Human Resource Management Practices in River Island

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Human Resource Management
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Executive Summary
Workforce planning inside River Island has been identified as a function of HR
department. This department manages resources by strategically dividing it. Strengths
of numerous recruitment and selection processes as well as its weaknesses were
identified. The importance of HR practices in enhancing the profit and providing benefit
to the employees have been provided. A work related HR practices has been presented
as well that can be applied in River Island. The affect of UK’s legislation on decision-
making process of HR has also been discussed. The influence that can be made on
decision of HR through employee relation of the firm has also been explained.
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Table of Contents
Introduction...................................................................................................................... 4
LO1.................................................................................................................................. 5
LO2.................................................................................................................................. 8
LO3................................................................................................................................ 10
LO4................................................................................................................................ 12
Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 17
Reference List................................................................................................................ 18
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Introduction
Human resource management is an approach for managing the human resources of a
firm to assist the organisation by influencing its capability of having competitive
advantage (Albrecht et al., 2015). This strategic technique is helpful in increasing the
performance of the workforce so that they would be able to meet the objective of the
organisation. River Island is a private company that falls in the retail sector. Bernard
Lewis has established this in 1948 (riverisland.com, 2019).
In the report provided below, there would be explanation of the functions of organisation
as well as the positive as well as negative points of the given functions will be
discussed. The influence of the functions on employees and profit of the corporation will
be explained. The affects of employee relations on decision making of HR will be
analysed. The impacts of legislation on HR’s function will be provided. The HR practice
will be applied in the context of the chosen firm.
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LO1
A brief overview of your chosen organisation
Bernard Lewis has established River Island, a private retail company in 1948. The
headquartered of this corporation is in London, United Kingdom. The business has
presence in countries such as Ireland, Africa, UAE, Qatar, Peru, and many others
(riverisland.com, 2019). At present, Clive Lewis is the deputy chairperson of the
company and Ben Lewis is the CEO. The products traded in this corporation include
clothing for men, children, and women, accessories as well as footwear. It has been
recorded in the report of 2017, that the annual revenue that the firm generates is 901.9
million pound. The division of this business is Chelsea Girl.
Explain the purpose and the functions of HRM, applicable to workforce planning
and resources in your chosen organisation
Workforce planning
The purpose of HRM is to manage human resources inside River Island properly to
utilise resources for generating maximum profit. Functions of HRM consist of workforce
planning, which is divided into few stages. These are discussed below
Strategic direction
HR department understands key goals for River Island and then tries to understand the
way workforce should be aligned for achieving objectives. They look at the objective in
broader sense to understand this requirement (De Bruecker et al., 2015).
Supply analysis
They determine present workforce of River Island and forecasts the way it may change
over period for factors like attrition. Supply may not be constant, as lack of retention
may deplete workforce over time.
Demand analysis
Then HR department tries to understand present as well as future requirements of
workforce. They do it by considering ongoing objective they are chasing and considers
future missions too (Glaister et al., 2018).
Gap analysis
HR department of River Island then tries to understand gap between demand and
supply. They use this data to understand top priorities of organisation, where gap is
high.
Solution
They use workforce interventions and try to close gaps in it. They do it by adding
additional workforce or strategically distributing it.
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Monitoring progress
After allocation of workforce, HR department sees that if there has been improvement in
organisation. They continue to bring solutions if there are still any gaps.
Resources
Financial resources are another type of resource for any organisation. In River Island,
HR department decides amount of money every department will get. They see the
amount of workforce in departments and judge the amount of money it may require
depending on their activities. Resources are not limited to funds only and it involves
other materials too. Equipments such as computers and other necessary utility are
allocated as per instruction of HR department. These are divided according to priorities
of other department. Therefore, this are functions of HRM, which is related to allocation
and managing resources (Snell et al., 2015).
Explain the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection.
External recruitment
Strengths
 It gives organisations to select candidates from huge number of applicants. They
can select right person from many options
 This gives a fresh outlook to companies to make them stay competitive.
 An external applicant can bring new ideas and experience to a company.
Weaknesses
 This recruitment process is very costly.
 This takes a lot of time to train this fresh candidate (DeVaro, 2016).
 It can down moral of employees, as they may feel that their chances of being
promoted are lessened.
Internal recruitment
Strengths
 Referrals from existing employees can point out a better candidate (Ekinci,
2016).
 Existing employees can be more motivated for giving better performance.
 In case of transfers, an internal employee may give more advantage due to
having work experience in that organisation.
