitment, pay roll and employment laws. It is for this
reason that Storey regards personnel management as being too bureaucratic, based on extremely
stringent rules and substantially different from general management (Storey, Leadership in
Organizations: Current Issues and Key Trends, 2010).
A Story point out that Personnel management is concerned with relationship building and
managing of people within the organization; Industrial Relations are different because that is
employment relationship management that is non-industrial. A good example of how these three
are being used in an organization is Nestle. The company strongly believes that its long-term
success is contingent upon its people. It has to attract, retain and develop employees so that their
constant growth is ensured. They do this by fostering employee relationships and ensuring that
all managers provide requisite support to the entire staff they are responsible for. The policy at
Nestle is to hire people that have the personal attitudes as well as professional skills that will
allow them to develop a long lasting and mutually beneficial relationship with the Company
(Nestle, 2016). Company's HR is also focussed on developing long term relations with its
employees. For developing long term relations with employees company provide flexible
working employees so they can manage their personal and professional life in better way. The
also pay salary according to employees skills and knowledge.
Nestle is a multinational that is operating in many different countries. Owing to its large number
of workforce, there are certain rules and regulations that have been established that HR has to
ensure compliance to. Furthermore, under the banner of personnel management, relationship
maintenance is done by offering the right career growth and training opportunities. As
concerning IR, Nestle recognises its employee’s association with unions and their right to
collective bargaining, maintaining cordial relationships with trade unions (Human resources at
Nestle, 2012).

Implications for line managers and employees of developing a strategic
approach to HRM; British American Tobacco, a classic example
Line managers are important for every company. The primary objective of line managers is to
take care of all employees at workplace. They have in depth knowledge about industries
practices and also make aware to other employees in entity. They guide and coach to the newly
hire employees in organizations. Role of line managers in company is to developing
communication channel in between employees and human resource management. They also
make involvements of workers in every activities. Line managers is also assisted to organization
for measuring performance of individuals. They also help to HR for improving work life balance
of employees and play role of mediator for solving issues. They provide feedback to front
managers about performances of employees.
TASK 2
Model of flexibility at Accenture
In the modern business world, where most operations are global and 24/7 service is the norm,
managing the work life balance can be extremely difficult. Offering flexibility in the working
hours to employees can be absolutely necessary in case of some organizations for not only
retaining the talent, but motivating employees and ensuring maximum productivity by not
overworking them(Walker, 2012). The major concern organizations frequently have is that
flexibility might negatively impact both the quality and quantity of the work. However, if the
example of Accenture is taken into consideration, it becomes apparent how successful the
flexibility model can be.
Accenture offers its employees a variety of different flexible work arrangements to help them
achieve the optimal balance between work and life, whilst ensuring that all business objectives
are met. The fly-back program, smart work initiative and client-site flexible work arrangements
have been introduced by Accenture to cater to the workforce that has to travel frequently in the
course of work. Accenture also has innovative communication and collaboration tools that help
to increase its efficiency, flexibility and productivity. Accenture uses Atkinson's core and
peripheral workforces model. This model is divided into two parts one is core workforce and
peripheral workforces.

Core workforce
Core workforces belong to those workers in entity which are highly skilled and permanent in job.
These workforces carried high level of responsibilities in firm. For providing flexibility to this
workforce, entity uses functional approach. Under this approach, employees are trained and
outsourced.
Peripheral workforce
It belongs to that workforces which are low skilled and perform small operations in
organizations. For giving flexibility to this type of workforces, entity hire seasonal employee so
that they can work easily to manage and company can also meets its labour demands.
Types of flexibility at Accenture
As is apparent by the description above, Accenture’s model of flexibility is quite well developed
and advanced. However, a model of flexibility at Accenture should include financial, functional,
numerical and temporal flexibility.
Functional Flexibility
An organization that is functionally flexible helps substantially reduce costs. It can be achieved
via maintenance of a workforce that is flexible, can multitask, there is frequent job rotation, and
employees are given job enrichment and enlargement opportunities to further their career and
skill set(Perkins, 2013). At an organization such as Accenture, the offsite working location and
the hectic schedule can lead to high turnover. Therefore, it is necessary that relevant backups to
people are always available in case of an emergency. The job sharing incentive by Accenture is
the first step in the direction but further work could be done.
Numerical flexibility
As for numerical flexibility that basically involves flexibly adjusting the number of employees
based on the ow much work the organization has, Accenture is doing a good job. Be hiring
people on part time and contractual basis, they manage this aspect of flexibility pretty good.
Financial flexibility
Financial flexibility is the phenomenon whereby employee rewards are based on their
performance. At Accenture, they have disbanded the annual review process and the forced
distribution. Employees receive timely feedback during and after completion of an assignment

