Sports Direct Case Study: Evaluating HRM Practices and Ethics

This case study examines the human resource management practices at Sports Direct, a prominent UK sports retailer, in light of recent accusations of unethical workplace conditions. It identifies key functional management areas within a working environment and advises Sports Direct on the importance of a positive work environment and strategies for improvement. The report covers the role of human resources in enhancing firm performance and customer value, the significance of recruitment and organizational design, and the necessity of human resource planning. It further discusses effective performance management practices, the influence of employment legislation, and the importance of non-discrimination and the right to join unions, emphasizing the need for Sports Direct to implement fair and rewarding HR practices to improve employee morale and productivity. Desklib provides access to similar case studies and solved assignments for students.

Human resource management1
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Human resource management
Introduction
A workplace is a setting where people work for their employers. It may be in a home
office or big building offices or even in a factory. The working environment is defined as the
entirety which forms part of employee’s participation in the work itself. Any organisation should
create a healthy work environment for their employees (Bratton and Gold 2017, pp.45). But the
opposite happens to employees, many of them struggle with competitive work environments.
The workplace is one of the most important social spaces consisting of several entities: home, the
employer organisation, customers and the whole society. Every employee wishes to work in a
favorable working environment which is challenging, with fun, friendly and rewarding. But
unfortunately many employees are struggling in hostile work environments with racism,
intimidation, harassment and others conduct based on gender, nationality and religion (Boella
and Goss-Turner 2013, pp.14).
Sports is one of the most famous and prominent companies with big management and has
employed many people. Recently the company has been accused of various unethical workplace
practices. The company has been poorly paying their employees, penalizing the ill members of
the staff and harassing and discriminating them. The goal of this report is to identify the
functional management areas in a working environment and try to advise the sports company on
the importance of a right work environment and how to improve it for their employees (Briscoe
et al. 2012, pp.30).

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Functions of a human resource in a business environment
Human resource has a critical role in a business environment because human labor takes
a huge part of how customers are attended (Aswathappa 2013, pp. 84). A business without the
right human resource practices in place does not get a maximum effort from their staff. In a
business environment, they have the following functions
Firm performance; the role of human resource is to understand how people do
outstanding work. People form the labor force that determines the results you produce in a
business (Elarabi and Johari 2014, pp. 14). Employees use their physical labor and perform
business activities to support industry operations. Sports Direct has created a hostile working
environment for their employees. Cases of harassment have been reported. Six strikes in six
months indicated underperformance in the system. The case of racial discrimination has been
reported where they prohibit the speaking of welsh language in its stores situated in Bangor a
city in welsh. The company should realize that people do outstanding work. Employees should
be treated well for them to perform. The company should create good relationships with its
employees for it to have active operations of the business activities (Brewster et al. 2016, pp. 74).
Customer value; the resource centred interpretation of a business’ competitive advantage
can be explained as for how one can produce long-term value for clients from those resources.
Investing in employees is essential (Elarabi and Johari 2014, pp. 17). Their importance relates to
their expertise, judgment and intellect. Investing in employees in areas like training and
development will benefit them to become more effective in running the operations of a business.
For the company to make employees happy, it is vital to implement HR practices to evaluate and
improve working conditions and compensating them (Griffin 2013, pp.10).

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The Sports direct Company has failed to invest in their employees and this makes them
not to perform their duties better. In this company, employees are poorly paid and also put fines
on the ill staff. It has created a hostile working environment which leads to poor performance in
their duties. The company should implement efficient HR function for adequate performance in
business operations. Good pay motivates employees. The company should increase the salaries
of the employees to stimulate them in their performance. The ill members of the staff should not
be penalized but instead should be given a break and be compensated (Kerzner and Kerzner
2017, pp.22).
Recruitment; this is one of the first steps in employment. You first recruit employees
before training them to perform the desired level. You need to implement better ways of
recruiting employees because you compete with other businesses hiring the same talent
(Klingner et al. 2015, pp. 62).
Organizational design; the HR role helps one choose the better arrangements for
employees in several works. If the distribution of labor is not sufficient, employee’s positions are
relocated until you find a more rational system. Each worker is allocated a duty to support the
purpose of the group. The essential aspects of the HR function are knowledge of workers
motivation and performance management (Klingner et al. 2015, pp. 65).
Planning in a business environment
Human resource process involves hiring people with the right skills, for the right job at
the right time. These are the stages involve in resource planning.
Analyzing organisational plans; it examines the strategic plans to the organisation and
studies the purposes of the organisation. The study of the overall organisational objectives and

