HRM Report: Analysis of Sainsbury's Workforce Planning and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within Sainsbury's, a leading UK retail supermarket. The report begins by outlining the purpose and functions of HRM, specifically in the context of workforce planning, including staffing needs, compensation, benefits, and performance appraisal. It then delves into the strengths and weaknesses of both internal and external recruitment methods, along with an evaluation of various selection processes such as personality tests and panel interviews. The report assesses how HRM functions contribute to acquiring skilled talent and achieving organizational objectives. It evaluates the effectiveness of HR practices like flexible working hours, performance appraisals, and learning and development. The report further examines the benefits of different HRM practices for both employers and employees, and their impact on productivity and profitability. It highlights the importance of employee relations and employment legislation in HRM decision-making, including a job description and person specification for a team leader role. Finally, the report includes critical evaluations of recruitment, selection, and employee relations practices within Sainsbury's.

·
·
·
·
HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
P1 Purpose and functions of HRM that is applicable to workforce planning.............................3
P2 Strength and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection....................5
M1Assess HRM functions help in providing skilful and talent to achieve objectives of
selected organisation...................................................................................................................7
M2 Evaluate HR practices and application within organisation.................................................7
D1 Evaluation of strength and weakness of different approaches of recruitment and selection
with example...............................................................................................................................8
P3 Benefits of different HRM practices to employer and employee..........................................8
P4 Effectiveness of different HRM practices in raising productivity and profitability of
organisation.................................................................................................................................9
M3. Exploring different methods used in HRM practices........................................................11
D2. Critical evaluation of HRM practices and its application within organisation..................11
P5. Importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-making.........11
P6. Identifying key elements of employment legislation and its impact upon HRM decision-
making.......................................................................................................................................12
M4. Evaluation of key aspects of employee relations management and employment
legislation..................................................................................................................................13
D3. Critical evaluation of employee relations and application of HRM practices...................13
P7. Job description and person specification of team leader....................................................13
M5. Rationale of JD and person specification in the recruitment process................................18

·INTRODUCTION
Management of humans in an organisation is the most important aspect of workforce
planning. This process is responsible for the success of the organisation and its sustainability in
the market. For every organisation, it is essential to have best candidates which will help the
organisation in achieving growth and economies of scale. For this purpose, the company has
HRM which includes recruiting the potential candidates, selecting them for the best fit job,
placing them in the company. Providing them training of their work, deciding compensation and
motivating them to work hard and retaining them. The report for better understanding of report
will take one of the leading retail super market of UK that is Sainsbury which deals in
supermarket, bank and Argos. It offers million of products to its customers and Tesco is the
biggest competitor of Sainsbury. The report will focus on purpose and functions of HRM along
with strengths and weaknesses of recruitment and selection. Further, the focus will be on
benefits of different HRM practices for employer and employee along with its impact on
productivity and profitability of the firm. It will show the importance of employee relations in
influencing decisions of the organisation and will highlight key elements of employee
legislation. Moreover, it will include a job description of team leader and reason to prepare it.
LO 1
l壱P1 Purpose and functions of HRM that is applicable to workforce planning
Purpose of HRM
Staffing needs – The purpose of HR in Sainsbury is to fulfil the staffing needs of the
company. The HR department of Sainsbury announces the jobs and its duties by determining the
skills and requirements that are needed for the particular position. It helps the company in
recruiting potential candidates and selecting them for the best fit job. The purpose of HR also
deals with termination of employees who do not perform their work by following law. It is also
involved in transferring and promoting employees (Noe, and et.al., 2017).
Compensation – Fair wages and salary are the most important concern of the employees.
The HR department evaluate and analyse the performances of the employees and make changes
to their pay structure by researching market trends and current labour rate as well. It assess

