Human Resource Management Practices at Jigsaw: A Case Study

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Human Resource Management

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................................................... 3
Task 1................................................................................................................................................................. 4
1. An explanation of the purpose of HR function and the key roles and responsibilities of the
HR function.................................................................................................................................................. 4
2. An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection,
development and training, performance and management and reward systems.........................5
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices....7
4. The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement with
mention of the flexible organisation and flexible working practices and ‘employer of choice. .8
5. Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organisation must work..................9
6. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision
making and meets business objectives.................................................................................................11
Task 2............................................................................................................................................................... 12
7. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples..................................................................................................................................................... 12
8. Evaluate the use of technology, online resources, digital platforms and social networking
on improving the recruitment and selection process........................................................................14
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................... 16
References....................................................................................................................................................... 17
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Introduction
The scope of human resource management is very large. It works as a responsible department
or process for various functions of the organisation. The main functions of the human
resource include seeking the vacancy in organisation and to find the most appropriate
candidate for the same. It further involves monitoring the candidate and providing training
and development phase. All these are done to make sure that business objectives of the
company are attained with success. All the key elements of HRM are used extensively in
organisation to achieve the target. In this assignment, Jigsaw organisation has been used as an
example and would answer all HRM related queries. Jigsaw organisation belongs to fashion
industry and offers clothing etc to the customers and it is located in London. It has 56 stores
in UK.
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Task 1
As an Assistant of Human Resource Management of Jigsaw of London, here given below is
the explanation of all the queries.
1. An explanation of the purpose of HR function and the key roles and responsibilities
of the HR function
The Human Resource (HR) is the crucial part of an organisation. Its purpose here in Jigsaw is
to satisfy the employees with their numerous needs and to efficiently manage all the
resources so that maximum benefit could be gained by the company. From financial to legal
concerns, all issues are handled by HR only to make sure that Jigsaw’s objectives are met in
the concerned time.
Roles and responsibilities of HR function-
Figure 1: Roles and responsibilities of HR (Bratton and Gold, 2017)
There are many roles and responsibilities performed by HR at Jigsaw which are highlighted
by the above image. Its explanation is here as below-
HR planning- the department is responsible to make appropriate plans for Jigsaw so that
organisation could lead in the market. From setting goals for Jigsaw to acquaint timeline for
each task, are all different aspects of HR planning.
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Labour relations- HR has to make sure that there is smooth coordination among employees
and management of Jigsaw. It is the healthy relation between them that can help to hit the
target.
Succession and career planning- HR is not responsible for the organisation alone, but it
serves its employees as well. Thus, it performs the role of being a good career planner.
Talent management- it is the quality of HR to find hidden talent of the employees and to
boost them to the level that they give their best to the organisation and serve it in all the
possible ways.
Performance & reward management- motivation is the key to success. It is very important
to create enthusiasm and zeal among employees. So, HR performs the role of creating that
zeal and give appropriate rewards to the employees for their hard work towards meeting the
business objectives (Shields et at, 2015).
Training & development- no employee is perfect in the job. Therefore, training is required
to polish their skills and knowledge. It is the duty of HR to provide them with necessary
training and development so that employees and Jigsaw both could flourish.
Personnel administration- it is the key responsibility of HR to handle all the issues related
with the employees and handle them with care and support.
Recruitment, selection & introduction- one of the most important functions of HR is to
find and recruit right person at the right place helps to achieve the objectives and target of the
organisation.
Thus, it is seen that HR is responsible for the overall development of the organisation.
2. An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection,
development and training, performance and management and reward systems
Workforce planning-
It is a process in through which the needs and requirements of the organisation are aligned
with those of its workforce so that business objectives could be achieved on time.
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Figure 2: Workforce planning (DeBruecker et al, 2015)
The above image clearly defines the workforce planning through which plan is made for right
people with right skills is to be placed at right place at right time with right cost. The HR
manager needs to be very experienced and skilful to make appropriate workforce plan. A
successful workforce plan can take business to great heights.
