Analysis of Human Resource Management Practices at Lloyds Bank PLC

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HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
LLOYDS BANK

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................3
PART A......................................................................................................................................4
LO1....................................................................................................................................... 4
OVERVIEW OF LLOYDS BANK PLC.....................................................................................4
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF HR FUNCTION..........................................................................4
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION........................................................................................................................5
LO2....................................................................................................................................... 8
BENEFITS OF DIFFERENT HR PRACTICES...........................................................................8
EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT HRM PRACTICES IN TERMS OF RAISING
ORGANISATIONAL PROFIT AND PRODUCTIVITY...............................................................8
LO3..................................................................................................................................... 10
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT DECISION-MAKING................................................................................10
KEY AREAS OF EMPLOYEE LEGISLATION WITHIN WHICH THE LLOYDS BANK MUST WORK
....................................................................................................................................... 11
PART 2.................................................................................................................................... 13
APPLICATION OF HRM PRACTICES IN A WORK-RELATED CONTEXT....................................13
JOB SPECIFICATION........................................................................................................ 13
CV................................................................................................................................... 15
DOCUMENTATION OF PREPARATORY NOTES FOR INTERVIEW, INTERVIEW NOTES......17
JOB OFFER...................................................................................................................... 18
EVALUATION OF THE PROCESS AND RATIONALE FOR CONDUCTING APPROPRIATE HR
PRACTICES...................................................................................................................... 19
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 20
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REFERENCES........................................................................................................................... 21
INTRODUCTION
Human resource management is one of the core functions of every business organization
that can affect the functioning and performance of the company. therefore, it is very
important for every business entity to have a proper understanding of the different aspects
and importance of human resource management (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Here, in the
context of Lloyds bank, the purpose and scope of human resource management in Lloyds
bank will be discussed in terms of resourcing talent and skills in the company for fulfilling all
the business functions. The key elements of human resource management and their
effectiveness in the company will be evaluated. Moreover, the internal and external factors
of human resource management such as employment legislation and employee
engagement in Lloyds bank will be analyzed to understand its influence on human resource
decision-making. Lastly, the common practices of human resource will be applied in the
work-related context of Lloyds bank.
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PART A
LO1
OVERVIEW OF LLOYDS BANK PLC
Lloyds Bank is a recognized retail and commercial bank in the UK. The bank was founded in
the year 1765. The bank offers a wide range of banking and financial services focused on
personal and commercial customers such as savings account, current accounts, loans,
Mortgage etc. Currently, there are more than 45,856 employees formulates a great part of
the company (Lloyds bank, 2019). With a great number of workforce and large business
operations, the company needs to make proper plan and strategies to lead the restructuring
of the HR department.
PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF HR FUNCTION
Human resource management is a formal system of the business organization that is
responsible for hiring, training, managing and firing the workforce within the company. The
main purpose of HRM is Lloyds bank is to manage and supervise the manpower from
recruitment to firing or retirement and to increase staff efficiency and minimize the rate of
staff turnover (Lloyds Bank, 2019.). The HR function in Lloyds bank is divided into three
categories; managerial function, operative function, and advisory.
THE KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THIS HR FUNCTIONS ARE:
 Managerial Function: managerial function involves planning, organizing,
coordinating, directing and controlling all the activities related to HRM. It provides
useful information regarding workforce demand, sourcing, and management
(Bratton and Gold, 2012). This function is responsible for allocating different
responsibilities and positions to different individuals according to their qualifications
and skills.
 Operative Function: it involves the key HR activities such as recruitment & selection,
training and development, performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, and
legal compliance. The key roles and responsibility of this function are to manage
employee relations and developing essential skills among the employees.
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 Advisory Function: it involves the guiding and advising human resource to perform
different operations and tasks in the company (Bratton and Gold, 2012). The key role
of this function is to act as a mediator between the organizational goals and policies
and workforce to ensure proper flow of information in the company.
SCOPE OF HR FUNCTIONS
The scope of the HR function is very vast and wide as it involves all those activities related to
manpower planning. The scope of HRM involves;
 Personnel aspect: this aspect is related to workforce planning, recruitment,
selection, training, placement, transfer, compensation, productivity, incentives etc.
(Chand, 2018)
 Welfare aspect: it aspects focuses on ensuring proper working conditions and
amenities such as health and safety, housing, transport, lunch rooms, and other
amenities.
