McCormick & Company HR Policies and Practices: A Comprehensive Report

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SHRM ASSESSMENT 1
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Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
TASK 1 ANALYSIS OF HR POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN MCCORMICK & COMPANY........................4
TASK 2 ANALYSIS AND EFFECT OF EXTERNAL FORCES ON HR STRATEGIC DECISIONS IN
MCCORMICK.................................................................................................................................. 7
TASK 3 ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZING HR FUNCTION, DELIVERING HR POLICIES AND PRACTICES
AND ROLES AND CHALLENGES OF LINE MANAGERS IN MCCORMICK............................................9
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 12
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................13
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INTRODUCTION
The report will lay emphasis on the policies and practices for the management of the human
resource in McCormick & company by using different concepts to analyze and evaluate these
practices. The various external forces that affect the process of decision making of the two
companies will also be discussed. The last part of the report will focus on the functions and role
of HR managers in these companies and how they deliver HR policies using the Ulrich model will
be explained.
The McCormick & company is the largest American producer and seller of herbs, seasoning,
flavourings and spices. The company acquired Schwartz in 1984. McCormick employed 11,700
employees until 2017. it sells its goods in about 100 countries.
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TASK 1 ANALYSIS OF HR POLICIES AND PRACTICES IN MCCORMICK &
COMPANY
The HR policies and practices are the activities performed by the workforce in the organization
in order to achieve organizational goals effectively and improve performance of employees,
motivates them, reduce employee absenteeism and boost the morale of the employees
(Ahmad, 2015).
The high performance of McCormick is due to the variety of people, ideas and brands. The
company succeeds because of the combined efforts of its employees and top managers. The
company treats all its employees’ with equality and focuses on their health and wellness.
The stakeholders of the company include shareholders, employees, management, government,
unions and communities that are affected by the HR practices followed in an organization
directly or indirectly (Ahmad, 2015).
HR POLICIES AND PRACTICES AT MCCORMICKS:
McCormick follows soft HRM approach where it follows democratic styles of leadership; the
leaders delegate their authorities to the employees, maintain strong communication, provide
training and development to the employees and treat employees as an important asset of the
organization. These results in improved performance of the employees reduced absenteeism
and boost the morale of employees in the organization (Ahmad, 2015).
McCormick follows a high commitment HRM as the company values and respects each an
employee of the company. They motivate the employees to work together to organizational
goals and improve quality, productivity and services. The best practices under high
commitment HRM offered to employees at McCormick are as follows:
Employee engagement: The Company uses ‘voice of the employee’ survey to encourage the
participation of employees in the activities performed at McCormick. The leaders inspire and
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motivate the staff to perform well and also maintain effective communication with the
employees which increases the level of performance of employees (Dello Russo et al. 2018).
Employee safety and health: The safety and security of the employees is the foremost priority
of McCormick. The company ensures that the safety guidelines are implemented by its
employees and also adequate training is given to employees so that they work carefully and
effectively. The company works on “ingredients for health” program to improve the wellness of
its employees.
Recruitment and selection: The Company focuses on getting the people that best fit the vacant
position. The candidates are asked very tough questions and evaluated on the basis of what is
needed for the job role and the applicant who possesses the required skills and abilities are
selected (Dello Russo et al. 2018).
Training and development: The skills and capabilities of all the employees at McCormick are
developed with the help of training programs like an on-the-job, classroom learning, coaching,
e-learning, etc. also regular feedbacks are provided to employees with the motive of improving
their performance.
Business ethics policy: this policy is followed by the company to protect the rights of all the
employees and also the contractors, service providers and suppliers to maintain highest
standards in business and eliminate any unethical practice being conducted at McCormick
(Tarique et al. 2015).
Employee benefits and offers: McCormick provide competitive salaries to its employees, paid
holidays, bonuses and profit sharing and other benefits like life insurance, health plans, income
protection plans, etc. to motivate their employees and feel the sense of belongingness in the
organization and thus, give their best to achieve the business goals (Tarique et al. 2015).
Performance appraisal: The performance of every employee in the organization is reviewed by
the managers or leaders. The employees are appreciated and rewarded for good performance.
If the performance is below expectation, actions are taken by the managers to improve the
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performance of the employees by providing adequate training and motivation (Dello Russo et
al. 2018).
Thus, McCormick follows different HR policies and practices in the company for the success of
the company.
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TASK 2 ANALYSIS AND EFFECT OF EXTERNAL FORCES ON HR STRATEGIC
DECISIONS IN MCCORMICK
The strategic decisions taken by the HR team regarding the management of workforce at
McCormick are affected by various internal and external factors which cannot be ignored. The
external forces comprise of the competitors, employment market in which the company
operates, consumers, economic factors, political and legal factors, advancement in technology,
dynamic environment, etc. (Bagheri, 2016). The analysis of the external factors and how they
affect the strategic planning of human resource can be explained as follows:
Customers: The customers are the king of the market. All business activities are focused on
providing the best services to the customers in order to achieve customer satisfaction. It
requires the selection of a skilled workforce as the employees contribute towards achieving a
good quality of products. Thus, strategic decision making is affected due to the interest and
demand of customers. If the customers are dissatisfied with the existing products or services
provided by the company, the HR managers need to make changes in the current HR policies
and practices (Cascio, 2015).
Competition: With the rising competitors in the market, it is hard to obtain a skilled workforce
for the company. Thus, the company needs to train the existing employees within the
organization to make them competent. This requires a change in existing HR practices followed
by the company and new plans need to be made that focuses on effective training and
development of employees in the organization (Bagheri, 2016).
