Strategic Human Resource Management Report: Morrisons' Case Study

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) at Wm Morrison Supermarkets (Morrisons). It begins by identifying key current trends influencing HR strategies, such as automation and employee experience, and examines both external factors (technological, legal, social) and internal factors (workplace conflicts, workforce availability) impacting the company's HR approach. The report then delves into relevant theories and concepts, specifically focusing on performance management and reward systems, illustrating how these elements contribute to strategic HRM growth. Furthermore, it explores change management models to support HR strategies and outlines methods for monitoring and measuring HR outcomes, ultimately discussing how effective HR management supports sustainable performance and business goals. The analysis includes a critical evaluation of the company's approach and concludes with an overview of the key findings.

Strategic Human Resource
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
P1 Key current trends and development influencing HR strategies............................................3
P2 External and Internal factors affecting HR strategy-..............................................................4
M1-Critical analysis.....................................................................................................................6
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
P3 Theories and concepts relating to the growth and development of strategic HRM...............6
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................7
P4 Change management model for supporting HR strategy.......................................................7
LO 4.................................................................................................................................................9
P5 Measurement and monitoring of HR outcomes......................................................................9
P6 Ways in which HR management supports sustainable performance....................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Strategic human resource management refers to the combination of strategies and human
resource management and is a future oriented process for the development and implementation
of Human resource programs which address and resolve the business and employee problems
and challenges, and effectively contribute in fulfilment of long-term corporate and business
objectives (Delery and Roumpi, 2017). Wm Morrison supermarkets which trades as Morrisons is
a large supermarket chain that operates in the UK with its headquarters in Bradford, England.
This report will highlight the Strategic HRM of Morrisons by analysing the current
developments and the internal and external factors influencing company’s HR strategy along
with a critical analysis. The report will elaborate the concepts and theories for development and
growth for strategic HRM of Morrisons along with various change management models
supporting HR strategy. The report will also explain the ways in which HR results can be
monitored for particular situations and will conduct an evaluation of the effective HR
management which supports sustainable productivity to fulfil business goals.
LO 1
P1 Key current trends and development influencing HR strategies
There are various trends and development being observed that influences strategies of HR
at the workplace and support day to day smooth functioning of business operation, some of
which are being mentioned as under
Automation via Artificial Intelligence- it refers to the trend which states human efforts are
being reduced and taken over by the machines where it affects the HR strategy in the company
by the means as it reduce working of various human resource as now the machines so being
developed will perform the task which normal human being does and which will helps in saving
lot of time and will increase the efficiency of the business in achievement of common goals of
the company and helps in accounting to fostering growth of the company (Mura,2017). Its biggest
advantage to HR In company is streamlining various time consuming task where it is being
observed as an effective tool in getting various employees surveys which helps in manner of
individual employees strengths and weaknesses that guide potential utilisation of same in
effective and efficient manner (Pius, Alharahsheh, Sanyang, 2020). It sates that instead on relying
on professional of HR to pour and check various hundreds and thousands of resume, cover letter,
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compiling, analysing various data , company HR can use Artificial intelligence to complete the
task quickly. It also helps in ensuring human biasses and errors from the evaluation of candidate
process of being selected in the company as it provides with the accuracy in how human resource
operation can be executed in proper manner.
Employees Experiences- This lays down trend and development of collecting employees
experience through various means and sources such as by collecting feedbacks and get Human
resource in the company to know various areas of improvement on the side of employees in
regards with the company which is considered by the human resource in the company and which
leads to formulation of strategy which account to productive growth of the company and by
which it helps in imbibing strong culture which is highly favourable and positive in nature and
which increases employees morale, job satisfaction, confidence, trust and leads to increase in
employment engagement that helps company to achieve business goals (Madalina,2019). A
positive employees experience helps in knowing where the company stands in terms of what is
being its culture which is whether fun loving or not which helps in ensuring employees
becoming customers and company becoming brand which helps in fulfilling needs of its
employees in a way which is better than its competitors as it also helps in getting real time
performance feedback which also ensures in getting suggestion on how to improve the same
which leads to increase in the organisational efficiency and helps in building and managing
employment relationship and as a result helps in facilitating smooth of communication and
getting to know employer about various needs and problems on the part of its employees which
in turn develops sense of understanding that companies Human resource department value
employees at the workplace, which accounts to building profitability in the company operations.
