Human Resource Management Strategies and Practices at Carrefour

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of human resource management (HRM) strategies and practices at Carrefour, a multinational retail company. It begins by exploring how Carrefour creates value through HRM, focusing on talent acquisition, retention, and performance management. The report then examines the impact of national and regional cultures on HRM practices, emphasizing the importance of adapting strategies to local contexts, particularly in Africa and Asia. An organizational model of employment, referencing Maslow's hierarchy of needs, is discussed to illustrate employee satisfaction and productivity. Key differences between HRM and personnel management are highlighted, along with the significance of HRM practices in hiring and firing employees in multinational subsidiaries, considering the influence of local culture. The report also addresses employment laws and international HRM, providing suggestions for improving HRM practices to enhance organizational performance, supported by corporate examples and relevant literature. The conclusion summarizes the key findings and recommendations for effective HRM at Carrefour.

Human resource
management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
How value was created by the firm by using HR strategies.......................................................1
Impact of national and regional culture on HRM practices........................................................2
Organisational model of employment.........................................................................................3
Difference between HRM and personnel management..............................................................4
Importance of HRM practices in hiring and firing of employees in multinational subsidiary...5
Differences in terms of employment laws when international HRM changes local business
systems........................................................................................................................................6
Use corporate examples of firms using good HR practices and literature to justify your stand.6
Suggestions and recommendations for employees regarding HRM practices to ensure high
performance at organisation........................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
References:.......................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is the practice of managing manpower within a
organisation to manage the performance of employees. It is essential activity which consist of
identifying required skilled for specific jobs and once the skill is identified for pursuing the job
within an organisation HR manager hire employee to fulfil vacant job with required skills (Bos-
Nehles and Veenendaal, 2019). Their main responsibilities are consist of recruitment and
selection, managing performance of employees, managing rewards for good working workers,
motivate employees, identifying new opportunities for company and many others. Carrefour is
an retailing company which is headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, Finance. The company
was founded in 1958 by Denis Defforey, Jacques Defforey, Marcel Fournier and Gustave Badin.
The following report cover creation of value by HR strategies, impact of national and regional
culture on HRM practices, organisational model of employment, difference between HRM and
personnel management, importance of HRM practices in hiring and firing of employees in
multinational subsidiary, differences in terms of employment laws when international HRM
changes local business systems and suggestions and recommendations for employees regarding
HRM practices to ensure high performance at organisation.
MAIN BODY
How value was created by the firm by using HR strategies
It is important to create value within an organisation to earn more profit and reputation.
HRM practices help in creating value for organisation by managing right people at right
place(Veth and et. al., 2019). HR strategies are those strategies which is taken for the benefit of
organisation in context to handle manpower with proper planning. In context of Carrefour, they
attain a good value by arranging people in such a way that their profit earning ratio increases as
the time passes. A proper HR strategy helps in creating value. Carrefour made those strategies
which help them to maximize their production and also helps in overall growth of business.
Some of the HR strategies of Carrefour which add value are explained below-
Talent acquisition and retention- It include to hire best talented people at work area
which helps the company for future expansion. For this, Carrefour made strategies to attain most
talented people of their organisation by providing them benefits of promotions and by providing
them awards. For new comers this organisation take interviews and in case the candidate is
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selected then they were provided proper training under a mentor. This HR strategies of
mentioned company help in adding value at organisation.
People and performance- This HR strategy includes managing manpower in such a way
that their performance increases at full potential to complete a task (Neilson. and São Marcos,
2019). In context of Carrefour, they adopt a Hierarchical management style, this structure tells
that assignments and tasks must be divides to those employees who have maximum potential to
complete the task on time. To manage performance, their strategies is not just to assign task tom
employees abut also to solve the problem which occur during pursuing the task. This help in
eliminating those obstacles of performing a task. Hence, more obstacles is eliminated more better
performance can be utilized by employees. This help in adding value.
Impact of national and regional culture on HRM practices
Culture values describe the behaviour of a workforce inside a company. It describe how
employees behave toward accepting policies and strategies made by senior management to
implement plan. National culture are those culture which analyse the behaviour of population as
a whole nation. It covers beliefs, customs and shared value by the population of a nation. Hence,
Carrefour is require to analyse national culture at those countries where they want to grow(Kiai,
Lewa and Karimi, 2019). In context of Africa, the mentioned company is supposed to expand
their business by considering their values and beliefs. Carrefour is an retailing company hence,
they must try to sold those food products or grocery which impress African people more. It is
important to sold those clothing designs which is mostly wear by Africans to attain their
attraction toward company. Employees of the company are also suggested to perform those
behaviour which will never harm their customers at Africa. On the other hand, Asian population
is more depends on increasing their standard of living by having qualitative product. Hence, to
provide qualitative goods is an good idea to grow in Asian countries. Employees of Carrefour are
suggested to have good relationship with their suppliers and customers in context to influence
them to buy product of their company.
