UK College of Business HRM Report: Say it with Chocolate Case Study

This report analyzes the Human Resource Management (HRM) practices of the Say it with Chocolate Company, addressing various aspects of HR functions and their importance. It begins by discussing the purpose of HR functions, emphasizing planning, staffing, training, and performance appraisal, alongside the role of a human resource officer. The report then delves into the company's current selection methods, comparing their advantages and disadvantages with alternative approaches, and suggesting potential improvements. Furthermore, it creates a person specification for a specific role, explores suitable advertising mediums, and examines the company's approach to flexible working and employee motivation. The report also covers employee engagement strategies, including approaches to improve workplace communications, and the influence of employment legislation on HR decision-making. The report concludes with a comprehensive overview of the company's HRM strategies and recommendations for future growth.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION 1
TASK 1 1
1a) Discuss the purpose of HR functions and its importance to the organisation
given its current problems and future plans for further growth 1
1b) Explain the role and responsibilities of human resource officer 3
1c) Advantages and disadvantages of the current selection methods used by
the organization and compare it to other approaches of selection methods
5
1d) Potential improvements that could be made to the current selection
methods 7
TASK 2 9
2a) Create a person specification for the role 9
2b) Provide a rationale for a suitable medium for placing the advertisement.
9
2c) Explain the advantages and disadvantages of the previous methods of
advertising jobs in the Organization 10
2d) 6 questions to be asked at the interview for the Receptionist, which can
help to improve the selection decision making process 11
TASK 3 11
3a) Microsoft offer apprenticeship and graduate training schemes. Evaluate the
benefits to both the organisation and employees of such schemes 11
3b) Explain what developmental opportunities are available to staff once they
are in a permanent job role13
3c) Evaluate the benefits of the approach Microsoft has taken in respect of
flexible working practices 13
3d) Explain how Microsoft motivates its workers through its job design and
systems of reward 14

TASK 4 14
4a)What is meant by the term employee engagement? 14
4b) Why is employee engagement an integral strategy of employee relations?
15
4c) Identify some of the key approaches to engaging workers discussed in the
summit and explain their importance in terms of improving communications in
the workplace 16
4d) Identify the main pieces of employment legislation in the UK and explain
how they influence human resources decision making 17
CONCLUSION 18
REFERENCES 19

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management (HRM) play a very important role in ensuring the success
of the Say it with Chocolate Company. It is helpful for improving the product image
which is effective of this organisation to run their business for long time (Hendry, 2012).
This report will explain the roles and responsibilities of the human resource manager
and also defining the purpose of its functions. This project is also explaining the current
selection methods used by the Say it with Chocolate and compare it to other
approaches of selection methods. This report is also creating person specification
(human resource management (HRM), 2018.). Human resource management is the
process of recruiting, selecting, providing proper orientations and inductions parts
proper training and developing skills. It belongs all the function of HRM and it is
distributive in nature that means it is present in all industries. It is essential for
maintaining relationship with organization. This company work on all the functions of
human resource management. This firm distinguishing the organization need and make
a business plan of action and achieve their goals in HRM division.
TASK 1
1a) Discuss the purpose of HR functions and its importance to the organisation
given its current problems and future plans for further growth
It is important to have a proper management of HR Department as it is important in
operating any company. The importance of human resource management is that the
company must now give answers to the changes experienced in society in general and
the world of work in particular. Human resources is the process of hiring and developing
employee’s and it includes managing job analyses, recruiting the right people for the
particular job, providing effective training for improvising the work capacity of worker,
providing bonus benefits, incentives, evaluating staff performance and communication
with whole employees (What is Human Resources, 2017). The purpose of HR functions
to manage whole organisation (Costen, 2012).
Say it with Chocolate is small business based in North Yorkshire formed by a small
team and the role of human resources officer is to make an effective plan for the
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development of the company and also to recruit the best workers. Some major functions
of human resources are given below.
Planning it is the part of management. It is the process of thinking in advance like what
is to be done in the future, how to do, where to do (Costen, 2012). Say it with Chocolate
Company has to make an effective plan for future forecasting, need and requirement.
This organisation is always made better plan for achieve their business goal.
Staffing - it is related to the recruitment and selections of the candidates. Say it with
Chocolate organisation needs to hire qualified and knowledgeable, skilful people and
then select them accordingly. It is also helpful for identifying right person for achieve the
goal of the company (Costen, 2012). It is also the function of management.
Training and development - Say it with Chocolate company is also providing training
their employees for improve their skills and it is also the part of human resource so
management is responsible for this which time and how many employees need to
training (Costen, 2012).
Performance appraisal - it is important function; it shows the overall performance of
the employees and Say it with Chocolate also evaluate their worker performance time to
time. It helps to evaluate the potential of an individual. There are many strategies which
are implemented by HR manager such as the promotion of employees and providing
them recognition for their contribution in company. It is essential for solving problem of
their employees so this company is also focus on their current problems and making a
effective plan for future growth of Say it with Chocolate and the people achieve their
goal in better way (Hendry, 2012). Human resource management solve their issues
regarding to salary, organisation development, safety, worker motivations, performance
management and so others (Costen 2012). HR plays a very vital role in managing the
people and environment where people doing their task.
