The Strategic Role of HR in Employee Engagement at H&M

This report delves into the pivotal role of Human Resources (HR) in fostering employee engagement within the workplace, using H&M as a case study. The introduction underscores the strategic importance of HR in achieving organizational success through effective employee management. The main body explores various strategies for enhancing employee engagement, such as encouraging flexibility, promoting breaks, and soliciting feedback. It also addresses strategic and operational challenges that arise when employees are not engaged, including maintaining customer loyalty, managing internal communication, wastage issues, and responding to competition. The report suggests solutions for these issues, emphasizing the importance of personal approaches, CRM systems, ERP systems, and effective inventory management. The conclusion reiterates the significance of employee engagement for achieving organizational goals and highlights the HR department's responsibility in implementing engagement strategies. The report references several academic sources to support its findings.

Thinking HR

Table of Contents
Topic: “Role of HR in employees engagement in the workplace”..................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

Topic: “Role of HR in employees engagement in the workplace”
INTRODUCTION
Human Resource management is strategic approach which utilise for effective
management of employees within organisation. Because they are the one who help company in
gaining competitive advantages (Franco,Butler and Halpern, 2015). HR department is company
is responsible for training and development, performance appraisal, reward management,
overseeing employees benefits and many more. In simple term, overall purpose of HR is to make
sure that Company will achieve success through people.
Chosen Company for this report is H&M which was introduced in 1947 by Erling
Persson. It is part of retail industry offering clothing as well as accessories at worldwide level
and its headquarter is located at Stockholm, Sweden. Respective report will going to cover
strategic and operational issues related to employees engagement within workplace. Along with
this, skills and knowledge needed by HR to overcome with these issues.
MAIN BODY
Employees engagement is related to building relation within organisation and its staff
members. It is actually level of enthusiasm as well as dedication feel by an staff member towards
their job. For H&M it is necessary to engage their staff members because they are the one who
care about performance of company as well as feel that their efforts help organisation is gaining
competitive advantages (Angrave and et.al., 2016). In relation to H&M, it is responsibility of
Human Resource manager to engage their staff members and there several ways through which
employee engagement raise. Explanation of these are as follows :-
 Encourage flexibility – It is one of the effective way through which employees
engagement will increase. This give freedom to H&M staff member in adjusting their
work schedule or location in better manner which suits their needs.
 Promote taking breaks – For increasing employees engagement it is important to
encourage staff members by giving them specific duration break from their desk. It is one
of the best way because personnel feel relax when they get break from work. Such
practices result in improving engagement of employees in more effectual manner.
 Asking for feedback – This is also another secret through which Human resource
manager of H&M can use for increasing employees engagement within workplace. In
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this feedback should be given from both side such as employers can give feedback to
employees related to their working style, office environment, workload and many more.
On the other hand, from employees feedback are taken for gaining idea related to certain
proposal or new ideas and thoughts (McMaster, 2015). Taking feedback improve
employees engagement because they feel their opinion matters for company and play
crucial role within their working.
Above mention are the ways through which employees engagement get increase and help
H&M in conducting their day to day operations within effective manner. It is important for an
corporation that their employees get engage in overall activities of Company because it is the
only source through which competitive advantages can be gain. In addition to this, there are
several operational as well as strategic issues which company will face when there staff members
are not engage in day to day operations. Explanation of these issues are as follows :-
Strategic Issues and there solution – These are the issues which have major impact on
the course as well as direction of business firm. H&M is part of retail industry which getting
change constantly and there are several new challenges faced by companies working within
respective sector. If employees are not engage in organisation within proper manner then several
strategic issues may occur. Explanation of these are as follows :-
 Maintaining customers loyalty – It is one of the strategic issue which H&M will face
when employees are not engaged in proper (Meuwly and et.al., 2015). If staff members
are not focusing on their job role they will not able to serve existing customers in
effective manner which reduce their loyalty and they think that present will replace with
new one. Due to such mindset H&M will face strategic issues in growth and
development. This issue can be resolve when Company use personal approach for
providing information related to promotion and special offer directly to customers. Thus,
customers loyalty will be gain by using personal approach. For example: Human
Resource manager of H&M have to send mails or text to their customers by which they
feel like important part of company. Within this process CRM system will play important
in resolving such strategic issue because it help in maintaining detail of customers and
