Human Resource Management Practices at Kingfisher Plc - An Analysis

This assignment provides a detailed analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) functions and practices at Kingfisher Plc. It begins by explaining the core functions of HRM, including human resource planning, recruitment, selection, training, and performance evaluation, contrasting the best fit and best practice approaches. The analysis delves into Kingfisher's specific HRM practices, such as workforce planning, employee relations, and performance appraisals, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection processes, including job descriptions, job analysis, and job specifications. Furthermore, it examines internal and external recruitment sources used by Kingfisher. The report section focuses on the advantages of various HRM practices at Kingfisher, specifically learning, development, and training methods like apprentice training, informal training, audio-visual training, and on-the-job and off-the-job training. It also explores performance and reward systems, including employee performance monitoring techniques like target setting, 360-degree feedback, and self-appraisal, alongside financial rewards such as shares, pensions, and bonuses.

Running head: Human resource management
Human resource management

Human resource management 1
Task 1
Essay
Explain the functions and purpose of HRM
Human resource management can be defined as the department under an organization which
deals with the management of people in the organization. Generally the major responsibilities
of the HRM department are defining and designing the work, staffing, employee
compensation and benefits (Cascio, 2018). It further involves the performance evaluation,
appraisals as well as the health and safety of the employees, and fairness concern. It also
supports the mission and objectives of the organization.
Human resource management system serves two main purposes to the organization. First
is to provide sufficient amount of skills, knowledge and attitudes manpower. Second is to
provide satisfied and happy workforce.
The functions performed by HRM department are human resource planning, recruitment,
selection, training and development, performance evaluation and appraisals. All the activities
which are linked with the staff of the organization are performed by the HR manager. The
manager should establish and activate these kinds of activities in the organization (Hendry,
2012).
Under human resource management best fit and best practice approach are generally used
by the organization. Best practice approach involves best performance and high commitment
which can increase the profitability of all types of organizations. This approach is based on
universalism. It involves the kind of techniques and methods which enable improvement and
will lead an organization to the desired result (Hendry, 2012). The commitment to use the
best practice approach implies using all the knowledge and technology to achieve the
objectives successfully. This approach is suitable for every type of organization. It establishes
the indicators of best practice give fair appraisals and rewards, give human resource a high
profile. On the other hand best fit approach focuses on fulfilling the immediate needs of the
organization (Marchington et al, 2016). It defines connection and relationship between the
strategy and different systems of the organization. Compare to universalism the best fit
approach is more complex. Best fit approach helps the organization to achieve desired goals.
At Kingfisher, best fit and best approach aims at the best practice which helps the
organization to evolve and establish the right guidelines for human resource. On the other
hand the motive of best fit is to select suitable fit for everything in the organization such as
suitable reward system for the organization (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017).

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The functions of best practice at Kingfisher Plc are training and development,
performance evaluation and appraisals and the functions of best fit involves selecting a
suitable fit according to the job position and job place.
HRM at Kingfisher Plc involves several practices such as workforce planning, employee
relations, hiring and selection, performance appraisals and many more. The workforce
planning at Kingfisher Plc includes planning about vacancies, positions, placement,
promotions and demotions and other issues in regards with job (Wilton, 2016). The
recruitment process helps the organization in attracting many candidates for the job
application. The selection process under HRM helps the organization to select best candidates
from the applied candidates for the selected job. Moreover, the Kingfisher Plc to make the
environment of the workplace favorable and to solve the disputes the employee relations
makes a bridge between the organization and employees.
At kingfisher: There are some strengths and weaknesses of different functions of
recruitment and selection which can be explained as follows:-
There are two primary functions of human resource management called recruitment and
selection. The process of hiring can be defined as the action of enlisting new people in the
organization. It further includes attracting new candidates for the job applicants. And the
selection process can be defined as selecting the best candidate for the selected post. In other
words the main focus of both the recruitment and the selection process is selecting right
candidate for the right job (Marchington et al, 2016).
The recruitment process involves job description, job analysis and job specification. The
strengths and weaknesses of job description, job analysis and job specification can be
explained as follows:
Approaches Strengths Weaknesses
Job description: it is like a
snapshot that provides
precise knowledge regarding
the job.
1. It assists in encouraging
the suitable person to apply
for the job.
2. It provides the precise
description of the job.
3. It assists in selecting the
suitable person for the
1. It sometimes fails to
attract the suitable applicants
for the job.
2. It is often difficult to
understand all the job
responsibilities.

