Human Resource Management Report: Chocola Fantastica Case Study

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HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
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Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................5
SECTION 1.................................................................................................................................6
EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF HR FUNCTION WITH ITS CURRENT
PROBLEMS AND FUTURE PLANS FOR FUTURE GROWTH......................................................6
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF CURRENT SELECTION METHODS USED BY CHOCOLA
FANTASTICA......................................................................................................................... 8
POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR CHOCOLA FANTASTICA TO ENHANCE ITS SELECTION
PROCESS............................................................................................................................. 10
SECTION 2...............................................................................................................................11
PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR RECEPTIONIST......................................................................11
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF INTERNAL RECRUITMENT METHODS USED BY
CHOCOLA FANTASTICA.......................................................................................................13
RECOMMEND WHERE THE ADVERTISEMENT FOR THE VACANCY OF RECEPTIONIST
WOULD BE PLACED AND WHY............................................................................................15
SECTION 3...............................................................................................................................17
EVALUATE BENEFITS OF MICROSOFT GRADUATE TRAINING SCHEMES AND INTERNSHIPS
TO ORGANIZATIONS AND EMPLOYEES...............................................................................17
IDENTIFY AND EVALUATE THE BENEFITS OF FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS FOR
STAFF TO MICROSOFT AND ITS EMPLOYEES......................................................................19
HOW MICROSOFT MOTIVATES ITS WORKERS THROUGH THE DESIGNED JOB ROLES........20
SECTION 4...............................................................................................................................22
EXPLAIN EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND ITS IMPORTANCE IN EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE
RELATIONS AT MICROSOFT................................................................................................22
CRITICALLY EVALUATE THE KEY APPROACHES TO ENGAGING WORKERS AND IMPROVING
COMMUNICATIONS AT THE WORKPLACE..........................................................................24
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IDENTIFY THE KEY ELEMENTS OF UK EMPLOYMENT LEGISLATION EXPLAINING THEIR
INFLUENCE ON HR DECISION-MAKING...............................................................................25
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 27
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 28
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INTRODUCTION
Human resource management plays a significant role in maintaining effective relations with
the employees at the workplace and managing staff efficiently with the help of different HR
practices such as recruitment, selection, training, compensation, etc. (Noe et al. 2017) This
assignment is focused on understanding the purpose and scope of HRM in an organization
and its importance in achieving business goals. The report determines the effectiveness of
elements of HRM and the internal and external factors that affect the HR decisions in the
business.
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SECTION 1
EXPLAIN THE PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF HR FUNCTION WITH ITS
CURRENT PROBLEMS AND FUTURE PLANS FOR FUTURE GROWTH
Human resource management can be defined as the practice of recruiting and selecting the
best employees for the organization, providing them with adequate training and
development opportunities, maintaining effective communications and employer-employee
relations at the workplace and thus, managing the workforce efficiently to achieve the
desired objectives of the business (Noe et al. 2017).
The HR department of an organization performs different functions for the effective
management of the human resource and these functions are:
Figure 1: HR FUNCTIONS
(Source: Wilton, 2016)
Staffing: The responsibility of the HR officer of Chocola Fantastica is to recruit and select the
most appropriate candidates for the organization by estimating the workforce requirement
and using different methods of internal and external recruitment and choosing the best
candidate from the shortlisted ones (Wilton, 2016).
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Performance appraisal: The major function of the HR professional in an organization is to
monitor and evaluate the performance of the employees and provide them feedback that
helps in improving the performance by implementing necessary changes (Wilton, 2016).
Training: The HR team of the organization provides various opportunities for growth and
improvement of skills to the employees by undertaking various training programmes and
thus, increasing efficiencies of the personnel (Wilton, 2016).
Employee relation: The HR team focuses on providing a friendly and safe working
environment to the staff and engages in regular interactions with the team, handles their
problems fairly and thus, maintain effective employee relations at the workplace (Wilton,
2016).
Thus, the HR department of Chocola Fantastica applies an internal method of recruitment in
the business and undertakes a proper selection procedure including tests, interviews,
reference check, etc. to gain the best employees. The HR function is very important for
Chocola Fantastica to increase the satisfaction of the workforce by providing effective
training, managing the conflicts and offering suitable work environment, managing risks and
safety of the employees, providing fair wages and salaries, performance appraisal, etc. to
improve the productivity of the teams and thus, the HR function helps in achieving the
desired objectives of the business effectively (Noe et al. 2017).
