HRM Report: Workforce Planning, Recruitment and Employee Relations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, focusing on workforce planning, recruitment, selection, and employee relations within the context of Waitrose, a major UK supermarket chain. The report delves into the functions and purposes of HRM, examining employee motivation, suitable candidate selection, and the core functions of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling. It contrasts hard and soft HRM approaches and analyzes different recruitment and selection methods, including online job boards and recruitment agencies, alongside face-to-face and panel interviews, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. Furthermore, the report explores the benefits of HRM practices for both employers and employees, covering performance appraisal, training and development, and working conditions. It also examines the importance of employee relations, essential elements of employee legislation, and their impact on decision-making, culminating in an application of HRM practices related to work. The report concludes with an overview of the discussed topics and provides relevant references.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1: Functions and purpose of HRM related to workforce planning and resourcing...................3
P2: Analyses of different approaches of recruitment and selection through strengths and
weakness.....................................................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P3: Benefits of HRM practices related to employer and employee............................................6
P4: Different HRM practices in context of profit and productivity of organisation...................8
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P5: Importance of employees relations to influence decision-making of HRM.........................8
P6: Essential elements of employee legislation and its impact on decision-making..................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P7: Application of HRM practices related to work...................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Human resource refers to people or workforce working in an organisation and by this it
can be said that human resource management refers to planning and organising of people so that
maximum utilisation of resources would be attain (Abdullah and Zulkifli, 2015). In this report,
Waitrose is taken for discussion. It is one of the largest supermarket chain in United kingdom
and headquarter in Bracknell, Berkshire, UK. Various purposes and functions of HRM will be
explained with strengths and weakness of recruitment and selection approaches. Moreover
benefits and effectiveness of HRM practices in terms of employee and employer in context of
productivity and profit will be elaborated. Essential of employee relations and various rules and
regulation which company should focus to improve their motivation will be explained and at last,
application of HRM practices would be discussed.
TASK 1
P1: Functions and purpose of HRM related to workforce planning and resourcing
HRM considers workforce as an asset for company instead of machinery and their main
aim is to improve their productivity and efficiency at work so that overall increase in profitability
would be seen by company. Aim of HRM Waitrose is to proper planning, organising, directing
and controlling of workforce available in the company so that they can gain market leader
position. Purpose of HRM in relation with workforce planning and resourcing of employees will
be discussed by taking Waitrose as company,
Employee motivation: All the headcount working for company can only achieve its
highest potential if they are motivated enough to work harder (Bailey And et. al., 2018). So work
of HRM is to reduce or remove any obstacle or hurdles which might affect their efficiency in a
negative way. For instance, if Waitrose employees are facing demotivation due to low salary
offers to them then HRM have to amend their work analysis and then make salary accordingly as
high salary leads to higher motivation. It would assist Waitrose to reduce their cost on
acquisition of employees which will turns profit for company.
Suitable candidates: Employee can work with their best potential if they are equipped
with all the skills and capabilities which would help them to excel at their work. For instance, if
Waitrose HRM is hiring those employees whose skills and capabilities are align with the work
which will assigned to them then they will able to perform with their best motivation which leads

to increase in overall profitability of company. Apart from this, Waitrose does not have to waste
time and money on workforce planning as retention rate would be increase then. It refers to
making balance between the supply and demands of workforce so that there wont be any
shortage or excess headcount in the company.
Functions of HRM
Planning: It refers to planning of task assigned to manager by writing every actions and
activities which is required by individual to attain their pre set goals. For instance, at the time of
recruiting, manager must find out the actual requirements of workforce according to their skills
and competencies.
Organising: After planning, organising is an essential task in which manager have to
implement planning on the real scenarios. For instance, after recruiting potential candidates its
manager responsibility to assigned them work according to their existing skills so that Waitrose
can survive in critical situations.
Directing: After assigning its manager responsibility to direct their employees so that
role ambiguity, hurdles etc would be removed. For instance, Waitrose manager should assist
their subordinates while working as their responsibility is to guide the employees so that they can
achieve their pre set goals of work.
Controlling: After directing, manager role is to monitor the performance of employees
and guide them when they are deviating their work actions from pre decide actions. For
instance, if employees are doing their work with full efficiency but still it is not in favour of
Waitrose, then its manager responsibility to guide them so that their work would be align to
company's goals and mission.
Hard and soft HRM
Hard approach are those in which company considered employees as an machinery. For
instance, if Waitrose is giving less salary to their employees by assigning more work then their
motivation level will become down which will leads to high retention and absenteeism rate.
Company should try to opt this style at the workplace as avoidance of this approach gives
favourable environment to company and their employees.
Soft approach refers to when employees are taken and considered as assets instead of
machinery (Banfield, Kay and Royles, 2018). It includes various factors like high salary, better