Regional culture is a culture which describe the belief, shared values and customs of a
particular region of a country. It cover small section of society(Conner, 2020). For handling
HRM practices like promotion of product it is compulsory to promote the product by conveying
those messages which did not harm any regional group of society. For the expansion of business
it is compulsory to focus on regional culture first than national culture.
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Organisational model of employment
Organisational model is also called organisational structure. It plays an important in
handling HRM activities of an organisation. It creates flexibility to make HRM strategies.
Employees satisfaction directly impact upon performance of employees. In case employees are
satisfied then they perform well in the organisation and help the company to increase their
productivity and profit. In context of Carrefour, they follow Maslow need hierarchy model in
their organisation to manage their employees and make them more satisfied. Detailed
explanation of this theory are given as below-
Physiological need- It describe basic necessity of a person like food, water and shelter. It is the
first need of human being to fulfil their basic need(Han and et. al., 2019).
Security and safety- It comes after fulfilling psychophysiological needs. This needs states that a
person after fulfilling basic needs require safety measures for their life like healthcare and safety
against accidents and injuries.
Social needs- it comes at the third level in Maslow need model. It describe that a person need is
to have social gathering and a social attachment with their surrounds. It involve love and
friendship attachments with the society.
Esteem needs- it comes at the fourth level of need hierarchy. It covers those need of an
individuate which consist with respect. After achieving all the above needs, an individual needs
respect at society.
Self- actualization need- it cover those requirement which consist of development of their skills.
The organisational levers used by the firm to create value-
Recognition- It include to identify the needs and wants of employees (Karman, 2020).
Basic need and want of employees is to earn a appropriate amount and another is to increase the
performance of employees. For this Carrefour uses to create award system by providing awards
in the form on monetary ways to those who perform well in the organisation this results in
motivating those employees to increase their performance who are not performing well and it
motivate to perform more better to get promotions by those who are already doing good job in
their fields. It create value for employees within an organisation.
Security- By providing security to the employees is an another way to create value within
an organisation. In context of Carrefour, their HR manager focuses on providing job security to
their employees so their full focus must be utilized on their work and not on obstacles. Security
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at work includes taking corrective and safety measures to protect the health issues of workers at
workplace. This help to create a positive mind set for employees and increases the value at
workplace.
Difference between HRM and personnel management
It is important to focus on employees needs and wants in context for handling HRM
practices in smooth way(Luis and et. al., 2020). In context of Carrefour, their employees at
Africa need appropriate salary to fulfil their basic needs. For this HR manager must provide them
good salaries for their work and it is also suggested that their HR manager must allow extra
wages for those employees who work for extra hours. And in context of Asian countries, their
employees need respect and motivational factor to work within an organisation. Here, HR
manager must appreciate their good working employees to fulfil their need of having respect at
work and secondly HR manager must motivate and encourage those employees who did not
perform well in Carrefour. Difference between HRM and Personnel Management as a
benchmark
Benchmark HRM Personnel management
Communication HRM practices encourage
communication between all
employees of an organisation.
They made those strategies
which encourage each and
every employee to take
participation in
communication process with
other department
people(Collings, Mellahi and
Cascio, 2019).
It consist of those departments
which focuses on development
of an individual. In context of
communication, this
department encourage to have
communication with those
employees only which fall in
similar department to enhance
their skills to develop.
Conflict handling They focuses on handling
issues to create a good culture
and positive working
environment to increase work
They focuses on handling
conflict to satisfy employees
that their organisation value
for their complaints and issues.
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performance of employees.
They handle problems by
having an idea that the issues
did not affect negative upon
whole organisation and handle
problems to enhance the
overall performance of
employees which results in
increasing productivity.
They handle problems by
having an idea in mind that a
individual did not face the
same problem in future and it
did not impact negative upon
individuals development
(Crane and Hartwell, 2019).
Importance of HRM practices in hiring and firing of employees in multinational subsidiary
Local culture is the culture where employees share their everyday life experiences with
their teammates. It is the culture of particular and small area at which the organisation is
working. Local culture plays an important role in hiring and firing of employees in context of
international business expansion.
