Analysis of HRM Effectiveness in a Fashion Retail Setting

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Human Resources Management

Executive Summary
The company in question, Reiss has a sound Human Resources structure. This body of
work which is in the way of a report gives an overview of Reiss as an organisation in
general. This review report dives into the effectiveness of HRM in the organisation and
how far will restructuring the same make a difference. Various tasks undertaken by that
of HRM has been put into perspective like that of selection and recruitment, workforce
planning, performance management, reward systems, training and associated
development. There are various external and internal factors at play while the HRM
operates that has been highlighted by this body of work. Key areas of legislation in
relation to that of the employees have also been exemplified on a work-based context.
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 3
LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of
resourcing an organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business objectives4
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning and
resourcing an organisation...............................................................................................4
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection and critically evaluate them (P2, M2, D1).........................................................5
M1 Identify and explain the HR functions to fulfil business objectives.............................5
LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource Management
in an organisation.............................................................................................................6
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both the
employer and employee...................................................................................................6
P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising
organisational profit and productivity................................................................................7
M3 Explore different methods used in HRM practices.....................................................8
D2 Evaluate the HRM practices and their application......................................................8
LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource Management
decision-making, including employment legislation..........................................................9
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations with respect to influencing HRM
decision- making..............................................................................................................9
P6 Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon HRM
decision- making..............................................................................................................9
M4 Identify the key aspects of employee relations management and employment
legislation....................................................................................................................... 10
D3 Critically evaluate employee relations and the application of HRM practices that
inform and influence decision-making in an organisational context...............................10
LO4 Apply Human Resource Management Practices in a work-related context............11
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples........................................................................................................................11
M5 Provide a rationale for the application of specific HRM............................................15
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 16
References.....................................................................................................................17
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Introduction
Every company needs to have an HR or at least an HR department since their task is
very specific and cannot be handled by the managerial staff alone. The existence of a
dedicated team of HR will always fuel the growth of the organisation that operates
internationally. The industry has come a long way in understanding that HR is not
someone who hides away in a corner doing the most mundane tasks. HR’s of today are
also strategic business leaders (De Mauro et al., 2018). Every company has to make
sure that the HR has an impactful part for the restructuring of the department on the
whole.
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LO1 Explain the purpose and scope of Human Resource Management in terms of
resourcing an organisation with talent and skills appropriate to fulfil business
objectives
P1 Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce
planning and resourcing an organisation
To brief someone on the company that has been chosen, it can be said that Reiss is an
overall an affordable fashion companies within the UK in line with others like that of Ted
Baker. They ship internationally to far-off countries like that of Taiwan, Vietnam, and
Japan and are headquartered in London. They own a total of one hundred and sixty
stores across fifteen countries. They have personal tailoring services for both women
and men. It is a UK based company founded by entrepreneur David Reiss in 1971. The
total revenue of the company earned in 2016 was for 146 million GBP. Their operating
income is of 24.4 million GBP as of 2016 (Reiss, 2019). A close look at the profile of the
manager of the HR at Reiss, Khilna Karsan shows that being an HR in the field of retail
demands being professional, goal-oriented, committed with a great eye for detail. The
manager also has to be proficient in training new employees and in engaging in any
given task which makes them a valued asset for any organisation (Tian et al., 2016).
Primary objective of the company HRM is in efficient dealing with people or allocate
human capital effectively keeping it aligned to the goals of the organisation.
Workforce planning: It is a continuous process and is utilised by the organisation of
concern in order to align with the motives of the company so the staff can meet certain
production, regulatory, legislative and service targets (Al Ariss and Sidani, 2016). It can
help the organisation in regards to having development strategies which are evidence-
based.
Resourcing: This involves concentration on the intrinsic sources of organisational
competitive advantage. This process addresses the selection and recruitment
processes (Rees and Smith, 2017). The company instructs the HR to acquire
employees and develop their skills by way of motivation. They always make sure that
the workforce remains constantly committed to the company’s aims leading to better
implementation of the company policies.
Other functions of importance are that of restructuring the processes of the
organisation. They also listen to the complaints regards the workplace for employees
and employers and try to arrive at a solution or a compromise (Markoulli et al., 2017).