P2 External and Internal factors affecting HR strategy-
There are various external and internal factors affecting HR strategy are some of which
are being mentioned as below such as external factors accounts to '
Technological factors- it has affected the HR strategy in a way as company is continuously
account to wide amount of investments in technology which helps in reducing wasted efforts and
making cost effective business whereby its business ensures that it responds to the needs and
wants of business customers in quickly and efficient manner. Company Human resource is
affected by this factor as it is use of digital data which helps HR to get informed about valuable
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trends and developments prevailing in the market whereby it keeps companies business
operations updated which as a result not leads to outdation of business operations and helps in
ensuring that it survive in the marketplace and gets and edge over the competition to succeed in
the marketplace (Zinovieva, 2016)
Legal factors- This are the rules and regulations of top authority of that region where the
business operates which ensures human resource of Morrison’s continuity of business operations
which is being not followed may lead to discontinuation of business operations whereby it is the
duty of human resource department to ensure that it accounts and follows various rules such as
Equality act, health and safety act and various others to ensure that its operation are on fair
grounds and not meant with the purpose to cheat and fraud public. It ensures in smooth flow of
business operations whereby it ensures to public that laws are also being placed to ensure certain
level of reasonable price and quality products being served to its customers whereby it helps
Human resource to function efficiently and effectively.
Social factors- Human resource of the company accounts to these factors as it recruits and hire
employees and place them in a particular region whereby they satisfy needs and wants of
company customer in favourable manner whereby it takes into consideration of various
demographic of the population considering various genders ,ages that has vast impact on
company on how its market its products. It helps in affecting HR strategy as it is based on
developing and maintaining relationship with various parties of business operations which
ensures success of company in various business dynamics (Ramli, Muljono, Afendi, 2018).
Internal factors that influences the HR strategy at Morrisons includes conflicts at
Workplace between different parties as they do not match up with there views, opinions which
leads to various disagreements at the workplace which creates and affects business operations in
harsh manner whereby Human resource strategy are affected in manner that they need to account
to various policies which gives rise to conflicts at the workplace and how that can be resolved to
ensure smooth functioning of business operations (Ukkas,2019) . It influences in a manner of also
with the availability labour /Workforce at a particular time period to ensure its Human resource
department that it is sufficient with workforce planning which in turn helps in ensuring that its
challenging tasks are being done on time and support for business growth.
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M1-Critical analysis
Company should closely monitor and account with is various external and contextual
development to support business growth and if not then it may lead company to face harsh time
where its business operation will face huge loss in terms of acquiring customers which in turn
will result and affect its profitability and accounts to low sales revenues.
There are various factors which has affected the business functioning such as Brexit and
current pandemic that is COVID -19 by which the human resource strategy of the company gets
to be suffered. As by relating to COVID -19 human resource needs to make several policies and
take relevant measures to ensure that workplace not get infected by the virus and leads to
infection among employees.
LO 2
P3 Theories and concepts relating to the growth and development of strategic HRM
There are a lot of concepts and methods which are present in Morrison’s HRM which help
the company to be able to achieve their targets and goals effectively. The competition in the
market is increasing for the company which is why the company will have to make the right
decisions at the right time and retailing industry is having a lot of changes as well which
company must adapt. There are a lot of conflicts and problems which rise in an organization and
especially in a large organization like Morrison there has to be effective methods which must be
used so that there is going to be effective working which would be present (Rachid, Mohamed
and Khouaja, 2018). HRM have a lot of methods and theories which they can adapt and use in
different situations but for that there is a requirement of a good knowledge and experience which
has to be present and that is going to be very good for the overall development of the company.
