HRM Report: Sainsbury Plc, HR Practices and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within Sainsbury Plc, a major UK supermarket chain. The report begins with an overview of Sainsbury, its market position, and the fundamental roles and responsibilities of the HR function, including recruitment, training and development, performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, and legal compliance. It then explores different approaches to HRM, such as hard and soft HR, and evaluates their strengths and weaknesses. The report also delves into specific HRM activities, including HR planning, recruitment strategies, and training methods. Furthermore, it examines the effectiveness of employee relations, employee engagement, and the benefits of flexible working conditions, highlighting their influence on HRM decision-making. Finally, the report identifies key areas of employee legislation relevant to Sainsbury and discusses job specifications, recruitment processes, and the rationale behind specific HR practices. The report concludes with a synthesis of the findings and recommendations for improving HRM within the organization.

HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................4
(1) Organization overview..........................................................................................................4
(2)Key roles and responsibilities of HR function and its purpose..............................................4
(2) Approaches of HR functions along with their strengths and weaknesses- ...........................6
(4)Effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, the benefits of flexible
working conditions and the importance of employee's relations to influence the HRM decision
making.........................................................................................................................................8
(5)Key areas of employee legislation where organization needs to work. ....................................9
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................10
1. Job Specification for HR manager........................................................................................10
2.CV..........................................................................................................................................11
3.Interview notes.......................................................................................................................13
4.Offer letter..............................................................................................................................13
5. Process of recruitment...........................................................................................................14
6. Rationale for HR practices....................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

Introduction
Human Resource Management is the strategic approach of managing the people within an
organization and improve their efficiency so that they can meet out Organizational goals and
objectives. It involves process of recruitment and selection, training and development,
performance appraisal and rewards, benefits and compensation of the employees. Report will
focus on Sainsbury. It is the second largest chain of supermarket in UK. The main purpose of
Human Resource management is to achieve organization's success through people. The report will
highlight on the purpose and key responsibilities of HR function, approaches of HRM activities,
key areas of employment legislation, job specification format and many other related activities.
Task 1
(1) Organization overview
The organization being chosen is Sainsbury Plc-
Sainsbury Plc is a British organization, in retail sector of business. The organization is a
supermarket and a largest retailer in grocery products. It was founded in 1869, by John James
Sainsbury in Holborn, London, United Kingdom. Consisting its headquarters in 33 Holborn,
London, EC1, United Kingdom, Sainsbury has 1,415 shops in UK and 186,900 employees
working in it. Sainsbury currently is the second largest supermarket chain in United Kingdom.,
comprising of 16.9% of total market share in supermarket sector.
(2) Key roles and responsibilities of HR function and its purpose
Human resource management is the practice of recruiting, selecting, training and managing
the employees of an organization in order to generate the desired outputs from them to meet the
targets that results to growth of the company. There are variety of ways to approach management
of HR in a business. The two main approaches are described below-
Hard HR- Hard HR involves treatment of employees simply as resource of the
organization, just like machinery and building. The concept is based on the identification of work
needs of the business and accordingly recruit and manage the employees. There is very short-term
change in the employee’s numbers and there is minimum communication from top to bottom level
of hierarchy. Hard HR involves only the required amount being paid for the staff and ignore all the

extra benefits apart from the work. This approach consists judging staff which may be good or bad
rather than improving or motivating them. Hard HR follows autocratic leadership style.
Soft HR- This Approach of HRM involves treating the employees as most important part
of the organization. In this approach the employees are treated as individuals and their needs are
being planned out and the activities such as motivation, rewards etc., are conducted. This approach
on long term workforce planning and it consists the stronger two communications between the
management and employees. Payment system is based on the performance of the employees and
various other benefits are being provided to them for their welfare. The appraisal system in this
approach focusses on training and development of employee's needs. Soft HR follows democratic
leadership style as it involves participation of employees in decision making of the company
(Paauwe and Boon, 2018).
The following are the important roles that HR department plays for the organization and their
purpose-
1. Recruitment- The role of HR department is to recruit employees for Sainsbury. This
involves Hiring and Selecting the right people and assigning them at the right place
according to their skills and abilities in order to provide success to Sainsbury company. HR
manager recruits and interviews the employees and administers their performance through
various psychological tests. Purpose for this role is that it helps Sainsbury to get skilled and
efficient workforce that can implement the company's objectives through their efficient
productivity and performance. Also Sainsbury has been the second largest supermarket
chain, as this position is being achieved by the skilled manpower of its 186,900 employees.
Thus, the recruitment of best employees plays in important role in success of business
organization (Sanders and Yang, 2016).
2. Training and Development- This role of HR function focusses on the training of new
employees and the development of the existing ones of Sainsbury company. Training in
simple words is a process where employees are being made learn different techniques to
perform their tasks. This process is carried out within the company premises or outside it.
Training makes the employees learn their tasks and areas of performance, whereas
development involves training and upgrading the existing employees. Purpose of training