policies and help Sainsbury in assessing the policies with compliance of laws like Fair wage act,
overtime laws etc. which helps in smooth business operations of the company.
Benefits and Incentives – The purpose of HR in Sainsbury is to avail benefits to its
employees so that the employee turner ratio can be reduced and employees can be retained.
These benefits include discount to the employees at super market, health insurance, retirement
plan, loyalty cards, holidays and trips etc. so that employees of the company be satisfied. They
analyse and get best package for these benefits to their employees with minimizing cost and
maximising benefits.
Performance appraisal – The HR department's purpose in Sainsbury is to analyse and
evaluate performance of the company. They create entire process of performance appraisal. This
department in Sainsbury make sure that appraisals take place on the basis of performance and are
done without discrimination. The basis can be promotion, retention etc. which motivates the
emp0loyees and increase company's productivity (Treweek and et.al., 2018).
Law compliance – It makes sure that employees are working in Sainsbury with
compliance of law to avoid government intervention. Law exists to protect the rights of
employees and its duty 0f the company to make sure that employees are getting proper wages,
incentives, flexible Woking hours. The HR department makes sure that employees are not being
exploited.
Functions of HRM
The functions of HRM are divided into functions which are operative and core functions
Managerial functions
Planning – It is the main function of HRM which helps Sainsbury in collecting and
identifying current future needs of the company. It helps in planning the strategies of Sainsbury
related to gaining competitive advantage from Tesco, or to plan recruitment of new employees
etc. for effective operations.
Organising – It makes sure that tasks are allocated to different employees in the
company as per the requirements and their skills like operating head, warehousing, inventory
management etc. to make sure that each person assigned the duty is expert in the field.
Directing – This includes directing the performances of the emp0loyees towards the goal
of Sainsbury by constant motivation and giving commands to employees (Functions and goals
of HR, 2019).

Controlling - Under this the performance of the employee is checked and get compared
with the goals. In case the management of Sainsbury finds out performance of employees was
not up to the mark then control measures are taken.
Operative function
Recruitment - Hiring candidates who will help organisation in achieving goals is also
the function of HRM. Sainsbury selects the candidates on basis of their knowledge and working
ability.
Training and development – It also helps Sainsbury in providing training to its
employees by deciding time frame and resources that will be used to train the employees along
with the method of training.
Employee welfare – The benefits related to incentives, bonuses and other facilities all are
decided by HRM and in Sainsbury it is done by promoting the candidates, allowing discount to
the on different products, providing them with flexible working hours.
Labour relation – The other most important function is to maintain labour relation. In
Sainsbury, the relation with trade unions are managed by HRM by hearing their problems and
taking their feedbacks and suggestions.
l壱P2 Strength and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and selection
Recruitment process – The process of recruitment means inviting applicants for jobs
from different backgrounds having different talent which can help Sainsbury in achieving the
goals of the organisation. It needs huge investment therefore to find out best candidate is vert
important. The two approaches of recruitment are internal and external recruitment.
Internal recruitment – Under this process, the company hires the candidates from the
organisation itself. External candidates cannot apply for this position. All the employees are
informed about the vacancy through internal advertisement (Imran, 2015). This can be done
through transfers where employees are shifted to similar kind of jobs like in Sainsbury when
employee shifts from warehousing department to caretaker of store, by promotions where
employees get promoted for higher pay with high responsibilities like in Sainsbury when in
finance department, junior accountant gets the position of senior accountant.
Strength WeaknessThis process increases morale of the employees and motivates them to work
hard for the promotion.

It helps in retaining the employees and gaining their loyalty.
It saves the cost and time of posting advertisements on television etc. as no external candidates
are involved.It limits the talent from the outside of organisation which lacks creativity and
innovation in work.
In case if the Sainsbury follows seniority criteria for promotion and the employee is not capable
can lead to ineffective operations.
It may lead to nepotism and favouritism which can affect organisation success and productivity
External recruitment – When candidates are selected from outside the organisation via
advertisement in news paper, television, magazines etc. for the specific job role. They can be
recruited with the help of labour unions, contractors, employment agencies etc.
Strength WeaknessIt allows company to have suitable candidates from the vast pool 0f
candidates applying for the job.
With new employees come new ideas and innovative techniques which leads to creativity in the
organisation.
As new employees are hired, they are more serious and disciplined which increases productivity
of the organisation. It is expensive method as it involves costing of putting advertisement,
induction, training the new candidates etc.
It is time consuming process as it involves number of activities (DeCenzo, 2016).
It leads to jealousy in existing candidates of the company and demoralise them which affects
working operations of the company.

