Analysis of Human Resource Management at Marks and Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices at Marks and Spencer. It begins by defining the purpose and functions of HRM, specifically focusing on workforce planning and resourcing. The report then delves into the strengths and weaknesses of various recruitment and selection approaches, followed by a description of the benefits of different HRM practices within Marks and Spencer for both employees and the employer. Furthermore, the report evaluates the effectiveness of these practices in terms of raising profit and productivity. It analyzes the importance of employee relations in influencing HRM decision-making and identifies key elements of employment legislation and their impact on HRM. The report concludes with practical illustrations of HRM practices through examples such as job descriptions, resumes, interview questions, and job offer letters. Overall, the report offers a detailed analysis of HRM strategies within the context of Marks and Spencer, highlighting their impact on organizational success.

Human Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Define the purpose and functions of Human Resource Management, applicable to
workforce planning and resourcing an organisation...................................................................3
P2 Describe the Strength and weakness of different approaches to recruitment and selection. .5
Task 2 .............................................................................................................................................7
P3 Describe the benefits of different Human resource management practices within Marks and
Spencer for both Employee and Employer.................................................................................7
P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of Different Human resource practices in terms of raising profit
and productivity of Marks and Spencer......................................................................................8
Task 3 ..........................................................................................................................................9
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing Human resource
management decision making.....................................................................................................9
P6 Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision-making........................................................................................................................10
Task 4.............................................................................................................................................12
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples....................................................................................................................................12
. Job Description:..........................................................................................................................12
. RESUME:....................................................................................................................................13
. Interview question:......................................................................................................................13
. Job offer letter:............................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is a procedure of managing employees and department of
the organisation. It is an activity of recruiting, selecting, handling the staff, providing training
and development, performance appraisal, motivating and compensation benefits. The main
purpose of Human resource management is to manage the people for attaining better
performance and achieving goals of the company. Marks and Spencer have efficient and
effective Human resource team which manages the overall employees of the organisation for
accomplishment of their goals (Huemann, Keegan and Turner, 2018). The Human resource
manager have the responsibility to look out the staff and handle the issues or problems occurs in
the company. The mission of Marks and Spencer is to provide a high quality of products to
everyone in affordable price. The purpose of Marks and Spencer is to built a strong image and
reputation by providing values of quality, service, innovation and trust. The objective of the
company is to build a business through consistent, make the organisation profitable growth.
TASK 1
P1 Define the purpose and functions of Human Resource Management, applicable to workforce
planning and resourcing an organisation.
Purpose of Human Resource Management
The purpose of human resource management department in Marks and Spencer is to manage
overall needs of Staff in the company (Holland, Cooper and Sheehan, 2017). The department
helps to maximise the efficiency of the company and coordinate with the people to achieve
specific objectives, handle the staffing issues and maintain satisfaction among employees. The
purpose are as follows-
 Fulfilling Staffing Needs-
The purpose of human resource management is to recruit the employees for the vacant job
position. They announce the job duties, position and determine the skill required for that vacant
position. The applicants are screened by completing reference checks, by various tests and
interviewing the candidate. This department also involves in transfer and promotion procedure
for existing staff.
 Compensation-

It is a responsibility of Human resource department to pay the fair amount to the people of the
organisation. Employees are mainly concern with salary, they get paid according to their job
position and skills. The HRM of Marks and Spencer evaluate and makes the changes in pay
structure by latest trend in compensation with the aim to provide an acceptable amount to
employees (Torraco, 2016). The department follows a various laws while providing the
compensation to the Staff such as Fair Labour Standards Act.
 Performance Appraisal-
Human Resource Management evaluates the individual performance of the employees by taking
feedbacks from their colleagues and manager. The department conducts the performance
appraisal process and make sure that all individuals understand the procedure (Brewster, 2017).
The people with impressive performance receives awards on the basis of their performance
reviews.
Functions of Human resource Management
The major functions of human resource management are as outlined below-
 Recruitment and Selection-
Recruitment is a process of attracting candidates and encourage them to opt for job position.
Generally, recruitment means to invite the applicants for the vacant job role, screening them and
select the suitable person based on job criteria. The HRM department of Marks and Spencer have
to execute a proper staffing plans before recruitment and selection and they should know that
how much candidates is required in the organisation. Recruitment and selection is the major
procedure for the company as it reduces the numerous mistakes like under qualified and
unmotivated employees.
 Training and development-
Providing Training and development is the responsibility of Human resource manager of Marks
and Spencer. This activity helps the employees to enhance their knowledge and performance by
increasing their ability through educating them. Training and development helps in boosting
morale and confidence of the individual.
 Managing relationship among employees-
The Human resource department of Marks and Spencer should manage the healthy and balanced
relationship among people so that both the employee and employer may contribute in achieving