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STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS OF CURRENT SELECTION METHODS USED BY
CHOCOLA FANTASTICA
The organizations use different procedures for selecting a candidate depending on the need
and suitability. The selection process used by the owner or workshop manager of Chocola
Fantastica comprises of the following steps:
Figure 2: SELECTION PROCEDURE OF CHOCOLA FANTASTICA
(Source: Highhouse et al. 2015)
Therefore the different methods used by Chocola Fantastica to select the best employees
such as tests and interview methods have their strengths and weaknesses that can be
explained as follows:
Cognitive ability tests: The owner at Chocola Fantastica uses this type of selection test to
assess the English comprehension and mathematics skills of the applicant with the passing
marks being 50% for both the tests (Kaufman, 2018).
Strengths:
 This method of selection is cost-effective for both applicants as well as the
organization.
 If the number of applicants is large, this test can also be taken in groups
 The scores for the test can be given using computer software.
 Highly reliable and cannot be manipulated by the applicants (Kaufman, 2018).
Weaknesses:
 It is a time-consuming method
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ONLINE OR
OFFLINE
TESTS
REFERENCE
CHECK
PERSONAL/
INFORMAL
INTERVIEW
FINAL
SELECTION

 This method creates a difference between people based on gender.
 Applicants are complaining about the fairness of the tests (Kaufman, 2018).
Informal and personal interviews: The references of the candidates who pass the tests
are checked and the shortlisted applicants are called for the personal interview round at
Chocola Fantastica and interview if conducted in the form of an informal chat for 15
minutes.
Strengths:
 Helps in assessing presentation and communication skills
 Helpful in understanding and analysing the effectiveness and suitability of the
candidate for the job role (Alonso et al. 2017).
Weaknesses:
 The candidates can manipulate the information by talking in favour of getting the
job.
 The participants may get diverted from the interview (Alonso et al. 2017).
Thus, the HR officer must reduce the weaknesses of these methods and increase its
effectiveness.
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POTENTIAL IMPROVEMENTS FOR CHOCOLA FANTASTICA TO ENHANCE ITS
SELECTION PROCESS
The existing selection process of Chocola Fantastica comprises of tests, interviews and
reference check before finalising a candidate. But the company is getting many complaints
from the applicants about the fairness of tests. Thus, the HR officer must consider the
following recommendations in business for improving and enhancing its selection
procedure.
The organization can improve the existing process of selection by increasing transparency to
reduce the complaints of the applicants about the tests undertaken and thus, fulfil the
expectations of the applicants (Riggio, 2017).
Effective use of technology: The organization must consider the use of new and advanced
technology such as using social media as a means of reference check of the employees. The
profile of the candidate updated on their social media accounts helps provide effective
information and personal and professional details of the applicant. Thus, before hiring a
candidate for a certain position under production or administration department in Chocola
Fantastica, the HR officer must consider background check by accessing their social media
presence on sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. to gather the details about the
effectiveness of the person as an individual and an employee in the organization (Riggio,
2017).
Improving the tests and interviews: The tests undertaken in the organisation focus on
assessing the cognitive abilities of the candidates that are not enough for the success of the
business. The HR professional must also emphasize on other important determinants of the
employees such as motivation, emotional intelligence, their behaviour, etc. to increase the
effectiveness of the selection procedure and hire the best candidate. While taking the
informal interview of the candidate, the interviewer must allow the candidate to ask
questions to assess the priorities of the applicant (Riggio, 2017).
Thus, the application of these improvements would help in gaining better and efficient
candidates through the selection procedure of Chocola Fantastica.
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SECTION 2
PERSON SPECIFICATION FOR RECEPTIONIST
PERSON SPECIFICATION
JOB PROFILE Receptionist
HEAD HR manager
NATURE OF JOB Full-time
WORKING HOURS 10 hours
JOB LOCATION UK
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES  Greeting clients booking their
meeting with the manager
 Keeping the reception area clean
 Answering the phone calls and
forwarding it to respective
departments
 Working in compliance with other
departments to fulfil visitors needs
 Maintaining records regularly and
managing paperwork effectively
 Providing efficient client support
service
 Accomplishing all the tasks and
duties assigned by the administration
department.
QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE  Bachelor’s degree from a good
university
 At least two years of experience as a
receptionist
 Experience of welcoming visitors in a
friendly manner
 Experience of basic business
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operations and must have good
interpersonal skills
 Basic computer skills
ADDITIONAL JOB REQUIREMENT  Effective problem-solving skills
 Efficient time-management skills
 Ability to work with less supervision
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