Human Resource Management Report: Microsoft, Chocola Fantastica HRM

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Human Resource Management (HRM) principles and practices, using Microsoft and Chocola Fantastica as case studies. It begins by outlining the objectives and functions of HRM, emphasizing the importance of recruitment, selection, training, and development. The report then delves into the specific HRM practices employed by Microsoft, including training and internship programs, recruitment and selection methods, and employee engagement strategies. It also covers the benefits of these practices for both employees and the organization. The report further analyzes various recruitment and selection methods, such as interviewing and cognitive ability tests, and suggests potential improvements for Chocola Fantastica's selection process. Finally, it explores the application of HRM practices in the context of work and concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
LO1..................................................................................................................................................3
Objectives and functions of Human Resource Management.................................................3
Various methods of recruitment and selection.......................................................................5
LO2..................................................................................................................................................6
HRM practices followed in Microsoft....................................................................................6
LO3................................................................................................................................................10
Employee Engagement in Microsoft ...................................................................................10
LO4................................................................................................................................................12
Use of practises of Human Resource Management in context of work...............................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15
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INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management refers to the process of hiring, selecting, providing the
opportunities for training and development of employees, performance appraisal, deciding
compensation and other benefits like perks etc. It also includes motivating the workers and
maintaining effective relationship with employees. Department of human resource is responsible
to perform different functions that helps to achieve the goals of the company (Kaur, 2015). The
Report is based on Chocola Fantastica which is located in UK, it provides chocolate based
greeting cards. It operates in South Wales, England. Microsoft Corporation is a technology firm.
The Report will outline purpose and importance of HRM, effectiveness of various HRM
practises. Further, it will also describe affect of internal and external factors on decision-making
of HRM and use of HRM practises in context of work.
Company Background
Chocola Fantastica is based in South Wales, UK. Company deals in offering presents and
chocolate greeting cards to the customer's across the country. The founder of company is master
chocolatior There are few employees that create specialised gift orders.
Microsoft Corporation is a multinational firm that deals in computer software, consumer
electronics, internet, computer hardware etc. It was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen in year
1975. Total revenue of the firm in year 2018 is around $ 125.8 billion. There are nearly 1,44,000
employees working in Microsoft.
LO1
Objectives and functions of Human Resource Management.
Purpose of HRM - There are various objectives of HRM. These are as follows:
 One of the main purpose of HRM is to hire skilled and talented workforce with the help
of effective recruitment and selection methods.
 Another major objective of HRM is to provide proper training and development
opportunities to the employees that will help to improve productivity and efficiency of
staff members. Human Resource department of Chocola Fantastica helps the organisation
to recruit talented employees to fulfil the vacant job position in administration and
production department. This will help to promote growth and success of the company.
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 Major purpose of Human Resource Management is to improve the effeciency of
employees by providing proper training and development to workers(Hurrell, 2016).
 It has become difficult for companies to hire and retain skilled employees due to increase
in level of competition. It is main purpose of Human Resource department to align
individual objectives of employees with organisational goals for improving the
productivity and to gain competitive advantage over competitors.
Functions of HRM
There are different functions of HRM. These are described below-
Managerial:
Planning-
Human Resource Manager is responsible for developing plans to determine shortage and
excess of employees in different departments for a particular time period. Example- Department
of human resource in Chocola Fantastica will develop plan to forecast need of workers in
administration, production department etc.
Organizing-
Human Resource Manager plays an important role in determining the structure of
company to perform various functions. Department of human resource will assign different
activities to employees, delegate authority to perform the tasks etc. Example- Human Resource
Manager of Chocola Fantastica will assign different activities to workers who are working in
different departments.
Operative:
Training and development-
It is one of the major function of the management. Human Resource department is
responsible for conducting training programmes like on and off the job training methods for
existing as well as for new employees to develop necessary skills that are required for
performing job. Proper training will help Chocolate Fantastica to improve knowledge of
employees and help them to attain organisational goals.
Working conditions-
Better working conditions are essential to improve efficiency of the employees because
conditions at workplace affects the level of motivation and job satisfaction level of staff.
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Manager of companies should take measures for safety, heath and welfare of employees. This
will also help to reduce labour turnover in the firm.
