Human Resource Management Report for Home Cozy: Analysis

This report, prepared by a student, delves into various facets of Human Resource Management (HRM) within the context of a company named Home Cozy. The report commences by outlining strategic goals and how HRM initiatives can contribute to their achievement, emphasizing innovation, recruitment, and employee development. It then examines the recruitment process, highlighting factors like experience, potential, hard skills, and cultural fit, alongside the importance of induction programs. The report further analyzes performance appraisal systems, discussing their advantages in terms of motivation, self-development, and identifying underperformers. Additionally, it explores performance-based pay structures and succession planning strategies. The report also touches on motivational theories, organizational culture, and communication strategies, concluding with an overview of an HRM-related problem concerning employee retention. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of HRM practices, offering valuable insights into the effective management of human capital within an organization.

Running Head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 0
Human Resource Management
(student name)
11-15-2018

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Contents
Q1. Strategic Goals..........................................................................................................................2
Q2. Recruitment...............................................................................................................................3
Q3. Performance appraisal...............................................................................................................5
Q4. Performance-based pay.............................................................................................................6
Q5. Succession planning strategy....................................................................................................7
Q6. Motivational theory...................................................................................................................8
Q7. Organizational culture...............................................................................................................9
Q8. HR related problem.................................................................................................................10
Recruitment and retention of employees...................................................................................10
Q9. Communication strategy.........................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Q1. Strategic Goals
Possible ways identified to contribute to the achievement of the strategic direction of the
organization are:
 Improve time to the marketplace. Harness existing assets
 Increase innovation
 Measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPI)
 A Holistic approach adoption for improving the delivery (Chirstopher, 2017)
Among the identified goals that are significant for the strategic direction achievement, is
“Increase in innovation.” Innovation is bringing a new product, process, or system to enhance
the work of an organization. Innovation is a key aspect to enhance the performance of the
organization; a human resource of the company is held responsible for innovation. Since the
company main goal is to increase the delivery speed and performance, this can be done
through innovation in the process. The HR can take some initiatives for this, like conducting
brainstorming activities to bring out new ideas from the employees. Moreover, organizational
culture is also responsible for motivating people to work with innovation (Zacher & Rosing,
2015).
Innovation can be increased by following human resource factors:
 Recruitment and appointment- the basic and most important factor of human resource
are to recruit the perfect person according to the job profile. Positioning right person
at a right job is very important to increase performance through innovation. In case a
more qualified and competent person is appointed at a lower position, where even

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after having great ides to implement, he is not authorized to do so, or vice versa then
this will be a loss to the company (Saebi & Foss, 2015).
 Training and development- another factor to increase innovation are providing
training and development to the employees; this can be done by filling up the skill
gap. Through effective training, employees can be innovative with using technology
and process and could be able to reach to the customer more quickly.
 Communication training- training of communication is also very important to
enhance the thinking and communicating power of the individual, so that if an
employee is having an idea in his or her mind, then they must also convey or express
in an effective manner so that to utilize that idea. Moreover, in such training classes,
brainstorming and other activities can also be conducted for the creation of new and
innovative ideas in employees mind.
 Organizational culture- it is the culture that is responsible for supporting innovation.
For example, if the free flow of ideas is supported by the work culture of the
organization, then more innovative ideas can be gain from all the employees. HR can
provide such culture to the employees within the workplace (Sawer, 2014).

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Q2. Recruitment
A) Factors considered in the appointment of human resource that is the recruitment process,
so that new employees actively contribute to the organization are as follows:
 Experience- one of the important aspect to consider is how much experience is the
applicant having. In the case of fresher, it is more difficult to work in an
organization, as more training would be required to provide. Moreover, a person
with more experience will require less time to adjust into the new environment
and easily adapt the work culture, and eventually be more actively contributing in
the organization. The experience is considered, but this must be the priority while
selecting (Swidere & Barrick, 2015).
 Potential- this is another factor to be considered because a person may not have a
record of work experience on paper, but his or her potential is very high according
to the job description. For example, sometimes taking chance with a new engineer
can be beneficial for the organization. Therefore, if the potential of a person is
considered it may lead to an active contributor to Home Cozy (Greiner, 2015)
 Hard skills- these are helpful and most easily identified factor to be considered
while recruiting. In addition, hard skills are easily measured, simple to define the
applicant’s skills. These are very essential because without these skills the work
cannot be accomplished. For example, the staff for recording the return items
must have the skills to use a computer and other technical operating machines
(Kim, Noma, & Tanizawa, 2016).

