Human Resource Management Practices at Sainsbury's: A Case Study

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Human Resource Management

Contents
Introduction.........................................................................................................................................3
Task 1...................................................................................................................................................4
1. An explanation of the purpose of the HR function and the key roles and responsibilities of the
HR function, highlighting the significance that HR plays in acquiring talent to meet business
objectives...........................................................................................................................................4
2. An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection, development
and training, performance management and reward systems.............................................................5
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR practices............6
4. The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement, with
mention of the flexible organisation and flexible working practices and ‘employer of choice’.........7
5. Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organisation must work........................8
6. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform decision making
and meets business objectives............................................................................................................9
Task 2.................................................................................................................................................10
7. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific examples
from the chosen organisation...........................................................................................................10
8. Evaluate the use of technology, online resources, digital platforms and social networking on
improving the recruitment and selection process.............................................................................13
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................14
References..........................................................................................................................................15

Introduction
Human resource management (HRM) could be considered as the process of the company that
brings the human resources together so that overall business objectives of all functional
department of the company could be fulfilled. Basically, the main responsibilities that human
resource management perform in the company are to hire, manage, control and direct the
human resource of the company. Human resource management could be seen as an advanced
approach in the company in fulfilling all the objectives related to the human resource of the
company. Earlier, the concepts personnel management was used where the personnel
department was responsible only for the hiring and providing salaries to the employees of
company. But human resource management is an advanced and modern approach where
along with hiring and providing the salaries to the employees, the department also execute the
various other processes like raining and development, performance appraisals etc. for the
clear understanding of the concept of HRM, the company Sainsbury is taken as an example
which is a known supermarket of UK.

Task 1
1. An explanation of the purpose of the HR function and the key roles and
responsibilities of the HR function, highlighting the significance that HR plays in
acquiring talent to meet business objectives
Human resource management could be considered as a modern process or approach that
helps the organisation in managing, organising, controlling and directing the human resource
present in the country. Here, the purpose, roles and responsibilities and significance of the
HR in the company Sainsbury is explained.
Purpose of HR function in Sainsbury:
The purpose of HR function explains the main motive and aim of the HR in the company.
Here, the purposes of HR function in company Sainsbury are explained below:
1. Fulfilling the staffing needs of Sainsbury is the main purpose of HR function in the
company. Here, the HR department conduct the various analyses so that the
employees of the required skills could be hired.
2. Providing the compensation to the employees as per their efforts made in achieving
the business objective of Sainsbury is the primary purpose of the company. All of this
is done to create the safe and secure and effective working environment in the
Sainsbury (Bailey et al, 2018).
3. Including the employee benefits programs are also the main purpose of HR functions
in Sainsbury
4. Other than this, conducting the performance appraisal process in Sainsbury is also the
main purpose of HR functions so that the skilled employees could get the recognition
in the company.
The key roles and responsibilities of HR function in Sainsbury:
The main roles and responsibilities of HR functions in Sainsbury could be explained as:
1. Conducting the recruitment and selection process is the main responsibility of HR
function where the employees of HR department need to attract the candidate and hire
the best candidate for Sainsbury.

2. Providing he training and development programs to the employees who are lacked in
skills is also the responsibilities of HR functions. Other than this, the training and
development program could be provided to enhance the skilled and knowledge of the
current employees of the company (Brewster and Hegewisch, 2017).
3. Maintaining the work culture in the company Sainsbury is also the responsibility of
HR function where it includes the various policies and scheme that helps the company
in creating an effective and calm working environment for the employees.
4. Maintaining the employee relation in the company is also the responsibility of HR
function
Significance of HR in acquiring talent to meet business objectives of Sainsbury:
The significance of HR in acquiring the talent for Sainsbury could be analysed through
synchronised planning and workforce mobility. The HR department of Sainsbury is aware of
the skills and knowledge of each and every employee in the company. Here, this department
assigns on that responsibility which could be fulfilled by the employee. Along with this, in
recruitment and selection, a proper process of planning used by the company which is created
by HR department that helps the company in hiring the best employees in limited time.
2. An assessment of the approach to workforce planning, recruitment and selection,
development and training, performance management and reward systems
All the processes like workforce planning, recruitment and selection, training and
development, performance management are involved in the main functions and
responsibilities of HR management. Here, all these processes are also executed by the
company so that it could bring the taken and skills in front of the company so that its business
objective could be fulfilled (Marchington et al, 2016). The workforce planning is the concept
where the resources are planned in a way so that enhanced every skills of each of them could
be utilised in achieving the success for the company. For the work force planning, a system
approach is used where the concept of talent management is used to hire the talented and
skilled employees.
The training and development are provided by the company Sainsbury to the employees so
that their skills and knowledge could be enhanced. Here two approaches are used. These are:
senior management development and staff development. In the senior management
development, the skills of the employees at senior management are enhanced so that they