the objectives of the Entity. The employees are the backbone of the organisation so it is
important to build a good relation between the people (Taylor, 2018).
P2 Describe the Strength and weakness of different approaches to recruitment and selection
Recruitment-
Recruitment is a procedure of filling the vacant job position by looking out the talented and
qualified employees for increasing the growth and development of the business (Hinton, Woods
and Zibarras, 2020).
 Strength of recruitment-
The strength of recruitment is that it attracts a higher qualified individual and increase the
productivity of the company. This process helps them to find out the right person for vacant job.
 Weakness of recruitment-
Recruitment process is not quite efficient while attracting the right person. Sometimes the
candidate are selected are not the right one for the job position. Recruitment process is a negative
procedure which eliminates the candidate by scanning the resume and CV of them.
Recruitment are of two types, internal recruitment and external recruitment.
1) Internal recruitment-
Internal recruitment means when the organisation fills the vacant position within the existing
workforce. Instead of inviting the applicants from outside the company, they hire internally. The
methods of internal recruitment are promotions, transfers, employee referrals, etc.
 Strength of Internal Recruitment-
Internal recruitment consumes the time by instant access of the employee and even they have
their track records. This method is cost effective because it does not includes resume screening,
posting, conducting interviews and short listing candidates.
 Weakness of Internal recruitment-
The weakness of internal recruitment is that they have the limited choice while placing the
candidate for job position. It increases the training cost as existing employee also needs a
training for the new job role.
2) External Recruitment-
External recruitment is a process of hiring the applicants from outside the organisation. The
methods of external recruitment is advertising, recruiters, walk-ins, job fairs, interns and many
other sources.

 Strength of External Recruitment-
Through External recruitment, Marks and Spencer gets the best quality of staff with new skills
and ideas. It expands the reach and attracts the right person with fresh talent.
 Weakness of External Recruitment-
Sometimes, this process hires the wrong candidate which are not capable for the job position.
External recruitment charges a high cost from Marks and Spencer as they need to post on various
sites for the requirement of staff. It is also a time consuming activity, the manager have to screen
the thousands of resumes to select the right person for the job.
Selection-
Selection is a procedure of choosing a suitable person to fill the vacant job position. It means
rejecting the unsuitable candidate and selecting the best person with perfect qualification and
capabilities to fill the job position (Barrick and Parks-Leduc, 2019).
 Strength of selection-
Selection process avoids the partiality while recruiting the employee and also eliminates the
individual who doesn't have a knowledge, skill and ability. It also helps to evaluate the different
applicants in terms of their work attitude, knowledge, experience, etc.
 Weakness of Selection-
The Selection process also have drawbacks it doesn't give a clear picture of the candidate and
also they are not honest. Sometimes the company may not select the right person for the job.
Selection Approach
1) Interview-
An Interview is conducted to select the appropriate candidate for the job position. It is designed
to gather the information through oral communication.
 Strength of Interview-
Strength of Interview is to collect the fresh and primary information through interview process. It
helps to create a relationship between the interviewee and interviewer.
 Weakness of Interview-
It is an incomplete process as written test is more important than Interview. A confusion may
also arise between the employee and interviewer as there is no evidence of what has been
discussed at interview.
2) Aptitude Test-

