Strategic Human Resource Management Analysis for Marks and Spencer

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) practices at Marks and Spencer (M&S). It begins with an introduction to SHRM and its importance in today's business environment, emphasizing its role in aligning human resources with strategic goals to enhance profitability and productivity. The report delves into the specific roles of strategic HRM, including administrative functions, change management, and people management, highlighting how these contribute to organizational stability and the development of a skilled workforce. Furthermore, it examines the use of the balanced scorecard as a strategic performance management tool within M&S. The report also explores how HRM strategies relate to broader management strategies and the company’s capabilities, including recruiting talented employees and fostering innovation. The analysis includes the impact of HRM strategies on M&S's performance, emphasizing the importance of aligning HRM with overall business objectives to achieve sustainable growth and competitive advantage. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the benefits of SHRM practices for enhancing business performance.

Strategic Human Resource
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Role of Strategic HRM................................................................................................................3
Use of balanced scorecard...........................................................................................................5
HRM strategies relate to broader management strategies and company’s capabilities and
performances................................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
SHRM (Strategic Human Resource Management) plays an excellent role to a business
and company in market place. In this dynamic world, each company and business focus on
running its function of human resource management something strategically. Strategic HRM
helps to a company for using different productive strategies in workplace to systematically
management various people or employees in workplace (Ataş and Kasımoğlu, 2018). This report
discusses strategic human resource management of Marks and Spencer (M&S). The M&S is
basically most popular retail brand of the United Kingdom, headquartered in London, England,
UK. This report discusses role of strategic HRM including the use of a balanced scorecard as
part of a strategic framework. How HRM strategies are relating with wider management
strategies and company’s capabilities and performance also has been discussed in this report.
MAIN BODY
Role of Strategic HRM
Strategic human resource management refers as a linking of human resources with
strategic aims and objectives in order to increase business profitability, productivity and
operations. This approach is undertaken by various companies like M&S plc for getting success
in the business. The main goal of the strategic HRM is to bring innovation, advance flexibility
and competitive advantage in the business so that it gets high success in the business market and
enables to build strong brand image in the customer’s mind. However, strategic human resource
management perform all function and roles like traditional HRM (Zehir, Üzmez and Yıldız,
2016). For example, they play effective roles in the company such as recruitment, selection,
training & development, strategy formation and implementation, reward & punishment etc. in
order to keep business always competent and active. There are three major roles that perform by
strategic HRM such as administrative, change management and people management through
which company enables to achieve it’s goal. People management is one of the major roles of
SHRM because it improves commitment ability of M&S in the business market that creates
positive image in the customer’s mind. Strategic human resources formulate effective strategy
and implements them as per the business situation in the workplace to keep control on day to day
business activity due to this company enables to keep control on extra expenses. They always

focus on outcomes which receives by M&S and develops strategy according to them so that
company can achieve more profit as compared previously received outcomes. Some major roles
and importance of strategic human resource management has been discussed below;
Enhance administrative activities: This is one of the major roles of strategic human resource
management (Leiblein, Reuer and Zenger, 2018). Basically, when HR manager of M&S
considers the concept of SHRM, then this step of HR manager will contribute in enhancing
administrative efficacy. This is the main reason that existing human resource manager of
company have to conduct its various human resource management practices in strategic manner,
then it can save lots of precious time and resources of administration, and this is the main reason
that HR department of company should always consider the concept of strategic HRM in own
workplace.
Promotes fair HRM practices: The human resource management should always consider SHRM
in its workplace, because it promotes fair policies in workplace. Many times, HR department in
different organisations uses unethical policies for gaining personal benefits. In this situation,
when HR department at M&S employ the concept of strategic human resource management in its
workplace, then it will be enabled to promote fair policies in company’s business environment,
and this factor will positively affect to performance of various employees as well.
Maintains organisational stability: SHRM always contributes in maintaining organisational
stability as well, and this is another major role of strategic HRM to M&S. Basically, when any
company is in its stable condition then it will be able to maintain its excellent performance as
well (The Role of HR in Employee Relationship Management (ERM), 2020). Day to day market
competition is increasing, in which this is very necessary to upper management of M&S to order
to its HR department for always considering strategic human resource practices in workplace for
achieving sustainable growth in market place.
Provides a workforce of many skilled and talented employees: This is another major role of
SHRM, and currently role of has affected to upper management of M&S to always manage its
various human resource management practices strategically. Basically, those venture are gaining
huge success in market place which a workforce of lots of skilled and talented employees in
workplace. That’s why employing SHRM is the most appropriate way to company for gaining
many talented employees. Strategic human resource management influence to HR manager for

