Human Resource Management at Marks & Spencer: Comprehensive Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Marks & Spencer (M&S), a British multinational retail organization. The report begins with an introduction to HRM, defining its purpose and scope within an organization. It then examines the purpose and functions of HRM, including managing employee relations, training and development, and maintaining high morale, with specific examples related to M&S. The report further explores the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection, including internal and external recruitment methods, and the importance of workforce planning. It also delves into training and development approaches, performance management strategies, and reward systems, all within the context of M&S. Finally, the report discusses the benefits of various HRM practices, such as training and development, and rewards and incentives, for both employers and employees. The report emphasizes how these practices contribute to employee motivation, organizational goals, and overall success.

Human Resource
Management

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management refers to the proper management of resources which are
required for the running and operating of an organisation's functions, activities and operations. It
can be impressive governance of employees in a company so that they can help the management
in gaining competitive advantages (Stone and et. al., 2015). This assignment based on Marks &
Spencer Group plc. Which is a British multinational retail organisation. This firm was founded
by Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer in 1884 and headquartered in Westminster, London, UK.
This organisation deal s in selling high quality clothing, food products and home products. This
report will discussed about the purpose and scope of human resource management in terms of
resourcing and evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of HRM. Further will be defined
about internal and external factors that affect HRM decision making and HRM practices in a
work related context.
TASK 1
P1. Purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and resourcing an
organisation
Overview of the company- Marks & Spencer is a British multinational retail organisation which
was founded in 1884 and headquartered in London, UK. This company manufacture high quality
clothing products, food product and home products. There are 80,787 employees who are
working under this firm . The revenue of this company is £10,377.3 million, net income is £ 37.3
million and operation income is £ 601million. The mission of this organisation is to make
aspirational quality products and services which re accessible to all. The vision statement of this
firm is to manufacture standard products in comparison to its competitors that provide a good
experience to its customers. The objective of this organisation is to offer quality products that
caters for the middle to lower-upper class.
Human resource management indicates to a method and manner of management of
people in an company (Albrecht and et. al., 2015). This process include achievement, assortment,
preparation and improvement and motivating people.
Purpose and functions of HRM- There are various functions of HRM and some of them are as
following:

Managing employee relations- Workers are the mainstay and strong base of any firm.
Workers relationship is a very panoramic concept and it is also one of the important function of
HRM. In M&S, the manager of the company conduct and organise various programs so that it
can be beneficial for them to know the employees at their personal and professional level. In the
organisation, if the relation among employees are good than beneficial for the firm because than
both employees and employer operating the with mutual understanding and help in the
organisational success (Baum, 2015). The intention of this utility is that to provide and maintain
a health and friendly working environment where doing work is easy for the employees. In
M&S, the purpose of employees relation is to solve the conflict and issues.
Training and development- It is an another function of HRM which is beneficial for the
company to make transformation in the skills and knowledge of workers. In M&S, the manger of
the company conduct training, learning, development and motivational functions so that they can
collect data and information related to new or advance technologies and improve those skills
which are weak. This function is beneficial for the company because if the employees are well
trained than they can effectively help in running the business operations. The purpose of this
function is to manage the business functions and activities properly in an effective manner and
build coordination between organisational departments.
To maintain high morale- The purpose of HRM is to increase the morale and confidence
of the employees so that they can perform they task effective and make participation in the team
work. This help in motivating employees so that they can help in increasing the profit and
productivity of the firm.
Scope of HRM- It is as following:
Personnel aspect- It is obsessed with the workforce preparation, hiring firing, selection,
transfer, promotion, regular payment, bonus, fruitfulness etc.
Welfare aspect- It deals with working conditions and amenities such as canteens, rest and
lunch rooms, housing, transportation, medical services, education, health and safety etc.
Significance- In M&S, the manager play and essential and significant role by providing
information about the organisation and its vision, mission and objective. In this organisation, the
HR manger are responsible to design and formulate polices and strategies for the organisational
growth and development (Buettner, 2015). By hiring or selecting qualified candidates for the

