BTEC Level 4 Human Resource Management Report: Apple Case Study

This report delves into the realm of Human Resource Management (HRM), specifically within the context of Apple, a multinational technology company. It begins by outlining the purpose and functions of HRM, encompassing workforce planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, and performance management. The report then analyzes various approaches to recruitment and selection, weighing their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, it highlights specific HRM practices employed by Apple, such as providing employment security, selective hiring, fair compensation, relevant training, and fostering effective teams. The effectiveness of these practices is evaluated, emphasizing the importance of employee relations and the impact of employee legislation on HRM decision-making. The report concludes by discussing the implementation of HRM practices within Apple, providing a comprehensive overview of how HRM contributes to the company's success. The report examines topics like employee relations, legislation, and the impact on HRM practices. The report will showcase the benefits of these practices for the company.

Unit 3: Human Resource
Managemen

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................4
Purpose and functions of HRM...................................................................................................4
Strengths and weaknesses of approaches of recruitment and selection.......................................5
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................7
Different practices of HRM.........................................................................................................7
Effectiveness of HRM practices..................................................................................................8
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................9
Significance of Employee Relations............................................................................................9
Elements of Employee Legislations and its impacts on decision-making of HRM..................10
LO 4...............................................................................................................................................10
Implementation of HRM practices............................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management also referred to as HRM is basically the practice of managing
the people for achieving better performance. The people involved in HRM contribute to the
organisation greatly as they also make up the workforce of the company. HRM is mainly
responsible for practices like Recruitment and Selection, Learning and Development,
Performance Management, Compensation and benefits, HR data and analytics etc.
The below report will shed light on the HRM department and the practices in Apple which is
multinational technology company headquartered in California. The company deals in
developing, designing and selling the consumer electronics, online services and computer
software. The company is considered as one of the Big Five companies in the information
technology industry in US (Apple Inc., 2021).
The report will highlight the purpose of HRM and its functions along with mentioning the
different approaches to recruitment and selection along with its merits and demerits. This will be
followed by highlighting the different practices of HRM in context with Apple Company. The
significance of employee relations and the legislations will be highlighted. The practices of HRM
will be applied in context of Apple.
LO 1
Purpose and functions of HRM
Workforce planning:
It is the main function of human resource to plan for workforce requirement of the
organization. HR of apple ensure that they hire right candidate for right position. HR evaluate
candidate by seeing their knowledge and skills which matched with the position or not.
Recruitment and selection:
It is another major function of HR. HR attract candidate by giving advertisement after
analysing application suitable candidate are called for interview (Singh, 2020). After face to face
interview and written best HR of apple select best candidate for company.
Training and development:
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HR of apple provide training and development to their employees. Training is necessary
so that employees learn skills to perform their job. Training is also essential so that advanced
knowledge can be taken.
Performance management:
Managing the performance of employees is the duty of HR. HR provide feedbacks to
employees. HR of apple appreciate employees for good performance and guide them where it is
is needed. It increases motivation amongst workforce and which increase their productivity.
Healthy working environment:
Providing healthy working environment is the right of every employee. HR of apple
makes sure that workplace environment is safe and secure for employees so that they don't fear
in working.
Strengths and weaknesses of approaches of recruitment and selection
Recruitment:
HR recruit employees by taking their interview and certain test. They recruit those
employees who are best fit for the position.
Internal recruitment:
it means when employees are selected from within organization only. It includes promotion of
existing employees to higher position, employee referral: under this old employees provide
reference to the company, if company have excess work they even call their retired employees.
Strengths:
it saves time, cost effective and reliable source of recruitment. It does not require induction
because employee already know about company. It motivates workforce of organization. It helps
in reducing employee turnover rate.
Weaknesses:
it stops entering fresh and young talent in the organization which can give creative ideas. It
cannot fill of vacancy of the business, it has less scope. Higher authority can be biased when
promoting employees. Those employee who did not got promotion can be demotivated.
Demotivation can decrease employee morale and productivity.
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External recruitment:
when employees are hired from outside of the company.
Strength:
it brings young talent. Chances of partiality are less.
Weaknesses:
it is costly and consume time.
Selection:
after recruitment, right candidate is selected and provide training.
Group discussion:
when selection is done via discussing in group.
Strength:
it is efficient because it helps in removing large number of candidate in one go.
Weaknesses:
Candidate is judged only on the basis of group discussion. There are chances that company
cannot get best fit through this process.
Face to face interview:
when interview is connected face to face between interviewer and interviewee.
Strength:
when interview is done face to face then HR can notice body language of candidate.
Weaknesses:
It can nervous candidate (Foiji, Hoque and Khan, 2019).