Selection process – The process of eliminating unfit candidates and selecting the best out of
them for the specific job role is selection process of the company. The different approaches of
selection process that can be used in Sainsbury:
Personality test - Under this method, the candidates are judged according to their
personality. Their communication skills, appearance, etc. are judged and then they are allotted
with the job.
Strength WeaknessIt allows managers to know that the candidate will fit in the culture of the
company or not.
It reduces the chance of putting selecting the wrong person in the wrong role.
It is a well designed test which helps the employer in knowing how the candidate will get
motivated and engaged at work.It is time consuming process which leads to frustration on both
the sides.
It is not an accurate method and not always a best indicator to show how well the individual will
behave at job.
It is not reliable as candidates often answer what employer wants to hear.
Panel interview – Under this method, the candidates are asked different questions from
the interviewer and based on the answers the panel judge the body language, confidence and
intelligence of the candidate and discuss what they liked and did not liked in the candidate.
Strength WeaknessThere are mixed opinions of panels which helps the organisation in having
different perspectives and hence right candidate gets selected.
It is less time consuming process and provide consistency in asking questions.The candidate
may get nervous by facing a panel even after being talented and can lead to loss of potential
candidate for the company.
A lot of different questions and quick answers make the process complex and leads to confusion.

l壱M1Assess HRM functions help in providing skilful and talent to achieve objectives of selected
organisation
There are different HRM functions like recruitment , selection, training and developed,
induction and orientation that helps the company in getting skilful employees . In Sainsbury, the
recruitment process helps the company in acquiring talented individuals whereas training and
development function polish the employees to perform effectively and to achieve productivity
and economies of scale. The function like induction and orientation increases cooperation and
trust in employees which decrease employee turnover and absenteeism.
l壱M2 Evaluate HR practices and application within organisation
The flexible working hours in Sainsbury is not that effective as employees do not take
their work sincerely and that hampers the effectiveness of the organisation. The performance
appraisal approach in Sainsbury is effective as it motivates the employees to be better than others
and work harder to get bonuses and incentives. The learning and development approach in
Sainsbury is limited hence it do not enhances he knowledge of the employees.
l壱D1 Evaluation of strength and weakness of different approaches of recruitment and selection
with example
The recruitment process ca be either internal and external in which Sainsbury uses both
types of recruitment. It even promotes its employees ad even hire from outside. In a way, it
acquires new talent as well as loyalty of existing employees.
As the selection process is of many types in which Sainsbury uses external source of
recruitment by taking face to face interview so that the person getting selected can be fit for the
job and management can judge the communication as well as confidence level of the employee.
LO 2
l壱P3 Benefits of different HRM practices to employer and employee
There are different HRM practices that are used by companies which are beneficial to bot
employers as well as employees. The practices are -
Learning and development – This is the most common and important HRM practice that
can be used in Sainsbury as learning is an ongoing process which develop skills and knowledge
of the employees and leads to overall development.

Benefit to employerBenefit to employeeIt increases efficiency of the Sainsbury working
operations.
It helps in creating highly skilled force that lead to overall development of the organisation
(Hedger, 2016).
It helps the employer in having lower employee turnover and absenteeism.
It helps in retaining new skills and increasing knowledge of the employees.
It develops personality of the employees.
It keeps the employees motivated and boost their morale and help them in achieving their
individual goals.
Performance appraisal - It is the method of evaluating performances of the employees
and understanding their abilities. In short, it is providing bonuses and incentives to the
employees who performs outstandingly. It helps in employee development and in establishing
efficient communication network between employer and employee.
Benefit to employerBenefit to employeeIt improves the communication between employer and
employee which leads to efficient performances (Kew, 2016).
As employer encourages good work, it helps in increasing the productivity of the company as the
jest of the employees get increased.
It increases loyalty and retention of the employees towards the organisation.Performance
appraisal leads to self development of the employees as it allows the employee with feedbacks.
It motivates the employees and create sense of belongingness in the company.
It improves decision making ability in employees.