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strategies puts the basis for HRP in measuring the capacity of work to be done in future and the
human resources required for the same (Naff and Riccucci 2012, pp. 16).
Formulating HR plans in sync with organisational objectives; HRP match corporate
necessities with the worker's ability. The HRP identifies the problems and opportunities that
organisation may face in future and tries to modify human resource planning accordingly (Naff
and Riccucci 2012, pp. 18). Workers are prepared alongside their qualification making it easier
for the manager to estimate the net demand for a human resource from outside.
Forecasting demand for human resource; the workforce demanded in an organisation
varies from time to time depending on internal and external aspects. These factors considered
while forecasting future demand for a future human resource in an organization includes;
employment trend, productivity changes, growth and expansion, replacement need and
absenteeism
Forecasting supply of human resources; the labor demanded in an organisation forecast
the likely HR needs, while the labor supply forecast predicts the availability of the resources.
Supply of human resources forecast has the following categories.
Internal supply- this includes tables for staff, skill inventories, information system,
succession planning, workforce replacement charts, and renewal analysis.
External supply: this includes workforce diversity, labour markets, and demographic trends in
labour supply.
Matching demand and supply forecasting: analysing gaps

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After the organisation has forecasted the HR demand and supply, they then compare them. They
reconcile labour demand and labour supply forecast using gap analysis.
The results will be
HR supply=HR demand
Supply> Demand (surplus)
HR supply<HR demand (deficit/shortage)
Action planning and programming; if there is difference between demand and supply forecast,
the gap will need to be minimised through an action program for the organisation to meet their
objectives efficiently. These action plans include early retirements, reducing the working hours,
retraining, career management, productivity programmers and reduction in labour force
(Nankervis et al. 2013, pp. 12).
Monitoring and control; after implementing the action plans, you lay down an active and crucial
evaluation and continuous monitoring system. This will ensure that human resource plans are
moving on well and in the right direction. Labour inventory needs to be updated periodically for
efficient monitoring and control (Nankervis et al. 2013, pp. 13).
Human resources information system
This is a computerised process for collecting, packing, maintaining, saving and certifying
data required by a firm about its human resource. The information found in HRIS relates to
employees ability, qualification, potentialities, age sex, jobs, pay scales, organisational goals,
policies and measures (Nickson 2013, pp.50). It is advisable for a firm to use human resource
information system because it saves time and cost. The information given by HRIS is accurate

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for human resource. It also supports the decision-making process, and it forms a base for healthy
managerial control. The information is always ready. Sports Direct Company should implement
HR planning to improve the working environment of the employees.
Effective HR practices and performances management in an organization
Performance is a continuing process that offers feedback, responsibility and
documentation for performance results to guarantee that employees, teams and departments are
meeting strategic organisational objectives (Rainer et al. 2013, pp. 81). Dramatic changes have
been discovered in performance management across all corporations. This so much changes in
this crucial area of human resources has forced establishments to seek consultancy from an
outside HR consulting firm for help in identifying how to implement change. When choosing the
type of performance management system to use in an organisation, you should consider the
outcomes of the process. The establishment of an operative performance management system
will need time and resources. It is crucial to communicate to employees before implementing the
policy whether introducing a new or modifying an existing performance management system. It
is also advisable to review the new performance management system after the first ten years and
make the necessary adjustments. Employees are happier and more dedicated to the firm when
their managers care about their career goal (Taylor et al. 2015, pp.93).
There are seven performance management best practices used by organisations
Be smart about setting goals; a goal that is not appropriate for performance management can get
trapped in rather than chances for success. It is advisable to follow guidelines for smart.
Offering frequent, actionable feedback; it is advisable for managers to plan to meet formally with
their reports at least three times in a year and also find time to offer input officially on a regular

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basis. Feedback requires being honest, transparent, and actionable meaning to be of use to the
workers (Storey 2014, pp. 18).
Offering training for employees; for an organisation that is willing to provide training for their
employees to improve it can overcome a problem of employee weakness. Excellent leadership
skills training also should be offered to managers. The essential skills in an organisation are
communication skills, listening techniques, ways to provide feedback, and how to handle
employees for managers.
Get outside input; this involves the difference between 360-, 180-, and 90-degree feedback, other
people have a different view of the employee's strengths and weakness that manager cannot be
able to see (Stredwick 2013, pp.55).
Leverage technology; the organisation is required to implement a performance
management system, because with PMS you can set goals, track accomplishment KPIs.
Technology can improve the following performance management best performs (Taylor et al.
2015, pp.95).
Document everything; this is not only useful for use only or targeting future purposes, but it is
essential to give employee information about his performance and growth in that organisation.
Reward success; all employees who meet their goals should be rewarded. It is very imperative
for a manager to recognise employee’s success and celebrate with her. This encourages the
employee to pursue even greater goals in future.