They put the satisfaction back in the work for both. They integrate and spread
awareness in regards to various laws in regards to ethical practices and labour laws
like that of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
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Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection and critically evaluate them (P2, M2, D1)
When one thinks of promotion or lateral movements they are alluding to internal
recruitments. This method also encompasses that of allowing the current employees to
go from part-time to full-time workers. The pros of the process are that it is cheap; it
helps the company find the best fit for its culture, retaining the best of the talent that
they have and mitigates the turnover of the employees (Gorman et al., 2017). This in a
way boosts staff morale so that they can work harder and be promoted. The cons
include fresh talent being denied a chance to enter the company. Workplace ego
clashes arise and the total number of candidates become low weakening the balance of
the entire workforce.
External recruitment is the opposite as the company hires employees by way of tie-
ups with consultancies that interview the candidates on the company’s behalf. The
company pays for the background checks, subscribes to employment exchanges
(Government or non-Government), maintains resume databases, and posts
advertisements in local newspapers and on online job portals or websites. It is
expensive, more time taking, interviewing may not be foolproof and the candidate may
be unhappy as it may not be a good cultural fit, automated recruitment devices may not
be formatted properly and may select inappropriate candidates although they save
some time for the company. External recruitment despite cost hassles makes sure more
ideas pour in due to the hiring of candidates externally establishing a bond with the rest
of the world.
Selection is something that is not the same for all organisations. It may be done by that
of face-to-face testing and interview or online. The pros are that the tests conducted are
reliable, objective and unbiased as they employ quantifiable insight (Kew and Stredwick,
2016). The downside is that candidates may not be fully honest and try to crack the
interview by lying; some tests like the ones that are psychometric are ambiguous
impacting the results.
Reiss has many organisational tactics in order to draw in the cream of the crop in
regards to talent. Modern ways of recruitment ensure that candidates do not have to
cross many miles for a job interview as it can be done over the phone or virtually online
(Zeuch, 2016.). Going by all the cons listed above it can be safe to assume that a
company that concerns fashion which is very specialised and subjective will lean mostly
towards that of internal recruitments though that being done too much restricts the
growth of the company so they can find a way to achieve a healthy mix of all the given
methods.
M1 Identify and explain the HR functions to fulfil business objectives
The company HRM performs more than just what the manager tells them to nowadays
and in companies like that of Reiss which is a global fashion brand. Along with
everything described before the HRs have to take up performance management and
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that of the reward systems. The HRs use methods for performance appraisals and
tries to reward hard-working and dedicated employees either in kind or cash (Tweedie
et al., 2019). Now it is often outsourced and the HR as the HR also takes care of the
employee benefits. The flipside is that the HR’s make dismissals that are related to the
candidate’s performance. HR is responsible for all stages of the employee life-cycle
right from that of on-boarding and induction to that of letting go (Pindek et al., 2017).
LO2 Evaluate the effectiveness of the key elements of Human Resource
Management in an organisation
P3 Explain the benefits of different HRM practices within an organisation for both
the employer and employee
In regards to both employers and employees it is often crucial that the HR mediates and
builds bridges of understanding between the two entities by putting into action several
employee relation strategies. Open communication is clearly an indication of
progressive culture in regards to employee relations and engagement. The HRs
establishes a rapport with both managers and employees by asking how things are
going. It helps employees feel motivated to reach out in times of crisis by giving or
receiving feedback fostering employee engagement through emotional commitment
(Papa et al., 2018). This is how a modern HR connects with the employee. They are the
conduit that explains messages pregnant with importance to the workforce that makes
them all the more aligned to that of the company ideals and goals. This is only possible
if the HRs have ready access to what is going on within the organisation. The workplace
may not be too flexible as fashion is very specific, so the workers may feel bound but
they are independent in terms of innovating and finding their own tactics for ensuring
customer satisfaction. The HR’s have to keep in mind that the employees deserve the
right to efficiently completing their work and expediting making decisions as and when
necessary (Crawshaw et al., 2017). Since the company, Reiss is spread out
geographically the internal structure is more or less flexible. The company makes sure
the HR knows that it is best if the framed policies towards being decentralised as
customer preferences vary across countries.
The flexibility of work encompasses the concept of compressed hours, job-shares,
mobile working and part-time (Bal and De Lange, 2015). It is the job of HR to make sure
that such practices are not overlooked. The HR can build a strong case going for the
usage of flexibility by the development of diversity, brand competency, job satisfaction
and worker’s commitment by assuring them of mutual trust (Järlström et al., 2018).