Recruitment and selection-
Recruitment and selection makes sure that person being recruited possesses necessary skills
so that he/she could serve the customers and organisation in the best way. There are many
approaches to recruitment and selection that are adopted by HR of Jigsaw. One of them could
be creating job description. Job description contains all the vital information like wages, tasks
to be done, job role, and monitoring responsibilities. Another approach could be skills
inventory (Ekwoaba, Ikeije and Ufoma, 2015). In this approach, a list of all the essential
skills required is made that help to find the right employee easily and quickly. Posting job is
another approach. In it, jobs are posted through placement centres of universities and colleges
to select the appropriate candidate.
Development and training-
The approach to development and training is that before it starts, the HR must be clear with
the company’s goals then only required development and training is given to the candidate. It
requires the list of acquired skills and knowledge of the employees. Some other approaches
for it could be-
- Job enrichment
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- Close supervision
- Job shadowing
- Promotions
- Job rotation
Performance and management and reward systems-
Right approach to performance and management and reward systems help to-
- Bring improvement
- Reduce operational costs
- Influence team spirit
- Lessens employees’ dissatisfaction
Thus, it can be concluded that performance management and reward systems help to satisfy
the customers through the satisfaction of employees to run the business smoothly (Mester et
al, 2018).
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR
practices.
There are different methods that are used in HR practices. Taking various examples from
different situations at Jigsaw, some of them are explained below-
Planning work- As Jigsaw is retail based company, the HRM here has to prepare plan
according to daily tasks. Various roles and responsibilities are assigned accordingly. In some
of the conditions, team is also formed and a leader is appointed to monitor the work and
produce good results.
Recruitment methods- Jigsaw has to be very careful while appointing employees. Its main
motto is to satisfy the customers so it always makes sure that employee being appointed is
enough capable to understand the changing needs of the customers. Recruitment at Jigsaw
can be done by reference method, through placement agencies, or through direct interviews
also (Bajardi et al, 2014).
Costs planning methods- The HR team at Jigsaw has to take important decisions regarding
the costs of its different articles. All such decisions are taken only after closely examining the
market structure and the cost policy followed by other competitors.
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Leadership methods- As explained earlier, at Jigsaw many times team is formed. So HR has
to demonstrate leadership methods also. Necessary guidelines to the formed team are given
by the leader along with proper coaching. Supervision here is done to make sure that
everything is being done in the right direction to meet the goals of Jigsaw.
Evaluation methods- There are many methods involved in HR practice of evaluation.
Questionnaire, feedback forms are some of the evaluating tools. Many times the HR of
Jigsaw has taken written feedback from its customers about the quality of product they
receive. All the suggestions and ideas are closely monitored and are practiced in daily work.
Thus, in the end it can be concluded that HR has to perform different roles in Jigsaw
Company, where the main aim is to satisfy the customers with the products offered by
Jigsaw. For this purpose, different responsibilities are fulfilled by HR of Jigsaw to timely
achieve its objectives.
4. The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement
with mention of the flexible organisation and flexible working practices and ‘employer
of choice
Employer of choice- ‘Employer of choice’ is a term that is used when an employer provides
with very flexible working conditions for its employees. The employees enjoy flexibility with
working practices as well. Such kind of environment favours the customers as well (Rampl,
2014). Jigsaw also believes in such practice and provides its customers a wide platform to
enhance their skills and use them in such a way that they both (employee and Jigsaw
organisation) are benefitted from it.
Employee relations is the term that relates to the relationship among employees or employee
with management. While on the other hand, employee engagement refers to the state in which
an employee is always engaged in some kind of work with an objective to yield better results.
The effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement is explained through the
following points-
- High employee satisfaction rate- with the scenario of ‘employer of choice’,
employees are satisfied with their position in the company and thus give good results.
Such kind of condition is always fruitful for organisation and customers too. If an
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employee is satisfied, he works with more enthusiasm and thus it ends in positive
results always.
- High employee retention- another aspect can be seen is that with employee relations
and employee engagement, employees tend to remain with the company that results in
reduction of recruitment cost by organisation (Albrecht et al, 2015).
- Good results- as there is no restriction on working conditions, the employees work
with all their heart and give their best. When they are engaged, they feel responsible
and work with full force and bring good fortune for the company.
- Increase in profit- with the employer of choice, Jigsaw also prefers to use this
concept. It has resulted in good profit. With the satisfaction of the employees, their
hard labour attracts customers. When the customers are satisfied, they return to the
same place to buy their products. This leads to increase in profit for Jigsaw.