and development in HR is that it makes employees of Sainsbury familiar and use to their
tasks and activities.
3. Performance Appraisal- Performance appraisal of the employees involves timely
checking and analysing the performance of an employee. HR manager evaluates the
performance and activities of the employees after their training in order to check their
efficiency and productivity to the Sainsbury. Purpose of this performance appraisal is that
it will provide Sainsbury a description of complete strengths and weaknesses of its
employees along with their productivity limit.
4. Compensation and Benefits- It is the responsibility of HR manager to initiate fair
payments system for the employees. Salary and other benefits to the employees according
to the market rates and different labour laws, are under the hands of HR manager of
Sainsbury. Fair remuneration and benefits to the employees of Sainsbury will keep them
positive and productive towards the company and also provide them satisfaction from their
job. Purpose of this role of HR is to maintain timely payments and initiate fair
remuneration and benefits to the employees and this will keep them engaged for longer
duration to work with Sainsbury.
5. Law Compliance- Company is responsible for the health and safety of its employees and
their equitable treatment within the organization. HR manager is responsible to provide
these legal updates regarding the laws of labours and employees to Sainsbury and
accordingly execute different policies to meet out the regulations of these laws. Purpose of
this role of HR will fulfil all the legal requirements of the people working in Sainsbury
(Veth and et.al., 2017).
(2) Approaches of HR functions along with their strengths and weaknesses-
HR functions that consists planning, recruitment and selection, training and development,
performance management and reward system. All these have different approaches as described
below-
HR Planning approaches-
 Quantitative approach- In this approach the top level management of Sainsbury make
efforts to prepare draft for HR planning. It is based on the analysis of human resource
management information system and HR inventor. Various models such as trend analysis,

mathematical models, economic models and market analysis is being made by the top level
HR of Sainsbury. The planning consists of numbers and data as the target objectives.
Strengths
 Reliability in the polices as the decision is taken by the top management.
 Easy and quick preparation.
Weaknesses
 Higher cost of operation.
 Complications in understanding the numbers by other member’s subordinates.
Qualitative approach- It is also known as bottom up approach where the subordinates make an
effort in preparing the draft of HR planning. It focusses on matching employee's needs with the
organizational needs and is mainly concerned with training, development and creativity of
employees. Compensation, incentives, promotion etc., are the prime concerns of this approach.
Here major role is played by the lower level employees of Sainsbury.
Strengths
 Employee benefits and satisfaction.
 Identification of exact requirements by the employees.
Weaknesses
 Sometimes would be much costlier and unaffordable for the company.
 More dependency on lower level employees to that of top management.
HR Recruitment approach-
 Recruitment through agencies- Here the HR manager of Sainsbury consult a specific
employment agency that provides the skilled employees meeting the job description
requirements of the company.
Strengths
 Availability of required employees in very short time.
 No cost of finding out employees randomly and manually by the company.
Weaknesses
 High cost of the agencies.
 The employees may not contain the required skills.

HR Training approach-
 On the job training method- It is the most common training method as where Sainsbury
trains its newly hired employees through assigning them a specific job and teaching skills
and knowledge necessary to perform it.(Noe and et.al., 2017).
Strengths-
 Flexible method.
 Less expensive.
Weaknesses-
 Actual productivity is disturbed.
 Daily routine of the existing employees is disturbed.
Off the job training- It consists of methods being adopted by Sainsbury away from its working
premises. It includes methods such as Case study methods, incident methods, conferences, lectures
etc., that are initiated by Sainsbury for its employees training and development.
Strengths
 Creative and involves more participation of employees.
 Effective and reliable for employees as they can clarify their doubts.
Weaknesses
 Costly method.
 Time consuming.
Selection approaches
Interview- In this face to face conversation are held between employer and respective candidate
Strength
 It helps in knowing the candidate better
Weakness
 Less reliable
Psychometric test- In this aptitude test of candidate is being taken.
Strength
 Aptitude is being known to employer
Weakness
 Complicated method