It is a test which is conducted by the company that evaluates the intelligence level of the
candidate. The aim to conduct the aptitude test is to determine strength and weakness of the
individual and their ability in accomplishing a particular task.
 Strength of Aptitude Test-
Aptitude test is a effective way to measure the intelligence of individual and ensures that the
candidate is right for the chosen job role.
 Weakness of Aptitude Test-
Candidates feels anxiety before aptitude test which causes illness and stress. The test doesn't
show the clear image of the candidate as doesn't reflect how they will perform in real world.
Task 2
P3 Describe the benefits of different Human resource management practices within Marks and
Spencer for both Employee and Employer
The benefits of human resource management practices within Marks and Spencer are as follows-
 Security to Employees-
Security to employees is one of the benefit which is provided by the Human resource
department. The security of employment is also beneficial for organisation as it helps to retain
the staff. The employer must provide a proper job security to individuals so that they work
efficiently and effectively. There should be a contract between them that after their work they
will go home and give time for their families.
 Resolve conflict-
Human resource management helps to manage the conflicts between the employee and
employer. The human resource team of Marks and Spencer acts as a mediator and solve the
problems by giving appropriate solutions. When there are superiors and subordinates in
organisation than conflicts may arise due to several reasons, even the healthiest relationship may
have disputes due to dissatisfaction or disagreements (Brewster, Mayrhofer and Farndale, 2018).
 Improving Turnover-
Human Resource Department of Marks and Spencer must improve the employee turnover as
high turnover reduces the reputation and overall efficiency of the company. The organisation
should be clear about the terms and condition, also establish a contract that define those terms
and conditions to improve the turnover (Santhanam, et. al., 2017).

 Improve Employee Performance-
It is a responsibility of Human resource management to improve the performance of the
employee and employer. The employee must be appreciated by employer so that they get highly
motivated and it leads to increase in their performance. A proper eye should be kept on the
overall performance of the employees.
 Training and development-
A Human resource manager should conduct a training and development programs for their
employee and employer to increase their performance, skills, ability, knowledge and capabilities
so that they work to achieve the goals of the organisation. This activity helps to understand and
perform their duties with maximum productivity.
P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of Different Human resource practices in terms of raising profit
and productivity of Marks and Spencer
The effectiveness of different human resource practices in terms of raising the profitability and
productivity of organisation are as follows-
 Reduce Turnover-
Human resource manager selects the best candidate for the job who is genuine for their careers
which increases that the employee will stick for a long period of time. Reducing Employee
turnover is very important for the company as it is costly for them to replace the candidate.
Reducing employee turnover helps in increasing the profit of Marks and Spencer as they don't
have to select a new person for the job. The productivity will be enhanced when less employee
will retain and work efficiently and effectively.
 Training and Development-
By providing training and development to the employees and employer the skills and knowledge
will get increased and they can handle any work with calmly and patiently which leads to
enhanced the productivity of Marks and Spencer. If employees give their great outcomes than the
profit of the company also increases (Mahomed and Rothmann, 2020).
 Conflict management-
Conflict management arises due to disputes, if there will be no conflict arise between the
employees and have a healthy atmosphere in the organisation it leads to increase in brand
reputation and if the reputation of the Marks and Spencer increases, it automatically results to

high profit and increases in productivity. So there should be no conflicts among the employer
and employee the workplace must be conflicts free.
 Improving performance of employee-
The manager must provide a proper tools and power to do their jobs. A frequent feedback should
be given to the employees so that they can work on their performance and give their best output
to company so that the profit and productivity of the organisation get raised. When Human
resource manager will be successful in improving performance of the employee it results in
increasing profitability and productivity of Marks and Spencer (Werner, 2021).
 Employees security-
Marks and Spencer should provide a job security to their staff so that they can work without any
problem or barrier. It is important to keep the employees happy so that they work in a effective
and efficient way. Providing job security increases the reputation of the company as the top
talent of the company feels safe and secure it also helps in increasing the profitability and
productivity of organisation.
Marks and Spencer can use Training and development practices to increase the productivity
and profitability of Organisation. Training and development helps in increasing the morale and
confidence of employees which helps in achieving the target. If target is met it further leads to
increase in profit and productivity of Organisation. With the help of training and development,
staff members can give their productive outcomes as they get knowledge about the products and
its features through which they can attract customers.
Task 3
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations in respect to influencing Human resource
management decision making.
Employee Relations
Each and Every Individual shares a bond with their co-workers, these relationship can be
either healthy and bad. The maximum time spends by employee is in workplace and their
colleagues are the ones with whom they spends maximum hours. There is no individual who can
work alone they need guidance of their colleagues for accomplishment of work (Mazzei, Butera
and Quaratino, 2019). There should be healthy relations between the employees as it increases
the productivity and also helps the company to achieve their goals and objectives. Marks and