The further report is going to discuss two theories in detail which are performance management
and rewards so that the company can have higher brand value and operations in the market for a
long run.
 Rewards
It is very important that the employees who are working hard and putting in their best for the
organization are being rewarded and not the others from time to time so that the motivation level
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in them does not fall. Morrison is giving incentives, rewards, bonus, etc to the employees from
time to time which makes the satisfaction level of the workforce be present in the company. The
company is expanding themselves in developing countries therefore it is very important for the
company to understand the wages and other factors of the employees which is going to be cost
friendly for the company as well. Expanding in developing countries is going to make the
company have employees at low wages which is a great factor but the company will have to
invest in training and development and after that the profitability of the company is going to be
high. This is a great factor for the company to gain a competitive advantage for a long run in the
market.
 Performance management
The performance of the employees needs to be stable and improved with time so that there is
going to be higher achievement which the company is going to have when they expand
themselves in the developing countries like India, Brazil, etc. There are a lot of discriminations
and other factors which can make the motivation and performance of the employees fall in the
company for which there are strict actions which Morrison is taking for the working environment
to be maintained healthy and safe for the workforce (Chopra, 2017). There is a standard and
expectation of the employees which must be performed effectively in the market so that there is
going to be higher reputation of the company because the more Morrison focused on the
employees the more company will be able to have higher performance and operations in the
market to be able to match the demands and expectations of the customers. The internal working
of the company has to be strong so that there is going to be higher performance and
responsibilities have to be distributed effectively.
HR theory relates to practice
There are a lot of changes which are coming in Morrison because of the Covid-19 which
have to be addressed by the company so that there is going to be higher functioning. Flexibility is
very important in the company for the employees so that they would be able to give in their best
in the organization. It is important to make sure that the performance is being managed in the
company so that there is going to be higher productivity which is going to be there resulting in
higher reputation and standards for the company.
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LO 3
P4 Change management model for supporting HR strategy
Driving and inspiring changes in Morrisons can be challenging due to human resource
management issues, globalisation, market transparency, communication etc. The change
management can be defined as the process launched for improvement of the current
performance, seizing new opportunities and addressing the key issues (Zehir and et.al., 2016). In
order to support the HR strategy, the change management model of Kotter can be applied.
Kotter’s change management model
This model was developed by John Kotter to lead changes in organisations in 1995 and
mentioned eight steps that companies could take:
 Step 1- Creation of urgency in Morrisons: For implementation of any changes in the HR
strategy and supporting it, the entire company has to be in terms of the need for change
and all of the members have to be on-board and want it. Morrisons can develop a sense of
urgency for establishing the initial need for motivation to get things moving. This is done
by determination of company threats and opportunities, initiating honest dialogues,
request involvement and support of people.
 Step 2- Formation of a robust coalition: In order to move forward with the change,
Morrisons needs to form a coalition by building teams who have specific expertise and
experience along with various sources of power. The key stakeholders have to identified
and the weak areas in the team has to be minimised. The team should be based across
functional departments in various levels of Morrisons (Chappell and et.al., 2016).
 Step 3- Creation of a vision for change: A clear vision has to be established and
achievements and directives have clarity. This will be done by identification of core
values and defining the vision and strategies. Morrisons also has to ensure that the leaders
are able to express the vision in a manner employee can understand.
 Step 4- Communicating the vision: Employees have to be communicated the change
strategies and overall vision of Morrisons very powerfully and convincingly. The vision
can be associated with significant aspects like training, performance appraisals etc. while
the concerns have to be handled effectively (Rajan and Ganesan, 2017).
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 Step 5- Removal of obstacles: Any structures and processes that are getting in the way of
implementing the change have to be aligned with the overall vision and continual
checking of barriers or personnel resisting change has to be dealt with.