could guide the staff and employees working under them. Under the staff development, the
training and development is provided to the whole staffs of Sainsbury so that they could
enhance their skills and knowledge.
The process of performance management includes the activities and the processes designed
by the company in monitoring the performance of the employees. Here only approach is used
which is goal of management (Nankervis et al, 2016). Here, a goal is set by the company
Sainsbury for the employees and the employees have to achieve this set goal and then, the
company measures the performance of the employee against achieving this set goal and
objective.
Like other processes and activities, the recruitment and selection also includes two
approaches. These are: internal recruitment and selection and external recruitment and
selection. In the internal recruitment and selection, an employee of the organisation Sainsbury
is selected for the vacant position of the company. The decision of internal recruitment and
selection is taken after examining the skills and knowledge of the employees towards the
required skills and knowledge of vacant designation. On the other hand, external recruitment
and selection is executed when the company hires the employee from the market of company.
The external recruitment could bring the various benefits to the company as the employee
with new skill could be enter in company whose skills could be used in achieving the goals
and objectives. However, the external recruitment could be very costly to the company in the
comparison of internal recruitment.
3. Inclusion of case study examples to examine the different methods used in HR
practices
As mentioned in the above section, the HR practises are introduced by the HR department of
the company especially to achieve the goals and objectives of the company. Here with the
help of the HR practises, the company Sainsbury also could make the employees committed
and satisfied through including the processes like performance development, employee
relation etc. Following are the different HR practises used by the company Sainsbury are
explained.
1. Recruitment and selection: this is the process of attracting the individuals for a
particular designation of Sainsbury and out of these individuals; the best one who are
skilled and talented are selected by the company.

2. Training and development: This is the process which is executed in the organisation
to enhance the skills and talent of the employees who are working in the company.
Training and development HR practice also could help the company in developing the
new skills and knowledge in the employees especially when the company wants to
execute the new tasks to achieve the business goals of the company (Reiche et al,
2016).
3. Performance appraisal: This is also very important HR practises which is executed in
Sainsbury. In this HR practise, the employees of the company get the compensation of
the efforts that they have put in completing the given tasks. Basically, with the help of
this process, the employees of Sainsbury are able to get the recognition, incentive,
bonus and other monetary and no monetary rewards. These are executed in the
company to make the employees satisfied and committed towards the organisation.
4. Employee benefits and services: The various processes like insurance, accidental
cover etc are also provided by the HR practises so that a safe and secure environment
could be created in the company.
4. The approach to and effectiveness of employee relations and employee engagement,
with mention of the flexible organisation and flexible working practices and ‘employer
of choice’
For the success of the company, it is very important for the organisation to keep the
employees happy and committed towards the policies of the organisation. In this way, the
concept of employee relation has been introduced. This is basically an effort to make the
relationship between the employees and employer stronger and healthier. In the organisation,
especially in the lower staff, the trade union is created that put the different aspects of the
employees in front of the employer (Shen and Benson, 2016). In order to maintain the
employee relation, the employer formulates the policies as per the different aspects presented
by trade union. For example: In Sainsbury, the flexible timing was introduced in the company
where the employees of the organisation are allowed to select the working timing as per their
interest. The company just expect them to serve the set working hours in a week. Along with
time, the work from home facility also has been provided by the company to the employees.
All these policies introduced in the company to maintain the effective relationship between
the employees and employers. Along with this, sometimes, the conflicts also arose in between

of employees and for that purpose, the different engagement programs also have been
introduced by the company that also helps in enhancing the employee relationship.
5. Key aspects of employment legislation within which the organisation must work
Employment legislation has been introduced by the government of the country only to create
a safe and secure environment for employees and employers in the different industries.
Following are the different aspects of the employment legislation where Sainsbury could
work and also could include his in the company to include the fair practises. These are:
1. Equal pay act (1970): This law was introduced by the government to create a fair
environment in the organisation. Here, if two employees are performing same
responsibilities in the organisation then it is the responsibility of the organisation to
offer them same salary (Stone et al, 2015). In the other words, while providing the
salaries to the employees, the organisation should not entertain any type of
discrimination (gender, race etc)
2. Employment equality act (2003): As per this law, the government wants to state that
equal opportunities should be given to each employee who is working in the
company. There should not be any type of the discrimination like the women are not
allowed to perform a particular task despite of having all the skills and knowledge to
perform the task.
3. Work and family act (2006): This law or the legislation has been introduced by the
government so that the employees could balance their personal and professional life.
Here, Sainsbury needs to include maternity leaves and pay for mothers and also new
leaves for the father and less working hours (Vivares-Vergara, Sarache-Castro and
Naranjo-Valencia, 2016).
4. Data protection act (1998): This could be introduced by Sainsbury in storing, and
managing the confidential data in the organisation and also to delete these files under
the premises of company.

