Managing Talent at H&M: Innovative Approaches and Business Performance

This report delves into H&M's talent management practices, investigating innovative approaches and initiatives employed to achieve a strategic talent management framework. The study analyzes the impact of these strategies on business performance, including aspects like employee retention, and the attainment of organizational objectives. The research employs a mixed-methods approach, including a project plan, research methodology, and quantitative data collection through surveys. The findings highlight the different types of innovative ways used by H&M such as guidance to employees, assessment of performance, offering developmental opportunities and high compensation. The report also identifies challenges faced by H&M, such as time consumption and high costs, and offers recommendations for improvement, including better communication with employees and time management. The study concludes with an evaluation of the effectiveness of the implemented strategies and provides insights into how H&M can further enhance its talent management practices to drive better business outcomes.

MANAGING A SUCCESFUL BUSINESS
PROJECT
(What are the types of new initiatives and
innovative ways of working do companies
put in place to achieve a strategic approach
to talent management?)

TABLE OF CONTENT
SECTION 1- Introduction................................................................................................................3
Overview of the background:.................................................................................................3
SECTION 2- Project Plan................................................................................................................3
SECTION 3- RESEARCH..............................................................................................................5
SECTION 4- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................8
SECTION 5- Evaluation................................................................................................................11
SECTION 6- Conclusion...............................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13
APPENDICES...............................................................................................................................14
Performance Review............................................................................................................14
Project Logbook...................................................................................................................17

SECTION 1- Introduction
Overview of the background:
Talent management is known as procedure and process in the organization that has full
focus and concentration towards managing, arranging and organizing employees (Al-Dalahmeh,
2020). Employees are known as one of the significant assets in the companies because they are
responsible for carrying out activities successfully (Gitonga, 2019). In the current professional
research report H&M is selected as organization which is a clothing retail organization
particularly for women, men, teenagers and children. It is selected because it deals under retail
sector as Labour & Wait Ltd.
Aim of the project: To investigate about the impact of different types of innovative ways
companies use for the successful achievement of strategic approach to talent management. A
study on H&M
Objectives of the project:
 To determine the different types of innovative ways and new initiatives of working do
H&M put with the motive of achieving a strategic approach to talent management
 To understand the impact on business performance after implementing new innovative
ways and initiatives of talent management within H&M
 To identify challenges faced by H&M while planning and executing talent management
strategies in the workplace
Questions of the project:
 What are the different types of innovative ways and new initiatives of working do H&M
put with the motive of achieving a strategic approach to talent management?
 What is the impact on business performance after implementing new innovative ways and
initiatives of talent management within H&M?
 What are the challenges faced by H&M while planning and executing talent management
strategies in the workplace?
SECTION 2- Project Plan
Project management plan is defined as plan for outlining different activities to carry out
activities in a proper manner. There are different types of components that are need in the current
project that include:

Cost
It is one of the important components because it provides necessary funds for conducting
different activities. Project manager has focused on developing budget so that no problem occurs
in future due to shortage of funds. Researcher would need dollar 300 to take out every process
and procedure of project (Team and et. al., 2018).
Time
Time is very as essential component to complete project. It helps researcher in
understanding the time needed to do every activity and task in a systematic manner. After
analyzing the needs and requirements, project manager has decided that for achieving all
objectives 5 months would be needed.
Resources
Resources are defined as needed things to complete project. Project manager would need
different types of secondary sources such as journals, publications, newspapers etc. and also use
respondents to collect primary data (Wajcman, 2019).
Quality
Project manager focuses on conducting every activity with the great quality. It is focused
towards taking out high-quality information. It has dependent on qualitative and quantitative data
so that reader could understand about the topic of the study.
WBS structure
Work breakdown structure is defined as structure that is concerned about dividing large
activities into small tasks because small targets are always easier to complete with great
efficiency and quality. It is the structure that makes complex projects very easy to complete and
assists in putting similar kind of activities into one group that ultimately saves the time of project
manager.

Gantt chart
Gantt chart is defined as chart that helps in classifying activities with the proper time
duration. In general terms it assists in understanding the activities and the time needed for
completing each activity. It clearly defines beginning and ending date in the chart about every
activity that ultimately assists project manager to stay in track (Brčić and Mlinarić, 2018).

SECTION 3- RESEARCH
Research Methodology
Research Philosophy
Research philosophy is classified into two significant parts known as positivism and
interpretivism philosophy. Positivism philosophy is chosen by manager as it focuses on number
data without taking longer time period (Volkova and et. al., 2018). It ultimately assists in
collecting data that is significant for attaining objectives of the project.