Local culture plays an important role because many employees working at organisation
are from their local residential. Hence, they follow their local cultures. The main reason of more
turnover at companies is that they failed to adopt a proper culture which respect their local
culture. In context of Carrefour, they are required to adopt cultural change in their local cultures
because their most of the employees are hired with business located area. HRM practices is
required to be maintained at international level. Local culture did not accept those businesses
which did not follow their culture. Local culture impacts upon managing performance of
employees(Tambe, Cappelli and Yakubovich, 2019). At international level HRM practices for
hiring and firing of employees is very important because when a Carrefour expand
internationally their competitors increases and create obstacles for them to grow. Hence, to
compete in the market it is compulsory to opt local culture and hire those employees who
enhance their local culture to attract more customers toward their offered product. In case of
expansion of business, Carrefour recruit those employees who analyse market perfectly because
they already know the existing cultures and beliefs of their local culture. There are many changes
in HRM practices which impact upon business when they move toward to expand their business
internationally. First one is recruitment and selection, it plays an most important role. By
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selecting those people at organisation which help to understand the requirement of customers and
help to make changes in product according to requirement leads to success in business. Another
impact upon HRM practices are on motivation of employees. HR manager has to use those ideas
which attract more attention of their employees to encourage their culture.
Differences in terms of employment laws when international HRM changes local business
systems
It is essential for a business to grow(Duggan and et. al., 2020. There are many factors
affect a business when the business expand internationally and one of these factors are
employment laws. Initially when a company working in its home country then they have to
follow only their own rules and regulations of employment laws but when the company enters in
international market they have to follow both their own countries employment rules and another
counties employment rules in which they are working. In context of Carrefour, the employment
law of Asian countries states that there must be fixed duration of hours for working and the
wages should be based upon working hours. It also states that there should be equal payment
structure for all employees who are working at same level and many more. Hence, for the
expansion of Carrefour retailing stores in Asian countries they have to focus on all these factors
and it is compulsory to follow legal laws including employment law of Asian countries. HR
department is responsible to make changes and make their employees understand that these
changes help them to grow faster in international context. On the other hand the employment law
of Africa consist of having good relationship between employees and management which means
management team is not allowed to take advantage of their employees and earn personal benefit,
appropriate wage system is provided which help them to fulfil their basic needs. It also consist to
follow safety measures at manufacturing areas (Yong and et. al., 2020).
It is compulsory to follow employment laws of those countries in which the business is
expanding because companies has to use manpower of those countries where their business is
located. It helps in making well-being behaviour at workplace and a comfort zone for employees
because they are already known to changes made by country. It is the duty of HR manager to
analyse and study the laws of employment at international level and successfully apply at the
workplace to increase the efficiency of their workers.
Use corporate examples of firms using good HR practices and literature to justify your stand
Few examples of firms which are using good HR practices are explained below-
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Ford motors- Their HRM practices changes according to place where they expand their
business. Their employees are happy to work with their organisation because they are concern
for their employees.
Refresher Memo- Their HR manager tries to reduce the burden of employees by
providing them different types of training methods. They offer more than one method of training
and ask their employees that by which method they need their training session. This help
employees to trust more upon their organisation. Secondly they focus on their logistics
management so that it can be executed properly. Their HR manager effectively analyse the
components of logistics for better operations at workplace.
Walmart and McDonalds- Their HR manager mainly focus on issues related to wages
distribution because they consider that wages is the way to motivate workforce in increasing
their performance(Barrena-Martinez, López-Fernández and Romero-Fernández, 2019). Hence,
they apply appropriate wages to their good working employees and cut down the wages for those
who did not perform better to realise them that both company and employees are interlinked with
each other and they have to face losses in case company get loss in their profits.
Roaring Dragon Hotel- There are two major problems which occur in this hospitality
company. One is they are having improper communication between their employees and another
one is lack of vision and planning capabilities of management. Their manager manages both
problems very efficiently. For improving communication in the organisation they made teams of
individuals and motivate them to work together. And for vision and planning process they hire
experienced and skilled manager for this purpose and hence they achieve success. Their HR
manager plays an important role in solving their issues and help the company to expand.
Suggestions and recommendations for employees regarding HRM practices to ensure high
performance at organisation
From the above information it is clear that HRM is an important aspect of business which
is essential to manage manpower within a organisation. There are few recommendations for the
company regarding HRM practices to ensure high performance at organisation and these are
explained below-
 It is suggested that company must follow different training methods and ask the new
employees that by which method they want to be trained after telling them benefits of all
these methods(Lee and et. al., 2019). This will help to gain employees trust that their
7

company value their employees and it also help to train in more better way to employees
in their interesting method for training. It also increases the performance of employees.
