Human Resource Management Practices at Apple: BTEC Unit 3 Report

This report examines Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, focusing on Apple as a case study. It begins with an introduction to HRM, outlining its purpose and functions, including workforce planning, training, and performance management. The report then delves into recruitment and selection, comparing internal and external recruitment methods, and evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The core of the report analyzes various HRM practices within Apple, such as providing employee security, selective hiring, fair compensation, training, and the use of self-managed teams. The effectiveness of these practices is assessed, highlighting the importance of employee relations and the impact of employee legislation. The report concludes by summarizing the implementation of HRM practices within Apple and their overall impact on the company's success.

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
P1 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.
Training and development:
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.
4

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.
M1 functions of HRM provide talent and skills to fulfil business goals.
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.
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.
P2 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:
5

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.
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).
6

m2 strengths and weaknesses of approaches of recruitment and selection.
Internal recruitment saves time and money but weakness is it eliminate creative employees.
Through external recruitment company can get young talent. Weakness is that it is costly.
Through panel interview candidates can be selected in one go but there are chance that efficient
candidates can be eliminated.
D1 strengths and weaknesses of approaches of selection and recruitment
Internal recruitment can bring more knowledgeable employee but can be biased. Face to face
interview can helpful in evaluating candidates effectively but there are changes that employee
can get nervous.
LO 2
P3 : 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).
7

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
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;
M3 : Different Methods of HRM Practices
Different methods of HRM practices are, providing security to the employees which
meaning providing pension and other security benefits to their salary packages, fair and
performance based compensation given to the employees, training individuals with relevant
skills, hiring of right people who are best fit for the job and self-managing of effective teams.
With the help of these methods HRM develops effectiveness of employee in Apple Company.
8

D2 : Evaluation of HRM practices
There are numerous practices which are performed by the HR of the companies like Apple which
benefits not only the employees but also the organizations like Apple. Apple Company also
manages the performance appraisal which helps in measuring the performance of the employees
by making use of performance appraisal technologies.
P4 : 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
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
P5 :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
9

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
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.
The external factors which affect the HRM decision making include the economic, technological,
socio-cultural, political-legal, market changes and professional association.
The internal factors which affect the decision making of HRM include corporate objectives,
marketing strategies, operational strategies and financial strategies.
10

M4 : Key aspects of Employee Relationship Management
Key aspects of Employee Relationship Management are, that the employee relation is
important because there are many issues where decisions cannot take decisions alone, healthy
relationship among the employees, helps in reduction of conflicts and fights and employees can
even share the secrets with each other and employees turn into single unit towards a specific
common goal.
P6 : 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. Employment and labour law 2021
must be implemented for the employees working in Apple Company. The health and safety at
work Act 1974 must be adhered to as it is the primary piece of legislation which covers the
11

occupational health and safety measures in Great Britain. This acts place a duty on employers for
protecting the health, safety and welfare at the time of work.
D3 : Evaluation of employee relations and application of HRM practises.
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 this is
called employee relations. HR of the company considers this as the responsibility to create and
nurture high performance teams by making employees at the workplaces share a certain
relationship.
Factors which affect decision-making of HRM
There are various factors of HRM which affects decision making and these include
corporate objectives, operational strategies, marketing strategies, financial strategies, market
changes, economic changes, social changes, technological changes, professional association and
many more.
LO 4
P7 :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
these practices effectively in order to attract and retain the best employees along with increasing
the profitability of the organisation (Nedrow, 2020). The systematic process of recruitment
include various steps such as forming a selection committee, writing job description, posting job
advert, creating a shortlist and arranging interviews, conducting interviews and reviewing the
scores, making preferred selection, checking references and sending job offer letter. Apple
company can make use of these steps to hire the talented an skilled employees.
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
12