organisation they help in the organisation's success to attain the business objective of the firm in
set period of time.
P2. Strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
Workforce planning- It indicates to the process of determining, forecasting and planning human
resource supply and demand, analysing gaps and monitoring target talent management
interventions to insure that the firm has right employees. In M&S, it refers to the method an way
of managing workers that the firm has the effective candidate with the right and required skills in
the right job to attain the set objective of the company. There are various approach of workforce
planning like tactical and response planning etc.
Tactical planning- It is an approach of workforce planning that can be used by the
organisations to support overall strategy. In M&S, this approach help in leads the adjustment of
all stakeholders of the company for strategic changes.
Recruitment & selection- Recruitment refers to the process of finding out, crossing, selecting
and hiring skilled and qualified applicants for filling the vacant position of a company (Collings,
Wood and Szamosi, 2018). In M&S, the HR manger of the company conduct recruitment
process to hire talented candidates that help in firm's growth. There are various objectives of
recruitment some of them are as following:
 To attract a pool of suitable candidates for filling the vacant positions.
 To ensure that all recruitment activities contribute to organisational aims and the desired
organisational image.
 To conduct recruitment activities in a cost effective and efficient manner.
There are two methods of recruitment which are as following:
Internal recruitment- In M&S, it is process through which the management fill up the
vacant positions by promotions, transferring and rehiring people within the firm.
Strengths Weaknesses
It is beneficial because it help in boosting the
morale of the employees and internal
recruitment also generate promotion and
growth opportunities for existing employees.
The drawback of this recruitment method is
that it can track a inaction in the organisation's
man power. It create barriers for entertaining
new or fresh ideas within the firm.

External recruitment- In M&S, it is the method of recruited candidates through external
sources like; providing notifications, advertisement etc.
Strengths Weaknesses
External recruitment provides an opportunity
to enter new and fresh talent that a firm
required to stay competitive.
It demotivate to those candidates which are not
selected. It is a cost and time consuming
process.
Selection refers to a process process of choosing the qualified candidate with required
qualification and abilities to fill the vacant position in the company. In M&S, there are various
methods such as interviews, testing and others are used by the management of this company to
select the right candidates (Crawshaw, Budhwar and Davis, 2017).
Interview- It refers to a face to face communication and interaction process. In M&S, the
management of the company used these kind of methods to chose or select right candidate for the
organisation by making face to face communication and asking questions about their
qualification, personable life and related to job role.
Strengths Weaknesses
This process is beneficial for the company
because it help in providing a capable and
skilled candidate to the company which help in
development of the company.
It is cost and time consuming process. Some
times, with the help of selection methods,
manager does not get clear information about
the candidates.
Training and development- It refers to a process that can be used by the organisations to
increase the knowledge and skills of the employees so that they can make contribution in the
organisational development (Delery and Gupta, 2016). In M&S, the manager of the company
organise these kind of activities for improving the employees skills and knowledge. There are
two approach of training and development like on the job training or off the job training etc.
Off the job training- It refers to a process when employees are not taken training within
the firm but outside of the company. In M&S, the management of the company can send its
employees to outside of the company for training through those programs and sessions which are
organised by the headquarter of the organisation.

