Strategic Human Resource Management Report: Lotus Group Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) at Lotus Group, a travel company. It begins by identifying current trends influencing HR strategies, such as employee involvement, changing skill requirements, workforce diversity, and globalization. The report then analyzes internal and external factors impacting Lotus Group using SWOT and PESTLE analyses, revealing strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats alongside political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and environmental considerations. Furthermore, the report applies relevant theories and concepts, including flexible work arrangements, performance management, and e-recruitment. It evaluates change models supporting HR strategy, and examines the outcomes of HR, emphasizing effective HR management for sustainable performance and growth. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and recommendations for Lotus Group's SHRM practices.

Strategic Human
Resource Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Determination of current trends and developments that influence organisations HR
strategy........................................................................................................................................1
P2 Analysis of external and internal factors that influence HR strategies and practises............2
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
P3 Application of theories and concepts that are relevant to the growth and development of
strategic HRM of organisation....................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
P4 Evaluation of appropriate change models supporting HR strategy applied in organisation..5
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................7
P5 Explanation of outcomes of HR that can be monitored and measured and application in
specific situation..........................................................................................................................7
P6 Evaluation of effective HR management and development that support sustainable
performance and growth to meet organisational objectives........................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Strategic human resource management is link between company's human resources and
the strategies, objectives and goals of company. It has aim of advancing flexibility, innovation
and competitive advantage within company. For effective strategic human resource management,
the human resource plays vital role as strategic partners where companies policies are created
and implemented (Bhattacharyya, 2018). The company selected Lotus Group which is a travel
company located in London, United Kingdom. This company also owns DialaFlight, Supertravel
and Lotus Business Travel. It organised the arrangements of travel which include flights, hotels,
tours and car rental for almost half million travellers a year. The topics on which report focuses
are analysis of external and contextual developments which influence HR strategies, application
of contemporary theoretical and practical knowledge of HR developments. In addition to this the
evaluation of appropriate change management models and contribution of HR management in
sustainable business performance are also discussed.
TASK 1
P1 Determination of current trends and developments that influence organisations HR strategy.
HR strategy is a overall planning for managing its human force to align with
organisation's activities. It makes direction for HR team to manage performance appraisal,
training, motivation, employee retention and compensation activities. The HR team of Lotus
dedicated to search success, market research and employee retention strategies. Current trends
and developments that influence Lotus group HR strategy are:
Employee involvement:it is about direct participation of employees to meet organisation
mission and goals by giving their ideas, expertise and efforts in organisation's operations. In
current trends, for the firms success most of companies use employee involvement strategy. HR
strategies plays important role in employee involvement because this concept is appear by HR
delegation, participative management, employees training, empowering and retention of
employees (Burkovska and Romanchyk, 2016). In Lotus group firm's HR team is dedicated
towards their people. Firm takes ideas, expertise and efforts for its operations from employees
and it influence employees HR strategies for empowering employees to get more ideas and
retained them for organisation success.
1

Changing skills requirements: Recruiting and developing skilled force is important for
organisation for competition, productiveness, quality and to achieve its goal. Since growing
number of jobs will require more educated and professional workers. In Lotus group, firm's HR
team also recruiting skilled and high level educated persons to gain competitiveness, increase in
productivity and raising high profitability (Caldwell and Anderson, 2018). Strategic human
resource planning use to training and short term programs to bridge the existing employees skill
gaps and inadequacy.
Work force diversify: Work force diversity means differences between employees in
terms of age, culture, abilities, gender and religion etc. The workforce composition is also
changing over the years, demand for equal pay for equal work putting inequality in gender. It
influence HR team of Lotus group to diversify work according to employees ability, cultural
background and age, so that it will help them to do work efficiently and in effective manner.
HRM of the firm must train different age groups to effectively manage and deal with each other.
In current scenario to manage work force diversity is important but it is critical for HR team.
Globalization: In current scenario organisations are not only operating in the country
rather than they expand their business in across the world. The rise in expansion of business in
different countries is creating a need for HR managers to plan according to it. In this situation
Lotus HR managers must plan about competition, it has to plan for training and empowering its
employees to achieve competitive advantage from multinational companies. It will helps firm to
gain competitive benefits and plan for diversify its business.
P2 Analysis of external and internal factors that influence HR strategies and practises.
For the analysing the external and internal factors Lotus Group conducts the SWOT
analysis and Pestle analysis. SWOT analysis is a tool which is used to identify and analyse the
factors which impact on the viability of a project, product, place or person of company. It is often
used at the starting of strategic planning process for the development of company. The following
is the analysis for the choose company:
Strengths Weakness
 Lotus Group as strong market share as
the brand name is well known in
market. The customers can easily
 High operating and functional costs are
the negative impacts for company
which are against the smaller market
2