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selected job. 3. It turns down the
innovation because job
responsibilities are already
defined (Wilton, 2016).
Job analysis: it is the process
to know the particular job
duties in detail and the
importance of those duties
for a given job (Wilton,
2016).
1. It helps in establishing
effective hiring strategies.
2. It helps in deciding
compensation benefits for the
employees (Wilton, 2016).
3. It guides through
performance evaluation and
appraisal process
1. It is very time
consuming.
2. There are many chances
of personal biases.
3. Very narrow source of
information.
Job specifications: it is the
summary of the job to be
performed & it also includes
the statement of the
components of a job type.
1. It guides the applicants to
understand their qualities.
2. It attracts the right skill
people for the job.
3. It gives the right idea
to the workers that what the
organization actually want
from them (Rees and Smith,
2017).
1. It is difficult to shortlist
the people as it attracts many
applicants.
2. It often rejects high skill
people
3. So much information
regarding the job may not be
fruitful.
The approaches to selection process are reliability and validity. The strength and the
weaknesses of the approaches can be explained as follows:
Approaches Strengths Weaknesses
Reliability: it can be defined
as the degree in which the
method of selection achieves
density in what it is
evaluating over continuous
use (Rees and Smith, 2017)
1. It includes minimal cost.
2. It determines the standard
selection of techniques and
methods.
3. It reduces the time limit in
preparing new methods.
1. Repeat use of same
technique can reduce the
effectiveness.
2. It varies as per the nature
of job.
3. It requires periodical
changes (Simons, 2011).
Validity: it can be defined as 1. Effectiveness of selection 1. The changes of

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the quality of selection
method is being logically
acceptable.
methods and techniques can
be determined.
2. It helps in grabbing the
right people for the right job.
3. It understands the
necessity of changes
(Simons, 2011).
techniques can include cost.
2. Validity of new
techniques can be time
consuming.
3. It often delays in
determine the effectiveness
of the selection techniques.
The internal sources of recruitment can be defined as when the organization recruits people
from the organization itself (Farr and Tippins, 2017). For instance, Kingfisher puts notice on
the information panel of the organization for the position of sales manager. Examples of
internal recruitment are information panel of the organization, intra mails, organization
newsletter and filers. On the contrary external recruitment involves recruiting people from
outside of the organization. For instance, give advertisement for hiring of senior manager in
the local newspaper. External recruitment takes place through job consultancies, job websites,
national and local newspapers, recruitment agencies and internet.
Task 2
Report
Introduction
Human resource management can be defined as the department under an organization which
deals with the management of people in the organization. Generally the major responsibilities
of the HRM department are defining and designing the work, staffing, employee
compensation and benefits (Wilton, 2016). It further involves the performance evaluation,
appraisals as well as the health and safety of the employees, and fairness concern. It also
supports the mission and goals of the organization.
The advantages of different HRM practices at Kingfisher:
The HRM practices under Kingfisher Plc are wide which involves learning, design of the job
and workplace, development and training, flexible organization, payment and reward system

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(Hendry, 2012). In this section, two HRM practices are to be discussed considering the case
of Kingfisher.
Learning, development and training
Generally every organization have applied learning, development and training practice of
HRM as it plays very important role in the organization (Noe, Wilk and Wanek, 2014). As no
employee is perfect in their job and knowledge so every employee needs to be trained and
need to learn about new strategies. Therefore, training, development and learning is
necessary for Kingfisher’s workers to enable continuous improvement in their performance.
It further helps in understanding the capabilities of the employees. Training and development
efforts must be designed in such a way that it considers the essential skills, knowledge and
capabilities of the employees therefore it can serve the goals of the Kingfisher it also works
as a method of motivation for the employees.
Kingfisher is using several techniques of learning, development and training which can be
described as follows:
Apprentice training:
Apprentice training can be defined as the process long term on the job training through which
the employee becomes skilled and knowledgeable (Phillips and Phillips, 2016). After
entering into the job the employee of the Kingfisher have to spend at least six months in an
internal apprentice training.
Informal training:
Informal training can be defined as the training which is conducted informally in the
organization, which is not the part of any training program (Noe, Wilk and Wanek, 2014). It
can be further explained as when an employee is learning informally. For instance, the
employee needs assistance on some issues then he/she can ask the supervisor and can learn
the method to perform the task. At Kingfisher most of the workers learned through informal
ways.
Audio-visual based training:
Under this technique power point presentation, audio tapes are generally used to train the
employees. This type of technique is to be used when there is high number of employees are
participated in the training program (Ford, 2014).
On-the-job training:
Under this training the employees are learning during their jobs. On the job training is very
usual practice at Kingfisher. The trainee will get the training by some experienced workers of
the organization.