Employer of choice is the term that indicates that the company has an excellent
working environment as per the reviews of the employees who will think twice before
switching organisations (Brewster et al., 2016). The company HRM plays a seminal part
in creation of such a positive image of the company by balancing all activities of
performance management, employee benefits, negotiation of facilities and handling of
issues of disgruntlement.
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P4 Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in terms of raising
organisational profit and productivity
The company HRD is instrumental for alignment of the workforce to that of the
company values by making sure the workers are informed of the organisational
processes and get the bigger picture (Zehir et al., 2016). They make sure the workforce
understands the “why” that is the vision of the company that might be ignored as they
consistently run after profits. They establish organisational structure by allocating and
delegation of tasks in consultation with managers.
HRM maintains the proper population of staff and is instrumental in the processes of
recruitment of qualified workers. Recruitment of qualified staff will make sure that the
company does not run out of ideas and it is also interesting to note that a world without
humans will not be able to take full advantage of technological advantages.
The HRM makes sure that employee performance is optimised by motivating them.
They make sure workers are appropriately promoted, increment in employee facilities
such as the provision of medical and dental insurance boosts morale and performance
garnering more revenue (Machado, 2015).
Figure 1: HR Management Subsystems
Source: (Sekhar et al., 2018)
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M3 Explore different methods used in HRM practices
Strategic management is a great concern for the HR as they do so by meeting many
kinds of long-term and short-term company specific targets. The department undertakes
to make workforce planning by recruiting, orientation and selection. Workforce
efficiency is also dependent on their decisions as they are required to hire candidates
with good educational backgrounds whose profiles match the company values and
goals. They also make sure that once an employee is benched or let go of they receive
appropriate benefits and the final settlement is just hence they have to take care of the
whole employee life-cycle (which is defined as a model of Human Resources
identifying the multifarious working stages of an employee within an organisation and
the role of the HR in increasing its effectiveness) (Ranjan, 2017). It is thus implied that
all the stages of the employee life-cycle have to be beneficial to the company. They
also take care of the process of induction once a new hire is selected. They work
closely with managers who let them know about what the workforce is required to do
and how many positions are vacant for what job role.
D2 Evaluate the HRM practices and their application
The HRM practices are evaluated by identifying the structure, relationship reporting,
level of resourcing and the staff skilling set. The HRM and its effectiveness are
evaluated by how they carry out the tasks of making hand-picked employee selections,
downsizing of redeployment, performance evaluation, staff development through
training, negotiation of benefits and in case of issues, speaking with unions and
employee management. The HRM is working for the organisation solely and not the
managers or the staff so their opinion must be neutral and unaffected by that of any kind
of being biased. The HR is very serious about the processes of internal promotion as
that is the way in which they can find the best fit for the company (Armstrong, 2017).
The HRM has to effectively work with the marketing team in order to survey the needs
of the customers and how to make sure their expectations are met. The company must
take time out to plan external recruitment drives so that the chances of stagnation of
human capital is less.
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LO3 Analyse internal and external factors that affect Human Resource
Management decision-making, including employment legislation
P5 Analyse the importance of employee relations with respect to influencing HRM
decision- making
The employers and workforce have a set of their own needs and expectations. The
successful management of both require the intervention of the HRM who is well-versed
with the techniques of negotiation and know that they are working for the organisation
and not the managers or the employed specifically (Torrington et al., 2017). The
balance is achieved by that of a psychological contract, which is an agreement that is
unwritten between both the employer and the employed defining the relationship of
work.
There are several extrinsic criteria which have an effect on the workings of the HRM is
the candidate turnout for a particular position. For maintenance of the quality and
quantity of staffing, the company HRD needs to be equipped with the skills to settle the
way the company deals with the workforce by making sure red-tape practices and
nepotism are kept to a bare minimum and the candidates feel secure.
There are internal factors too like that of the company growth level and if it is growing
rapidly then the HRM will have to make sure the policies are employee friendly and
more people want to be recruited under the company. The level of satisfaction for the
existing workforce has to be maintained so they do not beg to leave.