providing various training and development sessions to employees, in which when an employee
participates in these sessions, then it can simply develop its different skills and talent.
These all are some major roles of strategic human resource management which can be
positively affected M&S’ all over growth. On the basis of these roles, by considering the concept
of SHRM in workplace, existing retail company can achieve huge competitive advantage in
market place.
Use of balanced scorecard
A balanced scorecard is a very innovative metric of strategic performance management
which is used for identifying and developing various internal functions of a company and also
their external outcomes. A balanced scorecard is fully used for measuring, controlling and
providing feedback to the company about which what things to be improved in workplace (Noe
and et.al., 2018). Currently many of ventures are using balanced scorecard in their daily practices
to achieve very appropriate outcomes from activities which they have conducted before.
Currently many business experts consider the balanced scorecard as “framework of frameworks”
that contributes in in helping to manage diverse unites of a company. In this situation, the
management at M&S should make a specific plan for systematically implementing balanced
scorecard in own HRM practice.
Basically, when HR manager at retail company balanced scorecard in its daily operations,
then it will be enabled to manage performance of all employees effectively. Currently extra-
ordinary performance and productivity is everything to a venture, in which this framework is
enough to M&S for gaining better outcomes in the form of extra-ordinary performance and
productivity. Some major features of balanced scorecard have been discussed below which will
positively affect to operations of M&S.
Batter management information: After employing balance scorecard in own workplace, M&S
will enable to make better management information. Basically, the management of a company
has always required to put its huge efforts deliver its each information to different people in
proper manner within organisation (Wilton, 2016). In this situation, balanced scorecard is
enough to M&S for making information of management very excellent.

Better strategic planning: A balanced scorecard helps in the strategic planning as well, in which
HR manager of company have to use scorecard framework in order to turn its ordinary HRM
practices into strategic HRM practices.
HRM strategies relate to broader management strategies and company’s capabilities and
performances
The Marks and Spencer company is one of the most advanced company focusing on
HRM strategies with high focus on innovation and continuous diversity paradigms to be adopted
among new productive scenarios for developing highly talented and diversified employees
workforce. The HRM strategies relate to broader management strategies and company business
performance growth potentialities, where capabilities such as understanding of company
objectives such as wider effective targets completion and new productive working expansion
within employees capabilities enable to generate goodwill. M&S HR strategies such as recruiting
talented, diversely experienced and young minded employees who hold expertise of varied
domains is broadly linked to management strategies, capabilities enhancement and for quality
growth among services. With high skilled workforce company holds high potentialities for
generating new innovative expansion on varied domains where specialised focused paradigms
enable to generate higher strength within new arenas. There is also higher estimated goodwill
growth within ides and new future goals completion by working towards new arenas such as
higher synergy growth, larger satisfied workforce and new diversity practiced working scenarios
which accelerate wider revenue standards. Brainstorming sessions and creative interactive
session relates to M&S new management strategies within new capabilities, performance
enhancement among wider scenarios and also for focusing on wider new platforms such as quest
enhancement and larger working force of innovation (Swart,Van Rossenberg and Kinnie, 2019).
This is also highly important among new working paradigms where HRM strategies play
high role to generate new avenue growth goals and also functionally build on scope among new
scenarios, where M&S will be able to bring on major domains advancement with new yielding
force. Recruiting and harnessing smart, talented skilled workforce within company enables to
captivate major goals enhancement within new paradigms and for technically coping on
competitive determinants. This is also one of the major analysis of HRM strategies such as
working on new resource growth objectives and for formulating productive expansion onto new

researched goals, where new efficacy platforms are widely given to new productive company
goodwill . This is also widely focused on promotional goals which competitively motivates
employees to show varied news goals and for training further new goals, which generate M&S to
develop long term scope among retail industry. The M&S is one of the best retail industry
company where new HRM strategies enable major focus enhancement to be achieved on for
larger goals enhancement, and to focus on new domains specialised functional scenarios. The
company aims to serve consumers with best working services within stores and digital platforms
where skilled employees play high role to be manifested with wide new functional synergy and
dynamic skills. Theses HRM strategies have been found to be widely advanced, competitively
strong for generating smarter innovative growth objective for gaining new functional major new
paradigms where working productive scenarios are known to be keenly worked on. This is also
highly important strategically for pertaining sustainable growth within new scenarios, larger
productive goals and to develop M&S working goals and to create long term goodwill (Cristian
and Peiró, 2019).
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above findings, it can be concluded that currently M&S’ HR department
is gaining huge benefits from the strategic human resource management practices. In this
dynamic and modern world, SHRM is the best way to a company for effectively improving its
performance and productivity in workplace. Currently there are lots of operations, activities and
practices has been conduced by HRM of Marks and Spencer, in which strategic HRM is the only
way to this department that has enabled to conduct these all operations and activities in an
effective as well and systematic manner.

REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Ataş, M. and Kasımoğlu, M., 2018. Strategic management sensitivity scale development and
validity research.
Cristiani, A. and Peiró, J. M., 2019. Calculative and collaborative HRM practices, turnover and
performance. International Journal of Manpower.
Leiblein, M. J., Reuer, J. J. and Zenger, T., 2018. What makes a decision strategic?. Strategy
Science. 3(4). pp.558-573.
Noe, R.A., and et.al., 2018. Fundamentals of human resource management. McGraw-Hill.
Swart, J.,Van Rossenberg, Y. and Kinnie, N., 2019. Who does what in enabling ambidexterity?
Individual actions and HRM practices. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management. 30(4). pp.508-535.
Wilton, N., 2016. An introduction to human resource management. Sage.
Zehir, C., Üzmez, A. and Yıldız, H., 2016. The effect of SHRM practices on innovation
performance: The mediating role of global capabilities. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Sciences, 235, pp.797-806.
Online
The Role of HR in Employee Relationship Management (ERM). 2020. [Online]. Available
Through: <https://blog.vantagecircle.com/employee-relationship-management/>.