 Secondly, it is also suggested that providing extra wages to those employees who perform
better within organisation help them to motivate their employees and it enhance
performance level of employees which directly impact upon increasing overall
performance of company.
 It is also suggested for HR manager of Carrefour company to delegate the power of
recruitment and selection process of employees on those managers whose department is
having vacant job because they know more better about the skills and requirement of job.
If this will happen then they respective department managers hire top skilled employees
who perform best to increase productivity. Hence, it increases overall performance of
organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above information it is concluded that Human resource management is an
important area to manage people and helps to fulfil requirement of an organisation. HR
department is consist of solving grievances, manage rewards, motivate employees, train
employees and many others. There is a great impact of national and regional culture upon
company who is expanding internationally and its the responsibility of HR manager to handle all
problems created by these cultures. There are various organisational levers which is used by the
firm to create value. Organisational model like Maslow hierarchy help in satisfying employees at
workplace. There is a difference between HRM and personal management. HRM works for the
whole organisation like making strategies and focusing on overall productivity of company and
many more but personal management includes development of employees as an individual,
solving problems within an small operating area. It is also concluded from the above information
that local culture plays an important role in context of global expansion. A company has to
change their employment laws according those those country where they started in dealing.
There are many examples of corporate world which shows successful execution of HR strategies
to handle issues. These companies are Walmart and McDonalds, Roaring dragon hotel and many
others.
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References:
Books and Journals
Barrena-Martinez, J., López-Fernández, M. and Romero-Fernández, P.M., 2019. Towards a
configuration of socially responsible human resource management policies and
practices: Findings from an academic consensus. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management. 30(17). pp.2544-2580.
Bos-Nehles, A.C. and Veenendaal, A.A., 2019. Perceptions of HR practices and innovative work
behavior: the moderating effect of an innovative climate. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management. 30(18). pp.2661-2683.
Collings, D.G., Mellahi, K. and Cascio, W.F., 2019. Global talent management and performance
in multinational enterprises: A multilevel perspective. Journal of management. 45(2).
pp.540-566.
Conner, D., 2020. Exploring Resource Management for Sustainable Food Businesses. Journal of
Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. 9(3). pp.1-9.
Crane, B. and Hartwell, C.J., 2019. Global talent management: A life cycle view of the
interaction between human and social capital. Journal of World Business. 54(2). pp.82-
92.
Duggan, J. and et. al., 2020. Algorithmic management and app‐work in the gig economy: A
research agenda for employment relations and HRM. Human Resource Management
Journal. 30(1). pp.114-132.
Han, J.H. and et. al., 2019. The goldilocks effect of strategic human resource management?
Optimizing the benefits of a high-performance work system through the dual alignment
of vertical and horizontal fit. Academy of Management Journal. 62(5). pp.1388-1412.
Karman, A., 2020. Understanding sustainable human resource management–organizational value
linkages: The strength of the SHRM system. Human Systems Management. 39(1).
pp.51-68.
Kiai, D., Lewa, P. and Karimi, J., 2019. Influence of human resource planning on performance of
firms listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya. International Journal of
Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478). 8(5). pp.54-61.
Lee, H.W. and et. al., 2019. Effects of human resource management systems on employee
proactivity and group innovation. Journal of Management. 45(2). pp.819-846.
Luis, A. and et. al., 2020. The performance of natural resource management interventions in
agriculture: Evidence from alternative meta-regression analyses. Ecological
Economics. 171. p.106605.
Neilson, A.L. and São Marcos, R., 2019. Reframing marine resource management with relational
ontologies and hybrid entanglements: Fishing for empathy between Azorean fishers and
scientists. Marine Policy. 105. pp.30-37.
Tambe, P., Cappelli, P. and Yakubovich, V., 2019. Artificial intelligence in human resources
management: Challenges and a path forward. California Management Review. 61(4).
pp.15-42.
Veth, K.N. and et. al., 2019. Which HRM practices enhance employee outcomes at work across
the life-span?. The international journal of human resource management. 30(19).
pp.2777-2808.
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Yong, J.Y. and et. al., 2020. Pathways towards sustainability in manufacturing organizations:
Empirical evidence on the role of green human resource management. Business Strategy
and the Environment. 29(1). pp.212-228.
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