Performance management- In M&S, it is a term which define the process set by the company
to insure that all the people of firm are aware of the level of performance expected to them
according their role. It is beneficial for the company because with the help of it, the management
can easily analyse the performance of employees and organisation. There are various approach of
performance management such as behavioural, attribute, comparative, result and quality etc.
Comparative approach- It is a performance management approach which is used by the
management of the company to monitor the performance of the employees. It can be used by
M&S to analyse the performance of employees. In this approach, the management use ranking
like 1,2,3,.. etc. and provide grade like a,b,c to monitor the employees performance.
Reward system- It refers to a process and program of positive outcomes and result of the
employees performance (Snell, Bohlander and Morris, 2015). In M&S, when employees
contribute in attaining the business objective and they achieve them in set period of time than the
management of the company rewarded them the for their good performance. Approach of reward
system is as following:
Total reward approach- This approach covers six components like compensation,
benefits, work life effectiveness, recognition, talent development etc. These approach describe an
organisation's strategy to get attention, encourage, retain and engage employees in the company
so that they can do their work with more effectiveness and help in the organisational
development (Guest, 2017).
TASK 2
P3. Benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the employer and
employee
There are different HRM Practises that has been carried out in an organisation and the
motive behind doing them also differs from organisation to organisation. As in the organisations,
different tasks are accomplished so on the basis of these tasks, the HRM Practises used are
differs from one another. The main purpose behind making use of HRM Practises in an
organisation is related to the increase in the motivation and dedication of the employees and to
achieve the goals and objectives of the organisation with the help of making use of different
HRM Practises. The description is provided as under:

Training and Development: The following HRM Practise can be defined as the practise which
is used in order to make the development of skills and knowledge in an individual and along with
this, it also focuses on the personal and professional development of an individual in the
organisation. It is beneficial for the employees as with the help of their skills and efficiencies are
increased which directly impacts upon their moral and dedication to work for the growth and
development of the organisation. For the employer, it is beneficial as with the increase in the
skills and knowledge of employees, they will be able to produce more in lesser time which will
increase the profits of the organisation which the employer wants.
Rewards and Incentives: In the following strategy, the employees are provided with monetary
and non monetary incentives provided to the employees on the basis of their performance. The
following HRM Practise is beneficial for both the employer as well as the employees. With the
help of this HRM Practise, employees will tend to work more as the motivation and dedication of
employees will increase as they will be provided with incentives which will make them to
perform better in the working of the organisation. It is also beneficial for the employer as well
because with the help of this practise, it will be possible for the employer to make increment in
the work done by the employees which will directly impact upon the production level and sales
of the organisation in the positive way.
Recruitment and Selection: The following HRM Practise helps the organisation to fill the
vacant posts in an organisation with talented employees that could help in the growth and
development of the organisation. It is beneficial for the employees as they will be provided with
the chance to show their talent and skills in the organisation in order to get promoted to higher
places in the organisation. In addition to this, it will also be beneficial for the employees because
it will increase the sense of competition in between the existing and the new employees and this
will result in increase in the production, sales and profit of the organisation which is the benefit
which employer will have from the use of this HRM Practise.
P4. Effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising organisational profit and
productivity
The effectiveness of the different HRM Practises that have been explained above in the
assignment are discussed here. It will focus on knowing about the ways in which these HRM
Practises contributes towards increasing the organisational profit and productivity which are
discussed as under:

Training and Development: In the effectiveness of this HRM Practise, it can be said that with
the help of this practise, it will be possible for the organisation to make an increment in the
organisational profitability and productivity. It is because with this HRM Practise it is possible to
increasing the skills and efficiencies of employees and with increased skills and efficiencies, it
will be possible for the employees to produce more in less time and this will help the company in
achieve cost efficiency. So the organisational profitability and productivity has been increased
with the help of this HRM Practise and hence can be said as effective for making use in the
organisations.
Rewards and Incentives: The following HRM Practise is also effective in the working of an
organisation. In the following HRM Practise, the employees are provided with monetary and non
monetary incentives which helps in increasing their motivation and the motivational factors are
chosen on the basis of the needs and demands of the customers and if their needs and demands
are fulfilled than in this case, the employees will be feel motivated and dedicated towards the
work they are provided with and this will positively impact upon their work performance. In this
way, the productivity of the organisation will be positively impacted and also this HRM Practise
will impact profitability of the organisation as well.
Recruitment and Selection: This HRM Practise is also effective for the organisation as with the
help of this Practise, it will be possible for the company to create a healthy competitive
environment in the organisation in between the old and new employees. So the competition in
between the old and new in performing good will impact positively on the working of those
employees and the working will directly impact upon the productivity and profitability of the
organisation in the positive way.
Hence, it can be said that the following HRM Practises discussed are very effective and
could not only help in increasing the productivity and profitability of the organisation but also
will help in enhancing the growth and development of the organisation as well.
TASK 3
P5. Importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision making
Employee relations indicates to an organisation's efforts that can be used to manage
relationships between workers and seniors. In M&S, employees relations refer to the common
relationship among the employees and employee (Martin and et. al., 2016). It can be an art that