Flexible working hours - It means providing a flexible working schedule to the
employees so that they can work according to their time. It can help the employees in
maintaining their work as well as personal life.
Benefit to employerBenefit to employeeIt increases loyalty of the employees towards the
company.
It helps in having good relationship between employer and employee.
It helps the employee in balancing work and personal life by adjusting the time.
It saves productive time of employee that get wasted in travelling to office (Larsen, 2017).
l壱P4 Effectiveness of different HRM practices in raising productivity and profitability of
organisation.
Different HRM practices and its effectiveness in organisation
Flexible timing- Flexible working hours is one of the best HRM practices which is
appreciated by most of the employees (Berman and et.al., 2019). It includes part-time work, job
sharing, work sharing etc. in the organisation. Sainsbury provides its employees with flexible
timing and they are allowed to work from many places and on different time accordingly to their
comfort zone. It is a way of working in the organisation that suits the comfort of the employee.
It helps them in achieving organisational goals with their full potential as when the organisation
takes care of their comforts, employees take care of organisation's success (Treweek, and et. al.,
2018). It increases employee’s morale, engagement and commitment to the organisation. This is
better for employees in order to manage balance between personal and professional life. Apart
from this it is beneficial in order to retain skilled people in firm for longer duration. It motivates
the employee to work harder and maintain a cooperative and trustful relation between employer
and employee. This practice may lead to loss in profitability as well as productivity as

employees work without authority at home and accuracy of work get affected which decreases
organisation's productivity.
Safe and healthy work environment- Every organisation is responsible for maintaining
healthy workplace environment where employees can work safely and without being bothered
by mis happenings. Sainsbury ensures that it provides safe and healthy atmosphere to work to
its employees by taking care of their health. The company provides medical and dental insurance
for all its employees in case of uncertain emergency (DeCenzo, 2016). Sainsbury's HRM makes
sure that employee working is totally fit and is wearing proper equipments which are necessary
in performing various activities. It provides mother's with separate room, wash rooms to
maintain hygiene of the employees and workplace and prevent them from various diseases. It
promotes mutual trust and respect and increases productivity and profitability of employees as
they6 work freely and without any fear.
Learning and development – The most common and important HRM practice is
learning and development that is used as an ongoing process which involves sharpening skills
and knowledge of the employees for future perspective which will lead to growth of business
and individual. In Sainsbury, employees are trained for various job roles and different seminars
are organised to increase their learning (Noe, and et. al., 2017). It leads to increase in
profitability and productivity as when employees are efficient and trained, the work done by
them is fully effective.
Performance appraisal - The method of evaluating performances of the employees and
understanding their abilities and way of performing the job is what comprises performance
appraisal. By evaluating performances, it helps in providing bonuses and incentives to the
employees who performs effectively. It helps in employee development and in establishing
efficient communication network between employer and employee (Cascio, 2015). In
Sainsbury, the employees even get negative comments which helps them in improving their
work and lead to development.
l壱M3. Exploring different methods used in HRM practices
HRM practices are the essential tools and techniques to gain the management objectives
and healthy business environment. HRM practices has different methods such as to recruit
employees company can use internal or external method of selection (Larsen, 2017). On the