(Cunningham, 2015). The bonus and share in profit is based on employee performance.
However, this system can be improved to have definitive formulas for deciding the afore
mentioned percentages.
Temporal flexibility
Temporal flexibility is one aspect that Accenture has fully covered and is being effectively
implemented for gaining maximum benefits.
Use of Flexible Working Practices for the Employer and Employees
On the surface, it appears that the flexible working practice is more beneficial for the employees
than the employers but that is not the case at all. Flexible working arrangements are mutually
beneficial for both the employees and employers as would become apparent from the discussion
below that highlights the benefits of such an arrangement for both the parties (Javtich, 2006).
Advantages for Accenture (employer)
 Such arrangements make employees feel like they are a value which leads to their
greater commitment. It boosts their morale and motivates them to perform better that
eventually leads to higher business productivity
 When employees have the ability to be flexible, it majorly impacts absenteeism,
substantially reducing it.
(Javtich, 2006)
 When employees work for an organization they feel is adequately taking care of
them, it reduces the turnover rate and increases employee retention.
 When people are working from alternate locations besides the office, it helps
Accenture save money on rental office space and other operational utilities.
( Accenture, 2016)
Advantages for the Accenture employee’s:
 By allowing employee’s flexibility, it is ensured that the workforce is not over
worked, if someone had to work 12 hours to complete an assignment, they get to rest the
next day

 Greater opportunity to create an optimal balance between work and life
 Ability to spend time at home
 Ability to take vacations to unwind
 Time and cost saving because a lot of valuable time is spent commuting
 Reduction in stress that increases job satisfaction and enhances performance
making one eligible for greater rewards.
(Javtich, 2006)
As per their flexibility model, Accenture offers its employees the following arrangements:
 Flex time schedule: Employees are allowed to work as according to thier
choosen time. Employees are expected to finish work hours in a week, they can shorten
or lengthen their workday as per their preference
 Part-time arrangement:Employees have an arrangements whereby they work
less than the standard full-time hours in a week. They can do this by reducing working
hours per day or by working lesser days in a week.
 Job-sharing arrangement: Under this arrangement, the workload of position is
shared by two or more-part time employees.
 Telecommuting/home working:Accenture allows people to work from outside
office or project site which is convenient.
 Fly-backs: For supporting work life balance for employees that travel frequently,
Accenture offers them fly-backs to work from thier homes. They also have the option of
flying some other projects. Interestingly, the option to fly to some alternate location is
also avaible. .
 Full weekend at home:For employees who spend majority of time on client sites,
they have the option of arriving at site midday on Monday and stop working early on the
Friday afternoon to provide them with full weekend off from work. They are expected to
complete working hours during the rest of the week.
 Extended weekends in home location:This arrangement allows employees to
work four days from the project site and on the 5th day, they can work from either home,

office or any alternate location.
 Extended client/home location:Employees also have the option of working at a site for
an extended time period and then working an extended number of days at either home, office
or alternate location, without even having to alter the working hour's requirement of the
week.( Accenture, 2016)
How flexible working practices impact the labour market
Flexible working arrangement has been the result of some major evolutions in the labour market.
The impact of flexibility on labour is that it directly affect the demand and supply of labour
market. If company provides flexibility at its workplace then more workers will be attracted
towards the jobs because employees like to work at their own places so they can maintain their
work life balances. Through this approach, entity can meets its labour demand..Over the past few
years, the great prowess in technology has been a major proponent of flexible working
arrangements. The availability of multiple software’s and programs that allows all members of
organization to access relevant information securely from where ever they are basically supports
why people can easily manage to work away the office.
Increased number of women in the workforce has also triggered the flexible work arrangement.
The part time working solutions and flexi hours were basically introduced in the first place to
cater to working mothers and eventually, the trend has grown to encompass the entire workforce.
Business competition is so tough that finding and retaining the right talent that can help sustain
and grow business is very hard. To that end, businesses are always trying methods to motivate
their workforce and ensure the right talent. Offering them unique flexible arrangements is one
way of making sure that your employees stay with the company.
A lot of time, work tends to take one to project sites and clients offices in this era where it is
normal to have a global client base and offices in multiple locations. Convincing employees to
travel to and fro frequently is difficult without some added incentives as is seen in the case of
Accenture above.
Because of the internet, professionals can offer services to clients they want without being stuck
with a job that chains them to a desk. To tap into that resource of professionals who are great at

what they do and self-employed, flexible working hours also gained momentum.
TASK 3:
Types of discrimination at the workplace
Discrimination against employees can take up many forms; whether it direct when a person is
discriminated against a certain characteristic they have or indirect when a figure of authority
abuses their position, targeting an individual, their personality, health condition, gender,
appearance or anything else, it is not acceptable in any form (The Victorian Equal Opportunity
and Human Rights Commission, 2016). Therefore, laws have been created to ensure that the
victim is always protected in each and every instance.
Another type of discrimination that oft results in an employee being victimized is sexual
harassment whereby a person is objected to ridicule and humiliation because of their gender. It is
more common for females to be sexually harassed as compared to men but that is not always the
case and there have been a few instances when the cases have been reversed.
Victimisation is another form of discrimination whereby some employee weakness is exploited
and they are illegally coerced into doing something they shouldn’t ethically or legally have to.
The aforementioned cased of discrimination are against employees. It is also possible for
employers to discriminate during the hiring process that becomes apparent when an individual is
denied the right to work despite the right skill set if they have a certain medical condition, some
sort of disability or because of some personal characteristic like gender, age, race or religion
(The Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission, 2016).
A recent very famous discrimination case was filed against the Lowe’s, a home improvement,
appliance and hardware company whereby they had to pay £8.6 million in damages because they
were in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). They discriminated against
people that had disabilities by either firing them along with not providing them with reasonable
accommodations to suit their conditions and neither accommodating them when the needed to
take medical leaves
There are some more types of discriminations which are faced by individual at workplace on the
basis on religions and disabilities. Discriminations on the basis of religions, in which individuals