6. An evaluation of how employee relations and employment legislation inform
decision making and meets business objectives
The employee relation and the employment legislation put a huge impact on the decisions
making of the organisation like Sainsbury. As mentioned above that the employee relation is
a term that helps the organisation in making the employees happy and committed towards the
objectives of the organisation. The terms employment legislation also helps the company in
maintaining the relationship with the employees. In the other words, it could be said that this
term helps in creating the effective employee relation policies in the company. Following are
the ways, through which the employee relation and employment legislation put a huge
impacts on the decisions making of the company:
 With the help of the employment legislation, the company Sainsbury is able to know
the policies and terms that could be put for the betterment of the employees. Here, if
the company put all the laws and legislation at the work place then the decision
making and the current policies of the company would be affected but in positive way
(Word and Sowa, 2017). This could be seen as a step towards the success of the
company as with the application of the employment laws and legislation, the
employees would be happy and satisfied and the impact of this could be seen on the
success of the organisation.
 Like employment legislation, the employee relation also helps the company in earning
the trust of the employees that could be converted in gaining the success for the
organisation as maintained and good relationship with the employees could help the
company in achieving the business goals of the company.

Task 2
7. Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using
specific examples from the chosen organisation.
Sainsbury is an organisation that pays lots of attention in the recruitment and selection
process so that the organisation would have the best candidates to fulfil the work assigned to
them. In the current section, the job description for the position of the Marketing Executive
would be provided by the Sainsbury and the person specification required for the job would
also be described.
Job Description
Job Title
Marketing Executive
Qualifications
The academic qualifications for the position of marketing Executive at Sainsbury are:
1. The applicant should possess a Post Graduate Degree in the Marketing Major from a
recognised institute in UK
2. The applicant should have minimum 6 years’ experience in the marketing field.
Role
Digital Marketing Executive
Competencies
The required competencies for the position of Marketing Executive at Sainsbury are:
1. The applicant should have excellent knowledge of the Digital Marketing Domain
2. The applicant should have the deep knowledge of the Sainsbury Business Domain
3. The applicant should possess excellent knowledge of various digital tools used in the
internet marketing
4. The applicant should be proficient in the marketing principles
5. The applicant should have the knowledge of the social networking marketing
practices and should be familiar with all the social networking sites that are in use in
UK
6. The applicant should have in depth knowledge of the internet marketing processes
such as Search Engine Marketing and Search Engine Optimisation.

Responsibilities
The Marketing Executive would have the following responsibilities:
1. The collect the digital marketing related data
2. To conduct online surveys
3. To analyse the collected data and process the data using the different analytical tools
used at Sainsbury
4. To maintain the Information Management System in the marketing department at
Sainsbury
5. To provide input in the development of the digital marketing strategy of the
organisation, create a draft marketing policy and give presentation to the top
management
6. To execute the digital marketing strategy of the company
7. To monitor the implementation of the digital marketing strategy of the company and
provide progress report with feedback to the top management.
8. Developing project scopes and objectives, involving all relevant stakeholders
9. Interact with the Social Networking Sites advertisement teams and develop the
relevant promotional campaigns to be run on these sites
10. Monitor the promotional campaigns on the social networking sites
11. Develop a plan for the Search Engine Optimisation for the company website
Person specification
To describe the persona specification for the position of Marketing Executive at Saisbury,
Rodger’s 7 point Person Specification format is used.
Factors Description
Physical qualities The candidate should possess good health and should have good
personality.
Attainments All the relevant qualifications mentioned in the job description
should be possessed by the candidate
General intelligence Good analytical and problem solving skills are essential for the
job
Special Attributes The candidate should be an expert in the digital marketing and

social media marketing techniques
Interest The Candidate should be a technology expert and should have
interest in the online marketing
Disposition Influencer, self-reliance
Circumstances A good team worker and able to take initiatives
Job Offer to the Selected Candidate
Hi XYZ,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected by our organisation for the position
of Marketing Executive. The details regarding your employment are provided below:
Designation: Marketing Executive
Salary: £ 56,000 per year
Stock Options: Not Applicable
Location: London, UK
Joining Date: 21st Feb 2019
As a Marketing Executive with Sainsbury, You would be entitles with the standard benefits
provided by the organisation to all of its employees along with some special benefits as per
your designation. All the details are provided in the Annexure I which is attached with this
email.
This offer is valid until 25th Jan 2018. Please send your acknowledgement for the same.
For any enquiries, please contact the HR Manager, Sainsbury
We are looking forward to work with you and welcome you as a member of the Sainsbury
Family.
Regards,
Stefania
[e-mail]