other side, in order to provides training & development company can use different methods such
as mentoring, coaching, online training etc.
l壱D2. Critical evaluation of HRM practices and its application within organisation
Different techniques and selection method are given both positive and negative. Such as
training and development it is beneficial for the company else on the other hand, sometimes it is
cost effective too that creates the management unbalance. Recruitment and selection practices
practices sometimes selects good impact and sometimes bad in terms of discrimination.
LO 3
l壱P5. Importance of employee relations in respect to influencing HRM decision-making
Employee relation refers to an industry's effort to manage the relationship between
employees and employers (Berman, and et. al., 2019). A company with good employee relations
program offer consistent and fair treatment to all the workforce so they will be loyal and
committed to the company and to their jobs. In Sainsbury healthy relations among the workforce
eases the load of work on the single person in the company and increase the extent of
productivity. Following are some advantages of employee relation that influence HRM decision-
making;
·Ensuring equality: Effective communication system in the organisation aware the HRM
department that there is no discrimination within the company. It make the employee feel more
motivated and encouraged to perform their role to achieve the desired target. Along with it,
proper communication system enable HRM of Sainsbury to take effective decisions in time
(Budhwar, 2016).
·Employee loyalty: Comfortable and interactive working environment in the Sainsbury create
the loyal staff. For attaining loyalty of the workforce, Sainsbury provide different loyalty
programs in the company. This also can attain through providing proper training and
development to guide internal and external working environment.
·Effective communication: Effective employee relation motivate and encourages clear
communication between employees and employers that reduce confusion, misunderstanding and
also enable employers to keep the staff updated regarding the essential operation and activities of
Sainsbury (Cascio, 2015). Proper communication also able to understand the task or role of the
staff and ensure that their performance will provide desired outcome.

As a team, staff members are suggested to interact with each other, if they do not follow the
instruction HRM of the industry are require to take effective decisions regarding forming new
policies and rules. Better relation among employees in Sainsbury minimise the chances of
conflicts amongst them and encouraging team work.
l壱P6. Identifying key elements of employment legislation and its impact upon HRM decision-
making
Employment legislation is the law or policy that governs employment within the
organisational structure (Cohen, 2017). Sainsbury maintains the employment laws while
recruiting and selecting as well for the running worker in the organisation. Following are the key
elements of employment legislation;
·Working time: Under this law, employees should be aware of their working time including
daily or weekly working hours to perform their role and task in the company. Although there is
no overtime provision but if they perform overtime duty, HR of the company have to give the
proper compensation for the overtime work. Along with it, all the members should get proper
leave on the basis of their desire and occasional leave (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016).
Proper time distribution to the Sainsbury help the Human Resource Management to take
effective and better decisions.
·Health and safety law: In accordance with this act, company require to ensure that there are
proper policies and equipments regarding health and safety of employees during work.
Sainsbury have their focus on providing a safe environment. Along with it, training provided by
the HRM of the industry to have better understanding of the work and to utilise the safety
equipments in the critical condition.
·Minimum wage: As per this legislation, company is require to set and provide fixed rate of
wages to the workers on the basis of their work and cognitive state (Hedger, 2016). This comes
under a statutory act that of national Minimum wage act that state that company need to pay a
certain amount of remuneration for work performed.
·Equality act: The industry should ensure the equality of member in each and every
perspective. This act emphasise on various factors such as race, colour, age, sex, disability, etc.
and stated that all the employees should treat equally as per their performance and work. All the
decisions of HRM in Sainsbury is require to consider that the decision is fair and free from bias
(Imran and Tanveer, 2015). Along with it, they are require to consider that there is equality in

sex, wages, working hours, health and other facilities. If there are any discrimination by the
employee they can ask or legislative help. The HRM of Sainsbury can influence worker
positively if they ensure equality in all area.
·M4. Evaluation of key aspects of employee relations management and employment legislation
Company has to ensure and manage the legal aspects of the organization in order to
secure the management from uncertainties and goals. Such as Sainsbury required to acquire all
such legal implications such as Employment law, Health & Safety law, Equality act and
Discrimination act (Kew and Stredwick, 2016). All such legal aspects should be required to
secure the company reputation. It also help to manage the employee relation management.
l壱D3. Critical evaluation of employee relations and application of HRM practices
HRM different practices has given positive and negative aspects in terms of decision
making approach. All such practices are recruitment & selection, Training & development etc.
Various practices are implemented by HR of Sainsbury so that it can satisfy and motivate
employees. Application of Hr practices such as proper salary and compensation benefits, training
and development, flexible working conditions, health and safety, etc. helps in maintaining
effective employee relations.
LO 4
l壱P7. Job description and person specification of team leader
Job TitleTeam LeaderReports toHuman Resource ManagerRoles & ResponsibilitiesGuiding the
team, setting a timeline, Motivate and inspire team membersQualificationMBA, Bachelors in
Science, Commerce or Arts
·Title of the job Team LeaderDate: 5 /06/2019Qualification
requiredEssentialDesirableMetMBA in human resource is preferable
·Bachelors in Science/ Commerce/ Arts
·Management Skills
·Familiar with team
·A good teacher and a motivator