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 Cultural fit- this is another important factor to be observed while recruiting, this is
if the person will be able to adjust to the work culture of the organization. For
example, the working hours are suitable, the culture of working in teams.
B) Induction process
The induction process is introducing new employees to the organization; make
him understand the basic policies, rules, and culture of the organization. This is an
important step after recruiting a new staff, this is helpful in making a person comfortable
in the new work environment, and contributes more to the organization. This program
will be helpful in improving Home Cozy and its employee’s productivity. By providing
this initial training program, all the needed information is provided to the employee,
which will eventually save time and money of the company and employee will quickly
initiate delivering outcomes.
C) A workplace-learning program will be established that will systematically include
appointment and induction process. This learning programme can include providing
offering letter to the selected applicant, then welcoming the employee, introducing him to
the organization, making him meet other employees, telling the employee about the
organization, Work policies, role, and expectation proves compliance, and performance
standards (Dias, Silva, & Morais, 2017).

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(Source: (peopleworks, 2018)

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Q3. Performance appraisal
Advantages of performance appraisal and reward plans
1. Motivation
The performance appraisal and reward plan are majorly contributing in motivating
the person who is giving his best to the organization, that is more than the targeted or
expected one and motivating others who desire to get those rewards and will be
motivated to work harder next time to receive that reward (Dipboye, 2018).
2. Self-development
Is a major advantage, as it allows a person to receive feedback for oneself, which could be
either positive or negative. A person is the best to judge for himself, is an individual can do self-
development, the performance will eventually be improved, and also leads to self-motivation.
3. Identification of underperformers
With this method, the people who are not performing up to the mark can be
observed and assess and will try to improve their performance in future
4. Records of performance appraisals
With this method, the appraisal of the employees can be recorded for the future,
so that the further performance has the base to compare for improvement. And
recording performance appraisal can also be key to motive others.
5. The decision regarding transfer or promotion
This method can be helpful in deciding the employee’s transfer or promotion.
Moreover, the management has a strong and factual base for such a decision. Through
this, no employee can question the system that why they are not promoted.

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Among these, the two major advantage that will be helpful in improving the performance
of the employees are:
1. Identification of underperformers
This is the most attractive benefit of performance appraisal, and rewarding
system. Through this method, the performance of each employee is been assessed,
and the people who are performing more than the target are rewarded, at the same
time people who are not performing their duty effectively are also observed. The
underperformers after performance appraisal ask and compel to perform high and
enhance their performance (Dustershoff & MacGregor, 2014).
2. Motivation
Motivation is something that compels employees to perform better in future. The
rewarding system will be responsible for the winner to perform similar way in future
as well and will make other co-workers feel like gaining the same reward, for which
they will perform better next time. Eventually, it will be resulting in improved
performance of employees and organization as a whole.

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Q4. Performance-based pay
This system of Home Cozy that is the “performance-based pay,” as a reward system is
very effective for the organization and individual employee. With the consent of staff, that is
formally conducted, this system was introduced and informed through debate. According to this
method, it will be initiated with training grade, and then eventually gain up to the eight-grade pay
scale, as per the performance of an individual in an organization. The performance level of each
individual is then stored in the system, which will allocate the work automatically to the
employees as per their grade. This system is very effective, as this will motivate employees to
perform well and increase their grade to enhance their pay. Moreover, the system is set with the
consent of all employees, so they do not resist the system or any change occurs (Brown, Kaine,
& Shields, 2015).
A recommended reward system to improve the performance of staff:
1. A winning system with an Incentive plan
According to this system, the reward is based on two factors, behavior, and
employee activity performance. This will ensure that the performance is been improved,
but this is not the result of poor or unethical behaviors or the undue influence of the
employee. The incentive plan could be prepared to identify top performing employees of
the organization along with the behavior of that individual. Moreover, some particular
behavior must be rewarded that will make difference to the organization. For example,
discipline, that is the timely completion of work, punctuality in coming and leaving the
workplace (Fang & Gerhart, 2014).
2. Strategic reward system