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HR planning in sports directs company
Sports direct company should employ the rewarding success HR planning practices.
After paying their employees well, the manager should be able to identify an employee who has
achieved his or her goals and reward him. Rewarding will mostly motivate the employees to
work hard trying to achieve more and more goals (Tracey 2016, pp. 34).
Influence of employment legislation HR practices in organizations
Human resource practices always include activities protected by employment laws that
discuss employee rights and enforce legal responsibilities on employers. Some of the common
employee rights protected under employment law include equal employment opportunity, non-
discrimination, freedom to join and form union and rights to privacy and minimum standards for
terms and conditions of employment
Non-discrimination and equal employment opportunity; the law protects employees from
judgment. Be it discrimination based on race, age, or sex (Truss et al. 2012, pp. 70). All
employees should be treated the same way regardless of their colour, sex, religion or national
origin.
Freedom to join or form a union; national labour relations acts protect employees’ rights to join
or form unions. The right to join or form a union helps the employees to create unions which
represent them in forwarding their grievances (Truss et al. 2012, pp. 71).
Minimum standards for terms and conditions of employment; employment laws put minimum
standards which workers should meet for either pay, safety or leaves from work. The law sets the

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minimum wage and overtime pay requirement. The law also covers occupation safety and
workplace security (Tyson 2014, pp. 25).
Privacy; the law should cover privacy protections for employees at work. For example, the
electronic communication privacy protects employees phone chats talks from employer
interruption. The fair credit reporting act requires owners to inform their employees that they are
seeking a credit report on them should obtain their consent before doing it.
Wage and hour; the law has established a minimum wage for employees. It also requires
employees to be paid overtime for any work over the time necessary.
Leave provisions; employees are provided with leaves such as serious health condition, bonding
with a new baby or a qualifying exigency related to active military service.
Current practices of sports direct
Pay and wages; Sports Direct has been accused of unethical business environment
practices allegations. The company has been accused of poor salaries paid to their employees.
This can be proved by the unpaid time taken for rigorous compulsory searches on workers
leaving their warehouses meaning they are paid less than the minimum wage. The company also
is putting penalties on all members of the staff (Vance and Paik 2014, pp. 54).
The human resource system in a company has violated laws, and they are mistreating their
employees. Their wages system should be revisited and adjustments be made. The rule of
payment should be applied, and their wages increased to the level required by the law. Leaves
should be offered for those need and fit for it without paying for it.

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Racial discrimination; Sports Direct has also been accused of racial discrimination within its
working environment. Its staff is prohibiting the speaking of the welsh language in its store
situated in Bangor welsh city stating English to be the official language of the company. This is a
violation of the law that protects the rights of an employee. Discrimination against employees on
the basis of race, color, religion, sex, origin is prohibited (Wilton 2016, pp. 24). All the
employees should be respected regardless of where they come from.
Recommendation
Employees always dream of positive and healthy working environment. But
unfortunately many are stressed in unfriendly work environment. Organisations should try hard
in creating a friendly work environment for their employees. A hostile environment will always
interfere with the employees work performance or create an intimidating working environment
for the employee. Organizations are therefore advised to employ right human resource in place.
The HR practices should be followed in an organization. All the roles of human resource
should be identified. The human resource should recruit and train employees. Human resource
should also decide a good arrangement of employees in various works. It should also identify
customer value and conduct firm performance
Sports direct company is facing a lot of challenges in the part of human resource. These
challenges lead to poor performance of employees in business operations. They have caused poor
performance of the organization as a whole. The company HRP should find a way out on how
deal with problems of discrimination, paying poor wages to their employee and penalizing ill
members of their staff. This is violation of law which covers the human rights of an employee

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The company’s HRP should abide with the law. They should treat their employees in a friendly
way for a better performance. Managers should identify employee success and reward him. Let it
be a friendly relationship between the employer and the employee
Conclusion
From the above report we realize that creating a conducive working environment can
improve the performance of the employees. We come to conclusion that as Trudy Bruton wrote
in his article, functional human resource management is the glue that holds on organization
together and the ingredients are in the glue. Employing a better human resource practices can
lead to an efficient performance in a firm.

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