Advisory:
Top management-
Personnel Manager plays an important role in providing advice to top management for
developing employee programmes, procedures and policies. Management also helps to evaluate
the impact of these policies, training programmes on performance of workers. Human Resource
Manager of Chocolate Fantastica helps the owner in formulating policies, programmes for the
employees.
Departmental heads-
Another important advisory function of Human Resource Manager is to assist various
departments in job analysis, manpower planning, hiring and selection, performance appraisal of
workforce (Wolniak, 2018).
Various methods of recruitment and selection.
Selection:
It is the process of selecting most appropriate candidate who are having right capabilities
and qualification for the vacant job position in the organisation. There are various methods for
selecting candidates. Such as-
Interviewing-
It is a method of selecting suitable candidates. It can be described as process between
people in which interviewer asks different types of questions from interviewee.It may take place
in person or face-to-face. Communication technologies like telephone, videoconferencing etc.
supports the conversation between various parties.
Advantages- The process helps to determine whether candidate is possessing required social and
communication skills or not that are necessary to perform the job (Kaur, 2015).
Disadvantage-
 Interviewer have to take decisions within few minutes.
 It is a costly and time consuming method.
Cognitive Ability Test and assessment test -
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Cognitive test refers to the test that is conducted by organisation to measure the
cognitive skills of candidates in a particular area such as spatial awareness, mathematics, verbal
reasoning. It helps the firm to evaluate future aptitude of candidates for future job. Assessment
test is a general test is a
Advantages-
 These tests cannot be easily influenced by test taker. It does not require huge amount of expenditure.
Disadvantage-
 Cognitive and assessment test may involve discrimination among candidates on the basis
of race or gender.
Currently, Chocolate Fantastica is using cognitive ability test, assessment test checking
references of candidates and then taking interview for hiring candidate for vacant job position.
Potential improvements in selection process of Chocolate Fantastica:
There are various methods used by the firm such as interview process followed by firm,
process of interview is majorly informal process for 15 minutes. Process of taking test is not
conducted in fair manner. Firstly, management of Chocolate Fantastica should include oral
communication test in the process of selecting candidates. Selection should not be made only on
the basis of written comprehension and maths. Further, other methods should also be included
like physical examination etc. This will help to assess capability of candidates to perform future
job.
To ensure fairness of test, feedback should be provided regarding performance of
candidates in the test. Hiring Manager should conduct test in fair manner (Hurrell, 2016).
LO2
HRM practices followed in Microsoft
HRM practices are described as the policies and system that influences the employees'
attitude, beliefs, behaviour, performance and productivity. The HRM practices are aligned to
achieve organisational goals by optimum utilization of employees. Following HRM practices
are:
TRAINING AND INTERNSHIPS:- Training and Internship programs are crucial for
growth and development of employees. Getting the employees trained for the new trends and
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enhancing their knowledge towards certain aspects is the aim of training and internships.
Microsoft is regularly conducting training and internship programs to improve the performance
of their employees. Training schemes given by Microsoft according to Cloud Accelerator is they
have launched limited time & team efforts.
Benefit to the Employees:- Their are various benefits of training and internship program to the
employees(Vanhala and Ritala, 2016).
Productivity:-Training enhances greater productivity in employees, a trained employee
is more productive and produce high quality of output. In Microsoft all the employees are given
trainings irrespective of their fields. They train employees with great technological advancement
so that the employees are capable to deal with changes and challenges that will eventually
enhance the performance and productivity of the employees.
Higher Morale:- Proper training to the employees boosts their moral, as a good training
program helps in moulding employee's attitude and behaviour to achieve assistance for
organisational action and to acquire loyalty & cooperation. Microsoft's training sessions are
good that boosts their employee's morale and enthusiasm that assist the company in lowering
absenteeism, turnover and complaints.
Certificate & Knowledge:- Internships provide certificates and knowledge to the interns
and later when they apply for a permanent job in any company, this adds to their experiences.
Internship at Microsoft is an great exposure for an individual. The company provide certificates
that will be beneficial for getting a job at any company and the knowledge gained at the time of
internship will always be with the person. Microsoft try to make their internship programs fun
and full of knowledge(both practical and theoretical), this improves performance of employees.
Benefit to the Organisation:- The following shows the benefit of training and internship
programs to the company (Hassan, 2016).
