MSc HRM Report: Organisational Development and HRM at Leicester Uni

This report discusses the integral role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in shaping and sustaining an organisation's culture. It delves into key aspects such as recruitment, training, employee motivation, and the establishment of core values. The report highlights how HRM strategies, including feedback, rewards, and strategic development processes, contribute to employee engagement, retention, and productivity. It further explores the organisational context of HRM, including sociological perspectives, organisational structures, and the management of organisational change. It also addresses the concepts of HRM, focusing on employee relations, organisational flexibility, and the challenges faced by HRM in managing an organisation effectively. This report uses case studies and theoretical frameworks to illustrate the practical implications of HRM in fostering a positive and productive organisational culture. Desklib provides a platform for students to access a wide range of resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to support their academic endeavors.

Running head: A REPORT ON ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HRM
Human Resource Management as an Integral Part of Organisational Culture
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1A REPORT ON ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HRM
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Unit 1: The Organisational Context of HRM.........................................................................3
Unit 2 topic: Concepts in HRM.............................................................................................6
Unit 3 topic: HRM Theories and Models...............................................................................9
Unit 4 topic: Evidence on Policy and Practice.....................................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................16
Reference..................................................................................................................................18

2A REPORT ON ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HRM
Introduction
Human Resource plays a crucial role in the sustenance of an organisation’s culture.
An organisation runs with the effective contribution of the employees. Hence, recruiting the
right candidate for a particular profile within the organisation; training him or her adequately
as per the job requirements; mentoring the candidate with regards to facing risks and
challenges and adapting leadership roles; counselling him or her under stressful situations and
finally evaluating the candidate’s performance and motivating him or her for achieving
better, are few among the major roles that an HR manager has to play in making an
organisational culture fruitful (Smollan 2015. Recruitment and selection are two such job
roles that are mostly identified with the human resource. The success of an organisation is
hugely dependent on how satisfiedly an employee discharges his or her roles. To ensure their
satisfaction, the Human Resource division of the organisation has to take care of a number of
factors like employment conditions, compensation and benefits, acknowledgement of their
exceptional performance and offering leadership roles. All such factors in isolation or in
combination not only aids in engaging the employee positively with his or her duty but also
instils the organisation’s core values and principles in them. A positively motivated employee
who values the organisation’s objectives and respects its cultural beliefs, ethics and code of
conducts becomes an asset for the organisation and takes it to newer heights. It is an HR who
facilitates such cultural cultivation within the employee by means of definite strategies. Some
of these strategies consist of productive feedback, rewarding an outstanding performance or
exhibition of exemplary behavioural standards. Periodically, an HR reinforces the
organisation’s culture through strategic development processes and evaluation of needs.
Cultural values play a positive role in influencing the thinking of an employee about the
organisational initiatives which, in the long run, results in producing improved outcomes.
Such initiatives enhances employee motivation, creativity and also help them in maintaining

3A REPORT ON ORGANISATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND HRM
effective work life balance. They learn to co-operate more with the organisation’s strategic
changes. Thus, the HR’s contribution in the organisational culture profoundly helps in
enhancing employee retention rates, reducing accident rates by making each employee aware
of the necessary safety measures, increasing productivity and quality of performance thereby
ensuring its growth and sustainability. In the following report four major aspects of Human
Resource Management would be discussed in light of their role and contribution in the
sustenance of an organisation’s culture. Organizational culture is a collection of values,
principles and beliefs that influences the behaviour and expectations of the employees as well
as the social and psychological environment at the workplace (Bourland-Davis and Graham
2017). The organizational culture is also a product of several factors such as the history of the
organization, the products or services of the organization, the management strategy used, the
demographics of the employee, the national culture, the language and diversity of the
organization, the organizational values and norms, assumptions of the employees and even
the environment and location of the organization. The organizational culture plays an
important part in the readiness of change. A positive work culture that is open to challenges
and is supported by effective leadership and communication can be more receptive and
supportive of organizational change while ineffective management and communication
barriers can increase resistance to change (Haffar et al. 2014). The present article aims to
describe in details about how the various HR Functions impact organisational culture.
Discussion
Unit 1: The Organisational Context of HRM
During Module 2 of the Masters Program, several important concepts which are
associated with Human Resource Management (HRM) have been discussed, mainly in the
context of Organizational Culture, the concepts of HRM and the theories and models of HRM
and evidence based policies and practices that are used in HRM. The significance of the

