Resource and Talent Planning Report: ASDA - HR Management

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of resource and talent planning within ASDA, a major British supermarket retailer. It begins with an overview of the organization, detailing its labor requirements, and then delves into current labor market trends and the factors influencing them. The report examines relevant legislation impacting workforce planning, analyzes current and anticipated skill requirements, and compares ASDA's practices with those of similar organizations. The second part focuses on the recruitment and selection process, including a flowchart, job analysis, job descriptions for different roles (HR Manager, HR Operation Manager), and person specifications. It also covers various recruitment and selection methods and offers recommendations for process improvement. Finally, the report explores the different stages of the HR lifecycle and integrates them with the overall HR strategy of the company. The report concludes with recommendations for ASDA to improve its talent management and workforce planning strategies.

UNIT 19
RESOURCE AND TALENT
PLANNING

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
PART 1............................................................................................................................................3
Organization overview and types of labour requirements......................................................3
Analysing current labour market trends with the factors influencing them...........................4
Legislations which are to be considered while workforce planning......................................4
Analysing anticipated and current skills requirements with their direct influence to the
organization ...........................................................................................................................5
Comparison with similar size organizations...........................................................................6
Recommendations and Conclusions.......................................................................................6
PART 2............................................................................................................................................7
Flowchart of recruitment and selection process.....................................................................7
Job analysis.............................................................................................................................7
Job description for different jobs............................................................................................8
Person specification for each job............................................................................................9
Methods of recruitment and selection..................................................................................10
Recommendations for improving processes and documents................................................11
PART 3..........................................................................................................................................11
Different stages of HR life-cycle..........................................................................................11
Stages of HR cycle integrated with HR strategy..................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Resources and talent planning is significant function as it involves coordination with recruitment
team and with company in many aspects, which are analysis on forecast for required resources,
delivery of resources on time, maintain the talent pool in the company for future recruitment,
following proper selection and networking channel for hiring .
The chosen firm for this report is ASDA which deals in retailing industry. The company was
founded in 1949 and headquarters of the company are situated in Asda house, south Bank Leeds,
West Yorkshire, England. The company offers financial services, mobile phone with EE
networks, etc. In this report the study will discuss current labour market trends that influence
talent management and workforce planning.
The discussion will be based on the legal requirements that company should fulfil while work
force planning. Further the report will determine skill requirement in current labour market.
Further the study will discuss the appropriate documents and process for effective recruitment
and selection in firm. Lastly the study will discuss HR life-cycle within context of HR strategy.
Organization overview and types of labour requirements
Asda is a British supermarket retailer which is headquartered in West Yorkshire. It was the
second largest supermarket chain in the year 2003 to 2014. Revenue of the company in the year
2016 was £21,666 million, and the number of employees working in the company is 165,000. It
is a huge organization which requires different types of labours in order to carry out its
operations that includes skilled labours and semi-skilled labours, mental and physical labour.
Skilled labour are those individuals who have special knowledge and training with the efficiency
to perform the work, In Asda several skilled workers like engineers are required for managing its
machinery. Unskilled workers refer to that labour in which there is no requirement of special
knowledge and skills, Asda requires this labour mainly for transporting, lodging and fulfilling all
the activities which requires physical energy rather than any special skill. On other hand there is
another labour category known as semi-skilled labour. Under this those employees comes who
have knowledge but moderate and also have laborious work skill. ASDA use such kind of
employees for both office and physical tasks.

Physical labour are those workers who have more physical strength that makes the skill more
important in order to complete tasks including physical activities, Asda requires physical labour
for completing its all the tasks related to pulling, luggage transporting, material handling etc.
Whereas mental labour refers to the workers who have more mental knowledge than physical
strength, these are required by Asda in order to carry out its operations by managing all the tasks
by their knowledge rather than their physical ability.
Analysing current labour market trends with the factors influencing them
Current labour market trends refer to the changes in environment of availability of labour at a
specific region. The trends which can affect Asda are discussed as follows:
Pulling young talents from outside the country
It is the latest trend which is being influencing the companies to bring talents from other
countries due to lacking of young talents within the country. In current time period ASDA is not
focusing much on this point and is recruiting employees from within nation. Recruitment of
employees outside nation assist firm in innovating its operations at fast rate. Thus, by changing
recruitment approach innovation can be promoted at workplace.
Requirement of more skills
With passage time more and more retailers are focusing on recruiting employees in workforce
that have more number of skills. ASDA is also following same approach and under this it is
selecting candidates from multiple areas in its workforce that have diversified knowledge. This is
the reason because of which ASDA is able to fight with its competitors. It is offering product at
low price relative to competitors and it is main reason behind its growth in market. It is pool of
talented skill which assist firm is remaining ahead of its competitors.
Checking employee’s background
ASDA makes an effort to ensure that candidate it recruit have neat and clean background. In this
regard it do preliminary investigation. However, this is done only to fill top positions at
workplace. It is essential for ASDA to check the background of the employees who are to be
recruited before the process of selection. The data base of the candidates is also to be kept very
safely in order to prevent any leakage of data which may be used by the hackers for performing
criminal activities. High rate of unemployment has raised this issue of trapping unemployed
people and asking for upfront money. In order to be safe, Asda must check the background of the
employees and keeping the data generated for recruitment and selection safe.