 Step 6- Creation of short-term wins: Through creation of short-term milestones and
achievable targets, the early phases of change can feel victorious and increase the
motivational level among the staff and also by rewarding people on the basis of their
contributions (Chappell and et.al., 2016).
 Step 7- Building on the change: The victory should not be declared too early and quick
wins need to address the long-term needs by consolidating gains. Achieving continuous
improvement through techniques like Kaizen can be implemented in Morrisons. Step 8- Anchoring the changes in the corporate culture of Morrisons: In order to keep the
changes permanent, it has to be made a core part of the company and also embedded in
the corporate culture of Morrisons. The leaders should continue the support for the
change and success stories have to be discussed to change initiative in every offered
opportunity (Small and et.al., 2016).
Justification
Morrison has adopted to Kotter's change theory so that there is going to be higher
functioning and performance which is going to be present. It is important for the company to
make sure that there are good operations and functioning needs to be present so that the company
will be able to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Changes in the company have to
come in effectively so that the organization will be able to make sure that there are good
operations and uniqueness is present in the company as well.
LO 4
P5 Measurement and monitoring of HR outcomes
In order to understand and determine whether the human resource strategies are
delivering any relevant outcomes, meeting the business and corporate objectives which is
required for the success of the business, various KPIs can be used and assessment can be done.
These involve various areas like employee job satisfaction, employee engagement, employee
churn rate and employee turnover, the employee absenteeism rate, impact of the training
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provided along with the quality of performance and level of productivity showcased by the
human resources. In order to assess these, various metrics can be used such as Employee net
promoter score or eNPS, Absenteeism rate, Employee productivity rate, Employee satisfaction
index, Attrition rate and the average length of service (Boon, Den Hartog and Lepak, 2019).
For evaluating and monitoring the service delivery of personnel, Morrisons can assess
whether the services provided by the human resources are effective and aligned with the
company vision, behaviour, strategies and values. The areas that need to be measured are
whether the HR department itself is delivering the service appropriately or not, the effectiveness
of the orientation program, if the employees are being developed efficiently and adequately the
likeliness of employees to recommend Morrisons, and the way in which employee rate the
performance management process. The metrics that can be used to assess these areas are- benefit
satisfaction, return on investment, training effectiveness, failure rate of new joinees, performance
level of new joinees, and eNPS (Koster and Benda, 2020).
For evaluation of the internal efficiencies of HR, the he key areas that are considered are
if the HR team is recruiting by using the most effective sources and channels, the effectiveness
of recruitment and selection and associated competencies for meeting business needs, the amount
of cost for hiring a single candidate, the costs involved in the training, the overall effectiveness
of the different types of training and development. The primary metrics that can be sued to
monitor these are recruitment channel analysis, cost per hire, eNPS, return on investment and the
average time taken to fill in vacancies (Lee and Clerkin, 2017).
For evaluating the compliance of the human resources and the legal requirements that
concern the HR, the area is the most important for measurement and also takes up a lot of time.
Compliance is the are which needs regular monitoring and can be practiced in conjunction with
areas of strategic priorities. The areas of if the policies are up to date, if employees are efficiently
trained regarding the new procedures and policies, if workers understand the new policies, if the
employee handbook is updated and the obligations for diversity and equality are being met or
not. The key metrics that can be adopted for assessment are Gender pay gap, percentage of
workers trained in Morrisons policies, employee demographics, diversity rate, remuneration
competitiveness, number of initiates for diversity in human resources (Jayesh, 2020).