send personalized mails more easily.
 Managing internal communication – Retail organisations have complex operations as
well as managing internal communication is not easy task. H&M is large sclae
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corporation which face strategic issue related to communication when employees are not
engaged in proper manner as well as they have multiple divisions (Ulrich and Dulebohn,
2015). Thus, ineffective communication among employees and other department result in
disturbing business process. For example: Production department of H&M is not engaged
in other organisational activities then they will lack behind with what is going in
organisation. To overcome with this issue of internal communication it is necessary for
respective organisation to implement ERP system because it is perfect solution of this.
Moreover, this software will help in centralizing business operations, generate
comprehensive report from every division, make sure overall process is running properly
and many more.
 Retaining and engaging employees – Retail sector have high turnover ratio so for them
retaining staff become big challenge. This issue rise when employees don't feel that they
are engaged activities and it is important to retain customers because replacing them
required time, funds as well as energy. In addition to this, HR manager of H&M have to
design regular training program for their customers to optimize competencies because it
will help in developing there skills as well as knowledge.
Operational issues and there solution – operational issues are any type of problem
which arise and result in less profitability of company (Tenenbaum and et.al., 2018). Such issues
give direct impact on operational performance, impact on strategy execution as well as growth of
business. There are several operational issues which H&M will face when employees are not
engaged within their activities explanation of these along with their solution are as follows :-
 Wastage issue – H&M is retail company in which production take place for fulfilling
customers needs and wants as well as also for making them satisfy. While manufacturing
clothes and accessories some parts go in wastage such things get increase when staff
members are not engage in practices within effective manner. For example: in
manufacturing division if there is no employees engagement with each other then several
wastage may occur such as material, thread, clothes and many more. Thus, to overcome
with this issue it is necessary for H&M to manage inventories in effective manner as well
as have to allocate raw material to everyone in appropriate manner. So that production
will take place without wasting anything.
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 Responding to competition – In today's competitive world it become difficult for
organisation to sustain for long term without their employees engagement (Mortola,
Marghescu and Siegrist-Johnstone, 2016). Thus, it is necessary for H&M to engage their
personnel in every activity of business for gaining competitive advantages. For example,
competitors are offering same products and services at lower price then H&M which
result in high level of competition. This operational issue can resolve by keeping eyes on
competitors activities and tracking how they are going ahead. Monitoring their practices
will assist H&M in making their strategies within respective manner for gaining
competitive advantages.
Above mention are strategic and operational issues which H&M are facing because of no
proper employees engagement within organisation. It is responsibility of Human Resource
manager to ensure that staff members have to be engaged within each and every activity in
effective manner (Rivenson and Ozcan, 2018). If they are not then HR manager have to motivate
them for engaging in company and assist in accomplishing goals.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it has been concluded that, employees engagement is
important for an organisation because it is the way through which company can accomplish their
goals as well as objectives within effective manner. For an corporation their staff members are
assets because they help in gaining competitive advantages through their efforts. It is
responsibility of human resource manager within organisation to improve employees
engagement through implementing several activities such as employees flexibility, promote to
take break, taking feedbacks and many more. Furthermore, if employees are nit engaged in
business activities then several strategic and operational issues rise. These will be resolve by
implementing several skills and knowledge of human resource manager in company.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Franco, A. H., Butler, H. A. and Halpern, D. F., 2015. Teaching critical thinking to promote
learning. In The Oxford handbook of undergraduate psychology education.
Angrave, D. and et.al., 2016. HR and analytics: why HR is set to fail the big data challenge.
Human Resource Management Journal. 26(1). pp.1-11.
McMaster, H. R., 2015. Continuity and change: The Army operating concept and clear thinking
about future war. Military Review. 95(2). p.6.
Meuwly, C. and et.al., 2015. Trigeminal cardiac reflex: new thinking model about the definition
based on a literature review. Medicine. 94(5).
Ulrich, D. and Dulebohn, J. H., 2015. Are we there yet? What's next for HR?. Human Resource
Management Review. 25(2). pp.188-204.
Tenenbaum, H. R. and et.al., 2018. Positive thinking elevates tolerance: Experimental effects of
happiness on adolescents’ attitudes toward asylum seekers. Clinical child psychology
and psychiatry. 23(2). pp.346-357.
Mortola, J. P., Marghescu, D. and Siegrist-Johnstone, R., 2016. Thinking about breathing:
Effects on respiratory sinus arrhythmia. Respiratory physiology & neurobiology. 223.
pp.28-36.
Rivenson, Y. and Ozcan, A., 2018. Toward a Thinking Microscope. Optics and Photonics News.
29(7). pp.34-41.
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