recognize the brand.
 The international collaborations with
different hotels give positive impact as
it allows the company to leverage
different offerings to its loyal
customers (Chae, 2019).
players targeting same customers.
 The company needs to increase new
business strategies as the tour planner is
at the stage of declining.
Opportunities Threats
 The 9/11 disaster gave opportunity to
capture economic position by offering
its services with the concept of secure
and safe travel plans.
 The break down of high dollar volume
travel into personal packages provided
the chosen company with large market
share.
 With the change in global and local
environment, the technological era is
the biggest challenge for the company.
 The increasing number of competitive
companies may drag the attention of
the customer base of chosen company.
PESTLE analysis is a framework which is used for monitoring and analysing the macro-
environmental factors which may profound the impact over the performance of company. The
factors of pestle analysis of Lotus Group are discussed as follows:
 Political factor- These are the factors which tells the companies the intervention of
government policies in industry the company is operating. The factors by which the
working of Lotus group is affected are the government regulations of UK which has pro-
tourist regulations like paying for objects purchased or visa fee waiver. All such
regulations provide additional boost to the economic capabilities.
 Economical factor- The factors which determine certain performance of economy are
the economic factors on which the company needs to focus. For Lotus Group the rising
income level of people in UK can give positive impact (Crichton, Walker and Patel
2018). As the people have good income level they can afford international tours and
holidays and as the chosen company provides quality services customer base can easy
increase.
3

 Socio-Cultural factor- This dimension represents the demographic characteristics,
customs and values of the people within which the company is operating. Lotus group the
trend aspect plays important role now a days. As tourism has become trend amongst the
younger generation and the social media also promotes it on high levels. Then this factor
produces pressure form the peers which boosts the business of company.
 Technological factor- With the help of this factor the innovation in the technology
which may affect the functioning of business can be known and the understanding of
market can also be analysed whether it is favourable or not (Cunningham, 2016). Lotus
Group have major focus over this factor as large number of audience is targeted through
the online platforms. So, to provide best view points the company follows the updated
technological trends.
 Legal factor- These factors overlap with political factors but they involve more specific
laws which can make company have clear views over legal factors in order to trade
ethically. Earlier it was time consuming legal process for getting visa for foreign
countries. But now borders for every country are open for the tourists then it has been
positively affected the business of Lotus Group.
 Environmental factor- These factors are important for companies due to the increased
scarcity of resources and carbon footprints which are set by government. The climate
change activities reduction the tourism in the country that is why while only the peek
time the business of Lotus Group can gain the profit as much as it can.
TASK 2
P3 Application of theories and concepts that are relevant to the growth and development of
strategic HRM of organisation.
Every company wants to grow and develop in the industry in which it is functioning with
the change in time and increase in the competitive. So, to adopt these things in effective manner
some theories and concepts are applied by companies which help company to grow and develop
with proper management (Daneshfard and Souri, 2019). The following are some theories and
concepts which are applied by the strategic manager of Lotus Group:
Flexible work arrangements- It is known as flex-time which can be refereed as working
environment and the schedules which do not have normal constraints in traditional job. With this
4