Weaknesses
 There is a chance of biasness regarding referrals.
 This limits the organisation for bringing fresh talent.
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 An organisation’s workforce stays homogeneous.
Selection procedures
Psychometric tests
Strengths
 This is an accurate method for understanding psychology of candidates for
selection.
 This saves costs.
 This can save huge amount of time.
 This reveals motives of the candidate (Rife et al., 2016).
Weaknesses
 Candidates may not be honest during test.
 There are cultural barriers.
 This method requires training.
Online screening and selecting
Strengths
 This saves huge amount of costs, as applications are process online.
 This can save huge amount of time.
 This method gives companies opportunity to reach wide number of applicants.
Weaknesses
 There are many unqualified applicants, who clutters database.
 There can be problem regarding forms (Punitavathi et al., 2019).
Interviews
Strengths
 Misunderstandings during selection can be avoided due to one on one
communication.
 An experienced person gets to judge personality, knowledge of candidates.
 This method is flexible and interviewer can choose to ask any question they want
to.
Weaknesses
 There may be no record about conversation during interview, which may raise
further confusion in future.
 Interviewer may have biasness and might not like a person for personal reason
(Latu et al., 2015). Gender biasness, racial discrimination is a major problem in it.
 Interview method is very costly, as it requires to interview candidates separately.
 This method can be time consuming.
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LO2
Explain how different HRM practices benefit the management and employees of
your chosen organisation.
Some practices of HR can affect both the employees and employer in some ways. They
are provided below:
Workforce planning
Planning of the workforce includes the allocation of tasks to the workers by taking in
consideration the skills and abilities possessed by the labour force (Cascio, 2015). This
function or practice of HR in River Island would help the employees in simplifying
their task by delegating them with duties in which they have experience and
knowledge. This function would affect positively the employer or the management of
the firm as there would be increment in the productivity’s quality. The management
can easily record their performance if the various tasks are allocated by proper planning
conduct by HR.
Selection and Recruitment
The employer would be benefitted by HR function, as the selection of candidates for
the different types of work in the organisation would influence the company’s output,
as there will be perfect candidates for the right kind of work. In River Island, the HR
function of recruitment of the employees helps the workers by giving them opportunity
to make a career in the firm. In this way, both the workers and the management of the
firm are getting benefit through HR function.
Development and Training
HR provides training and development as per the requirements of the work to the
employees in River Island. This would help them by enhancing their abilities and
augmenting their knowledge. Through this function of HR, the employer would also
be benefitted. This is due to the increment in capabilities of the employees; the quality
of the commodities would increase gradually.
Performance management
The HR function of performance management would be helpful for the employees by
controlling their activities so that their participation towards work increases (Noe et al.,
2017). This would make them responsible towards the company. The management of
performance by recording the activities of the employees will benefit the employer, as it
would be able to make correct decision concerning increment, promotion, provision
of rewards and such.
Reward System
The HR has also the function of providing rewards to the employees that is based on
the result of their performance in different activities of the firm. This practice would
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benefit the employer as its image among the employees would enhance and the
engagement of the workers in the work would increase. The reward system would
benefit the employees, as this would provide them satisfaction that is necessary for a
good working environment. They would further try to develop their skills and in this
way, the reward provision would lead to their personal development.
Evaluate the effectiveness of different HRM practices in your chosen organisation
in terms of raising organisational profit and productivity
Planning of the workforce
The HR practice of planning of the workforce concerning the various functions of the
organisation is important for raising the profit of the business. When the workers are
given the tasks that can be carried out by them in an easy way, there are chances f
increment in the quality of the products. In this way, it leads in boosting the corporation’s
income. This function also enhances the productivity of the output as the simplified
tasks can increase the number of products manufactured in the company.
Recruitment and Selection
The appropriate selection of the candidates by HR helps the company by increasing the
productivity. This is due to the reason that when appropriate candidates areas selected,
the productivity of the organisation enhances as increases. In this way, the company will
be able earn more income due to sales of more umber of products that would be of god
quality.
Provision of training
When the selected workers are provided with training, their skills and abilities develop
(Gatewood et al., 2105). This enhances the output’s quality as well as the productivity of
the commodities also augmented. This is because with training the tasks become
simplified to perform ad less time require in completion of the task. In this way, the
company would be able to produce more umber of goods with this HR practice.
Managing performance
The HR has the function of managing performance of the labour force by assessing
their performance in a specific time interval. This let the company select the best
candidates for providing them with duties applicable for them. In this way, the profit of
the corporation is generated as well as with correct management of the employees,
their participation in work increases. This further helps in boosting the productivity.