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This system is similar to the existing system of Home cozy. According to this
system, it is taken as pay for performance; the elements in this reward system are a
financial reward, which includes a base salary of the individual, employee benefits
provided by the company, and pay incentives. Another element is a non-financial reward;
this includes intrinsic rewards, recognition, praise, time off. The reward system can result
in the major motivation for staff to perform their best (Wynstra & Sekviardis, 2015).

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Q5. Succession planning strategy
An employee is an asset to the company, which needs to be retained when an employee
was found to leave the company, a succession plan was made. A succession plan is helpful in
identifying competencies and is responsible to work, assess, and retaining that employee, and
assure the continuation of leadership for every position critical in the evaluation (Mason, 2015).
The succession planning strategy created to retain Tom consists of six steps process:
1. Identify key position
This step involves identifying the major or critical position, that is necessary for
proper working in the organization.at this stage, the position of tom is considered. In the
case of Home Cozy, tom is assistance human resource manager.
2. Building profile for all positions
The job profile is created for all the identified position, to ensure the skill set
needed to perform for that position.
3. Analyze competencies gap
Then the competencies required, and the personnel existing competencies are
compared and the gap is been analyzed. This gap could be the reason for the
underperformance of an individual and could be demotivating
4. Development of opportunities
After assessing the gap, the opportunities are developed that the opportunity an
individual can gain with their strengths and overcome their weakness.
5. Individual development plan

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It is developing a plan for all employees, including tom, to make him realize the
growth and development opportunity for him that is there to continue working with the
organization. This will be helpful to reduce tom stress, which is observed to be the major
problem for him.
6. Maintain skill inventory
This is the last step in the succession planning strategy that is to maintain the skill
set in the organization. The skills that are needed must be available in the organization or
it can even be enhanced by training and development programme (Hawkey, 2017).

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Q6. Motivational theory
A. Saturday staff
The major issue is related to Saturday staff is stability, because they leave the
organization in some week, month, or year. The most suitable motivational theory for
Saturday staff is McClelland’s theory. According to this theory, each individual has three
motivators and one of the needs or driver is reflected in the behavior of the person. The
motivators are:
 Achievement- this motivator, as the name suggests is a desire to accomplish and
demonstrate mastery or competence. It is persistent to an individual need for
mastering of skills, and significant success.
 Affiliation- this motivator includes need or desire for love, relatedness, and
belongings. For some people, a healthy friendly environment is a motivator
instead of a financial requirement. This include belong to a social team, need for
friendship, they need support from people who are close to that individual and
have interpersonal relationships with them
 Power – this includes the desire for control. Some people like to have control
over others, and this brings the motivator for them. They are more towards
influencing others to have a strong desire to lead (Peters & Ryan, 2015).
Therefore, with this motivational theory, the HR manager can understand the
motivator for individuals, and motivate them similarly, so that they are more loyal
and retained with the company.
B. Flexible staff

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For flexible staff, the most suitable motivating theory is “Vroom’s expectancy theory,
“this theory was propounded by “Victor Vroom,” which explain how an individual select
among the activities available to them. According to this theory, motivation is the result of
appraising three factors. These three factors are:
 Expectancy- this factor indicates, what an individual is expecting, like more efforts
into the work outcome into success.
 Instrumentality- it is the factor that explains, the belief of an individual about the
connection between goal and activity. Which eventually says that if performance is
good, the reward will be good
 Valence- this factor is the degree to which an individual value what he or she receives
in reward, which is the outcome of success (Lazaroiu, 2015).