arrangements the needs of individuals can be accounted and can allow the employees to sync
their working hours with their personal responsibilities. With flexible work arrangements the
employees and employers of Lotus group both get the benefits. By this the employees can
achieve better work life balance, low level of absence and lower level of stress. While the
employers have the benefit of greater motivation and productivity with fewer overheads and
improvements in the trust and relationship within company. Apart from these benefits some risk
is also associated with this concept (Das, 2019). The risk is cut down of productivity of
employees this happens because of the software's which makes the work of employees so easy
and they do not focus on the work in effective manner.
Performance management- It is an ongoing process of communication between
supervisors and employees which happens in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of
the company. With the proper communication process manger of Lotus Group has included clear
expectations, objectives, identification of goals, provides feedback and reviews results. This
process has a cycle which has three steps: planning, checking-in and review. To begin the
process, manager and employees review overall expectations which involves collaborations on
the development of performance objectives. After that the check-in meetings are conducted in
which the goals and objective are discussed which were carried on through out the year. At the
end, the employers review the performance of employees against the expected objectives.
E-recruitment- It can be defined as the use of web -based applications use by the
company for various processes like attracting, assessing, selecting, recruiting and on boarding
the job candidates. With the help of e-recruitment process the employers of Lotus Group can
reach large number of potential employees. Company has built its own e-recruitment platform
with the use of HR software (Gupta, 2020). With effective e-recruitment strategies the company
has been gained advantages like minimization of labour cost as it is cost effective technique. The
other benefit is that it have reach of bigger audience as the employees can target a fat wider
audience without paying extra cost and also shortens the hiring process. Apart from these
benefits there are disadvantage of this concept like the technological issued that occur due to
standardising the application process. In addition to this high volume of responses may involve
large number of unsuitable candidates which wastes the time of the recruiters of company.
5

TASK 3
P4 Evaluation of appropriate change models supporting HR strategy applied in organisation.
The change management and human resource strategies are interlinked with each other as
having right leadership having executive team is critical for unifying the organisation with a
common strategic directions. While the human resource has to play dual role in the change
management by initiating and leading change and serving as facilitator for changes which other
leaders and departments initiate (Gupta, 2016). The models which are applied by Lotus Group
for supporting HR strategies are ADKAR change management model and Lewin's change
management model. The explanation of both models are as follows:
ADKAR change management model- With the use of this model the change managers of
Lotus Group find out various gaps in process of management by which effective training can be
offered to the employees. Though this model focuses on business-oriented goals, but it is used
for the support of employees for more easy to go adaption of change. This model has five
elements which are:
Awareness- With this element managers of company makes sure that everyone has
awareness and understanding of the need of change in organisation. It is important that every
person of company knows why change is happening and why it is necessary.
Desire- At this step every person has desire of taking part in the activities and support the
change happening in company. The aims on which the desire works are feeling of dissatisfaction,
negative consequences of keeping the same things and participation in change.
Knowledge- At this element the individual have knowledge of how to adopt change in
effective way (Hamid, Muzamil and Shah, 2020). The employees of Lotus Group at this stage
have knowledge of what they have to do and how they do task according to change.
Ability- Then come the step where the individuals have the abilities to showcase there
new skills and behaviours which may show the capabilities of people working in company. Apart
from this management support new ways of working which involves safe working environment.
Reinforcement- At the final step the change is at last reinforced within each and every
individual of company as it is necessary to sustain the change.
Kurt Lewin's change management model- This model helps the company to get better
understanding organisational and structured change. It is the simplest model to adopt change and
6

that is why many organisations choose this to implement the change in company. It consists of
three stages which are:
Unfreeze- It is a preparation stage where the employers get prepared for change. The
crucial task here is to enhance open communication with employees and explain them why
change is necessary.
Change- At this stage the change is implemented within the company followed by good
leadership styles and effective communications with employees.
Refreeze- At last stage the change is accepted and employees get back to their work
routine (Hu and Zhao, 2020). This stage is considered as ever going stage as leaders makes sure
that even after change the objectives of management have been achieved.
With the application of ADKAR change management model, Lotus Group is positively
impacted as it has main focus over the outcomes rather than the tasks and with the help of this
model the outcome can be achieved easily. Apart from this, it is used to measure the progress of
change. But if the company do not apply this model for the change management then the
negative consequences which company needs to face can be ignorance of program management
and the clarity of direction can be seen by the managers of company to adopt the change. If the
change has smaller initiatives then it can not focus on the dimension of people.
TASK 4
P5 Explanation of outcomes of HR that can be monitored and measured and application in
specific situation.
HR outcomes critically related to the HR goals which are leads to organisation's
objective. HR goals including cost effectiveness, flexibility, training and empowering employees
so that they can work efficiently, to retain work force, performance appraisal etc. there are many
metrics that human resources can measure and monitor their performance, benefits, engagement,
retention, training, recruiting skilled people etc. Lotus as a big company of travel, it is important
for its HR team to appraise their outcomes or performance. Because HR outcomes can directly
affects the organisation's goal (Jha and Bhattacharyya, 2017). Employees of the company faced
challenge related to their motivation, to adopt training, organisation culture and difficulty in
learning. And these things directly affects the firm's goal, to overcome from this problem it is
7