The main function of HR of Say it with Chocolate is to hire new employees for vacant
positions. They always motivate their staff members to achieve target goals of company
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but sometimes they face problems regarding interview process. As HR of a company,
short-listing the applicants is very crucial so that it will help them to finalize the
employee for vacant position.
1b) Explain the role and responsibilities of human resource officer
Human Resource Manager plays a very important role in success of Say it with
Chocolate. This company focuses on their employee’s performance as well as
managing whole staff in effective manner.
There are some major responsibilities of the senior management that is given below:
Recruitment and Selection - it is the main function of HR department in Say it with
Chocolate. It is the process through which the organization reduces the cost of mistake
and hiring the qualified employee for the vacant position and it is the most important
task of HR. It has to be done very carefully by the HR manager of the company as it will
help them to increase their services in the industry.
Managing Employee relations - To maintain the relationship with employees is the
crucial function which HR performs. HR of Say it with Chocolate also performs some
activities in order to know their employees closely at personal as well as professional
level. This process will help the firm to make their employee stronger and confident
which can be very beneficial for them in achieving their objective.
Training and development - These activities are done to increase the level of
performance and achieve all the targets of a company in well-defined period. Giving
them training will also improve their working pattern which can be useful in delivering
the best service to their customers and can achieve good revenue.
Orientation - It is another important role of HR and his role is to support the new
employee to adjust him in his job profile. This program includes the objective and goals
of a company and how the employees achieve those targets. This will help the company
to maintain the proper function and structure of them.
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Performance appraisal - Say it with Chocolate company manager is responsible for
evaluating their performance of their employees at individual level and also transfer the
feedback to their top management officers (Costen, 2012).
Employees engagement - The Say it with Chocolate organisation line manager are
responsible for guiding their staff and it is very important role for organisation and it is
the process of providing right direction to their staff (Costen, 2012).
Maintenance of discipline among the workers - This company manager maintains
discipline with their workplace and creating healthy environment in organisation
(Costen, 2012). It is very effective role and line manager of this company is responsible
for managing and controlling their whole corporation and implement HR policies and
procedures.
Compensation management - Say it with Chocolate company seniors manages is
responsible for their employees payment received in time as per their work performance
(Costen 2012). It is the duty of line manager to provide salary their worker to timely and
increasing the pay structure of the staff. It is also for providing the wages, bonus to their
employee, and is duty of HR manager to managing compensation system in this
company.
These are the responsibilities of the human resource manager, it is very important and
play a very effective role in whole Say it with Chocolate. This firm’s main motive is to
earn more profitability ratio and handling their human resources department in proper
way. It is important for HR of organization to plan effective strategies for them, which
can help them to achieve their targets. It can be achieved by proving special training on
development of their employees to improve their skills. He should also maintain a good
relationship with them.
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1c) Advantages and disadvantages of the current selection methods used by the
organization and compare it to other approaches of selection methods
The current method which Say It with Chocolate is using is their own assessment test
on English comprehension and maths which the candidate has to secure 50% marks to
qualify for the next level which is the interview. After clearing the interview, the only they
will be eligible to work with the organization. Human Resource Department is
responsible for recruiting new employees and selecting skilful employees.
Advantages: The advantages of current selection procedures are very effective and
helpful to find qualified people. Every department employees understand the current
and future requirements or their areas, which can be very useful for them (Costen,
2012). This process will help them to choose the best candidate for their firm.
Disadvantages: Disadvantages of this process can include factors, such as; everyone is
not fine with this type of test taken by the organization for recruitment process. It can
give a negative impact on them. To avoid this situation, they can opt for some new
ideas for recruiting candidates that can help them to get the best employee. They can
professionally design psychometric tests, work sample, structured interviews with set
questions and panel interviews (Estampe and et.al. 2013).
Human resource department is responsible for recruiting new employees and selecting
skilful employee. A compressive selections and recruiting are involved in developing
the guidelines for selecting new peoples. Every department employees understand the
current and future requirement or their area (Costen, 2012). So Say it with Chocolate
company also follow the current selection process and then hiring new candidates as
per the firms need. It is valuable aspect for corporation growth; for those reasons they
have to select the best candidates for achieve the goal of the company. If they are not
selections the best new talent people so they do not achieve their goal in properly
manner.