 Industrial relations aspect: this aspect involves union-management relations,
grievance, and disciplinary actions, joint consultations, and settlement of disputes
etc. (Chand, 2018)
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION
Recruitment and selection are one of the core function and responsibility of the HR
department. Lloyds bank uses different approaches to recruitment and selecting the right
employee for the company (Kumari, 2012). The recruitment and selection at Lloyds bank are
categorized in two ways; internal recruitment and external recruitment.
INTERNAL RECRUITMENT
In this method, the recruitment of staff for a vacant position in the company is done by
promoting or transferring the existing employees of the company on the basis of skills,
knowledge, and experience (Cameron, 2017). Internal recruitment at Lloyds bank is used in
recruiting for the senior positions such as branch manager and customer relationship
manager etc.
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Strengths: - The main advantage of internal recruitment is that it saves time and efforts of
the company by reducing the need for employee induction and training. Internal
recruitment is a simple method that requires less paperwork and is also helpful in
motivating its employees and creating a positive work environment (Cameron, 2017).
Weaknesses: - the main limitation of this process is that it reduces the workforce diversity
and reduces the options for innovation in the company.
EXTERNAL RECRUITMENT
External recruitment is a recruitment and selection approach where the employees are
selected from outside the organization. In Lloyds bank, the external recruitment is done for
selecting lower-level employees like clerks, accountants, and cashier (Karrers, 2017).
External recruitment can be performed through different methods such as:
 Job boards: it is the traditional way of recruitment where a notice including a
detailed description of the job is presented to seek the attention of interested
candidates (Karrers, 2017).
 Social media and websites: it is the most popular method where the job vacancy is
posted on social media sites and company's websites to gain the attention of
interested candidates.
 Job fairs and events: in this method, the recruitment is done through job fairs and
events like campus placement drive and government job fairs.
 Referrals: it is one of the greatest ways of finding candidates where candidates
where referred through a personal network of employees and other members of the
company (Karrers, 2017).
 Recruiting agencies and websites: the company can also seek support from third
party sources like recruiting agencies and websites to advertise job vacancy among
the potential candidates.
Strengths: - all these external recruitment methods have a great advantage to the Lloyds
bank to providing a wide pool of candidates to select the best one. It enables to bring new
skills and innovative ideas in the company and avoid the negative influence of internal
politics in the company (Karrers, 2017).
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Weaknesses: - the main weakness of external recruitment is a time-consuming process that
requires higher time, cost and efforts of the company. It also involves bigger risks than the
internal recruitment process.
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LO2
BENEFITS OF DIFFERENT HR PRACTICES
Benefits for Employer-
 It supports reducing the rate of employee turnover
 Effective HR management results in minimizing organizational conflicts and supports
in resolving conflicts effectively (Lamba and Choudhary, 2013)
 HR practices like reward system and performance management would result in
better employee satisfaction
 Training and development helps in increasing the productivity and quality of work
that provides higher opportunities for the company
 It also supports creating a positive work environment and motivating the company's
employees
Benefits to the Employee-
 It supports in improving employee performance
 It promotes positive work-behavior among the employees
 It supports in improving employee skills and knowledge (Lamba and Choudhary,
2013)
 It creates employee satisfaction
EFFECTIVENESS OF DIFFERENT HRM PRACTICES IN TERMS OF RAISING ORGANISATIONAL
PROFIT AND PRODUCTIVITY
Different HRM practices in Lloyds Bank are;
 Workforce planning: workforce planning in Lloyds bank emphasizes ensuring the
current and future access to the needs and requirements of human capital to
perform business operations effectively.
 Recruitment and selection: recruitment and selection is a process used for selecting
the best individuals amongst the pool of applicants for different job positions (Boxall,
and Purcell, 2011). It is a complete process of sourcing, screening and choosing the
right candidate for a particular position in the company.
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 Development and training: Lloyds bank uses a variety of training and development
programs to improve the abilities and skills of its employees to perform their
respective roles within the company (Bradely, 2018). Lloyds bank emphasizes on
continuous skill development to increase organizational productivity and
performance.
 Performance management: in Lloyds bank, performance management is used to
regulate employee performance within the company. it is used to make sure that all
the employees are aware of the individual level of performance as expected to them
in a particular role within the company. performance management is done by setting
individual objectives in order to achieve organizational objectives (Boxall, and
Purcell, 2011).