Figure 5: Effectiveness of employee engagement (Kumar and Pansari,
2016)
- Enhances regularity- it has been observed at Jigsaw that when employees are
engaged, they feel being responsible and thus show less absenteeism. On the other
hand, employees that are not engaged, does not feel responsible and take leaves from
work.
Thus, in the last it can be said that good results are seen with employee relations and
employee engagement, both of which provides flexible environment with flexibility in
working conditions.
5. Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organisation must work
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Employment legislation refers to all those laws and rules that directly put impact on employer
and employee. It is to make sure that employer and employees are known to these laws while
working in an organisation. In this context, Jigsaw makes sure that it respects and obeys all
the employment legislation and no employee is discriminated against it. Employees of Jigsaw
also enjoy working under environment. Here given below are some of the key areas of
employment legislation that are followed by Jigsaw-
Equal wages-
Jigsaw has always ensured that every employee on same designation gets same pay. For
instance, employees of production department get same scale. However, increment on salary
may depend upon the performance given by them (Griffith and Macartney, 2014).
Contract of employment-
Employees of Jigsaw enjoy the employment contract, a contract in which all the rights and
responsibilities of the employees are stated clearly and is done between the employee and
Jigsaw organisation. Thus, it does not let arise any issue on any ground.
Dismissal and employee grievances-
In case, Jigsaw is not happy with the performance of any employee, it in such condition gives
a written grievance to the particular employee and clearly mention in it about his/her stay
period in the organisation. Thus, ample time is given to the employees to find a new earning.
Avoiding discrimination-
Jigsaw works at its best that there is no discrimination done among the employees on the
basis of colour, caste or creed. All the employees are treated equally and are given equal
chance to work better and grow. Promotion chances are also given to each and every
employee.
Thus, in the end it can be concluded that Jigsaw works under certain guidelines and follow all
the legislations regarding employment. In any case, if employee is not satisfied, he/she can go
to higher authorities and complain a file. Thus, Jigsaw makes sure that all the principles and
rules are followed properly in order to avoid any issue.
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6. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision
making and meets business objectives
Employee relations must be good in order to achieve the success. As explained earlier, many
times at Jigsaw, teams have to be formed. If employee relations are not good at Jigsaw, then
it would be very difficult to form the teams. The employees must know about each other.
Employee relations always bring success for the organisation. Employee relations put impact
on decision making as well. If the employees actively participate in decision making policy
by HRM, quick decision could be taken that would result in high revenue generation for
Jigsaw. Not only this, healthy employee relations result into easy achievement of business
objectives. For instance, if employees are enjoying their status at Jigsaw and actively
participate in decision making then they would feel attracted by their job profile and work
with more enthusiasm to achieve the target (Wilkinson, 2014).
Employment legislation also has a deep impact on decision making and in process of meeting
business objectives. The HRM of Jigsaw has to be very careful while taking any decision
seeking that it does not violate any employment law and must not hurt feelings of employees.
Decisions taken by HRM also affect the process of meeting business objectives. Decisions
are taken in such a way that business objectives could easily be achieved and benefit the
organisation in all possible ways.
Thus, it can be said that employee relations must be enough strong that employees could
understand others’ skills and use them it potential way to meet the objectives. On the other
hand, HRM needs to be very careful while taking decision that it must not violate any of the
employment law, rather helps to meet the business objectives in easy and useful way. Both
things if handled wisely can take business to a great height.
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Task 2
7. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples
Jigsaw is well known organisation in London. It has maintained good reputation in the city.
There are many employees working under it. To survive in the market and to give a tough
competition to the rivals, Jigsaw has decided to hire Marketing Manager. Here given below is
the Job description and Person Specification for Marketing Manager with all the necessary
details-
Job Description-
Role Information-
Job Title- Marketing Manager
Band- Management
Department- Marketing
Job purpose-
A wonderful opportunity for the persons who are willing to show their skills towards
Jigsaw’s marketing initiatives. The person is required to use market research, find
different ways of strategy and planning. It will also require presenting written report
to seniors.
The person will have opportunity to develop as a whole and enhance and update the
knowledge and skills.
Principal Accountabilities-
 In charge of marketing department.
 To allocate duties and targets for departmental employees
 To apply evaluation techniques of employees
Person Specification-
Skills to be present-
 Numerical skills
 Market awareness
 Creative and good writer
 Organisational and planning skills
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