working conditions, etc. For instance, through using this approach, Waitrose can reduce their
employee turnover ratio which is beneficial for company in long run.
P2: Analyses of different approaches of recruitment and selection through strengths and
weakness
Recruitment is a process of attracting and finding qualified candidates so that company
can fulfil their vacant positions (Bratton and Gold, 2017). Aim of Waitrose while recruiting is to
align the required skills and competencies with skills within candidates. There are two types of
recruitment i.e., internal and external. In external, Waitrose provides advertisement, conduct
recruitment drive etc so that organisation can hire candidates who have no connection with the
company whatsoever. On the other hand, internal refers to when company fill out their position
by giving promotions to their existing employees. Different approaches of recruitment is given
below,
Online Job boards
In this approach, company posted their advertisement of vacant jobs on various
professional online platforms. Motto of company is to find out best suitable candidates so that
organisation performance wont get affected in nearby future. Strengths and weakness of
Waitrose by using this approach is given below,
Strengths Weakness
This approach is cost effective as Waitrose
would be able to reach more candidates.
Moreover company does not have to visit
physically while checking their documentation.
If job description or specification is not clear or
ambiguous in nature then unsuitable candidates
will also apply for jobs which would leads to
hectic work of HR. Moreover, if candidates is
not computer savvy then they wont be able to
apply for their suitable position (Stone And et.
al., 2015).
Recruitment agencies: In this approach, company approaches agencies which are
working as a recruiting consultant. Requirement of skills and competencies would be provided
by the Waitrose to the agencies and then all the work would be done by the recruiting agencies.
Strengths Weakness

Work done by the recruitment agencies is
faster as they already have screened candidates
which leads to better quality of candidates.
This approach is costly in nature as recruitment
agencies charges some amount of money
resulting increase in spending of money.
Selection: This is the second phase after recruitment process in which company assess
candidates according to their job requirements by using different approaches like, group
discussion, face to face and panel interview etc. Different approaches with their strengths and
weakness is given below,
Face to face interview
Strengths Weakness
HR would be able to identify all the factors
which is necessary for them to evaluate like
verbal and non verbal communications.
Attitude towards them, confidence etc (Taylor,
Doherty and McGraw, 2015).
One of the biggest weakness of this approach is
favouritism and biasses. If HR has some
relationship with the candidates then they will
get free without evaluating their skills and
competencies. Moreover, probability of
conflict between different HR is also high due
to distinct perceptions towards same thing.
Panel interview: It refers to when more than one person take the interview of candidates
at the same time so that candidates would be judged from many and different aspects.
Strengths Weakness
Due to high number of interviewer, it is easy
for Waitrose to find out the potential in them.
Moreover, every aspect which includes
communication skills, confidence level etc. is
monitored by company.
More than one interviewer means different
perceptions of HR due to which chances of
conflict among them increases to a certain
level.

TASK 2
P3: Benefits of HRM practices related to employer and employee
Human resource management target is to maintain peace and harmony of company so
that overall productivity will constantly increase which will persuade to sustainable business
performance (Brewste and Hegewisch, 2017). To maintain the environment healthy and friendly,
HRM use different types of practices for employee and employer which is explained below,
Practices Benefits for employee Benefits of employer
Performance appraisal Performance appraisal refers to
process of evaluating
performance of employees so
that proper measures would be
taken against it. If employees
are outperforming their goals
and target then rewards,
bonuses, incentives should be
given by Waitrose. If not, then
HR should find out reason of
doing bad performance and
correct it by providing training
to them. On both the factors,
employees motivation will
increase due to which their
performance will also
increase..
Aim of every employer is to
maximize utilisation of
resources so that there
profitability would increase. If
employees of Waitrose are
getting right performance
appraisal then their motivation
level will also increase which
goes to overall enhancement of
productivity and efficiency of
Waitrose. Moreover if
potential candidates gets the
promotions then their overall
efficiency of working will also
increase which is better for
Waitrose,
Training and development Proper skills and capabilities is
required in employees to
accomplish assigned task and
its goals (Wehrmeyer, 2017).
If employees of Waitrose are
fully equipped with all the
Waitrose should monitor and
analyse skills gaps among
employees and try to fulfil it
by giving training through
classes, online courses,
classroom studies etc. It will