Spencer should maintain the positive relations among the employees it keeps them loyal and
increases their involvement in work. The employee relations manager act as a mediator between
the manager and employee, try to resolve their conflicts and disputes.
Significance of Employee relations-
The importance of employee relations in respect to influencing Human resource management
decision making are as below-
 Increased Productivity-
Strong relationship between the manager and employee may leads to increase in productivity of
Marks and Spencer. If the relationship between the employer and employee are great, employee
feel satisfied and they are more productive at work. Human resource manager must take a
appropriate decision to build a strong relation between the superior and subordinate so that
employee feel free to ask any query or doubt and works smoothly (Vera, 2018).
 Increase loyalty-
Increase loyalty is one of the importances of the employee relations, as it boosts the loyalty
among the employees. It is important to increase the loyalty among the employer and manager if
loyalty increases the chance of retention of employees also increases which helps the company in
long run. A decision must be taken by the human resource manager to increase the loyalty and
trust between the employees by providing them a work together so that a faith can be establish
among them.
 Enhanced Motivation-
The employee should be highly motivated as unmotivated employee can takes an organisation in
lost productivity. Marks and Spencer must make sure that their staff must be motivated and their
morale should be boosted. Human resource manager can motivate the employees by appreciating
them for their work and make them to participate in decision making process.
 Growth and development-
A good relations between the superior and subordinate may contribute to increase in growth and
development of Marks and Spencer. If the employees have strong relationship they work
efficiently. Human resource manager must take a suitable decisions for the employees so that
they can contribute to increase in productivity and growth of the company (Unsal and Brodmann,
2020).

The Employee relation influence HR decision making process as for making the decision it
is important to participate and raise their opinions and share knowledge which encourages the
relationship among employer and employee and also encourage strong sense of teamwork among
staff members. If there is a negative relation between employees it can affect the profitability and
productivity of Company and they might also face severe loss.
P6 Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision-making.
There are various laws by which any organisation needs to abide by. The laws could be
Equal Pay Act, Health and Safety Act,Nationality Minimum Wage Act, Gender discrimination
Act etc. It is important for Marks and Spencer too, to abide by the laws of government and carry
on their activities smoothly and maintain a positive environment in the organisation by following
the rules and regulations, organisational ethics and protocols (Storey, 2016). If they violate the
laws then employees,government or any authority associated to the business can take legal action
against them and the company can be penalized high amount for going against the laws.
Laws that impacts HRM decision making are discussed below:
 Health and Safety Act,1974: It is important for every organisation to ensure and provide
proper safety and security to the members, so that they feel safe at the workplace. The
opted company provide full security in their work place and also provide job security to
the employees. They provide healthy environment and take care of hygiene by providing
sanitized working area. They provide health and medical facilities, offers various health
insurance policy so that the employee can work there freely with no tension and get
satisfaction by doing their assigned tasks.
 Equal Pay Act, 1963: This law states that management should pay fair remuneration
according to their performance. There may be no biasses among employees. Women and
men both considered same while paying to them no difference should be there on basis of
gender, any personal relations or issues so that employees can get what they deserved and
they had worked for. In context to Marks and Spencer they provide equal and fair
remuneration to their employees so that they get satisfied with it, and it also help HRM to
decide the remuneration on basis of their performance, calibre and capability so that they
can meet with their expectations.