An In-depth Report on HRM Practices and Strategies at Waitrose, UK

This report provides an analysis of the human resource management (HRM) practices at Waitrose, a UK-based supermarket chain. It begins with an organizational profile, including Waitrose's history, industry, and financial performance. The report then explores the purpose and functions of ...Read More

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCES
Human resource management of Waitrose, UK
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Organizational profile
Founded in 1904, Waitrose has achieved accolades and glory by catering to the appetite
cravings of the customers. This is due to the presence of 91000 employees, who toil hard for the
achievement of success. As a matter of specification, the type of organization is subsidiary of
John Lewis Partnership and the industry in which the organization operates is supermarket. The
organization has its outlet spread in 353 locations (Waitrose.com 2017). The revenue of the
organization is 5400.4 million pounds. The operating income recorded is 173.5 million pounds.
The net income is 123.3 million pounds. As per the annual reports of 2015, the market share of
Waitrose is 5.1% of the total shares of the food market. During 2008, the market share of the
organization was 18 and 10 of the organic and fish foods (Waitrose.com 2017).
Purpose and function of HRM in Waitrose
Recruitment and selection
The employees are an important human resource for taking the companies and
organizations to the peak of success. This is also applicable for Waitrose. As a matter of
specification, the managers abide by Harvard model of HRM for the recruiting the rightful
candidates. Adherence to this model assists the personnel of Waitrose to direct the employees
towards their identified and the specified goals and expose a strategic approach towards the
needs of the stakeholders (Beardwell and Thompson 2014).
Workforce planning
Adherence to Tuckman’s stages of team development helps the personnel of Waitrose to
form appropriate teams for the completion of the tasks. This formation is reviewed for assessing
the appropriateness of the plans regarding the fulfillment of the identified objectives. This review
is accounted as one of the best practices of undertaken by organizations like Waitrose to fit

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themselves within the current competitive ambience of the market. Viewing it from the other
perspective, this review makes the personnel aware of the demarcation between the Best Fit and
the Best Practice. Maintenance of consistency in this review enhances the quality and standards
of performance of Waitrose (Daley 2012).
Types of labor market
The organization, Waitrose operates with various kinds of employees-skilled and semi-
skilled. For this, the organization is enriched in organizing training courses for both the
employees regarding the basic management skills. Training strengthens the bondage between the
employees and the employers. Waitrose also hires contractual labors for successful completion
of the crucial projects. Another kind of labor is the slave labor, example of which is the slave
labor. This mainly includes child labor. Waitrose is against any such practice (Jackson, Schuler
and Jiang 2014).
Payroll
The managers decide the wages of the employees at Waitrose. The Board panel, through
the consideration of performance, reviews the salaries of the employees. This evaluation brings
to the forefront the drawbacks in the pay package. Meetings are held regarding salary hikes of
the employees depending on their performance. Exceptions in this direction are the contractual
labors, who are paid through commissions or are engaged in work for free. Here the benefits are
not paid to the contractual labors (Kramar 2014).

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PESTLE
High demand for skilled labors in the US market has led to the shortage of labors in the
UK organizations like Waitrose. This is due to the increasing competition to live up to the
altering needs, demands and requirements of the customers. Technological advancement
intensifies the threat of substitutes, attaching an interrogative parameter to the productivity of
Waitrose in terms of preserving the ecological diversity. Adherence to the environmental and the
other marketing legislations is the only solutions for organizations like Waitrose to secure their
position within the competitive ambience (Waitrose.com 2017).
Strengths and weakness of the approaches to recruitment and selection in Waitrose
Recruitment and selection is the foundational step in terms of achieving success. This is
applicable for all of the companies and organizations including Waitrose. As a matter of
specification, the personnel at Waitrose apply different techniques for recruitment of the rightful
candidates. Job description is one of these techniques. Clear display of the job profile with all
the details informs the candidates regarding the vacancies. Along with this, clarity in the
description of the vacancy helps the candidates to compare their professional requirements with
the specified requirements of Waitrose (Waitrose.com 2017). Apart from this, clarity within the
job descriptions helps the managers to assess the appropriateness of the job profile in terms of
the identified goals and objectives. Absence of this clarity compels the organization to encounter
complexities in the recruitment and selection process.
Widespread presence in more than 300 stores in UK is considered as one of the greatest
strengths of Waitrose. Exposing strategic approach towards advertising has enabled the
personnel to execute the marketing activities efficiently and effectively. Herein lays the

