Strategic Human Resource Management for Organizational Sustainability

The task at hand involves examining how effective human resource management (HRM) strategies can lead to improved organizational sustainability. The focus is on evaluating the link between perceived HRM practices, employee engagement, and resultant behaviors that impact business outcomes. It requires a thorough understanding of staffing and strategic planning in HR to ensure an organization's infrastructure expansion aligns with workers' needs, thus reducing operational disruptions. This analysis should draw from contemporary approaches in HRM as discussed by Armstrong & Taylor (2014) and other key authors such as Marchington et al. (2016), emphasizing the importance of a sustainable work environment for both employee well-being and organizational success. The discussion should also include insights on how to effectively implement these strategies while considering international perspectives on HRM practices, as highlighted in Brewster et al. (2016) and Stredwick (2013). Overall, the assignment encourages a comprehensive exploration of human resource functions within business organizations and their impact on ensuring consistent service delivery and customer satisfaction.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction to Human Resource Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

2INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Task 1...............................................................................................................................................3
LO1: HR functions in a contemporary business environment.........................................................3
Identifying two people management issues GTR is currently facing and discusses how the HR
department can proactively manage them effectively.....................................................................3
Task 2...............................................................................................................................................5
LO2: HR Planning in a business environment................................................................................5
Briefly outline with examples how the HR Department within GTR can successfully implement
a sustainable HR planning process to manage its current staffing-related issues............................5
Task 3...............................................................................................................................................7
LO3: Effective HR practices and performance management in organizations...............................7
Discussing developmental activity that GTS’s HR department can employ to effectively improve
their employees’ performance.........................................................................................................7
Task 4...............................................................................................................................................9
LO4: Influence of Employment legislation on HR practices in organizations................................9
Conclusion and Recommendations................................................................................................11
Reference List................................................................................................................................13

3INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
Govia Thameslink Railway is the biggest railway company in the Southern Part of United
Kingdom. It is a joint venture between the Keolis who owns 35% of the shares and Go-Ahead
Group who owns 65% of the shares (Wilton 2016). In recent years there have been many
conflicts and issues between the management of Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) and its
employees over number of issues such as pay, duration of work mentioned in the contract and
the number of employees needed to run the railway service. These current and persisting issues
have made the role of Human Resource manager instrumental in managing the situation with
expertise and proper experience. As a HR manager, the issues of employees have to be dealt
keeping the interest of the company intact. The following discussion is about the roles and
functions of a HR manager in mitigating the respective issues with human resource management
theories and practices (Stredwick 2013).
Task 1
LO1: HR functions in a contemporary business environment
Identifying two people management issues GTR is currently facing and discusses how the
HR department can proactively manage them effectively
There are several people management issues faced by the management of GTR while
managing the employees at work. Some of the people management issues are listed below with
proper justification:

4INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Shortage of staff members- It was admitted by GTR that they had underestimated the
shortfall in drivers that are needed for operating the trains. It happens that sometimes
train crew were not happy to do for a premium as it rely mainly on overtime activities.
On the other side, it is known that overtime requires goodwill that has vanished rapidly
and there are just few train crews for filling the rosters. After the strikes, sickness levels
have almost doubled since the first strikes were called this year. In addition, an incidence
that GTR and ministers viewed as unofficial industrial action as it is claimed strongly by
unions (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung 2016).
Payment conflicts- The Government is paying Govia Thameslink Railway about 8.9
billion Euros over 7 years for running 3 franchises network that is the largest till date in
terms of passenger numbers. In addition, Southern rail passengers have experienced
several months of strikes, delays as well as cancellations due to long-running industrial
dispute for understanding the role of train guards (Sanders, Shipton and Gomes 2014).
The HR Department of GTR need to manage the above people related issues with ease so
that there is no further problem faced in the near future.
The first issue is shortage of staff members at Govia Thameslink Railway and this can be
solved by the HR Department by recruiting new employees as well as re-analyzing the job
process as and when needed. The HR Department should involve in recruiting new employees,
be it temporary or permanent for Govia Thameslink Railway. Temporary staff members can
work best when they are assigned with flexible job description as well as staffing flexibility and
lower service commitment. On the other hand, permanent employees are committed to their job

5INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
as well as employer need to perform to ensure their benefits that are guided by the services
throughout longer frame of time (Taylor 2017).
The second issue is payment conflicts that need to be managed by the HR Department of
Govia Thameslink Railway. The HR manager should listen to the story first on what is going
wrong and identifying the true motivating factor for the specific situation. The HR managers
need to call for a meeting where all the employees of Govia Thameslink Railway are invited and
discussed about the payment conflict as and when faced. HR team need to convince the
operational workers to render services as it is essential for the growth of Govia Thameslink
Railway as well as convenience for the passengers as a whole. Even, the management of Govia
Thameslink Railway has to apply the Command as well as Control methods so that workers here
are given assigned jobs to complete within a stipulated time frame (Reiche, Mendenhall and
Stahl 2016).

6INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Task 2
LO2: HR Planning in a business environment
Briefly outline with examples how the HR Department within GTR can successfully
implement a sustainable HR planning process to manage its current staffing-related issues
Dismissal of some employees can be treated as one of the growing staffing concern at
Govia Thameslink Railway and as a result of automation. There is several steps involved in the
HR planning proves that is relative to Govia Thameslink Railway and shows a unique situation
at the same time (Rees and Smith 2017). The sequence steps are as follows with proper
justification:
Analyzing organizational objectives- The first step requires to analyze the
organizational objectives of Govia Thameslink Railway and identify the environmental
analysis that has the capability to meet the needs as well as objectives of relative HR
needs. The main objective of Govia Thameslink Railway should be to reduce
absenteeism and treat them with equal opportunity to prove something while working for
the organization (Morgeson et al. 2013).
Inventory of present human resources- The next step require identifying inventory of
present human resource at Govia Thameslink Railway. Govia Thameslink Railway is
expanding their infrastructure in the Southern part of United Kingdom for mitigating the
increase in load of daily passengers. In order to properly implement the expansion of

7INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
management team at Govia Thameslink Railway, it is important for the HR team to
harness the manpower and staff availability.
Forecasting demand and supply of human resources- The next step need to forecast
demand as well as supply of human resources at Govia Thameslink Railway. In order to
implement a sustainable staffing plan for HR management, it is important to forecast the
background that provides insights of information in the planning process of staff
members. Based on forecasting techniques, planning need to be done as it help in
identifying shortages of staff members at Govia Thameslink Railway (Marler and Fisher
2013).
Estimating manpower gaps- The next step need to estimate the manpower gaps at
Govia Thameslink Railway and in this case, it is likely to be a surplus. There are 26000
staff members working at Govia Thameslink Railway that is quite a number for any other
type of company. For managing these staff members, it is important to conduct proper
placement that depends upon qualification of workers and problem lies in
underutilization of manpower. It is due to this reason why Govia Thameslink Railway
cannot make optimum use of staff members that creates dual problem. The management
of Govia Thameslink Railway are of the opinion that the employees are not working
properly and not paid much (Marchington et al. 2016).
Formulating the human resource action plan- The HR manager need to formulate the
human resource action plan so that there is proper planning of all the actions in better
ways.
Monitoring, control and feedback- The last step in HR planning process is monitoring,
control and feedback that need to be managed by HR manager of Govia Thameslink

8INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Railway. Finally, sustainable planning is needed to be conducted by the HR manager of
Govia Thameslink Railway as sustainability of staff members can be treated as way to
hire the workers by using ethical means. Sustainable hiring will help in reducing the cost
of labour and after that proper training should be given to the staff members at Govia
Thameslink Railway. In order to solve the staffing issues, Govia Thameslink Railway
need to follow the principles of human resource planning for analyzing the current
manpower inventory after keeping into account several factors such as organization type,
number of departments that work together for accomplishment of common goals and
objectives (Jones and George 2015). After the planning, designing of training programs
are done based on diversification as well as nature of development programs in the most
appropriate way.
Task 3
LO3: Effective HR practices and performance management in organizations
Discussing developmental activity that GTS’s HR department can employ to effectively
improve their employees’ performance
It is important to consider the developmental activity that HR department of Govia
Thameslink Railway need to employ for effectively improve their employees’ performance.
Based on the analysis, it is noted that there are several activities that need to taken into account
are listed below with proper justification:

9INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Various specified training activities- Personality and skill development program need
to be conducted by making the workers realize that Govia Thameslink Railway is
performing activities that will benefit the workers to become better professionals in the
respective fields. The HR team need to schedule Performance Development program
meetings for setting the pre-work goals with the staff members (Alfes et al. 2013). The
concerned staff will review the personal performance of each staff and will write personal
development and business goals the reports of each staff. The supervisor will write the
PDP ideas and goals which are required by the workers to fulfill and the supervisor will
compile the development data of each worker. Managers of HR team will prepare new
criteria of development by identifying the potential areas in which new horizons can be
touched. The HR team should realize the importance of PDP meetings and it should be
held at least quarterly (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang 2014).
Motivational activities- There are several motivational activities like agreeing to the
proposed pay structure from the workers union. There should be an agreement of the
standard of performance among the entire staff members. Goals should be set for the
respective quarters and their achievements must be rewarded to boost the morale of the
workers. If any worker is not able to perform up to the mark then a feedback report with a
Performance Improvement Plan should be provided so that the staff does not feel ignored.
In the end, the supervisors and the managers should keep track of the feedback given to
the staff and monitor their further development so that a comprehensive Personality
Development Program can be successfully implemented (Anderson 2013).
Other recognition and rewards framework- It is important to work according to
recognition and rewards framework so that it can be implemented by Govia Thameslink

10INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Railway for boosting the morale of employees on the job satisfaction as well as
performance. During the PDP meetings in GTR there should be a comfortable
environment for the staff and an interactive session should be there to increase the
confidence and familiarity of staff with each other. Discussion on the objectives of the
meetings and the achievements plan which the staff thinks is appropriate should be done
so that the staff also feels to be a vital part of GTR. There should be freedom for the staff
to choose the way he thinks fit for his personal development and there should not be any
hard and fast rule (Brewster et al. 2016). Feedback should be provided to the staff by the
HR team of GTR to show his improvement level and also identify the potential areas of
development.
Task 4
LO4: Influence of Employment legislation on HR practices in organizations
With regard to current strike action, discuss the significance of industry relevant
employment on GTR stance within the following areas:
It is important to analyze the effect of current national as well as EU employment
legislation as related to employment issues that falls under specific sections of the Equality Act
2010. Further areas are mentioned below with proper justification:
Pay and wages- One of the area that need to be taken into consideration is the pay related
aspects and wages where the laws stipulate actions after comparing it with current pay structure
of employees at Govia Thameslink Railway (Armstrong and Taylor 2014). Acas regulations as

11INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
well as fair pay measures help at different industries like rail that are applied and implemented in
successful ways. According to the Labor Law of United Kingdom every worker is entitled to pay
for the work they do. If a worker is ready to work and the employer has not provided work to the
employee then also he is entitled to payment. Every worker should get paid at the National
Minimum Wage to the very least. If GTR in this case has agreed to pay more than the National
Minimum Wage then it should be mentioned in the work contract of the employee. The mode of
payment which a worker will receive in GTR completely depends on the management of GTR
and there is no interference of law in this scenario. The work contract should also mention the
duration at which the wage will be paid to the worker. If GTR intends to pay more than the
National Minimum Wage then it cannot differentiate in different categories of workers and it has
to pay them evenly. Deductions from the wage which are not approved by law such as taxes and
insurance deductions cannot be made without the consent of the worker. GTR should mention
these deductions beforehand in the contract if there is a criterion for such things (Aswathappa
2013).
Contracted working times- One of the area that need to be taken into consideration is the
contracted working times where the laws stipulate actions and comparing it with the current
working time regulations of employees at Govia Thameslink Railway (Aust, Brandl and Keegan
2015). There are various forms adapted in different industries based upon specified needs such as
working for 48 hours per week working period for the workers and this legislation is under
working time regulations 1998 that had been amended in the year 2007. The other form is opting
out for policies that had been adapted by most of the other industries. It is important to highlight
the statutory terms as stated in the employee’s contract of employment in the most appropriate
way. Working Time Regulations is another issue of strike which workers have taken very

12INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
seriously. This law came into force in 1998 and was implemented in UK by the Directive of the
European Union. This law applied to some modes of employment which are full-time jobs, part-
time jobs, staffs working in agencies and other workers who employ themselves casually. As per
the working regulations of UK a worker is required to be on duty for at least 48 hours in a week
but they can increase the hours if they are willing to do so (Beardwell and Thompson 2014).
There is a limit of 8 hours of work in every 24 hours for the night shift workers and additionally
they get free health assessment for working in the nights. There is also a provision of 11 hour of
rest in every 24 hours. They can take minimum of one day leave in one week. The workers get
break for resting if the working hour in a day exceeds the time of 6 hours. The workers are
entitled to 28 days leave in a year which includes the bank and public holidays.GTR has to revise
these working time regulations and over time regulations in their work contracts of the workers
to break the strike and the HR management of GTR has to monitor that these rules are followed
in the organization so that workers become comfortable and willing to work for GTR (Boxall,
Guthrie and Paauwe 2016).
Conclusion and Recommendations
It can be concluded from the above report that, Human Resource Management holds a
very vital and strategic place in the smooth functioning of an organization like GTR. The
workers strikes and issues which got magnified and started effecting the operations of GTR
could have been crushed in its crib if the HR management would have paid proper and timely
attention to it. Due to their ignorance the matter has grown to a level where, the operations of
GTR got hampered which resulted in the inconvenience for the daily passengers who rely on the
railway services for their commutation. It can be derived from the above discussion that proper

13INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
staffing and HR management is required by GTR to continue their infrastructure expansion. GTR
needs to understand the needs of the workers and strategically plan for a sustainable working
environment it their organization. This report comprehensively describes the human resource
functions in a business organization.

14INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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15INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Brewster, C., Houldsworth, E., Sparrow, P. and Vernon, G., 2016. International human resource
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16INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
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