important to measure and monitor HR outcomes. For this organisation can use 2 models ten c
checklist and model of skill evaluation capability.
Model of ten C checklist:
Comprehensiveness: In this Matrix, HRM strategy of an organisation must includes
employees management from recruiting to their working outcomes.
Credibility: HR team must build trust between higher authorities and employees to
encourage or empower employees, so that it can motivate them for work efficiently.
Communication: The goal of the organisation must be clear to HRM and accepted by
staff. Clear communication will help employees of the Lotus to adapt organisation culture.
Cost effectiveness: HR team must check their compensation and promotion system, it
must be fair it helps in best outcomes of HRM to retain its employees.
Creativity: The competitive advantage of company influence by HR strategies, Lotus HR
team must improve its employees training activities to gain competitive advantage.
Coherence: HRM activities must for meaningful, so that it will be easy for employees to
understood their guidelines (Khan, 2018) (Lee, 2018).
Competence: HRM strategies must be in favour of employees that the organisation
becomes efficient to achieve its goal with the support of its staff competences.
Control: Policies and regulation of the Lotus must ensures that the performance of HR
leads to the firm's objectives.
Change: HRM strategies must have continuous improvement and development in for the
survival in dynamic situation.
Commitment: The last C of monitoring HR outcomes is related to the employees
motivation. Firm's employees faced challenge related to their lack of motivation so it is
important for HR to monitor their strategies for motivating employees to achieve its goals.
Model of skill evaluation capability: This model is required for reviewing the
performance of HR and staff of the company. If organisation faced any challenge related to their
employees than HR must review their competences how they overcome with the situation. In
Lotus company, employees of the firm are faces challenges like lack of motivation, training and
empowerment related difficulties. In that situation HR team must review their performance
related to staff. The human resources capabilities can be improve performance of organisation's
staff (Ranabahu and Almeida, 2019). This model provides the framework needed to properly
8

evaluate employees during performance appraisal. This model helps HR to overcome by
employees problem, they asses their performance and improve workers training and retention
techniques so that work force can trained in well manner and they can not face any motivation
problem occur by management team. It will help human resource to measure and monitor their
performance.
P6 Evaluation of effective HR management and development that support sustainable
performance and growth to meet organisational objectives.
Sustainable performance means the excellent work which is done by the co-workers
without falling into any problems of burnout in company. It refers to effective and efficient
performance of organisation which would provide quality products and services with low
absenteeism and low staff-turnover. To support and meet the organisational objectives managers
of Lotus Group apply the following concepts which helps company to sustain in market:
Best Fit View- This approach explores close relationship between the strategic
management and HRM which considers influence of vertical integration. It claims that HR
strategies can become more and more effective when they are linked with environment of
business (Szierbowski-Seibel, 2018). It emphasis on the importance of external competitiveness
which attracts and retains the employees. To make them more effective a reward system must be
implemented in a way that can lead company have most valuable employees to feel satisfied
when they compare the rewards with their performance. When the company while employ the
people who have good skills and knowledge then the managers do not need to put much time for
the training of such people. Once the company employees such people with their productivity the
company can easily sustain in the competitive market. But if the company is not adopting this
approach then the managers need to invest their time on people who have no much knowledge
about the work and needs proper training.
Resource Based view- It is a strategy which help Lotus Group to look at the competitive
environment to get niche in market and edge over the competition and the threats outside the
company. According to this approach it is easier to achieve new opportunities for companies
with the use of resources and competencies which are already available. The maintenance of
resources is the main focus of this model as its supporters say that it should be prioritised within
the strategy development of company. With the application of this approach the company can get
the direction for its strategies (Yilmaz and Kitapci, 2017). Apart from this RBV also perceives
9

value which can derived by management skills, information capabilities and process of
administration. All this things can help Lotus Group top sustain in market and take the advantage
of being competitive.
CONCLUSION
From the above project report it can be concluded that strategic human resource
management focuses on solving the problems which may effect the employees in organisation
for long run. The main aim of strategic management is to increase the skills of employees with
the focus on business problems that may happen in future. The trends and developments are
factors which influence the strategies related to the human resource of company. Apart from this
many theories and concepts are implemented by the managers of company for the growth and
development of HRM.
10