 Reward system: Reward system is used to motivate the employees to work with
higher productivity. It involves bonus, incentives, appraisals and other benefits to the
employees for their job performance.
The above-mentioned elements are the key working areas of human resource management
at Lloyds bank that are used in human resource management and planning of the company.
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LO3
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS THAT AFFECT THE HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
DECISION-MAKING
There is a number of internal and external factors that could affect the decisions and
strategies of the human resource management department in the Lloyds bank.
EXTERNAL FACTORS
Available labor pool: the main function of HR is to maintain an adequate level of staff to
perform different tasks of the company. the most critical external factor that could affect HR
decisions and strategies is the labor market availability (Thompson, 2018). The availability of
labor is largely affected by the unemployment rates, a number of qualified workers and the
availability of candidates with required skills and knowledge.
The geographic location of the company: the geographic location of the company has a
great impact on the HR decisions if the labor pool is not favorable then, the recruitment
should be needed to do outside the region and should pay relocation packages.
Government regulations: the federal and state law and regulations are the external factors
that affect human resource management decisions as the company needs to comply with
the regulation (Thompson, 2018).
INTERNAL FACTORS
Use of technology: the company that uses technical tools in its management can have more
time to focus on other areas of HR like recruiting, training and development. the use of
technology can save considerable time and resources and facilitate efficient management
decisions.
Level of growth: the growth rate of the company could affect its HR decisions. In the case of
aggressive growth and rapid expansion, the HR department needs to focus on recruitment
and staffing (Thompson, 2018). The company may need to focus its efforts on employee
retention and improving the work environment and culture of the company.
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Other than the above-mentioned factor, some of the emerging factor that influences human
resource decisions are;
Employee relations: employee relations refer to the efforts of the organization in managing
a good relationship with the employees (Thompson, 2018). Lloyd’s banks focus to maintain
a good employee relation by ensuring a consistent and fair treatment to all the employees
so that they will be loyal and committed to their work.
Employee engagement: employee engagement refers to the extent to which the goals and
personal interests of the employees are associated with the organizational goals and
objectives. Under this, approach, the employees are kept engaged in their work so that
negativity and conflicts can be significantly avoided (Albrech, 2011).
In order to ensure better employee relations and engagement, the Lloyds bank can adopt
the concept of flexible organization, flexible working practices and employer of choice. A
flexible organization is one where the employees can efficiently complete their work, take
own decision when necessary and easily adapt to the needs of the customers. While flexible
working practices provide employees flexibility to work when and where they want. It
supports employees in establishing a positive work-life balance and makes them more
productive (Kelliher and Anderson, 2010). Thus, it benefits both the employers and
employee. Lloyds bank could also adopt the concept of the employer of choice where the
company could offer a work culture and environment that attracts and retain its employees.
This concept favors the well-being of employees and customers.
KEY AREAS OF EMPLOYEE LEGISLATION WITHIN WHICH THE LLOYDS BANK MUST WORK
Several government regulations and laws could affect the decisions and strategies of the
human resource department in Lloyds bank. Some of the key areas of employee legislation
are:
Equality act 2010: under this act, the employers have to avoid any kind of discrimination
against anyone in terms of age, race, disability, sex, marriage, religion and civil partnership
(Hall, 2010). This act opposes the different type of discrimination such as harassment,
victimization, discrimination by association and direct and indirect discrimination.
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General data protection regulations act 2018: the act obliges the company to protect
personal data and information of every individual. Thus, Lloyds banks need to protect the
personal information of employees as well as customers.
Fixed term employment regulations 2002: it states that the fixed term employees in the
company should be treated just like permanent employees (Gold, 2010). there should be no
discrimination among the permanent and fixed-term employees.
Health and safety at work act 1974: under the obligations of this act, Lloyds bank needs to
ensure proper health and safety measures for its employees as well as visitors to the bank
to protect against any kind of harm and ill health.
Minimum wage pay: this act states that the company should compensate its employees
according to the set standards of minimum wage pay (Hall, 2010). This act states a minimum
of pay per hour for all the workers. The minimum wage per hour in 2018 is $7.25.
Working hours regulations: this regulation states the maximum working hours for
employees. under this act, the employee should not work for more than 48 hours a week.
This limit is reduced to 40 hours per week for employees under the age of 18 years
(GOV.UK, 2018).
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