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Off-the-job training:
Off the job training can be defined as getting training and learning from outside of the
organization. It involves outside seminar, management games, case study method, university
related programs, role playing, corporate universities and so many (Ford, 2014). Off the job
training has been widely used for the development of the management at Kingfisher.
Performance and reward
Performance and reward is one of the important practices of the HRM. The performance
management can be defined as the evaluation of the performance of the employees that can
further help in achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. These kinds of practice
increase the rate of job retention by evaluating the performance of the employees. It also
motivates the employees by providing attractive rewards (Antoni et al, 2017). At Kingfisher
both the practice the performance appraisal and reward can ensure the job retention of the
employees.
Employee performance monitoring techniques
The following techniques are to be considered at Kingfisher while tracking the performance
of the employees:
 Target setting: under this technique a target has been given to the employees of the
Kingfisher then actual performance is to be measure against the set target.
 360 degree: under this technique the employees at Kingfisher receive the feedback
from the employees working around them which generally includes managers, peers
and their supervisors (Goetsch and Davis, 2014).
 Self-appraisal: this technique includes the self-assessment test which further involves
the set of questions on which the worker have to give the self-opinion (Goetsch and
Davis, 2014).
Types of payment and reward system
At Kingfisher two types of payment and rewards are there which are as follows:
 Financial reward: financial reward plays very important role in motivating the
workers at Kingfisher as it includes share, pensions, salary, wages, bonuses,
commission and performance related incentives (Antoni et al, 2017).
 Non-financial reward: Non-financial reward can be defined as non-monetary
rewards such as promotion, job recognition, job rotation, job enrichment and others.

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Effectiveness of different HRM practices at Kingfisher
The effectiveness of different HRM practices at kingfisher can be defined as follows:
Effectiveness of learning, training and development
 At Kingfisher learning, training and development methods are used to enhance the
skills of the workers (Noe, Wilk and Wanek, 2014). It also helps the workers to make
their work efficient and effective. For instance, on the job training and informal
training helps the workers to develop the skills and knowledge of the employees. It
helps to increase the profit and productivity of the organization as it involves very less
cost.
 Off-the-job training is very important for the development of the management at
Kingfisher. It often includes very high cost but it is always worth it to spend on the
training of the employees. Employees need to be trained because it helps in enhancing
their knowledge and skills (Phillips and Phillips, 2016). The short term funding gives
long term sustainability, productivity and profitability to the organization.
Effectiveness of performance and reward
 At Kingfisher employees are worked to get attractive incentives and recognition in the
organization therefore performance and reward plays very important role in the
organization (Antoni et al, 2017). Kingfishers want their workers to perform well in
their specific jobs. Evaluation of the performance of the employees helps the
employers to know about their weaknesses and strengths so they can take further
initiatives. Consequently it helps in increasing the productivity of the workers.
 At Kingfisher, reward is the greatest tool to motivate the employees. Employees are
doing great to achieve the objective of the organization so they expect recognition for
their performance. Kingfishers generally use both monetary and non-monetary
incentives.

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Task 3
In house letter
Factors affecting HR activities in the organization
The purpose is to provide information regarding internal and external factors affecting human
resource management decision making and employment legislation. The internal and external
factors affecting HR activities are as follows:
Competition
The increasing competition under our industry is affecting the organization’s abilities to
recruit good and suitable candidates. There is no need to spend lot of money on advertising
because if the candidates are interested they will visit the website of the company by their
own accord. Therefore the human resource department needs to develop some new policies
and need to focus on developing new recruitment ways and methods (Sparrow, Brewster and
Chung, 2016). The department should attend the job fairs to further promote the brand name
of the company or to attract the candidates. The department should also create some new
incentives to retain the employees in the organization.
Compensation
Compensation is one of the internal factors which influence the HR activities of our
organization. The business should offer the amount of compensation as per the labor supply
of the organization. When there are more qualified candidates than the job opportunities the
less amount of compensation can be given to the employees (Benjamin, 2018). When there
are more job opportunities than the qualified candidates at that time we are actually
competing with so many organizations in recruiting qualified candidates. Human resource
manager should ensure that the structure of compensation should be fair. He should also
conduct the salary surveys to provide competitive wages to attract the employees towards the
organization. For instance, the experienced workers must get higher wages than the
candidates who have no experience at all.