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LO 2
Different practices of HRM
The practices performed by HRM helps in leading to superior performance of the
organisation. The HR of the Apple executes the practices correctly, and then this will add value
to the business and the goals. There are various practices which are performed by the Apple
Company which are as follows:
Providing Security to the employees
This deals in providing employment security which gives a major reason for the
employees to work. The company provides formal as well as informal contract between the
employee and the employer. Apple also provides employees to go home after working hours so
that they can manage work life balance. This also helps the company in retaining the employees
which helps them in gaining competitive advantage.
Selective Hiring
This deals in hiring the right people who are best fit for the job. Apple Company does
their best for hiring exceptional people who can help in adding value to the business. The
company also make use of various recruitment tools which helps in making right selection.
Apple also makes use of selection instruments such as peer assessments, reference checks and
the work tests for uncovering the characteristics of the key candidates which are the ability,
trainability and the commitment (Singh, 2020).
Fair and Performance based compensation
This is considered as the best practice which deals in the compensation and benefits. The
Apple Company compensate the employees above average because these are the people which
helps in adding most value to the company and must be retained and paid fairly. The company
also couple individual rewards according to the contributions made by the employees.
Training in relevant skills
This is to ensure that the employees of the company remain the frontrunners in the
industry. Apple Company invests heavily on the training of the employees and also spares
budget for the same. The developing rate of the technology is increasing day by day which
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creates a need for the employees to be trained and much efficient to perform their tasks
according to the rapid changes in the technology (Fedorova, Koropets and Gatti, 2019). This is
the reason behind the importance of learning and development. The company Apple monitors the
changes and the trends and prepares its employees by giving them specific trainings.
Self-managed and effective teams
This helps the teams to achieve the goals and the high performance team helps in
achieving success in the organisations. The teams in Apple Company consist of different kinds
of employees having different skills contribute towards achieving similar goals. These different
ideas are processed, combined which results in the best outcome (Thevanes and Arulrajah,
2017). The HR of the company considers this as the responsibility to create and nurture high
performance teams by making use of the Belbin’s Team Role Inventory.
This is how; there are numerous practices which are performed by the HR of the companies like
Apple which benefits not only the employees but also the organisations like Apple.
Effectiveness of HRM practices
The HR department of the companies need to manage its functions as well as practices in
order to improve the performance of the employees as well as the organisation. The company
must ensure that practices of the HRM are effectively implemented to satisfy the employees as
well as increases the profitability of the company. There must be a positive relationship between
the practices of HRM such as planning, placement and selection evaluation of the performance
of the personnel, employees training etc. The implementation and the managing of HRM
practices must be able to meet the HRM objectives, provides the best services which can meet
the needs of the internal customers, fulfils the strategic objectives of the organisation and
enhances the outcomes of HRM (Alieva, 2019).
HRM of Apple Company ensures the effectiveness of all its practices. It makes use of updated
techniques and technologies for providing the best manpower and also ensuring that the
employees are sufficient with the right skills. The company uses compensation systems which
help in recognising and encouraging the team and individual performance. This helps in
satisfying the needs and requirements of the internal customers by applying the adequate
payments. The company also ensures that the employees in all the departments are well trained
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and continuously learning. Apple Company also manages the performance appraisal which helps
in measuring the performance of the employees by making use of performance appraisal
technologies.
LO 3
Significance of Employee Relations
The employees at the workplaces share a certain relationship with the fellow workers.
They need people to discuss ideas with each other for sharing the sorrows and happiness.
Employee relations play a major role as individual cannot work alone at workplace as this type
of isolated environment de-motivates the individual and also spreads negativity around. HRM of
Apple Company ensures that the people working in the organisation are comfortable with each
other and work as a single unit towards a specific common goal (Student, 2020). The employee
relation is important because there are many issues where decisions cannot take decisions alone.
At this time, they can take advice and guidance of others along with getting the feedbacks from
the colleagues regarding the good as well as bad things. The HRM of the Apple Company
ensures that healthy relation is maintained among the employees. This can ease the workload and
also increases the productivity.
If the employees work as a family then the organisations become a happy place to work. The
HRM of the Apple Company believes that if the employees share the things with each other then
the tension can be evaporated and the employees can feel better. Also, the employees being in
the company of others whom they can trust makes them feel secure and confident and also can
perform in the best manner. If there is healthy relationship among the employees, this helps in
discouraging the conflicts and fights. The employees of the Apple Company start adjusting with
each other instead of finding faults (Madan, 2017). They can concentrate on performing on the
tasks rather than involving in the conflicts and fights. This can also help in reducing the problem
of absenteeism at the work places. The employees start showing interesting towards the work
and stops complaining about each other. The employees can even share the secrets with each
other for which sense of trust must be there. The HRM of the Apple Company ensures that the
employees do not waste their time in meaningless disputes and conflicts. There must be a warm
relationship with the fellow workers because this cannot be predicted that which employee can
help in the need of another employee. At this time, the other employee who can be trusted can
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handle the work on your behalf (Razak and et.al., 2020). This is how, the healthy employee
relations helps in spreading positivity around the workplace.