(4) Effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, the benefits of flexible
working conditions and the importance of employee's relations to influence the HRM
decision making
Effectiveness of Employee relations- Employee relations refers to communication between
Top management of Sainsbury and its employee. Employee relation effect the employees as they
feel wellbeing as having their right to speak and express their thoughts to the company. Strong
employee relations can make higher productivity for the Sainsbury and also making the higher
efficiency of its employees (Leroy and et.al., 2018).
Effectiveness of employee engagement- Employee engagement refers to engagement of
employees in their tasks and activity with a dedication and target to achieve the mission and
objectives of Sainsbury company. Effectiveness of employee engagement provides highly
motivated, dedicated and productive employees to Sainsbury company.
Benefits of flexible working conditions- Flexible working conditions refers to activities
such as work from home as according to the flexibility of employees. This activity can be
beneficial for Sainsbury as it will be able to boosts the morale of the employees, reduce the
tardiness and absenteeism of the employees and enhance company image as friendly place to
work. It also benefits the employees by their own time management in a day, needs to meet the
family, employees can take break as when they want. Thus in this way flexible working can
benefit both employee as well as employer of Sainsbury company.
Influence of Employee relations on HRM decision making- Employee relations means the
effective communication between the Sainsbury management and its employees. Good relations
with the employees can benefit Sainsbury in various ways. There are instances when the top level
management of the company may not be aware of the all the aspects, so the lower level employees
help to identify smaller aspects and factors and may come up with different ideas or some pros and
cons for the aspect, which will help Sainsbury to make an effective decision. The work is
simplified when it is shared among all the people in the company. Sainsbury will be happy place to
work with if the employees are involved in performing activities effectively and provide steady
growth to the company. Employees will feel motivated and accordingly turn out more productive
for Sainsbury. Thus the employee's relations do influence on the HRM decisions in several ways
and areas (Marler and Parry, 2016).

(5) Key areas of employee legislation where organization needs to work.
UK labour law is the legal body that regulates the employee relations and their welfare.
Sainsbury must work on following areas as for the employee legislation components-
Anti-discrimination Act – Anti discrimination act of UK legislation, legislates against
prejudice based actions in the workplace. Here, Employees are protected from discrimination
based on age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion and sexual orientation in the work
place. The Anti-discrimination law includes Direct discrimination, Harassment, Victimisation and
Indirect discrimination in the work culture of an organisation. Direct discrimination occurs when
an employer treats someone less favourable in an organisation. Harassment occurs when someone
affects or violate the employee's dignity in the workplace. Sainsbury need to focus on these act as
it will turn out a safe place to work on for the employees. Sainsbury is making rules and
regulations in which they include equal pay for equal work.
Occupational Health and Safety Act 1974- The Health and Safety act 1974 is an Act of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom and is concerned with Health and safety of employees in the
workplace. It comprises of fundamental structure and authority for the encouragement, regulation
and ensure workplace health & safety and welfare within the Organisation. This will ensure
Sainsbury healthy working environment for the workers and employees.
The Equality Act 2010- This act comprises of equal treatment of all the employees as
according to their working standards. It consists of considering a part time and full time employee
to be treated equally without any discrimination. It also ensures application of all rules equally on
every employee of the organization. Sainsbury must consider this aspect as it will create a fair
working environment for the employees without any discrimination (Johnson and Szamosi, 2018).

TASK 2
1. Job Specification for HR manager
JOB TITLE Human Resource Manager
REPORTS TO CEO
ROLES &
RESPONSIBILITIES
 Coordinate and plan the employees
 Solve issues between superiors and employees
 Advise managers regarding suggestions
 Supervise work of staff
 Solve grievances of staff members
 Recruitment and hiring in company
 Conducts interview
 Need assessment of employees and training
QUALIFICATION MBA in HR
Title of the job Human resource assistant
Date: 28/02/2019
Qualification required Essential Desirable Met
MBA in HR Yes
Need of Experience
In field of HR for more than 5
years
Yes
Personal characteristics & conduct