The comparison of the recruitment and selection process of the Say it with Chocolate
with other method is mainly to focus on their selection procedures. If they hire the best
candidates for their organization than they can get a good pay but if they lack in this
process, it can affect their business activity and they are not able to achieve their
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targets. This organisation has proper HR department and efficient human resource
manager who are knowledgeable and they identifying the right people for the need
within their company. This firm have effective human resource department and every
section work in proper way. Nowadays many firms adopt modern approaches. It is very
effective and helps to achieve the goal of the organisation. A Job description it is the
systematic approaches includes all the details related to the jobs and responsibilities. It
is advantageous to hire the right candidates and these approaches are mentally
preparing prospective candidates to be ready for the written test or for other tests that
the Human resource manager could plan. The disadvantages of these approaches is
that at some moment there are people that do not fit with the job descriptions and still
try to apply for that job and fail to obtain it.
Chocolate Company Website - It is the process of many organisations to create their
own site. This process makes easy for the people to find out their job vacancies that are
posted in their website.
Advantages: This process is easy to implement and helps the company to save its time.
In this way candidates can upload their resume on their website.
Disadvantage: This process can be very cost effective for the organization to
implement. It will also require high maintenance which is not possible for them.
Other than this there are some more procedure which can be opted by the company to
implement in their system, such as, professionally designed psychometric tests, work
sample, structured interviews with set questions and panel interviews. There are other
approaches as well that can be used by them, such as,
 By Psychometric Tests: They can use this method to measure individuals'
mental capabilities and behavioural style. This method is very useful in
measuring the capability of the candidate for a particular job vacancy.
 By taking Structured Interviews: By taking these interviews they can easily
select the best candidate as per their requirements. The aim of this approach is
to ensure that each interview is presented with exactly the same questions in the
same order.
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1d) Potential improvements that could be made to the current selection methods
Selection is the process of selecting the most suitable and knowledgeable people for a
particular position from group of applicants. The main purpose of this current selections'
method is to make a decision for who can be the most successful performer in their job.
Say it with Chocolate need to improve their current selection procedures (Hendry.
2012). It is necessary for searching actual potential of the candidates so they make an
effective plan and followings some different steps. If this company selecting unskilled
labour for specific jobs so some creates problems so they take step like providing
effective training to their employees. This organisation needs to make some important
steps for selecting candidates. They can take a screening interview, written test,
personal interview, background investigations, medical test and then permanent job
offer. Each step are help worker to get better skill about their candidates, they know the
abilities of the people, and it’s very useful to take decision related to choosing the right
person. This process is help to searching skilled person for growth of the business.
Potential improvements that could be made to the current selection methods are as
follows:
In Written test: it is also very effective process it is very simple and save their time but
this organisation need to improve this procedure. They conduct their written test only on
those people who are eligible in according to their company's need like qualification,
experience, skills.
For the written test, company can set their questions related to the firm which can help
them to get appropriate candidates for them. It will contain content analyse the quality of
the employee and to check whether they are eligible for the post or not. And will they be
able to achieve company's target.
For Interview process: In this process they can make improvement by modifying their
questions that has been asked by them in the interview. They can make some strong
questions through which they are able to check their capability and their strength.
For Say it with Chocolate Company, it is crucial to implement the best selection and
recruiting process to hire new candidates. They can take personal interview which can
help them to personally communicate with the candidates or they can take written test
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to evaluate them. All these processes will help them to choose the most suitable
employee for their organization.
Say it with Chocolate should work on their strength and weakness in order to stay in top
position in the market. For this they have to improve their weaknesses, for example,
they can improve their product's quality and its design to attract more clients. This will
help them to increase their customer rate. It will also help them to build a good
reputation and brand name in the target industry.
TASK 2
2a) Create a person specification for the role
Company Say it with Chocolate
Location High street, London UK
Job role Receptionist
Responsibilities Handling customer, keeping record
Experience Minimum 2 years reception experience
Qualifications HND
Skills Excellent communication skills, both verbal
and written;
Worked previously as a receptionist in
hotel industry.
Have completed my diploma in computers
and English language which is very helpful
for a receptionist job.
Knowledge of Microsoft Excel and Word;
Strong organisational/prioritising skills.
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This is the person specification which is very important for recruiting new people in
organisation every company. For person specification for job of a receptionist, it should
be considered very carefully that he/she is fulfilling all requirements which are needed
by organization. Ideal candidates should have qualities like he/she should be able to
answer and forward phone calls, sorting and distributing post, completing administrative
paperwork as well as helping to provide customer service support. As it is the job of
receptionist, it is very important for the selected candidate to have all these qualities in
him (Gallo and et.al. 2014).
2b) Provide a rationale for a suitable medium for placing the advertisement
There are number of advertising media like print media, outdoor, product integrations,
but Say it with Chocolate choose more suitable and latest digital advertising for
advertising their job vacancies (Gallo and et.al. 2014). It is referred with innovation
using new technology. Digital advertisement includes internet, mobile phones, media
devices which is very useful for putting their job vacancy information of their business.
This organisation aims to increase their sales in within three months, so they are using
effective media for their advertisement (Hendry. 2012). Say it with Chocolate can use
digital media such as, Facebook for promoting their advertisement in job vacancy in
market.
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