effectively determine and maintain the relation between employees and employers. It is essential
because it help in managing and maintaining clam, smooth running of business operation,
healthy and safe working environment.
Employee relation introduces as an internal factor of M&S which will help them in
enhancing its growth and success at marketplace. Effective and strong relation with employees
helps an enterprise by retaining employees for long time. Employee relation directly effect on
human resource decision making in different ways. For example: workers within M&S has
expectation of fair treatment by management. Therefore, manager take an effective decision
about how to treat all workers as individuals and should treat them fairly. Along with this,
decision from human resource management is also related with providing of competitive salary
to all employees. In order to maintain strong relation with employees, HR must make decision
about implementation of motivation theories and techniques systematically. Employee relation
is also impact on human decision making while implementation of performance appraisal
system, providing of fair salary etc.
It create a strong and great impact on the decision making in term of resolving issues. In
each and every organisation, there are different kinds of issues and problems generated because
of employees relation. But, when the employee relations are good and they communicate to each
other then it help in minimizing problems which are arising due to misunderstanding. In M&S,
they interact and treat with each other in the orientation of decision making and solving issues.
Good relations among employees and employers help in minimizing the chance of conflicts. It
help in maintaining the loyalty of employees because if the seniors communicate them and help
in solving their issues or providing chances to them to make participation in decision making
then they can also share their ideas and views. If they are favourable for the company then they
must be consider by the management. This appoint optimistic effect on decision making and
employees also because they feel important which help in maintaining loyalty.
Effective communication system is also important for building good employee relation
because if they both communicate to each other openly, then they can share their ideas and it
help the organization's HRM to take correct decision on time (Noe and et. al., 2017). So, great
employees relation help HRM department of M&S in context of decision making.
Flexible working arrangements are also beneficial for the making good relation with the
employees. The management of the company also can make good relation by following the

option of flexible working option. There are various type of flexible working like functional,
numeric, temporal etc. The examples of flexible working are; shift work, overtime, weekend
work, part time work, job sharing, job splitting and various others.
P6. Key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM decision making
Employment legislation refers to an act and law which consist all type of employment
protection measures that can furnish security to workers from unethical action that can be
happen in any organisation. There are some laws and regulation which are consider external
factor within an enterprise. In M&S, the administration of the organization follow several
employment legislations, they are as following:
Equality law, 2010- It is an act which was developed by the UK government for
providing protection to the employees from inequality in an organization. In M&S, the
management of this firm effectively follow this act and provide equal rights to its all employees
according to the organisational policies (Snell, Bohlander and Morris, 2015). This company pay
equal amount to male and female who are working on same positions. If there are any favoritism,
then the workers can inquire for legislative help to fulfil their need. In it, HRM of the
organisation can encourage the workers in favourable manner if they insure sameness in all
perspective. In context of M&S, it can be determined that its human resource manager is needed
to ensure that equality law must be applied by all at workplace for decreasing inequality cases
within working environment of an organisation. Along with this, they are also needed to take
entire mandatory decision by following this Act.
Discrimination Act, 1975- It is the act which was formulated by the parliament of the UK
to give security to men and women from secernment on the basis of sexuality, colour, race,
religion and marital status. In M&S, the management properly follow this act and not show any
kind of discrimination towards the employees. The management of the company provide equal
rights to all employees and equally organise training, learning, promotional and other
organisational activities for all employees who are working in it. Implementation of this
discrimination act within working environment of an enterprise is ensures that all business
practices which are executed by human resource manager in organisation. The act entirely states
that discrimination will not take any place within organisational premises.