P6 Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon
HRM decision- making
It is compulsory that any employee will have a few expectations from that of an HR
associate or manager. The impact of the process of selection is meaningful if they know
that the law does not support any kind of unfair biases being p[racticed. There are
certain acts like that of the rights to equal payment for equal tasks undertaken to be
done under that of the Equal Pay Act 1970 and that of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
The laws seek to make sure that anyone looking for a job will be given a fair chance by
actions that are affirmative and dictate that they favour everyone with the right
qualifications and set of skills. Sexual harassment is not too far off if an employer
discriminates on the basis of gender while employing an employee. Under the Race
Relations Act 1976 (RRA), it is against the UK law to discriminate seeing the person’s
race, ethnicity, colour, nationality and place of origin. The employee cannot be held
back from being promoted or employed on these grounds as per law. Under the
Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), the employer cannot discriminate unjustly among
employees without enough justification if they are physically or mentally disabled.
Another internal factor is the usage of technology like the companies where employees
can change their benefits online are favoured more for employment than others. An
external factor affecting the HR policies are the Government mandates that make the
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framers of the policies comply with each and every one of them so the company does
not run into any legal issues.
M4 Identify the key aspects of employee relations management and employment
legislation
The seminal criteria to be noted would be that anyone with good skills and qualifications
is employed. The workplace should be free of sexually abusing someone, for example,
denying someone to be promoted for they belong to the non-binary category of gender.
Time regulation should be made for the number of hours for the employed workforce in
terms of weekly or daily hours devoted to the company. The workplace is kept unbiased
in the case of direct or indirect discrimination, any kind of victimisation, gender
reassignment and race relations. The company should not be prejudiced against
employees on the grounds of culture or religion according to the act about Religious and
cultural beliefs introduced in 2003. Every employee has the right to expect the same
salary for equal work (Wright and Ulrich, 2017). Everything that the company has
obtained about the employee is not to be disclosed to anyone under any pretext
whether genuine or pretended under the Data Protection Act. Some of the principles of
the law include that the data is processed in a fair and lawful way along the lines of
subject rights.
D3 Critically evaluate employee relations and the application of HRM practices
that inform and influence decision-making in an organisational context
In case of harassment that has taken place, it is escalated to that of the HR who takes
immediate action. Employee relation can be maintained by that of maintaining their
safety, health and a sound work environment. Safety of the workforce is taken care of
by the HRM putting up posters and fliers that indicate what to do in case of any situation
that indicates a life hazard or accident. The HRs must keep in mind that an open door
policy is the best when it comes to employee satisfaction. The employees must feel free
to discuss and evaluate the process with that of the body of HRs so that they can make
the best of the opportunities given by the company.
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LO4 Apply Human Resource Management Practices in a work-related context
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using
specific examples
This section of the study deals with the several functions of the HRM, and it will help in
the gaining of extensive information in regards to that of the employee’s working as well
the HR practices in an eminent fashion brand like Reiss, UK. The HR professionals
vigorously screen and interview the potential employees and recruit them as per their
capabilities (Wang et al., 2017). Therefore, this section highlights the efficient practices
associated with selection and recruitment procedures of HRM of Reiss.
1. “The design of a job specification for one of a number of given positions in the
organization”
A job specification is termed as the skill or knack which is required to execute a selected
task, or in other words, it is the work experience, the educational qualification level of
the selected candidates which helps them to accomplish the organisation’s objectives. It
also accompanies the recruitment process, analyses the employee’s performance along
with assists promotions or rewards of the employees. Further analysis regarding the
given job profile of the position of an HR assistant for Reiss is provided below:
Job title: Assistant to the HR Manager
Job descriptions and specification:
The pivotal task for a candidate taking the post will be to collaborate with HR Directors
and managers to execute all the Human resource tasks. Their work is mostly
administrative, which includes the preparation of performance sheets of the office staff,
looking after the employee benefits, their terminations, compensation and many others.
Frequently, they are also involved in appointing new employees, conducting training
procedures and others. Conventional management in a company, in the whole may be
mentioned as the assembled responsibilities for the assistant to an HR Manager.
Duties and responsibilities of assistant HR:
● Answering employee queries, regular mail handling.
● Arrangement of interviews as per company schedule.
● Maintaining database by entering and updating data
● Effective communication with the employees by analysing their needs and
requirements.
● A monthly evaluation of every employee performance
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