Legislations which are to be considered while workforce planning
Legislations are the rules and regulations formed by the government bodies of the nation, for
providing fair practices in several aspects. The legislations which influences workforce planning
in Asda are discussed as follows:
The equal pay act 1970
This refers to performing equality in payment of all the employees of the company, there must
not be any discrimination between the employees for paying them. HR has to consider while
selection of employees that the individual is able to generate effective outputs by putting their
inputs in the most significant manner.
Sex discrimination act 1975
In this act, company must consider that their must not be any discrimination between the gender
of individual while selection of candidates. Asda must make sure that male and females are given
equal opportunities for being selected for the appropriate vacancies.
The Immigration, Asylum and Nationality act, 2006
This refers to the eligibility of the individual to work in UK, this law was created for preventing
illegal migrant working in UK. Asda's HRM must check the background of the individuals
before selecting or recruiting them to identify that they are eligible to work in UK or not.
Analysing anticipated and current skills requirements with their direct influence to the
organization
There are several skills required to work in a retail chain which includes communication skills,
customer relationship management skills and technological skills. In order to fulfil these skills,
company has to employ labour accordingly, but there are various labour market trends which can
influence recruitment and selection these skills.
Customer management skills are the most essential skill required for handling database of
customers and retaining the customers. The trend which can influence in employing a significant
customer relationship manager is checking background of candidates, if the candidate is involved
in any unlawful activity. This can lead to misuse of data base of customer by the manager. In
order to prevent the same, Asda must thoroughly check the background of the candidates.
Retail chains are becoming more technical by offering its products online. In order to manage
technological aspects, company needs to employ labour with these skills. The trend which can

influence Asda for doing so is lack of skilled workers. This may lead in paying more to
employees because of less skilled employees in the country which increases the costs of
operations.
Communication skills are required for communicating with the customers in the retail stores. In
order to communicate with the customers, young and enthusiastic workers are needed. The
current trend in labour market which can influence Asda in employing young workers with
communication skills is unavailability of young talents in the country. This can lead to pay extra
costs for employing people with good communication skills.
Comparison with similar size organizations
Tesco and Asda are both the retail chain organization with a leading market share of UK. There
are several bases on which the comparison can take place between both the organizations.
Firstly, the employees that are being appointed by Tesco are having more technical skills as
compared to Asda, which helped them in using technology for increasing their efficiency of
operations. Secondly, the background check of candidates is being done more significantly in
Asda in comparison with Tesco, which helps the company in preventing selection of ineffective
and unreliable workers in the organization. Lastly, Tesco and Asda both are involved in
employing skilled labour from other countries which leads to increasing expenses of recruitment
and selection.
Recommendations and Conclusions
It is essential for the company to understand the current labour market trends in order to prevent
inefficiencies of Asda for the purpose of recruiting and selecting the most effective workforce in
the organization. By studying several labour market trends, it can be recommended to Asda that,
the company can train and develop the skills of existing employees in order to save expenses of
recruiting and selecting new workforce for the required skills. This can help the company in
retaining its existing employees which may lead to build more trust in employees for the
company that saves the cost of checking background of them. Further, company can train and
develop skills of local unemployed individuals in order to make use of them and preventing cost
of bringing talents from other countries.

Flowchart of recruitment and selection process
Job analysis
Job analysis can be described as a process of gathering with analysing the information about the
requirements of human resource in the organization according to the operations performed. In
order to recruit and select candidates for fulfilling the requirement of essential skills in Asda,
Company has to appoint a human resource manager who can perform this task in the most
effective manner.
Another thing which is necessary for fulfilling the needs of skills in Asda, is monitoring the
process of human resource management, for which company has to assign a human resource

operation manager. They will be responsible for the operations taking place in human resource
management.
Job description for different jobs
Job description
Position: HR manager
Reports to: General manager
Department: Human Resources
Job location: London
Job Summary: Provides advice to manager for coordinating activities in business. Describing
policies and procedures and extra benefits to employees. Managing recruitment and implement
strategic planning into business.
Duties and responsibilities
 Responsible for framing policies and procedures and activities related to human
resource.
 Reporting to director regarding employment, medical, employee records,
certifications, administration benefits and employee communication.
 HR manager have to work with all levels in the organization by performing different
human resource function that include employee relation, providing compensation
and other benefits.
 Provide training, guidance and advice to employee.
 Ensure proper maintenance of files and up to date information related to existing
employees.
 Maintaining professional image for all staff members
 Attracting employees by providing extra benefits for retaining them for longer term.
 Ensuring proper recruitment process for selecting qualified employees.
Job description