Political and legal factors: The HR managers have to follow the laws and legislations formed by
the government which focuses on rights of workforce like Minimum Wages Act, Factories Act,
Trade Union Act, Workmen’ Compensation Act, The Maternity Benefit Act, The Payment of
Wages Act, Employee Relations Act, Health and Safety Law etc. These rules and regulations
affect the HR policies and practices of the company and decisions are made by the HR team
accordingly (Cascio, 2015).
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Social and cultural factors: The HR managers have to conduct business actions and make
decisions considering the society’s needs and satisfaction. The business has responsibilities
towards the society at large therefore in case of large unemployment in the country,
McCormick has to hire skilled as well as the unskilled workforce. The employees in the
organization differ on the basis of different culture and background which are needed to be
considered by the HR managers at the time of strategic planning as it helps in motivating the
employees to give their best to the business (Bagheri, 2016).
Technological factors: Advancement in technology leads to more capital intensive work which
reduces the need for manpower in the production process. The innovations in the existing
technology lead to changes in the existing work processes and the employees need to be
trained to enhance their skills and abilities in order to work efficiently with the new technology.
Therefore, decision making is affected as HR managers need to focus on effective
communication flow and training of employees for the achievement of organizational goals
(Cascio, 2015).
Thus, the strategic planning of the HR department of McCormick is affected by certain external
factors which need to be taken care of before taking decisions as this helps in employee
retention and reduction of employee absenteeism and thus, they feel encouraged to work for
the betterment of the company.
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TASK 3 ANALYSIS OF ORGANIZING HR FUNCTION, DELIVERING HR
POLICIES AND PRACTICES AND ROLES AND CHALLENGES OF LINE
MANAGERS IN MCCORMICK
The HR manager focuses on organizing different functions performed by the HR department
like maintaining employer-employee relations, talent acquisition and management, processing
payroll, employee benefits and allowances, improving employee performance, workforce
planning, health and safety, compensation management, keeping record of employees and
controlling their performance, etc. in such a manner that these HR functions helps in meeting
the present business requirements and long term future goals of the organization Rani, N. and
(Singla, 2015).
The HR policies and practices followed within McCormick are communicated to its employees
with the help of Ulrich HR model to encourage friendly and effective communication in the
organization.
According to Ulrich's model, the HR managers perform four major roles being a professional
which includes:
Employee champion: Under this role, the manager focuses on the morale and satisfaction of
employees by treating all employees fairly and equally, offering available opportunities and
training to the employees, identifies and solve the problems faced by the employees and makes
sure that the interest of employees is being protected. Thus, the employee champions deliver
committed and competent employees to the organization (Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017).
Administrative expert: This expert follows the health and safety rules, different laws, changes
in legislation and ensures these laws are adopted in the organization. The expert is responsible
to manage, secures and updates the personal information of all the employees in the
organization with the help of the HR Information System. Thus, the administration expert helps
in delivering efficient HR practices within the company (Singla, 2015).
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Change agent: The change agent communicates the changes taking place in the organization
goals to the employees and provides required training to the employees to learn new skills that
are needed to manage change in the organization and thus results in the growth of the
employees and the organization. Thus, the change agent delivers the change in the behaviour
of employees and the culture of the organization (Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017).
Strategic partner: The strategic business partner helps in handling communication among the
stakeholders within the organization. The partner provides feedback to the employees on the
quality of service provided by them, identifies talented personnel within the organization,
focuses on filling the vacant positions, sharing the goals of HR with the workforce and ensure
implementation, promotes productivity and peace at work. Thus, the business partner delivers
good results in business (Noe et al. 2017).
Roles of line managers in McCormick: The line manager plays a crucial role in the operations of
the business as they manage the employees and the resources of the organization to achieve
optimum utilization. Their roles and responsibilities include:
 Recruiting and selecting talented personnel to the vacant position.
 Providing adequate training and development to all the employees.
 Communicating the goals of the business with employees effectively.
 Monitoring and controlling individual and team performances.
 Ensuring standards of quality in all the activities of the business (Noe et al. 2017).
 Providing feedback in the form of performance appraisals to the employees.
Challenges faced by the line managers in McCormick:
The roles performed by the line managers are very important for the employees and the
business, but they face certain challenges in their roles which are:
 The company has limited resources which need to be managed by the line managers
effectively to attain optimum utilization of resources.
 The line managers at McCormick have to manage a large team of employees, thus it
becomes difficult for them to provide timely and effective training and support.
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 They have to work under continuous pressure of minimizing cost and maximizing
outputs (Noe et al. 2017).
 The line managers are busy in navigating turnover of employees and staffing new ones
and providing training to them which makes it difficult for them to focus on improving
the productivity of business processes.
Thus, it can be concluded that the line managers play a significant role in managing
functions of HR and they face different challenges in the process.
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CONCLUSION
In a nutshell, it can be concluded that McCormick & company performs different HR functions,
follows various HR policies and practices and take care of the interest of the employees working
in the organization in order to motivate them to give their best in the achievement of
company’s goals. The strategic decision making of the HR managers are affected by internal and
external forces of the company and needed to be considered for the effective management of
employees. The last part of the report focuses on the analysis of HR functions, approaches
adopted by the company to deliver HR policies and practices, the roles and responsibilities
performed by the line managers and the challenges faced by them at McCormick & Company.
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