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Q7. Organizational culture
The home Cozy company is a mail ordering shopping company, and its major work is
providing value-added logistics and an effective delivery system. The culture of an organization
plays an important role in providing support or aching the strategies. Every company follows
different types of culture, which includes ethics, values, believes, and the base for working in an
organization. For such an organization, the most suitable organizational culture will be:
1. Hierarchy culture
This type of culture illustrates the foundation of culture on control and structure,
which is very essential in Home Cozy Company. The environment at the workplace is
very formal and disciplined in such a culture, with the proper process in a position of
guidance. In such an organization, leadership is based on monitoring and coordination
that is well organized, while emphasizing culture over predictability and efficiency. The
value of this organizational culture includes uniformity and consistency (Kaur & Ma,
2015).
2. The clan culture
Since the company is more towards teamwork, this culture will be quite suitable
for Home Cozy. As per this cultural form, the base or roots of the culture are with the
collaboration. The people in-group see themselves as a section of a large family and
shares their commodities, who are involved much and are active. In this culture,
leadership is seen in the way of mentorship, and the firm is considering traditions and
commitments all around. The important values considered in this culture are rooted in
communication, teamwork, and consensus. Moreover, respectful relationships with

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customers, employees, suppliers, and work environment are considered. Since the major
focus of this organizational culture is similar to that of Home cozy, it can be justified that
this culture is suitable for the company (Kesen & Kaya, 2014).

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Q8. HR related problem
One of the major HR-related problem observed in Home Cozy Company is “Recruitment
and retention of employees.”
Recruitment and retention of employees
This is a major problem for human resource in the company, as recruiting new staff is an
important aspect in the company because the majority of staff is temporary staff. Temporary staff
is the reason for the increase in the cost of the company. Whenever a new staff is introduced to
the company, the company need to provide training, resource, spend time on that individual to
make him work effectively. For this many resources are required that is the additional cost of the
company. The main problem occurs when trained personnel leave the company. The time and
money spent on that staff just wasted. This issue leads to other major problems, like
demotivation for other employees, repetition of recruitment and training process to fill the
position. The recruiting cost became very high for the company, it the cost per hire, which the
company tries to control, but controlling, has become a major problem for HR of the company
(Allen, 2017).
Some of the steps taken by the company can face this problem:
 Compliment employees need within the workplace- the need of the employees must be
considered and fulfill that, to motivate them to perform better and continue working for
the firm.
 Employee’s development- the employees must realize that they have growth and
development opportunity in the company, only then they will retain to the company.

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 Reward system- to motivate employees it is important to provide the financial and non-
financial rewards for their performance, above their fixed base salary
 Employee benefits- benefits to the employees must be provided, only when an individual
is with the company for a year. This will motivate employees to work with the company
for at least one year
 Healthy work environment- the work environment is a major factor for staff to continue
work or not. If a good environment is not provided, this could be the major reason for
staff to leave the job (Som & Aguenza, 2018)

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Q9. Communication strategy
Communication is very important for any activity in an organization, whether it is
recruiting an employee, motivating them, providing them with induction training or development
training. Considering the issue identified in the previous sector, it has been observed that
communication is essential for employees to achieve retention and recruiting goals (Quirke,
2017). The two important communication strategy to tackle above-mentioned issue are:
 Appreciate your employees
The communication can be done by providing recognition to the employee, like
an employee of the moth, through this the employees will get to know how he or she is
performing good, and make the employees understand how to improve their performance
to achieve that recognition or receive such award. Employee’s major motivation is a
financial reward, therefore on basis of performance, the reward can be provided, with
announcing that reward, so that this can also motivate other employees to work hard. The
appreciation is not a major thing, but this can increase the employee morale, and feel that
the energy he or she has put into the war was noticed by their senior and would continue
to provide good quality work in future as well.
 Have more open meetings
This will enhance the communication between managers and all the stakeholders,
the changes, expectations, target, rewards system can explain to the employees. This will
make them feel important, that all the company related information is been informed to
them. The consent of stakeholders can also be taken in the meeting, to make them feel
part of the company and their viewpoints are important in decision-making. This is done

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because communication must be a two-way process, it should not be one-sided, that the
leaders took a meeting, covey their messages and end the meeting, In fact, the employee's
problems can be discussed in the meeting, and feedback can be asked for.
Through these communication strategies, the retaining staff can be possible, and
employee turnover can be reduced (Andersson, 2016).

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