Position: Human Resource operation manager
Reports to: Director of operation management
Department: Human Resource
Job location: London
Duties and responsibilities
 Preparing and implementing annual international HR plan as well as specific plans
that help in supporting overall aims and objectives of ASDA.
 Coordinating recruitment activities and supporting manager for development of job
description, also responsible for providing advertisements and assessment tools.
 Participating in interview and selection process as required (Baker, 2016)
Person specification for each job
Person Specification
Job Title: Human Resource Manager
Criteria Essential Desirable
Qualification
 Graduation
 Post-graduation HR
 Diploma in HR
Yes
Yes
Yes
Experience
 Internship in HR
 Minimum 1 year
Yes
Yes
Skills and competencies
 Communication skills
 Problem solving
Yes
Yes

 Organizational
 Creative
Yes
Yes
Person Specification
Job Title: Human Resource operation manager
Criteria Essential Desirable
Qualification
 Senior Secondary
 Graduation
 Post-graduation
 Diploma
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Experience
 IT experiences
 1 year in operations
department Yes
Yes
Skills and Competencies
 Technical skills
 Decision making
 Motivational
 Negotiation
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Methods of recruitment and selection
There are different methods for recruitment and selection of employees which can be undertaken
by Asda in order to select the most effective workplace in the organization.
Recruitment Methods
The most effective recruitment method used by majority of companies is recruitment through
social media. Asda can advertise its vacancies of social media applications which can help in
attracting maximum number of applicants for the job role that increases the options for the
company. Asda can also use employee referrals which can save the cost of advertisement for the

job role, and recruits more trust worthy candidates for the job role. The most appropriate method
for Asda can be internal recruitment as it can save expenses and time of the organization.
Selection Methods
There are several methods of selection which can be used by Asda includes interview and
selection test. Interviews involve an interaction between interviewer and interviewee which helps
the company in identifying the candidate in a more significant manner by determining all the
skills required for the job role. Selection tests help in assessing the efficiency of representing
themselves for the job role by performing a selection test. Asda can use both the methods for
selection of candidates as this will help in determining their practical as well as theoretical skills
of the candidate.
Recommendations for improving processes and documents
It is recommended that process and documents can be improved by analysing current workflow
in business. Maintenance of proper records that help in providing efficient use of resources and
making document process effective and efficient. By implementing software that help in
reducing paper work by recording data and information on system itself and also help in saving
time. Breakdown work process that help in providing effective use of resources. It should also be
recommending encouraging employees by communicating with each other that bring
productivity in the work process and enhance profitability in business. Organizing meeting in
business that provide a workflow and clear understanding of policies and procedures to
employees. By adopting technological changes that help in bringing efficiency in work as well as
getting new ideas to do work. By avoiding distractions in work also help in setting benchmark
for other employees and that create changes in the company. It can be improved by stop doing
multitasking work at a particular point of time. Lastly, by cooperating in each other's work help
in making it efficient for the future.
Different stages of HR life-cycle
HR life cycle is a concept related to the management of human capital in the organisation and
HR life-cycle that describes stages of employee time span in the organisation and responsibilities
that HR department faces at each stage. The employee experiences five different stages in HR

life cycle that are recruitment, education, motivation, evaluation and celebration and all these are
explained below:
Recruitment: In this stage, the selection for right candidate is important in firm which will help
organisation to grow. HR department should recruit with strategic staffing plan, provide benefit
packages, compensation and follow the interview protocol. ASDA recruits talented and skilled
employees for growth and development of the firm.
Education: For the fulfilment of roles and responsibilities by the employee in the organisation
the employee should be able to understand its roles and responsibilities that job position holds.
Education help the employee to follow the channel of communication, train new employees, and
assign mentors for giving guidance and to help new employees. In ASDA educational programs
and training are given to employees.
Motivation: This stage plays key role in increasing the annual turnover of the company
Motivated employee work efficiently and effectively for the company growth and development.
ASDA motivates its employees by providing peer recognition to employees who performs best
for in their work, giving incentives and bonuses, etc.
Evaluation: In this stage the evaluation is done on employee performance in the firm.
Evaluation helps the firm to know whether the employee is fit for the job position. ASDA
company conduct performance conversation with employee based on the facts and provides
feedback to employee for improving their abilities.
Celebration: The last stage of HR life cycle, celebration in organisation reenergizes the staff and
appreciates the employee hard work for achievement of organisational objective. ASDA
celebrates by offering gift cards, extra paid time off, flexible working environment, etc.
Importance of HR life-cycle to ASDA is that it is able to develop the skills and provide
opportunity for employee to grow. By following these stages the company is able to increases it
turnover. Motivated employees work efficiently and maintain the working environment which
adds value to the firm.
Stages of HR cycle integrated with HR strategy.
HR strategies are formulated to direct and unify the actions and behaviour of employees for their
overall development which will further help the organisation to achieve its goals. The strategies
include management of work and meaningful planning related to human resource. The stages of
HR life cycle are linked with HR strategies which are