Provision of reward
HR in River Island has the duty of providing reward to the workers who effectively
perform their tasks. This also helps in motivating them and thereby increasing the
productivity of the corporation (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The increase in the productivity
would generate more revenue to the firm as well.
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LO3
Analyse the importance of employee relations in influencing HRM decision-
making.
The employee relation means the efforts on the part of the organisation to develop the
relationship with the workforce (Shields et al., 2015). In River Island, it is important to
enhance the employee relation for better outcome as well as to influence the HR by
enhancing its decision-making function regarding the functions of the company. The
organisation should have good working environment so that the employees would feel
comfortable. It should provide them fair treatment and adequate salary to increase their
engagement in the tasks allocated to them. This would make them stay loyal to the firm
and committed to the job. HR would be able to consider about delegating additional
duties to the employees if the relationship between them and the company is healthy. It
can be able to enhance their skills through training if they have good relation with the
company and adhere by its rules. It cannot conduct training if there is harshness in the
relationship, as they would not feel motivated to develop their abilities. If the relationship
between the employees and employer is good, the HR can decide to use internal
recruitment for next vacancy in the firm (DeCenzo et al., 2016).
The HR would be able to make allocation of the work to the employees if there is good
relationship between the employer and the labour force. In this way only, the employees
will be able to communicate with the management about their preference of tasks. This
would help the HR in delegating appropriate duties to them. However, the close
relationship between the management and employees can make them irresponsible
towards the work. They would not feel serious about the tasks allocated to hem if there
are not boundaries in their relationship with the management. The employees might
neglect the order of the employer if his behaviour is casual with them. It can be said that
there should be some limitation in the relationship between the workers and employer to
make them implement their duties efficiently.
Identify the key elements of employment legislation and the impact it has upon
HRM decision-making in your chosen organisation.
“Sex Discrimination Act, 1975”- This act protects the country’s employees against
discrimination regarding their gender (legislation.gov.uk, 2019). This legislation affects
the decision-making of HR in River Island, as it has to provide equal rights to the female
employees concerning their selection, promotion, and providing them with equal
opportunities for career development. The HR of the firm should offer them same
training that it provides to the male employees in River Island.
“Equal Pay Act, 1970”- As per this act, the salary provided to the men and women
should be equal for the same kind of task and in same rank (legislation.gov.uk, 2019).
The changes can be occurred if they have different position in the organisation. The HR
of the River Island should decide to follow this rule and provide same amount of
remuneration to the female candidates.
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“Race Relations Act, 1976”- As per this act, the HR should decide to avoid any
discrimination attitude against people of different race (legislation.gov.uk, 2019). This
would be quite unethical in a business environment; therefore, discrimination
concerning the race should be avoided in the firm by posing strict rules on such
behaviour.
“Disability Discrimination Act, 1995”- According to this act, the company should treat
the disabled employees with care and humanity (rnib.org.uk, 2014). The HR should
decide to provide accommodations such as wheelchair and such things to the disabled
workers. It should provide them with equal favours as others in the corporation.
“National Minimum Wage Act, 1998”- As per this act, the firm should provide adequate
revenue to the employees as well as increase the amount with the increase in the cost
of basic commodities of living (legislation.gov.uk, 2019). The HR in the chosen company
should provide sufficient remuneration ad bonus to maintain the image of the
corporation.
“Working Time Directive, 1999”- According to this legislation, the HR of River Island
should decide to regulate the working duration of the firm. The maximum working hours
should not exceed 48 hours in a week as per this directive (legislation.gov.uk, 2019).
However, the employees can work for longer duration if they wish fir generating more
bonus or other rewards. However, the HR should not make it mandatory to make them
work in extra hours. It should provide the workers with bonus in addition to their
remuneration for their extra efforts and diligence towards the work.
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River Island
WE ARE HIRING
STORE MANAGER
Serious candidates of all levels of experience are welcome!!
Skills Required:
Delegation skill
Management skill
Good communication
Management of resources
*Both male and female can apply CTC per year- £20, 000
Brunswick Centre, Contact us: [phone]
London, UK
LO4
1. The design of a job specification for one of a number of given positions in the
organisation
Job Role: Store Manager
Job Description
Job description
Store Manager
Duties of store manager
 Increase sales
 Delegation of duties to store executives
 Retain the talent of the outlets
 Managing payroll
 Management of store operations
 Stock management
Qualification Required
 Graduation from reputed university in related field or
 Diploma in business
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