·strong in decision-making
·Should be good in English
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
·Need of Experience 1 years of experience from a reputed organization in team leadingYes
·Personal characteristics & conduct Strong organization skills
·clear communicator
·administration skills
·Fair and kind
·should have basic computer knowledge
·should be good in team work
·Powerful Facilitator

·A good negotiation skillsYes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

YesRoles and responsibilities of team leader
·Providing a vision to the team in order to achieve objective
·Lead team by example
·Encourage creativity of employees
·Motivate and inspire employees
·Maintaining healthy group dynamics
·Recognizing and celebrating the success of team members
·Should manage the disputes within team member
·Providing guidance to the team members
·Developing strategies for the team members in order to achieve objective
·Set completion timeline and monitor progress of the project
·Should communicate to the top management about the team progress
·Must be impartial
·Encourage the members of team to coordinate with each other and help each other

·Team leader should be efficient in bringing the members of team close
·Should respect others
·Providing training to team members
·Creating report to about the team member performance and update company about it
·Managing day to day operations
·Taking feedback from the team members
·Assigning team members task according to their ability
·Assisting staff with any issues related to bank
·Be available for the team members if team member face any type of difficulty
·Ensuring that the members of team are satisfied with the work they are been assigned to
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes

Yes
Yes

Yes
l壱M5. Rationale of JD and person specification in the recruitment process
The job description and person specification consist essential elements such as;
qualification, skills, academic knowledge, experience, job role and responsibilities, etc. that is
required for the vacant position candidates. Both the documentation makes the recruitment and
selection process smooth and easy and company use for attracting right candidate for the specific
position at right time.
CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been summarised that Human Resource management is an
integral part of the organisation. The HRM practices is beneficial for both employees and

employers that help the industry to enhance organisational productivity, sales, profit and also
encouraging employee relationship. The relation between employees and employers is important
for the overall company to develop loyalty and commitment and for the further development.
The legislations regarding employees is necessary to consider by Sainsbury in order to consider
the issues and other benefits to the workforce. Overall it has been analysed that human resource
management in Sainsbury assist the industry to influence the workforce and able to take better
decision that lead them towards organisational goal.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Berman, E. M., and et.al., 2019. Human resource management in public service: Paradoxes,
processes, and problems. CQ Press.
Budhwar, P.S., 2016. International human resource management. Edward Elgar Publishing
Limited.
Cascio, W. F., 2015. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill.
Cohen, E., 2017. Employee training and development. In CSR for HR (pp. 153-162). Routledge.
DeCenzo, D. A., Robbins, S.P. and Verhulst, S.L., 2016. Fundamentals of Human Resource
Management, Binder Ready Version. John Wiley & Sons.
Hedger, J.A., 2016. Sainsbury and Tye Fail to Solve Frege’s Puzzle. Linguistic and
Philosophical Investigations. (15). pp.32-41.
Imran, M. and Tanveer, A., 2015. Impact of training & development on employees’ performance
in banks of pakistan. European journal of training and development studies. 3(1). pp.22-
44.
Kew, J. and Stredwick, J., 2016. Human Resource Management in a business context. Kogan
Page Publishers.
Larsen, H.H., 2017. Key issues in training and development. In Policy and practice in European
human resource management (pp. 107-121). Routledge.
Noe, R.A., and et.al., , 2017. Human resource management: Gaining a competitive advantage.
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Treweek, S., and et.al., 2018. Strategies to improve recruitment to randomised trials. Cochrane
database of systematic reviews. (2).
Online
1

Functions and goals of HR, 2019. [Online]. Available through :
<https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-business/chapter/the-functions-and-goals-
of-hr/>
·
·
1.1
2