Quality:- Trained employees have the capability to produce quality products. As training
programs ensures that every individual of the company must be at same level. Microsoft
provides training session to every employee of the company, whether a manager or a technical
worker in their respective fields so they all can excel in their particular task. It helps in
improving skills and knowledge of employees which can result in increasing productivity of the
company.
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Partnership with local colleges & universities:- Hiring interns from different
universities of different areas, allows the company to build a broader network. This helps the
organisation to get the best and hidden talent and also creates brand recognition. Microsoft visit
various colleges for internship programs and conduct a exam based on the candidate's field and
chooses best out of them, by this way they are hiring the best for their organisation that will help
in enhancing the performance and productivity of Microsoft (Holm and Haahr, 2018).
RECRUITMENT & SELECTION:- Recruitment method includes the process of
drawing, short-listing, choosing and appointing the right candidate for the job. Microsoft is using
online method of recruitment for filling the vacancies within the organisation.
Benefit to the Employee
Online recruitment method are trending now a days as every person is socially active. It
is flexible for the candidates to look for the job vacancies online through various applications
like Cognitive Group- Microsoft Talent Solutions, Jobs Portal Bristol, Jobs Portal London used
by Microsoft to hire employees. It is accessible for the candidates as they can know about the
information irrespective of where they are in the world, just with the help of internet connection
they can gather all the details.
Benefit to the Organisation
Online recruitment process are cost effective for the organisation. As when Microsoft
post a ad on Facebook for job vacancy, they are paying little and in return they are getting much
more like a large audience is being targeted and the company is saving their precious money.
Online recruitment is really beneficial as the candidates can be met immediately when required.
The company can reach to bigger audience and can attract potential and talented candidates for
the job(Salimans and et.al., 2016).
Selection is a procedure of picking the right candidate , most eligible for the vacant job position
in the company. Microsoft uses Interview method as the selection tool for the choosing the right
candidate for the job.
Benefit to the Employee
Interview process is beneficial for the employee as it provides employment opportunity to
the candidates who are searching for jobs. Interviews helps the candidates to present and
communicate their views and opinions to the employer. In Microsoft, the interview process is
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held in such manner that it develops the candidates confidence and the candidates
subconsciously create skills that help them tackle other interviews.
Benefit to the Organisation
By the interview process, employer collect the necessary information about the candidate.
Interviewer get to know about the candidate's educational & cultural background,
communication skills, work experience, interests, personality traits, behaviour etc. In Microsoft
there is a channel of interviews, one after another to interview the candidates, so that they can
collect needful information that will help them in selecting the right candidate(Timms and
et.al.,2015).
FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENTS:- Flexible working arrangements includes
Flexible time that gives the employees relaxation to change from full time to part time work,
Change the working hours that fit the employees and home working etc. Microsoft offers flexible
arrangements to their employees like first “set up a trial period” that means managers and the
employee mutually agree to review the performance in every six months. Second is “ Making
sure that employee's have the right technology” that means the employee have access to right
amount of technology that is needed for smooth flow of work. Microsoft makes sure that there is
open communication in between employee and employer to build trust.
Benefit to the Employee's
Employee's are benefited from the working arrangements in Microsoft. They are happy,
satisfied and motivated with the flexible working in the company(Mone and London,2018).
Benefit to the Organisation
Microsoft is benefited as the employee's are productive and loyal towards the company.
The company has lower turnover and absenteeism.
JOB DESIGN:- Job Design is a important function of HRM that includes the content,
method & relationship of jobs that are needed to satisfy organisational requirements as well as
personal requirements. Techniques of Job Design are job rotation, job enlargement, job
enrichment etc. In Microsoft every technique is smartly used like the oldest person with required
qualification are part of Job Enrichment. Microsoft motivates it's employees through it's job roles
as the company design their job role in very unique way by clarifying every role of every single
person in the organisation. Everyone is clear about their job role whether a worker or a manager.
The company rotate employees to promote flexibility, it develops motivation, increases the
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employee's outlook, enhance productivity and thus organisations performance in increased. Job
design of Microsoft was so flexible that it motivates the employee's and boost their morale as the
employee's know that there is fair evaluation and on that basis they are promoted or rotated.