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background of studying organization was the focus for first unit of the module. Various
theories and perspectives can be used for understanding Organizational Behaviour and
organizational Culture (Collings et al 2018). A social science perspective can be used to
understand how people interact with each other and how they work as a group (Shen and
Benson 2016). According to Thompson (2017), the sociological perspectives also help to
understand the basic assumptions, beliefs and expectations of the people (or employee) which
helps to get a deeper insight about their behaviour (or the organizational behaviour). This
understanding can be used to develop conceptual framework of how people behave and how
they can be best managed in order to maintain a professional and productive environment.
Additionally, Sociological perspectives can help to understand the causes of conflicts and can
be used to mitigate and manage conflicts (in workplace). Such aspects show how sociological
perspectives are necessary for HRM (Hollenbeck and Jamieson 2015).
Significance of Organizational Structures was also outlined under unit 1 of Module 1,
during which the significance of understanding organizational culture for HRM were
discussed. Also, discussed was how classical management theories were used for the
Organizational Structure. The classical theory mainly supposes that both the managers as
well as employees are rational beings and are capable to taking the right and responsible
decisions which can maximize the efficiency of the organization (Farnham 2015).
Organizational culture is a collection of values, principles and beliefs that influences the
behaviour and expectations of the employees as well as the social and psychological
environment at the workplace (Bourland-Davis and Graham 2017). Outlined below is how
the organizational culture is significant for the HRM:
 It helps the HRM to understand how employees interact with each other in the workplace
and how they can be motivated and their loyalty to the organization maintained.

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 By setting up a good organizational culture, values of respect and equality can be
maintained for all employees.
 Haling an inclusive work culture can increase solidarity among the employees which can
help to reinforce their identity as a part of the organizational workforce.
 A safe and respectful and inclusive work culture can also help to promote better employee
satisfaction and retention of the employees.
 Workplace culture also helps to provide a sense of direction for the employees through
which they can be guided on how to maintain a productive as well as safe and inclusive
workplace culture.
 Through a productive and positive work culture, the productivity of the individuals and
teams can be improved and thus help to promote organizational growth.
 By understanding the values, practices and beliefs of the organizational culture, the
Human resources can develop policies for recruitment and training, training and
development, compensation administration and performance management.
(Lee et al. 2016; Bourland-Davis and Graham 2017)
In section 2 of Unit 1, significance of Organizational Change and development to the
HRM practices were discussed. The aim of the unit was to help to understand the various
sources of changes in the organization, understand the management approaches that can help
organizational change practices, approaches towards employee training programs that can
help organizational change and organizational development and how culture can influence
readiness for change. Discussed below are these aspects:
Sources of change in the organization: Change in an organization can be induced
through several factors and sources, which can be both external as well as internal such as
technological changes, political and social changes, change in organizational complexity and

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size, globalization, regulation from governing bodies, economic changes and fluctuations,
change in ownership and leadership, culture of the nation and local regions (Smollan 2015).
These factors act as stressors which can increase the need for the organization to change and
adapt to. Moreover, changes can also be planned as well as emergent (such as growth of the
organization, transition and transformation of business) which can take place as the result of
the regular operations of the organization and strategic management decisions (Cameron and
Green 2015).
Management approaches for organizational change: In order to support
organizational change and organizational development, different management styles can be
used by the HRM such as stabilizing the process of change, cheerleading towards the
change, analyzing the organizational culture and persuade the employees towards change
(Smollan 2015).
Approaches towards employee training program: Various training programs can be
considered which can help the employees to increase their skills and competencies and
supporting their career development. Training programs such as workshops, mentorship
programs, and internal training programs, external certification training and paid training
programs can help the employees to develop their skills (Cameron and Green 2015).
Effects of culture on readiness for change: The organizational culture plays an
important part in the readiness of change. A positive work culture that is open to challenges
and is supported by effective leadership and communication can be more receptive and
supportive of organizational change while ineffective management and communication
barriers can increase resistance to change (Haffar et al. 2014).

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Unit 2 topic: Concepts in HRM
During Unit 2, introduction was given on the significance of employee relationships,
concepts of HRM, the goals of HRM as well as the challenges faced by HRM in the
management of an organization. These factors help to develop understanding how through
effective employee relations the HRM can help in the development of the organization and
usher organizational change. Additionally, understanding the goals and challenges of HRM
can prepare the HR personnel to conduct their job in a more efficient and effective manner
(Sanderson and Mujtaba 2017). Discussed below are these factors:
The contractual relationships are based on temporary contracts which have a fixed and
pre planned termination date. After the termination the relationship with the employees end
and needs to be renewed if the relation is to be continued. This type of relation also does not
have a clear retirement date and the terms of the contract dictate the length of the relation.
Responsibilities of the organization towards contractual employees also differ from
permanent employees, and contracted workers are often considered as temporary members of
the organization (Meijerink et al. 2016).
HRM helps to induce flexibility and adaptability of the organization to any
environmental change through strategic decision making. Additionally, HRM practices also
help to maintain quality of performance of the employees. Thus HRM can be understood as a
collection of management strategies, ideas, models and framework which helps in the better
engagement of the employees with the organization, helping them to increase their
productivity, upholding the organizational values and provide the employees a medium to
raise any concerns they might have regarding the organizational management (Beltrán-Martín
and Bou-Llusar 2018).