Human resource management 9
Legislation
HR activities also get affected by legislation. The state and federal legislation decides how
long business can retain the personnel records and the details of the employee (Benjamin,
2018). What kind of data should be stored? For example the act of Health Insurance
Portability Accountability, the act of American with Disabilities and the Genetic Information
Nondiscrimination obliged the employers to make the personal data or the medical data of the
employee confidential. The manager should operate as per the employee legislations.
Employee Relations
HR activities also get affected by the internal procedure and policies (Benjamin, 2018). For
instance, if the organization has decided to promote the employees from the organization
itself, HR manager should make sure that the employees will get necessary training. The HR
manager should raise the employees this way that when the time comes they can fill the
spaces. The manger should check the number of employees who are eligible for retirement
and should also have the potential employees who can fill their spaces.
Importance of employee relations in Kingfisher with respect to influencing HRM
decision-making
Kingfisher involves very interactive environment as all the employees are comfortable
with each other (Barak, 2016). It is very necessary for an organization to have
interactive environment as it motivates the employees and this is one of the way to
retain the employees in the organization. Employees need to talk and need to be
comfortable with each other as they have to work as a single unit to achieve the desired
goals. To take a right decision it is necessary to take advices from fellow workers for
making the decision wise. Therefore the importance of employee relations can be
described as follows:
 Delegation of authorities and responsibilities
‘By sharing work with other people makes the work easy’. Kingfisher follows
this quote and they divide the work among all the employees to make the task
easy. The advantage of delegating the authority and responsibility is that
assigned task will get complete on time (Rees and Smith, 2017). Sharing work

Human resource management 10
with other employees maintains the good relation among the employees
consequently productivity will get increase.
 Discouraging conflict among workers
To decrease the chances of conflict among the workers there is a need to
maintain the good employee relations in the organization (Kitchin, 2017). At
Kingfisher the employees have trust on each other. They help each other in
doing the difficult task by trusting each other that they will not provide the
wrong information. They do not consider their coworkers as their competitors.
Consequently it helps the human resource department to take the wise decision
for the organization.
 Loyalty of the employee
Kingfisher has earned the loyalty of the employees by providing the interactive
environment to the employees. The employees perform their duties and
responsibilities more willingly. To retain the employees in the organization it is
necessary to provide them a healthy environment. This will further help in
maintaining good relations with the employees and that will result into greater
productivity (Rees and Smith, 2017).
 Equity
Kingfisher treats all his employees equally. The organization does not
discriminate between different people working in the organization. The
employees get motivated, when they get the chance to freely share their
opinions. When this kind of environment is being provided to the employees
they perform their task very well and it further help human resource department
to take the right decision.
The key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision-making
 Ensuring equality
The organization must treat every employee equally there should be no
discrimination at the time of recruiting employees. Every employee should be
given equal working hours, health facilities, wages and sex. If any time
employee feels any kind of discrimination in this criterion they can ask for the
help of legislative to resolve their issue (Hood, Hardy and Simpson, 2016).

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Human resource department can have positive impact on employees by making
sure the point of equality.
 Data protection
Every organization should provide the data protection to every employee of the
department. According to the federal legislation the organization should make
the employee’s health related information confidential and they cannot even
share the personal data of the employees (Martocchio, 2011).
 Proper compensation
The organization should provide the full detail regarding the compensation to
the employees (Martocchio, 2011). They should state the minimum wages to the
employees at the time of recruitment.
 Time of work
The organization should inform the employees about the exact working hours of
their job (Hood, Hardy and Simpson, 2016). The employees have contributed to
the organization and they help the HR department in decision making. So at the
time of recruiting people, Kingfisher must give a prior set of legal actions.

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