LO3
Employee Engagement in Microsoft
In today's world, Employee Engagement is beyond games and activities. Engaged
employee looks as a whole for the organisation, this enhances decision making and improves the
productivity of employees and thus adding to the development of company. It is more of a
mental & emotional connection of employees with the work place that effects the profitability,
turnover, revenues, market share etc. An engaged employee is fully indulged in their work and
take positive actions to improve the organisation reputation and interests (Albrecht and et.
al.,2015).
Importance of Employee Engagement
Open Communication:- For keeping a balance in any relationship, communication is
must. Employee's spend their majority of days in working, so it essential to make them feel
comfortable. There is one way to conduct surveys in which employees have to submit feedback
and they will be anonymous. Microsoft foster open communication so that every employee
participate in decision-making and engage in the activities of the company. This way Microsoft
will have maximum employee participation and multiple solution for problems. So the company
can choose the best possible solution for working on the problem.
Employee engagement also influences the decision-making process of the professionals
working in human resource department. HR Manager should take an executive leadership
approach to determine and investing in the methods to improve engagement tactics.
Show Recognition:- Simply giving recognition will also motivate the employees. This is
a simple gesture that will boost the morale of the employees and appraising in public will also
inspire the team members. In Microsoft employees are rewarded and appraised on monthly basis.
Employees are appraised at the meeting held at the end of the month and that is so employee's
have maintained loyalty towards the company. This way they will be motivated and loyal to the
company and their performance and productivity will be increased.
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Constant Feedback:- Frequent feedback to the employees like appraising at great work
and criticising when they can improve themselves, so that they can learn from that and grow.
Microsoft provides guidance and tips to their employee's so that they improve themselves. In this
manner employees will know about their performance what they have achieved and how far they
need to go to achieve the target.
Invest In Employee's:- Investing in employee's means making their lives stress free and
happy, provide side projects that are of their interest, support professional development.
Microsoft offers gym membership to their employees so that they stay fit and healthy that will
lead to confidence and enthusiasm(Hall, 2016). In Microsoft the ideas are collected from all the
team members, so that they feel like they are a part of a team and this enhances decision-making.
This boosts their morale and enhances their productivity.
Key Approaches to engage with workers discussed in the Submit 2018
Open Communication
The main approaches chosen by Microsoft to engage with the workers is open
communication. The company leaders acknowledged that to drive growth & innovation the
Microsoft should foster open and free communication. The leaders at the Submit said that free
communication between employee and employer of the organisation will improve employee
engagements as the employee's spend most of the time in working and less time in interacting
with the employer. So open communication that is weekly activities and problem solving
activities will help this problem(Bell and Machin, 2018).
Transform the workforce
Transforming workforce that is building such skills in the employee's that drive and
support change. The workforce should be such that they actively participate in every decision the
company is taking. They accept changes willingly, as they are good for employees personal
growth and organisational development as well.
Key elements of UK Employment Legislation
National Minimum Wages Act 1988:- This Act is followed across UK. It states that for people
ageing 25 years and above will have minimumwages of £ 8.21, and £ 7.70 for age group of 21-
24 years, £ 6.15 for 18-20 years of age, etc. This law can influence the decision makibng of HR
by determining the return on investment which is done by the company, if the employees are not
able to give more investment than the money invested, the business can suffer a loss, so company
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must make sure that recruitment and selection must be done in such a manner that a candidate
have all those skills which are required for the vacancy. Human resource department should offer
minimum wages to all the employee's that are working in the organisation. In case if
management does not offer minimum wages then employee's will leave the organisation.
Equal Pay Act 1970:- It is the act of the parliament. It states that equal pay for men and women
and on same terms and condition of employment. The companies if not following this law will
be found guilty as they would be differentiating on the basis of gender this will effect the HR
decisions(Bell and Machin, 2018). HR department of company must consider that the employees
are being paid in a significant manner that it is above the minimum wages that are being assigned
by the legislation, this can prevent any unlawful activity in the company.
As per Equal Pay Act, human resource department should provide wages and salary in
fair manner to the employee's. There must be no discrimination on the basis of the factor like
religion etc.
LO4
Use of practises of Human Resource Management in context of work.