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The roles and policies of HRM are influenced by several goals and objectives which
ultimately help in the growth of the organization. The main goals and objectives of the HRM
have been discussed below:
Increasing productivity of the employees: One of the main goals of the HRM policies is to
support and foster development of the productivity of the employees to achieve better
organizational performance by maintaining an effective organizational environment. The
HRM also aims in the development of the skills and competencies (through strategic training
and development of the employees) in order to promote employee growth and their capacity
to increase their productivity (Veth et al. 2017).
Increasing Organizational Flexibility: This is an important goal of HRM which can allow an
organization to adapt to changes in the organizational environment and address
organizational challenges by promoting flexibility within the workforce. The aim of the HRM
to support organizational flexibility also helps to promote job satisfaction and better retention
of the employees (Beltrán-Martín and Bou-Llusar 2018).
Supporting Social legitimacy of the employer: The HRM also has an important objective to
support the social legitimacy of the employer by helping the organization to engage in
activities related to social welfare as a part of the corporate social responsibility (Veth et al.
2017).
In section 4, various challenges faced by HRM in the management of employees and
achieving the key goals and responsibilities have been discussed, which have been outlined
below:
Scarcity of Labour and Employee Turnover: This is a significant challenge for the HRM,
especially for maintaining staffing for skilled job positions and in market where there is a
shortage of skilled employees. Also, a poor turnover of employees faced by many

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organizations is another challenge that causes poor retention of the employees (Veth et al.
2017).
Giving Motivation to the employees: Every employee can have different expectations, drives
and objectives because of which, developing strategies to motivate all employees is a
challenge for the HRM since it is not possible to address the diverse needs and expectations
of all the employees in order to motivate them (Dumont et al. 2017).
Tension caused by organizational change: During organizational changes, employees often
face significant tension and stress caused by an uncertainty about the organizational
directions, their change in roles and adapting to a change in the working process. This can be
a tension for the HRM since they are expected to help in the process of organizational change
as well as understand the perspectives and challenges faced by the employees and help to
reduce those (Dumont et al. 2017).
Planning effective training and development programs for employees: The skills and
competencies of each employee in an organization can be unique and varied, due to this,
designing training program that can suit the individual skills and competencies as well as
professional needs of the employees can be significant challenge (Veth et al. 2017).
Unit 3 topic: HRM Theories and Models
Implementation of HR Strategies in a business is usually based on certain models related
to both product life cycle and employee welfare that operates in unique ways (Collings,
Wood and Szamosi 2018). The organizational culture is also a product of several factors such
as the history of the organization, the products or services of the organization, the
management strategy used, the demographics of the employee, the national culture, the
language and diversity of the organization, the organizational values and norms, assumptions
of the employees and even the environment and location of the organization (Lee et al. 2016).

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Because of these factors, it is vital that HRM should consider the organizational culture in its
policy making and decision making practices. Each organisation adapts policies that is related
integrally to its business structure (Dumont, Shen and Deng 2017). The best practices in the
industry is dependent on the combination of core HRM policies and the market analysis that
has the potential to generate the desired organisational outcomes (Babnik 2014). These
advocated policies are in relation to recruitment, training and development and compensation
and benefits that aim to raise the bar of employee skills, their motivational levels and
flexibility in accepting challenges and risky tasks. Few aspects of such best practices would
be:
 Presenting an approach of multiskilling orientation
 Involving employee programmes to achieve formal work teams
 Implementing suggestions to achieve higher productivity and quality processes
through job rotation
 Demonstrating strategic assumptions of work ethics that can ensure the workforce to
attain a standardised quality and effectivity
The most important point that critically attributes the best practices of HRM consist of
carefully prescribing to these policies and presenting it before the resources in an absolutely
unambiguous format which can aid in better understanding and subsequent implementation of
these policies. The decisions pertaining to work culture that is taken at the highest level of
authority needs to be cascaded down to the junior most level in an unchanged format so that
the entire workforce gets the necessary validation that their contribution to the organisation is
valued (Dumont, Shen and Deng 2017).
At each level of organisational development, corresponding HR activities undergo
considerable modifications that relates to the organisational requirement. It includes:

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Initiation: In an entrepreneurial venture when the organisation is yet to make a mark, the HR
functions are usually limited to basic administration like recruitment and compensation. This
is due to the fact that most of the higher level resource activities are undertaken by the CEO
or the business founder themselves.
Functional Growth: With gradual expansion, an enterprise tends to become more organised
and competent with respect to handling the growth of its market structure. The HR actively
starts assisting the line managers in the vital recruitments and follows it up with employee
benefit management.
Controlled Growth: As the organisation attains stability and no longer assigns growth as
one of its topmost priority, the corresponding HRM activities become much more centralised
around productivity and cost effectivity of its resources.
Functional Integration: The organisation aims towards diversification at this stage whereby
the HR managers co-ordinate the functions of different departments to assess their
performance in order to make the newer ventures of diversification stronger and more
successful. Policies in relation to training, compensation and rewards are revised to fit the
newer requirement (Chen, Sparrow and Cooper 2016).
Strategic Integration: In this stage, the HR department looks critically into the internal
aspects of adaptability, flexibility and integration across the other departments like
accounting and operations to align them with the business goals and objectives (Chen,
Sparrow and Cooper 2016).
Resource-Based View of Organisational Economics
This model has been approached to as an alternative of the general strategic operative
model discussed above in the previous section. As viewed by Chen, Sparrow and Cooper
(2016), a firm is expected to analyse its internal competencies to find the perfect job fit