skills which is required for
their specific jobs then they
will accomplish it with
maximum potential. It leads to
higher motivation and
productivity of employees.
help Waitrose to increase their
performance as compare to
other competitors in the same
industry. Moreover Waitrose
will attain organisation
learning which is good for
their future growth.
Working conditions Employee can only focus at
their work if environment
around them is healthy and
motivating (Wilton, 2016). If
working conditions of
Waitrose is according to the
rules and regulations set by the
local authority, free of conflict
among employees, focus on
individual and organisation
learning etc then it will
motivate them to work harder
which is a positive sign for
their professional
development.
If employees are performing
with their full potential then it
would assist Waitrose to
outperform their competitors
so that they will gain the
position of market leader.

P4: Different HRM practices in context of profit and productivity of organisation
Reason or purpose of existence of every organisation is to increase their profitability and
efficiency so that they can gain competitive advantage over other competitors (Chelladurai and
Kerwin, 2017). It could be possible for Waitrose if they properly implement their HRM practices
as it will create a positive impact on the success of organisation. Different HRM practices used
by Waitrose is given below,
 Working conditions: Working conditions of workplace plays an important role in the
success of organisation. If Waitrose employees are happy with the conditions provided to
them then it will motivate employees to work harder and outperform their own
performance. So if all the workforce are working with their full potential then it will
enhance overall profitability and productivity of Waitrose by surpassing their
competitors.
 Training and development: Work of T&D is to provide all the essentials skills and
competencies which is required by employees to perform better in their assigned work.
For instance, if employees of Waitrose are not having any problem by doing their work
then their performance will automatically increased to a certain level and which will
assist Waitrose to increase their efficiency and profitability over time. For new
employees they provide training for 45 days in which knowledge about every department
in the provided to them and then employees have to decide the department according to
their speciality. It motivates the employees to work even more harder.
 Performance appraisal: Reason of doing performance appraisal is to find out potential
of employees and how it could be improve or enhanced so that company would gain
performance advantage over others. For instance, if promotion has been given to the right
candidate then they will be motivated enough to work even more harder. Employee
performance will have a positive impact on output of team which they are leading and
overall work rate of Waitrose. For instance, Waitrose regularly analyse and monitor the
performance of employees with the help of performance management software and then
provide the promotion or incentives accordingly. They try to maintain the authenticity
and credibility of the appraisal

TASK 3
P5: Importance of employees relations to influence decision-making of HRM
Employee relation refers to relationship or bonding of employees working at the same
workplace and organisation (Jabbour and de Sousa Jabbour, 2016). Relationship among
employees are directly proportionate to motivation of employees. For instance, if employee
relations in Waitrose is good then it will motivate them to work harder so that they can achieve
their pre set goals within assigned deadline and vice versa. Influence of employee relations to
decision making of HRM is discussed below,
 Ensuring fair treatment: It means that employer should properly behave with
employees without any bias and favouritism because it if it happen then it demotivate
harder employees resulting in decrease in productivity. It would assist company to take
their decision with credibility.
 Employee involvement schemes: Employee relation could only improve if they have
smooth communication as then only conflict would be reduced to a certain level. For
instance, case study or role playing would be introduced by Waitrose so that relationship
between them would be made.
 Employee recognition programs: It refers to different programs conduct by the
organisation so that performance of employees would be recognised. For instance,
Waitrose organised programs in which they provide financial and non financials benefits
according to the performance which motivates the employees to work even more harder.
 Good communication between employees and employer: Communication plays an
important role in the success of organisation as it reduces conflict between them resulting
in increase in overall productivity of company. That's why Waitrose should opt open
communication in which employees can directly contact the management level people. It
makes the environment healthy and peaceful for working.
Employee retention: It refers to time period for which employee is working with the
same organisation (Marchington And et. al., 2016). If employee are happy with all the factors
which are provided by Waitrose then they don't want to switch their organisation which leads to
increase in profitability of company. Factors which increases employee retention is job
description according to the skills within individual, working conditions, salary, leaves,
employee relations etc. HR of Waitrose should considered all these things and try to cope up

with it as it would help them to increase retention rate which will leads to better productivity and
profitability of Waitrose.
Conflict management: Essential factors which assist company to grow in future is
motivation within employees. If employees of Waitrose are highly motivated then it persuade to
better productivity of company and vice versa. Conflict among employees is a factor which
every company should considered. It increase demotivation within employees, high rate of
absenteeism, high employee turnover ratio etc. So its the responsibility of HR while taking
decision that conflict wont get arise and if it does then HR should try to reduce or remove it so
that performance wont get affected.