Elements of Employee Legislations and its impacts on decision-making of HRM
There are various federal as well as state laws which have a greater impact on the Human
Resource of the company which depends on the size of the business. The Apple Company adapts
various legislations but also needs to be updated regarding the laws which can also help in
reducing the liability of the organisation on the basis of HR operations. There are many laws
which must be followed by HRM which helps in implementing various practices like
recruitment, performance based compensation and many more.
Apple Company makes use of two major laws which are Equal Pay Act, 1963 and
Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. These affect the HRM as well as the employees of
the company greatly. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 helps in prohibiting the sex based wage
discrimination between women and men working in the company which requires equal efforts,
skills and responsibility under same conditions. There are many doors opened for lawsuits as the
employees are treated equal throughout the company (García and et.al., 2019). Furthermore, the
main goals of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is ensuring that the employees are
provided with the environment which is free from hazards such as heat or cold stress, unsanitary
conditions, excessive noise levels etc. Along with these, the company must also adhere to
various other laws such as National Minimum Wage Act 1998 which creates NWM for workers
and employees in UK, Employment Relations Act 1999 which establishes various rights at the
workplace for the derecognition and recognition of trade union and the industrial actions etc. The
elements of these laws include the equal work opportunities to find jobs, prevention of sexual
assault, labour and business benefits, employ unions and other labour affairs, social protection,
healthcare and health insurance for staff and many more. There must be mutual arrangements
between the employers and the employees to the regulations.
LO 4
Implementation of HRM practices
There are various HRM practices including the Selective Hiring, Providing Security,
training, fair and performance based compensation etc. Apple Company needs to implement
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these practices effectively in order to attract and retain the best employees along with increasing
the profitability of the organisation (Nedrow, 2020).
Advert for the role of HR manager
Apple Inc., being an American multinational technology company headquartered in California
deals in the designing, developing and selling the products like consumer electronics, online
services and computer software. The company being one of the top five companies in the
information technology industry in US is looking for HR manager who is able to perform the
duties efficiently and effectively in its business units in UK and in various other countries
(Dileep and Monica, 2018).
REQUIREMENTS
Gender: Male
Position: 1
Age: 26-40
Qualification: M.B.A in the Human Resource field.
Experience: At-least 2 years of experience in the field of HR.
Skills: Budgeting, Leadership, Communication, Problem-Solving, Decision-making and many
more.
JOB DESCRIPTION
Company Name: Apple Inc.
Job Title: Human Resource Manager
Qualification: M.B.A. in the Human Resource Field.
Experience: Minimum experience of 2 years in the HR department.
Skills: Decision-making, communication, fluent in English, interpersonal and conceptual,
technical, positive attitude, reliability, courageous, adaptable in every situation and many more
for contributing positively towards the welfare of employees as well as the organisation (Singh
and Misra, 2021).
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Duties & Responsibilities:
 Able to aware the employees regarding their need and the contribution they make
positively towards the organisation.
 Able to evaluate the performance of the employees and also frequently appraises them for
the good work done by them which can help in motivating them.
 Must be able to make use of advanced methods and software to perform various tasks
such as recruitment, interviews, counselling for competing in the emerging market.
 Must be able to organise various learning and development programs including the
training for enhancing skills of the employees.
Offer Letter
Dear
Paul Shamlee Wason
The team of Apple Inc. is pleased in informing you that that you are selected for the HR manager
post in the business units of the company in UK. The data of joining is confirmed on 1st April
2021 with the following terms and conditions (Anyim and Nwosu, 2018).
You are entitled for 2000 per month. Every terms and conditions of the company must be
followed by you. At the time of induction, you must carry two identity proofs which are
approved by government along with 3 passport size photos for verification. The company is
waiting for your confirmation as soon as after receiving the letter.
Thank You.
Apple Inc.
CONCLUSION
The report concluded about various aspects of HRM of Apple Inc. The purpose and
functions of HRM were highlighted including workforce planning recruitment and selection,
training and development and many more. The strengths and weaknesses of the various
approaches to recruitment and selection were also highlighted. The report also shed light on the
various HRM practices and its effectiveness in the company including providing security,
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