Person specification refers to the description of experience, qualification, skills and other
attributes that should be present in the candidate for performing job role (Huemann, Keegan and
Turner, 2018). Person speciation for the post of receptionist is as follows-
Chocola Fantastica Person Specification
Job Title Receptionist
Date 21/09/19
Essential Desirable Met
Qualification
High school diploma Yes
Certificate of computer course Yes
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Experience
2 year experience in the field of receptionist. Yes
1 year experience of working on computer
system.
Yes
Skills and abilities
Interpersonal skills
Yes
Excellent written and oral communication
skills.
Yes
Time management skills. Yes
Current approach of advertising job in the company
Currently, Chocolate Fantastica is using the following methods for advertising vacant job
position. These are as follows :
Internally within company -
It is a method of hiring candidates in which Human Resource Manager posts the vacant
job position through circulars only for those employee’s that are currently working in the
organisation.
Currently, Chocolate Fantastica is fulfilling vacant job positions in different departments
like production, administration etc. Example- Company may hire existing employees, their
friends and family members. Advantage and disadvantage of using this method are as follows :
Benefits :
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 Conveying information regarding vacant job position is considered as an easy and simple
method. It will help employees to easily understand the jobs on which employees can
apply.
 It is a fast process of hiring candidates for vacant job position (Ekwoaba, Ikeije and
Ufoma, 2015).
Disadvantage :
 Employees that are hired by the management may have difference in their way of
thinking and in opinion from other employee’s. Circulars may involve difficult jargon that may result in misunderstandings.
Noticeboard outside main entrance of the organisation -
There are different ways of advertising the vacant job position in the organization. There
are various internal channels like providing information through e-mail, updating career section,
posting vacant job on the website of the firm etc (Duckworth and Yeager, 2015).
Currently, Chocolate Fantastica physical is using noticeboard as a method of direct
recruitment by specifying the details at outside entrance gate of the firm. Workers that are
recruited through noticeboard are known as budli workers. There are various benefits and
limitations of this method such as :
Advantage :
 It is one of the cost effective method for hiring candidates for casual vacancies.
 Firm does not require to invest funds for advertising vacant jobs (DeVaro, 2016).
Disadvantage :
 It may possible that candidate selected by the firm may not be appropriate for vacant job.
 There are chances that existing workers may not be able to cooperate with new
employee’s due to the difference in behaviour etc. This type of problem mainly occurs
when candidate outside the organisation is recruited for higher job position.
Recommendation for placing job advertisement.
Chocolate Fantastica should use external method for placing the advertisement for job of
receptionist.
Social media -
Online recruiting plays an important role in making connections with peoples and also
assist the firm to find most suitable candidate. Hiring Manager of Chocolate Fantastica should
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use different social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter etc. for
advertising the post of receptionist. This will help the company to connect with skilled
candidates online (Dany and Torchy, 2017).
Chocolate Fantastica should provide all the relevant information related with vacant job
along with this, Manager should also provide content showing that, recruiting company is a great
place to work. This will help to attract large number of candidates for receptionist job. This
method of advertisement will provide various benefits like it is a best way to connect with
talented candidates. LinkedIn will assist the firm to view complete information and work of
candidates. It will also help the company to filter out bad candidates by viewing the content they
are sharing on social media platforms etc. Further, it is one of the cost effective method for
hiring candidates as there is no need to invest money for marketing campaigns etc. (Chelladurai
and Kerwin, 2018).
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be said that the main purpose of HRM is to hire skilled and
talented candidates that will be helpful in achieving organisational goals and objectives. And
giving them training and development opportunities will improve their efficiency and
productivity. Chocola Fantastica will forecast the need of employees and then develop plans for
the company. The HRM practices that are being followed at Microsoft includes internship,
training programs, recruitment & selection, and flexible work arrangements. Organization uses
online recruitment process for hiring candidates as it address large number of people and
interview for selection. The report further concludes that Microsoft aims to have happy and
satisfied employees that are loyal to the company. For engaging with employees Microsoft use
open communication, collaboration, transformation of the workforce. Lastly this report
concludes that, legislation acts like Minimum Wages Act and Equal Pay Act can affect the HR
decision making.
REFERENCES
Books and Journals -
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Chelladurai, P. and Kerwin, S., 2018. Human resource management in sport and recreation.
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Salimans, T., and et.al., 2016. Improved techniques for training gans. In Advances in neural
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