Good communication
Friendly
Able to take decisions
Management of personnel
Interviewing ability
Confident
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Roles and Responsibilities
 Coordinate and plan the
employees
 Solve issues between
superiors and employees
 Advise managers
regarding suggestions
 Supervise work of staff
 Solve grievances of staff
members
 Recruitment and hiring
in company
 Conducts interview
 Need assessment of
employees and training
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
2.CV
Personal information
Name – Floud louis
80 Myres drive
USA
[e-mail]

Gender – Male
Education
University of USA
Bachelor Degree (BCA)
University of USA
Professional Degree MBA In HR
Core qualification
Holds a NISM certificate in mutual fund
Excellent commuter skills ( Ms office, power point, Excel)
Experience
As HR manger of Wait rose
Personal skill
Leadership quality
Time management
Good in decision making
Good communication
Rewards
Good leadership Award in 2006
Personal information
Name – Brusli ukase
17 Dallas USA
[e-mail]
Gender – Female
Education
University of USA
Bachelor Degree (BBA)
University of USA
Professional Degree (MBA in HR)
Core qualification

Hold Derivatives certificate
Hold mutual fund certificate
Experience
As HR Manager of Financial institution
Personal skill
Good leadership quality
Good communication skill
Problem solving
Rewards
people management award 2008
3.Interview notes
1. Tell me about yourself?
2. Why do you want this job?
3. What is your greatest strength as a professional?
4. What is your expectation regarding salary?
4.Offer letter
Sainsbury group plc
33 Holborn,
London EC1,
United kingdom
April 12, 2019
Brusli ukase
17 Dallas
USA

Dear Brusli,
We are pleased to offer you the employment at Sainsbury group. We feel that your background,
qualities and skills are valuable asset for the company.
As per our discussion the position of Human Resource manager is offering to you. The date of
joining will be April 20, 2019. We will enclose employee handbook which outlines medical and
retirement benefits that Sainsbury offers.
If your choose to accept this offer. Then please sign second copy of this letter in the provided
space. A self addressed envelope is enclosed.
We look forward to welcome you as our new HR manager.
Sincerely,
Mike Coupe
(CEO)
Sainsbury, UK
Enclosure
5. Process of recruitment
Recruitment process consists of following steps-
a) Recruitment planning- Planning is the initial step of recruiting employees in the firm.
It is a process that includes identification of vacant positions, making of job specification, nature
and different qualifications required for a particular job.
b)Recruitment Strategy- This process involves types of recruitments to be conducted, in
what areas the recruiting of employees will be done, making recruitment team, collection of data
of different candidates in an are etc.
c)Searching the candidates- After the strategy formation the next step is to select the
candidates from various sources. This step involves finding out candidates through various media,
advertising, social media and different employment agencies. It involves internal and external
sources of recruitment, where the candidates would be selected.
d)Screening/ Shortlist- This process involves selection of candidates through various
process. It includes further 3 steps- Reviewing of resumes- The resumes are being verified and

observed accordingly based on the candidate's skills and experience. Conducting interview- This
process involves asking technical and other related questions to candidates to check their skills
verbally. The next is the identification of the best candidates after the interview process and
shortlist the required ones for a particular job(Donate and et.al., 2016).
6. Rationale for HR practices
Rationale of Job Specification
The job description provides details of roles, duties and responsibility of an individual with
regard to its job. The job description also addresses the potential questions about the position of an
individual in the future. The job description serves as a reference guide for determining the salary
of the company in comparison to is competitive industries. The job description is helpful in
clearing the compensation policy of an individual by ensuring experiences and skills of an
individual are matching to prescribed job or not. Job description provides the basis for employees
reviews in order to Salary increment and growth setting path.
Rationale of Person Specification
Person specification is a written statement of educational qualification of an individual. It
provides specific qualities level of experience which is needed for a particular vacant job. It is
helpful in identifying that candidate is eligible for a particular job or not. The Job specification is
helpful for selecting the most appropriate candidate (Bratton and Gold, 2017).
CONCLUSION
From the above study it is observed about the different roles HRM plays in an organization
to meet out its objectives and goals. The different approaches being followed by the HR with
respect to its functions. Further it is observed effectiveness of employee relations and employee
engagement to the organization, flexible working conditions and its impact on organization's
functioning and influence of employee's relation on HRM decision is also studied. Lastly it
concluded through the study of Job specification format, CV, offer letter, process of recruitment
and the rationale for job specification.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
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resource management (pp. 27-48). Routledge.
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leadership.
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