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P6 Ways in which HR management supports sustainable performance
Human resource management and development conducts important organisational
functions like recruitment and selection, employee engagement and motivation, performance
appraisals, succession planning, training and development and dealing with day to day employee
issues. Employees performing in every level has to be equipped with certain skills that nurture
innovation, creativity, risk management and problem-solving along with transforming economic
systems that operate and deliver the wider objectives of the community and society and address
the sustainability agenda (Mousa and Othman, 2020). Morrisons can adopt various HR
development techniques in the company to contribute to the sustainable growth and performance
of employees, such as:
 HRM management such as workforce planning can focus on defining the social purpose
of Morrisons: The leadership teams need to define the social purpose of Morrisons and
the ways in which employees can strive to attain it. Recruiting the right candidate that is a
cultural fit for the company. After this, the company has to develop the code of conduct
in association with the social purpose. This does not infer that other sustainable goals
have to be ignored, rather the company has a focus (Singh and El-Kassar, 2019). For
example, Morrisons can use the UN sustainable development goals.
 HRD practices of continuous monitoring and evaluation to assess if all the company
goals of Morrisons are being met effectively through benchmarking and KPI metrics.
Reviewing the workplace practices has to be the initial step where all the operations,
procedures, processes and work practices need to be aligned in line with the sustainable
development goals of the company. Evaluation of areas that need to be addressed and the
code of ethics has to be developed and communicated to all the workers and employees.
All these goals have to be consistently assessed as social issues are being resolved.
 Inculcating sustainability in all the HRM practices and to be made a crucial part of the
recruitment, selection, onboarding and even talent management approaches. The goals
can be discussed during the selection process with the potential candidate so that the hires
are appropriate and culturally fit for the Morrisons. All the new recruits have to be
explained these sustainability goals during orientation or employee induction programs
(Zaid, Jaaron, and Bon, 2018).
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 Provision of training and development various sustainability measures need specialised
skills, knowledge and competencies for instance communication with the suppliers or
vendors regarding the sustainable sourcing or fair remuneration. The need for the training
has to be evaluated and provided on a timely basis so that the goals have a real impact
upon the society as every employee pays their part in attainment of sustainability goals.
 To make all HR operations eco-friendly from use of HR and ERP software in all
employee management operations and considering short term milestones and easy winds
by offering the tools for helping the employees of Morrisons to become more sustainable.
For instance, elimination of all paper and other plastic accessories used in the talent
acquisition process and such as pamphlets, company information, brochures, paper forms,
reports and converting he entire operational process into electronic way of operating and
becoming eco-friendly (Macke and Genari, 2019).
 Incentivising can be embedded in the human resource policies aimed at sustainable
development goals through performance appraisals and reviews where a significant
objective for personnel can be attached with clarity. Initiating reward systems for sending
out the message of importance to attain sustainability goals along with other business
goals and targets. Promotion of employee ideas, nurturing ownership and provision of volunteering
opportunities can help in further development of the employee’s engagement, job
satisfaction, employee participation and employee loyalty along with motivation to attain
sustainability goals for the individual as well as company objectives and benefits (Jiang,
Zhao and Ni, 2017).
Contributing for sustainable performance and growth
Morrison’s is getting in a lot of changes after Covid-19 which needs to be controlled and
monitored by the organization so that there is going to be effective working. To make sure that
the changes are coming in the company effectively there is key performance indicator and other
aspects of the company so that there is going to be higher performance and management of the
employees which is going to be there. HRM has to make sure that the expectations of the
workforce is being fulfilled with time so that there is going to be higher engagement of the
workforce which is going to be present.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that there has to be good human resource
management in a business so that there is going to be effective working and functioning which is
going to be present in the internal working. There is a lot of investment which businesses are
making in this department in order to be able to have higher productivity and reputation in the
market. Human resource helps the company to have the right measures and workforce which is
going to make the company be able to achieve the goals and targets on time which is going to be
good for the brand value and image in the market. The competition in the market is increasing
rapidly which needs to be well maintained so that the company will be able to operate effectively
in the market. There are also a lot of changes which are taking place in the market and they have
to be well maintained and controlled by a department so that there is going to be a well-
maintained operation and this work can be done effectively by the human resource department.
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