P6: Essential elements of employee legislation and its impact on decision-making
Employee legislation or laws are made cover every aspect of employees so that
organisation in which they are working could not take advantage of their skills or information
without taking assent of individual. Different types of laws and its impact on decision making of
HR is elaborated below,
 The Equality act 2010: It states the every individual is same at the workplace and no one
can discriminate on the basis of age, sex, religion, etc (Marler and Parry, 2016). For
instance, in most of the organisation, women are discriminate at the time of performance
appraisal and manager responsibility is given to men who is less qualified as compare to
women due to adage that women can not be a manager. It's the responsibility of Waitrose
HR to avoid usage of discrimination at the workplace and reward incentives, bonuses,
promotions, hike in salary etc on the basis of performance generated by the employees.
Equality at the workplace would also motivate employees to work harder and achieve
their highest productivity.
 Data protection act 2018: It is one of the law which people of many countries are
fighting for. This law recently gets it amendment and approval of royal assent on 23rd
May 2018 (Nankervis And et. al., 2016). It states that individual living in UK has the
power of handling their personal information according to their own wish. Individual,
group of people or company can not use their information without getting from the
owner. Waitrose HR should considered while collecting information of employees and
try to protect it from any outside threats so that employees can feel safe. For instance, HR

can not provide information like account number, phone number, home address etc to
unauthorized person and if it is done by the end of HR then they would face some serious
actions like criminal charges, breach of law etc from the local authority.
TASK 4
P7: Application of HRM practices related to work
Job description: Job description is a document which consist of general task regarding specific
job, duties of person, salary range etc (Reiche And et. al., 2016).
Job description of business analyst
Job title: Business analyst
Qualification:
 Graduate and post graduation in computer scene
 Should have more or equal to 7 CGPA from high school
 Microsoft excel and SQL is strongly preferred.
Skills:
 Software design and maintenance
 Fluent in communication in more than 2 language
 Excellent interpersonal relationship
Duties and responsibilities:
 To prepare and maintain report of competitors and their strengths and weakness
 Make flow charts and Gantt chart to simplify the project assigned.
 Determine objectives of business function through gathering information
Experience:
 Overall experience of 5 years is required.
 Must have experience of minimum 3 years in big data management.
Person specification: It refers to all the skills and competencies which are required by the
company for their vacant position (Shen and Benson, 2016) .
Person specification of business analyst
Position applied for: Business analyst
Name of company: Waitrose

Qualification:
 Masters in computer science
 Certification of SAS and SAP is mandatory.
Skills and abilities:
 Must possess knowledge of management information system and big data.
 Must possess excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Expertise:
 Must be expertise in problem solving skills and ability to create innovative and
attractive ideas.
 Must be expertise in leadership quality
 Person should be able to provide quality and accuracy of work to clients.
Experience:
 Overall experience of 5 years is required.
 Must have experience of minimum 3 years in big data management.
Questions related to Business analyst position
Question 1: Please provide some example on benchmarking concept?
Question 2: What are the different types of roles which Business analyst don't do?
Question 3: Give some example on case model?
Question 4: What is the importance of activity diagram in business analyst job.?
Job offer letter to potential candidate
Dear XXX,
Congratulations for being selected as a business analyst at Waitrose headquarter at London.
We have send you all the information which you required to read before coming with us on a
beautiful and successful journey.
If you have any doubts regarding the position then please feel free to call at 333-333-333 or
[e-mail]
From,
Regional HR,
Waitrose, London

CONCLUSION
From the above mentioned report, it can be concluded that HRM assist company to gain
competitive advantage over others by recruiting right amount of skilful candidate at the right
time. There are various functions and purpose of organisation which they should follow properly
so to attain mission and vision of company. Recruitment and selection is an important part for
company that's why they should properly bring the candidate into the job as it directly affects the
productivity and efficiency of company in a positive or negative way. It furthers provide
information regarding various practices which would assist employee and employer to work with
their full potential. There are rules and regulations which are made to maintain peace and
harmony of company which they should follow as it is also connected to motivation of
employees.