Research Approach
Research approach is one of the methodologies that concentrate on measuring
information and providing set of beliefs for measuring the relevant information. Inductive and
deductive are two approaches and from them researcher has selected deductive approach because
deductive approach focuses on measuring numeric data in a very limited period of time.
Research Choice
Qualitative and quantitative are two available research choices in front of project
manager. Project manager has focused on numeric data so they selected quantitative research
choice (Jooss, Burbach and Ruël, 2019). It is the choice is that concentrates on collecting and
gathering numerical data related to the topic of project. Quantitative choice collects great piece
of numerical information with high accuracy and relevancy.
Research Strategy
Research strategy provides different kinds of strategies that assist in collection of
information that is appropriate for the project. Grounded theory, action research, survey etc. are
some of the kinds of strategies but researcher has selected survey because it facilitates in
gathering valid numeric data. One of the biggest benefits of using survey is that it provides
collection of primary data from different types of individuals (Thomas, 2021).
Sampling
Sampling is defined as procedure to select respondents from large population. Probability
and non-probability are two kinds of sampling (Purgał-Popiela, 2018). Probability sampling is
selected by project manager because it facilitates in choosing large number of participants
without any expectations and requirements. 10 managers are selected from H&M to collect
information about the talent strategies used by managers to attract, retain and develop
employees.
Data Collection
Primary and secondary are two available kinds of data collection. The current project is
dependent on primary and secondary method of data collection. Primary is necessary for taking
out raw information which is not taken by anyone in prior times. This type of data is gathered by
selected respondents in terms of their opinions and views (Theys and Schultz, 2020). Secondary
is used to collect data from available sources like books, articles, newspapers, journals,
magazines and many more.

Secondary Data
What are the different types of innovative ways and new initiatives of working do H&M put with
the motive of achieving a strategic approach to talent management?
According to Brouwer (2018), H&M uses various types of new initiatives and innovative
ways of working so that they could attract those employees who have experience, great talent,
skill and qualification and retain such employees who are continuously contributing in achieving
targets of organization with great efficiency. Some of the different types of innovative ways used
by H&M are:
Guidance to employees: Managers of H&M has adopted the innovative way to talent
management that is guidance to workers. In this employees are provided guidance in every stage
of their operation so that they could do it effectively and efficiently. This increases the
motivation level of employees as they get guidance at right time.
Assessment of performance: It is one of the great initiatives of talent management as in this
evaluation of employee’s performance is done by managers of H&M. This evaluation assists in
differentiating employees who are working great and who are not working up to the mark.
Employees who have underperformed are provided with training so that they could improve in
their work.
What is the impact on business performance after implementing new innovative ways and
initiatives of talent management within H&M?
According to Sparrow (2018), with the implementation of new innovative ways and
initiatives H&M could have positive impact on its business performance. The positive impact
could be explained below:
Attaining objectives and targets: With the successful implementation of strategies employees
become more focused towards their job role and responsibility. Their expectations and needs are
fulfilled organization and ultimately in achieving entire pre-defined goals of organization.
Decrease in employee turnover: Strategies of talent management help in attracting employees
to stay in the company by different motivational ways. Managers communicate with employees
on continuous basis to understand their needs or problems. This encourages employees to stay in
the same company and work hard to achieve company’s objectives.
What are the challenges faced by H&M while planning and executing talent management
strategies in the workplace?

According to Holck and Stjerne (2019), there are various challenges that are faced by
H&M while planning and executing talent management strategies in the workplace, some of
them are:
Consumption of time: H&M faces various challenges while planning and executing strategies
of talent management is consumption of time. Managers take time to form strategies and their
attention diverts from other important work. This creates problem in dividing proper time to
conduct various activities.
High amount of funds: H&M faces issue in determining the exact amount for executing
strategies of talent management. This takes a lot of time and needs high rate of investment for
providing different compensation and benefits to employees.

SECTION 4- FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Frequency distribution table
Q1) Do you have basic knowledge about the talent management
strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 10
b) No 0
Q2) What are the different available types of innovative ways of
working do H&M put with the motive of achieving a strategic
approach to talent management?
Frequency
a) Guidance of employees 3
b) Assessment of performance 2
c) Offering developmental opportunities 3
d) High compensation 2
Q3) What is the impact on business performance after implementing
new innovative ways and initiatives of talent management within
H&M?
Frequency
a) Qualified and talented employees 2
b) Decrease in employee turnover 3
c) Attaining objectives and targets 3
d) Great brand image 2
Q4) What are the challenges faced by H&M while planning and
executing talent management strategies in the workplace?
Frequency
a) High amount of funds 4
b) Ineffective strategies 2
c) Demand from employees 3
d) Consumption of time 1
Q5) What are the suggestions you would give to H&M for mitigating
challenges that are faced while executing and planning talent
management strategies in the workplace?
Frequency
a) Communicating with employees 3

b) Proper budget 2
c) Research and development 2
d) Time management 3
Question 1) Basic knowledge about the talent management strategies
Q1) Do you have basic knowledge about the talent management
strategies?
Frequency
a) Yes 10
b) No 0
Interpretation: From the above data it is interpreted that the whole 10 respondents have
answered yes that they possess knowledge regarding strategies of talent management because
they have contribution in their formation.
Question 2: Different available types of innovative ways of working do H&M put with the
motive of achieving a strategic approach to talent management
Q2) What are the different available types of innovative ways of
working do H&M put with the motive of achieving a strategic
approach to talent management?
Frequency

a) Guidance of employees 3
b) Assessment of performance 2
c) Offering developmental opportunities 3
d) High compensation 2
Interpretation: With the shown data it is interpreted that there are different types of innovative
ways that are used by H&M for having great strategic approaches to talent management.
Question 3: Impact on business performance after implementing new innovative ways and
initiatives of talent management within H&M
Q3) What is the impact on business performance after implementing
new innovative ways and initiatives of talent management within
H&M?
Frequency
a) Qualified and talented employees 2
b) Decrease in employee turnover 3
c) Attaining objectives and targets 3
d) Great brand image 2