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appropriateness of the loyalty cards, which is an innovation in the marketing activities of the
company, Waitrose. Consciousness towards advertising is assistance for the personnel in terms
of achieving loyalty, trust and dependence from the customers in large scale (Waitrose.com
2017). The major drive behind this success is the presence of 100,000 skilled professionals, who
toil hard to execute the allocated duties and responsibilities diligently. Evaluation of the
undertaken activities has bestowed several awards, praises and recognition, enhancing the brand
image of Waitrose.
This strategic approach proves beneficial for Waitrose in terms of the recruitment and
selection process. The following are some of the approaches towards recruitment and selection,
followed by the company:
Strengths of skills inventory
Skills inventory is one of the other approaches, which the personnel of Waitrose follow
for conducting the selection process. Here, the managers and the employers identify a list of
skills, which they look for from the candidates. In addition to this, keeping provisions for higher
skills, helps the personnel to achieve positive results in getting the rightful candidate (Belcourt
and McBey 2016). Within this, strategy is an important aspect. Exposure of strategic vision in
this context helps the personnel of Waitrose to prioritize the activities for achieving successful
completion.
Weakness of skills inventory
Lack of this strategic vision delays the recruitment and selection process. This delay
further result in postponing the initiation of the project. This compels the personnel to lag behind
in submission of the project within the stipulated deadline.

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Strengths of Multi-stage recruitment
Multi-stage recruitment is one of the other approaches towards recruitment and selection
process applied by the Waitrose personnel. Here, the interviews and the tests are taken part by
part. This process is beneficial for the candidates in terms of enhancing the clarity of the
candidates regarding the recruitment and selection process undertaken by the organization
(Waitrose.com 2017). Along with this, dividing the recruitment process into various stages
provides enough time to the candidates to prepare, reducing their nervousness.
Weakness of multi-stage recruitment
On the other hand, this segmented process makes the recruitment and selection
prolonged, which adversely affects the productivity of the organization.
Strengths of third party recruitment
Third party recruitment is one of the other processes, which Waitrose personnel follow
while hiring the candidates. Here, the associated agencies of Waitrose are entrusted with the
responsibility to hire the rightful candidates. These agencies attract the candidates through the
offers of attractive salary and other associated benefit packages. The managers of Waitrose are
kept updated by these agencies regarding the results of the recruitment and selection. Spontaneity
is crucial in this process in terms of maintaining the stability in the relationship between
Waitrose and the shareholders (Waitrose.com 2017). This stability results in bestowing creative
talents to the company possessing flexibility towards enhancing efficiency in the business
activities.

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Weakness of third party recruitment
Not verifying the identity of the agencies compels Waitrose to encounter issues such as
loss of organizational data. Along with this, absence of proper verification results in bestowing
candidates, who do not possess adequate skills and qualification. These issues are an obstacle to
the efficiency in the business activities of the company (Waitrose.com 2017).
Conclusion
This assignment proves successful in providing an insight into the human resources of
Waitrose organization, UK. Placement of focus on the recruitment and selection can be
considered as an exploratory design of the assignment towards the efficient execution of the
business activities. Herein lays the appropriateness of the section regarding the approaches of the
Waitrose personnel towards the recruitment and selection process. This approach, if exposed
correctly would bring positive results for the organization in the competitive ambience.

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References
Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A., 2014. Human resource management: a contemporary
approach. Pearson Education.
Belcourt, M. and McBey, K.J., 2016. Strategic human resources planning. Nelson Education.
Daley, D.M., 2012. Strategic human resources management. Public Personnel Management,
pp.120-125.
Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human
resource management. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.1-56.
Kramar, R., 2014. Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource
management the next approach?. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 25(8), pp.1069-1089.
Marler, J.H. and Fisher, S.L., 2013. An evidence-based review of e-HRM and strategic human
resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 23(1), pp.18-36.
Rees, G. and Smith, P. eds., 2017. Strategic human resource management: An international
perspective. Sage.
Waitrose.com (2017). About us. Available at: http://www.waitrose.com/ [Accessed on 18th
November 2017]